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Definition: In spiritualist beliefs, a "medium" is someone who serves as an intermediary between the spiritual realm and the human world. Once in contact with the spirits, a medium is supposed to be able to produce ectoplasm, apports (objects), voices, and more.
Mediums can generally be separated into two different groups: physical and mental. Physical mediums are able to manifest physical phenomena through the power of the spirit world, for example the movement of objects, ectoplasm, etc. Such phenomena are more difficult to produce, but that is aided by things like very low lighting and strict rules on how participants in a seance are allowed to behave. Improved lighting generally, and "coincidentally" prevents the physical phenomena from occurring.
Mental mediums, on the other hand, rely on messages from the spiritual world. They do not levitate or move objects, but instead allegedly contact spirits in order to get information about what the "next life" is like or to perhaps get information about the future. Producing such messages has always been easier and, hence, mental mediums have remained popular today even as physical mediums have generally disappeared.
Also Known As: none
Alternate Spellings: none
Common Misspellings: none
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