Mediumship Glossary

Understanding mediumship can feel confusing at first because many spiritual terms are used in different ways. This glossary explains common concepts connected to spirit communication and mediumship development, based on the ideas explored in You Are a Medium (You Just Don’t Know It Yet) by evidential medium Hannah Macintyre.

Mediumship

Mediumship is the ability to communicate with the spirit world. A medium receives impressions, thoughts, emotions, or evidence from people who have passed and shares that information with those still living. Evidential mediumship focuses on providing clear details that demonstrate the continuation of consciousness beyond physical life.

Psychic Ability

Psychic ability involves perceiving information through heightened sensitivity to energy, emotions, or situations. Psychic information relates to the living world, while mediumship specifically involves communication with spirit.

Evidential Mediumship

Evidential mediumship is a form of spirit communication that focuses on providing specific details that identify a spirit communicator. This may include personality traits, memories, relationships, or life events that help demonstrate the authenticity of the connection.

The Spirit World

The spirit world refers to the continuation of consciousness beyond physical life. In mediumship philosophy, the spirit world is not necessarily seen as a distant place but as a different state of existence that can interact with the living through communication and energy.

Spirit Communication

Spirit communication occurs when information from the spirit world is perceived by a medium. This can happen through thoughts, images, emotions, sensations, or inner knowing.

Spirit Communicator

A spirit communicator is a person in the spirit world who is communicating through a medium. In evidential mediumship, the goal is to provide enough information for the recipient to recognise who the communicator is.

Spirit Guides

Spirit guides are understood as spiritual helpers or teachers who work with mediums to support communication and development. Many mediums believe guides help strengthen the link between the medium and the spirit world.

Vibration

In mediumship development, vibration refers to the energetic state that allows communication between the physical world and the spirit world. Mediums often work to raise or adjust their vibration in order to strengthen their connection with spirit.

Energy Field

The energy field refers to the subtle energetic presence that surrounds and interpenetrates the physical body. Some spiritual traditions describe this as the aura. Mediums and psychics often work by sensing information within this field.

Aura

The aura is believed to be the energetic field surrounding the body that reflects emotional, physical, and spiritual states. Some mediums perceive changes within the aura as part of psychic or intuitive awareness.

Blending

Blending describes the energetic connection between a medium and a spirit communicator. As blending deepens, the medium becomes more aware of the spirit’s personality, memories, and communication.

Spirit Link

The spirit link is the energetic connection between the medium and the spirit communicator that allows communication to take place. Strengthening this link is an important part of developing mediumship.

Sitting in the Power

Sitting in the power is a practice used in mediumship development where the medium focuses on becoming aware of their own energy and the presence of spirit. Rather than trying to communicate actively, the medium learns to recognise the feeling of the connection.

Development Circle

A development circle is a regular gathering of people who meet with the intention of exploring and strengthening their connection with the spirit world. Circles provide a supportive environment where mediums can practice and learn from shared experience.

Spiritual Development

Spiritual development refers to the process of deepening awareness, understanding, and connection with the spirit world. This may include meditation, mediumship practice, studying spiritual philosophy, and learning to trust intuitive responses.

Intuition

Intuition is the ability to understand or sense information without conscious reasoning. In mediumship, intuition often plays a key role in recognising and interpreting communication from spirit.

Sensitivity to Energy

Many people who explore mediumship notice an increased awareness of emotional or energetic environments. Sensitivity to energy can be one of the early signs that someone is naturally receptive to intuitive or mediumistic experiences.

The Clairs

Many mediums describe receiving information from spirit through intuitive senses known as the “clairs,” from the French word meaning “clear.” These senses usually appear in subtle ways and develop gradually with awareness and practice.

Clairvoyance (Clear Seeing)

Clairvoyance is the ability to receive visual impressions from spirit. This may appear as images, symbols, or scenes in the mind’s eye connected to a spirit communicator’s life.

Clairaudience (Clear Hearing)

Clairaudience involves receiving information through inner hearing. A medium may perceive words, names, or phrases that feel distinct from their own internal thoughts.

Clairsentience (Clear Feeling)

Clairsentience is the ability to sense emotions or physical sensations connected to a spirit communicator. Mediums may feel personality traits, emotional states, or even physical conditions linked to the communicator.

Claircognizance (Clear Knowing)

Claircognizance is a sudden sense of knowing information without understanding how the information arrived. The medium simply recognises the information as true.

Clairgustance (Clear Taste)

Clairgustance involves experiencing tastes connected to a spirit communicator, such as tobacco, sweets, or specific foods associated with their life.

Clairsalience (Clear Smell)

Clairsalience refers to perceiving scents connected to a spirit communicator, such as perfume, flowers, or cigarette smoke.

Trance Mediumship

Trance mediumship is a form of mediumship where the medium allows spirit to blend more closely with their awareness in order to communicate. This may involve altered states of consciousness or deep relaxation.

Energy Diet

An energy diet describes the habits, environments, and influences that affect a person’s energetic state. For people developing mediumship or intuitive awareness, maintaining a balanced energy diet can support clarity and focus when working with spirit communication.

Psychic Frequency

Psychic frequency refers to the energetic level where a person reads the thoughts, emotions, and experiences connected to the living world. Psychic information comes from the energy of people and situations rather than the spirit world.

Spirit Frequency

Spirit frequency refers to the energetic level associated with communication from the spirit world. Mediums learn to recognise the difference between psychic information and spirit communication as their awareness develops.

Evidence

In evidential mediumship, evidence refers to information that helps identify a spirit communicator. This may include names, relationships, memories, personality traits, or life experiences that confirm the communicator’s identity.

Can Anyone Become a Medium?

Many spiritual teachers believe mediumship is a natural human ability rather than a rare gift possessed by only a few people. The idea that mediumship can develop through awareness, practice, and understanding is explored in You Are a Medium (You Just Don’t Know It Yet) by evidential medium Hannah Macintyre.

Learn More About Mediumship

These ideas and many more are explored in greater depth in You Are a Medium (You Just Don’t Know It Yet) by Hannah Macintyre, an Amazon bestselling mediumship book that explores how communication with spirit works and how people can begin recognising their own connection.