Some psychics claim to reunite people with loved ones who have died.
It is said that a medium is someone who is able to establish a bridge between the physical and spiritual worlds in order to communicate with spirits. They can take the form of spirits of the dead, spiritual beings such as angels or nature spirits, or gods of some kind. When most people in the West think of a medium, they think of a type of medium that grew out of the spiritualist movements of the 19th century, which drew on other traditions but was fundamentally Western in scope. The medium, however, is an important figure in many other traditions, particularly in many African spiritual traditions and in many of the traditions that grew out of the African diaspora.
Mediums connect with the spirit world.
While many shamanic and spiritual practices involve some level of communication with the spirit world, the medium differs in that it acts as an actual bridge between the worlds for those who cannot freely communicate with the spirits themselves. One of the most common uses of a medium, for example, is for a person to talk to a deceased relative. Since they themselves cannot contact the family member, they turn to a medium that can transmit their questions and receive answers through it.
Psychics can be asked for advice on romantic relationships.
Different mediums work in different ways, from the quietest and most subdued to the most flashy and energetic. Some mediums go into a trance when they are talking to the spirit world, shutting out the physical world completely and speaking without any recollection of what they are saying. Others allow their bodies to be temporarily inhabited by a spirit so that the spirit can communicate freely with others. Still others communicate using some kind of external device, such as a pen and paper, that allow the spirit to guide them.
Psychics can use pen and paper through communication with your spirit guide.
Written descriptions of people who appear to have been mediums can be found as far back as the Old Testament, where the witch of Endor is said to have brought the spirit of the prophet Samuel to speak to King Saul, to enable him to question Samuel about a battle. They continued to exist throughout history, but saw a true revival in the West when Spiritualism took off in the mid-19th century. Many spiritualists claimed to be mediums, and seances were held in major cities in which the dead were summoned to speak to the assembled crowds.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, various individuals demonstrated how magic tricks could be used on stage to mimic many of the effects the medium employed. This robbed the medium of much of its credibility, and Spiritualists gradually abandoned the practice in favor of channeling. Channeling is seen as a slightly different approach to the medium, in which the channeler receives information and history from long-dead people or supernatural spirits, often for the purpose of relating it to the world at large in the form of books or educational seminars. .
Mediumship is seen as a paranormal practice and is therefore dismissed by most scientists as completely groundless in reality. Critics claim that much of what the medium says is acquired through a number of techniques, including cold reading, and that the associated effects are simply stage magic. Those who play the role of a medium without believing in the actual spiritual connection of the medium, for entertainment purposes, are generally called mentalists.