Development Circles and Home Circles
Developmental Circles
Development circles are usually run by experienced mediums who teach mediumship development. The participants in these circles are typically at various levels of development, ranging from beginning mediums to professional mediums.
If you are serious about the unfolding of your spiritual gifts, participation in a development circle with a qualified teacher is a must. The concentrated energies of the circle are ideal for spirit contact. Most people find it much easier to meditate and connect with the spirit people while they are participating in a development circle than during their daily meditation at home.
Also, each participant brings her or his spirit loved ones to the circle; this gives everyone the opportunity to connect with sitters and spirit people about whom they know nothing. It helps you develop trust and self-confidence in your gifts. It is a wonderful opportunity to continue learning under your spirit helpers’ wise tutelage.
Teaching mediums have a band of spirit helpers that facilitate the development of the student mediums in the group. When I teach my development circles, my spirit guides keep me informed of what is going on with each of my students. It is as if I am able to be with everyone at once. I am also able to perceive and connect with the spirit people who are trying to communicate with my students. This allows me to see how much information my students are missing, and it gives me the opportunity to coach them in being more perceptive. The spirit people always tell me when my students are able to perceive them and when they are trying to talk themselves out of their spirit perception.
Depending on the teaching medium’s preference, the development circle can be semi-closed or open. In a semi-closed circle, the same group of people meets at regular intervals throughout a stretch of time, each acting as both sitter and medium. My own development circle, for example, meets for eight-week intervals. During these eight weeks, no newcomers are accepted. Ideally, I would run each circle for more than eight weeks; however, few people are willing to commit to more than eight weeks at a time.
The benefit of the semi-closed circle is that the energies build during the course of the eight weeks as the group’s spirit guides maximize the group energies for everyone’s benefit. The semi-closed circle requires a more serious commitment of each participant, but it also provides an ideal environment where trust builds and student mediums become more willing to take risks in sharing what they perceive.
In an open circle, student mediums participate as they wish. They might show up once or twice, or as often as they like. You might think that an open circle provides the flexibility of testing the waters of mediumship. However, the problem with open circles is that the participants change weekly and the group energy may never build sufficiently to significantly help the development of all the sitters.
Another significant drawback of open circles is that they tend to attract people who don’t want to make a commitment to their development or to supporting the development of others in the circle. Open circles often attract needy people with a lot of personal problems who want to use the circle for getting cheap psychic help. Due to the Law of Vibration, such disposition creates a less-than-ideal environment for developing mediums.
When someone is only interested in taking from the group rather than adding to it, and when people bring all their problems to the circle, the energy of the entire circle is significantly affected and diminished. This, in turn, makes it much harder for student mediums to connect with the spirit world. I have seen student mediums give up on mediumship development altogether because they were unable to receive spirit communication in open circles that were dominated by the perennial issues of a handful of people. That is unfortunate.
If you have a choice of circles, I would suggest you participate in a semi-closed one. However, if you can’t find a semi-closed circle, keep in mind that, depending on a circle’s composition, it is probably better to participate in an open development circle than none at all.
Regardless of whether the development circle is semi-closed or open, it provides a safe environment to present evidential information and develop trust in your spirit helpers. In all cases, the mix of circle participants changes over time. This offers you the advantage of regularly working with new sitters about whom you know nothing.
Just make sure you give the development circle enough time to work! I often see student mediums drop out after they have managed to give three or four pieces of evidence on a good night. They mistakenly think that they have arrived on the hallowed stage of mediumship and they no longer need to participate in a development circle. This is the equivalent of stopping piano lessons once you’ve managed to play the scales or halting writing practice once you’ve learned to form the letters of the alphabet. Do not shortchange yourself or your spiritual gifts.
The Home Circle
Since the onset of Modern Spiritualism in 1849, home circles have been considered the key to developing mediumship. In the heyday of Spiritualism, families and friends got together a couple of times per week in one another’s homes to see whether spiritual phenomena would take place. Many fine mediums developed in home circles as Spiritualism spread like wildfire across the United States. All Spiritualist mediums still honor this tradition, regardless of how many years they have been practicing.
Therefore, in addition to joining a development circle run by a professional teaching medium, I believe that students greatly benefit from participating in a home circle of like-minded individuals. This facilitates the continued opening and fine-tuning of the spiritual senses. Over time, it is the ideal setting for developing other phases of mediumship, including trance, where spirit guides speak through their mediums; transfiguration, where the spirit people overshadow the face and form of the medium so participants can recognize them; and physical phenomena, which all of the participants can perceive through the physical senses. These advanced phases of mediumship develop over the course of years, and especially in circles where participants share a mutual respect and sincerity of purpose.
Setting Up a Home Circle
Preliminary Considerations
Should the Circle Be Open or Closed?
Home circles are usually closed circles. Once the circle has formed, no new people are added unless the group gradually experiences attrition. This also means the circle’s participants must choose their companions wisely. I suggest you impose a three- or four-month trial period on everyone who initially joins a home circle. That gives you the ability to turn away those who are either not committed or whose energy or disposition is not agreeable with the group.
The ideal number of participants is four to eight. It’s great if there is a balance of males and females, but it is not necessary. What matters most is that the participants are dedicated, patient, and compatible. If you can only find one or two like-minded people who want to sit with you, then start your circle anyway.
How Often Should the Circle Meet?
Circles may meet weekly, every two weeks, or monthly. When you decide how frequently to meet, you should consider circle members’ commute to the meeting place, especially if you live in a metropolitan area. Years ago, I participated in a circle that involved a substantial commute on the Capital Beltway. During rush hour, a one-way commute could easily turn into a two- to three-hour nightmare. To avoid arriving at the circle angry and worn out from traffic, I usually left my home before the onset of rush hour.
Be aware that most people’s schedules are not amenable to such a huge commitment of time. If the commute is too far, enthusiasm wanes and people drop out. In my experience, meeting every other week is optimal. It is frequent enough so that everyone hungers for that special day, but not so often that it feels like a burden.
Home circles should always meet on the same weekday, at the same time, and at the same address, since spirit energies accumulate over time. For the same reason, it is important to insist on punctuality. Your spirit guides will prepare the space in advance and will be ready to start at the appointed time.
How Long Should the Circle Run?
Allow about ninety minutes to two hours from the opening prayer to the closing prayer, depending on the number of participants and spirit presences. This time frame allows an opportunity for feedback and sharing. You can close when all messages have been shared and when you notice the shift in energy that signals Spirit’s departure. With time, you will identify a natural rhythm to your circle.
Lighting Conditions
It is not necessary to meditate in complete darkness. The famous British physical medium D. D. Home conducted his séances in full light and produced amazing phenomena. Darkness, though, can make it easier for people to relax and tune out other distractions. They might also feel less exposed in what can be a personal experience.
You might try turning out the lights and meditating by candlelight. Floating candles in a bowl with flowers can make a captivating and festive centerpiece, and can also help set a reverent, meditative mood. Salt lamps, too, cast a lovely, gentle, orange glow and make it possible to observe physical phenomena such as transfiguration and spirit lights. The spirit communicators in our Thursday night home circle have told us they utilize the ions released by the salt for the production of physical phenomena.
Eating and Drinking Before the Circle Meets
The circle participants should eat a very light meal before meetings. You should have just enough food in your stomach so you can be comfortable, but not enough to feel full. A full stomach makes it hard to shift one’s awareness to the spiritual realm. You can sit with the best mediums in the world, but if all of them have full stomachs, no spirit phenomena will take place.
Circle participants should abstain from alcohol and recreational drugs before attending. These substances lower the energies of the participants. Also, high-level spirit helpers will not be attracted to mediums who get plastered before a circle. In other words, alcohol and drug use would have a negative effect on all the participants in both the physical and spirit planes.
Conducting Circle Meetings
The basic circle format is very simple: You meet, pray, meditate in silence, share spirits’ messages and individual experiences, close the circle, and perhaps give one another feedback before disbanding. I have broken down the individual steps into a checklist format:
Prepare the Physical Space:
As People Arrive:
When Everyone Has Arrived,
Check and Adjust the Seating Order:
Review the Format of the Evening:
Opening the Circle:
Always open with an invocation, such as:
“Infinite Spirit, thank you for joining us. Surround us with your love and light as we are gathered here tonight in our sacred circle. Open our hearts, minds, and spirits to your loving presence. Uplift us. Ennoble our spirits. We invite our spirit guides, teachers, and loved ones, as well as all who wish to grow with us. We ask that all our spirit visitors have our highest good at heart. Thank you for expanding our spiritual perception, Great Mystery. May we continue to grow in ever-loving service to you. Amen.”
Meditation:
Spirit Communication and Message Sharing:
In my circles, I announce when the time has come to share messages. I let people share in whatever order they want. However, I have also been in circles where people went around the circle and when their turns came, they made their connection with the spirit world and shared what they received.
Recipients of messages should briefly acknowledge and welcome the spirit visitors conveying their message, but withhold feedback until the end of the evening.
Closing the Circle:
Always close with prayer, giving thanks for what has been given.
“Infinite Spirit, we are grateful for our time with you and with our spirit visitors. We thank you for all that has been given. Please watch over everyone as we disband and go to our homes. Until we meet again, keep us ever attuned to your loving presence and bring us opportunities to be of service to you. Thank you, Great Spirit! Amen.”
Keep the lights low, and give people the chance to gradually adjust to their everyday state of consciousness.
Feedback:
Feel free to give one another feedback in the form of, “I understand the message.” Or, “You were right on target.” Or, “I’ll have to think about that one.” Or even, “I have no idea what that message or communicator is all about.”
Avoid sharing your entire family and life history and providing information about spirit relatives. This undermines the purpose of the circle, as during future circles people will wonder if they are receiving information from your spirit loved ones or if they are merely working from memory.
Other Considerations
Refreshments
Food grounds energy and helps mediums reconnect with the physical realm, so you might want to offer some refreshments or share a potluck meal after meditation. This is especially important in circles where the participants are developing signs of trance or physical mediumship, or if members have a long drive ahead of them. Our Thursday night circle always concludes with a lovely potluck feast and a discussion of the evening’s events and spirit messages. Initially, though, I would suggest you keep it simple and limit your offerings to water, tea, juice, fresh fruit, or cookies.
Adding New People to an Established Circle
Over time, you may find that some people drop out of your closed circle and others wish to join. Before you add newcomers to an established circle, discuss this with all circle participants. At the next circle meeting, take the question into meditation and ask Spirit’s guidance. Adding another person changes the energy of the circle, for better or worse. If you decide to add another person, you might want to tell the newcomer that he or she is admitted on a trial basis until it is clear that it is a good match for the circle.
Questions & Answers
Do the spirit people follow a medium
home when the circle meeting ends?
No, they don’t. The spirit people have their own lives in the spirit world, and they aren’t interested in hanging around. However, I once knew a student medium who did not want to break her connection with a spirit person after the circle was over. She had been very deeply touched by the spirit visitor’s life experience and continued her conversation with him during her drive home. It was her choice to continue the conversation. Had she stopped paying attention to the spirit person or had she told him to come back next week, the spirit visitor would have gone away.
Do spirit people hang around the medium after a session is over?
No, they don’t. They leave with the closing prayer. If you tell the spirit people that they need to go through your gatekeeper, you will never have anyone hang around after a session is finished.
Do the spirit people come back with more
messages for the sitter after a session is finished?
No. The spirit people know when the session is over and their loved one is gone. There is no reason why they would continue to talk with the medium. Remember, mediums must practice the Law of Control and are in charge of when they open to the spirit world.
During meditation I receive a lot of information
from the spirit communicators, but when the
time comes to share, I can’t remember most of it.
This happens to a lot of people. Don’t worry about it. The good news is that you are connecting with Spirit. Next time, ask your spirit communicators to come back when it is time to share your message. Ask them to remind you of important parts that you need to mention. As you progress in your development, you may find you no longer need to receive information during the meditation and that Spirit shows up when it is time for you to give messages.
I’ve been participating in a circle for two months
now, but I’m not experiencing spirit contact.
Do you think that I’m not cut out to be a medium?
Often when people sit in home circles or in development circles and nothing seems to be happening, there is a lot going on behind the scenes that the sitter is unaware of. As far as I’m concerned, there is no such thing as an empty or wasted session, because our spirit helpers are always busy strengthening and unifying the links between the medium and the spirit world. Remember, mediumship unfolds over time. Some people’s gifts develop sooner; other people need more time. Be patient, and be gentle with yourself. Continue sitting with a pleasant and joyful attitude. Please know that your gifts will develop in their own good time. Trust in the wisdom of your spirit helpers and continue to attend the circle. I have never seen a dedicated medium whose abilities did not blossom.
Sitters in the circle don’t recognize the spirit people I connect with.
Congratulations, you are connecting with the spirit people! There could be several reasons why your sitters won’t be able to recognize the spirit people who come to you.
First, you might not have offered enough unique evidence that would help the sitters recognize a given spirit person.
Second, you might be wrong about some of the evidence. In that case, you might want to ask if someone understands most of what you had described. If someone says, “Yes,” then ask what they do understand. Then go back to your spirit link and ask for more pertinent information. Explain that you need assistance in confirming the spirit person’s identity.
Third, it is entirely possible that the spirit person has no connection to anyone in the circle. The spirit people sometimes drop by out of curiosity or because they want to practice communicating with a medium. Please note: this last occurrence does not usually happen in a traditional reading where a particular sitter is asking for help. In those cases, spirit people related to the sitter are generally attracted to the experience.
Everyone in this circle is better at this than I am.
Stop comparing yourself with others. As in all areas of life, there will always be someone who manages to meditate longer, go deeper, or receive more profound insights. The problem with comparison is that it judges, measures, and finds fault with what is. This turns meditation and mediumship into a competitive sport instead of a spiritual experience. So don’t even go there. Honor your experience and give thanks for whatever it is.