Psychometry is the ability to hold an object and, from its vibrations, to “pick up” details of those people who have been in contact with it. A medium can take a ring, watch, necklace, or similar object that had belonged to the deceased (even a letter written by the deceased can be used) and, from holding the object, can tell a great deal about the person. Not only can details of the person be gathered, but also information about other people and things that have been in close contract with the object.
The word psychometry means “soul measure,” from the Greek psyche and metron. Theoretically, everything that has ever existed has left its mark on the ether. On a broad scale, this can be seen with people and events leaving indelible marks in the ether that become ghosts and hauntings. Such remnants can be picked up by psychics in the same way that, on a smaller scale, psychics and mediums can pick up emanations through psychometry.
Most people have the ability to psychometrize. The “ordinary” person can hold an old pocket watch in their hands and, after a few moments concentration, can give a fair description of the person who had owned the watch. A common object such as a coin seldom works, since it has been passed through so many different hands and has not, therefore, absorbed from just one individual.
In Spiritualism there is an expression: “Spirit speaks first.” In other words, the very first impressions you get are probably the ones coming directly from spirit. The longer you wait and think about an object, the more likely it is that your logical mind will come into play and try to “explain” the object rather than going strictly by its vibrations.
An object that belonged to a deceased loved one, then, can be a very effective tool for making contact. It can work on two levels: it can give the physical contact that unveils the hidden emanations, and it can also help bridge the gap across the two worlds, allowing spirit to more easily come through.
You can start your psychometrizing as soon as you start your meditation, holding the object while you meditate. This will often induce spirit to come into your meditation and speak to you directly. It can also be an aid, in that you can hold the object in one hand while doing automatic writing with the other hand. As with all such experiments, write down what you get. Much of it will seem complete nonsense, but write it down anyway. It’s only in the later verification process that you can see just how accurate you can be.
Different mediums have different ways to hold the object. Many will simply hold it lightly in one or both hands. Others will hold it to their forehead or over the area of the heart. Some will even hold it over the abdomen or on the top of their head. It would seem, then, that one of the chakra points is recognized as a suitable contact point.
In the same way, you can get different types of impressions. You might become conscious of a taste. Perhaps your deceased Aunt Cora used to drink inordinate amounts of coffee and, as you hold her old wedding band, you find that you get the taste of coffee in your mouth (known as clairgustance or clairhambience). Or perhaps it’s Uncle Howard’s cheap cigars that you suddenly smell (known as clairalience), or you swear you can hear the sound of Grandpa’s old upright piano (clairaudience). All of these things, of course, are valid in proving the continuation of life after that change we term death. This is especially so if we have to check with relatives and/or friends before we discover that Cora drank lots of coffee or that Grandpa secretly played great ragtime in his basement.
Gather personal items that once belonged to your loved one and see what you can glean from them. You may get absolutely nothing one day and a whole wealth of material another day. As mentioned, keep records of what you do, what you held, how you held it, and what results you got.