Intuitive Studies: A Complete Course in Mediumship

by Gordon Smith

During the many years he spent delivering messages of hope and love from the spirit world, Gordon Smith has observed how many people long to learn how to be more intuitive themselves, and would love to be able to connect to the other side in the same way he does.

Gordon feels strongly that developing your intuitive gifts should be something that gives you joy, brings you clarity and makes you more contented in your life. Based on his experiences of teaching and guiding complete beginners on their paths to communicating with spirit, this book provides simple and easy-to-follow exercises that will help you sharpen your psychic senses, open yourself to receive communication from your spirit guides and interpret the telepathic language of spirit. Once you have learned the basics and gained confidence in your skills, Gordon then guides you to the next step of your journey, showing you how you can use this very special energy to help others.

Genres: Spirituality, Nonfiction

252 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2012

About the author

There is more than one author with this name

Hailed as “Britain’s most accurate medium” Gordon has been featured in numerous television documentaries including the BBC’s Everyman, "Mediums: Talking With the Dead" 3 part series as well as appearing as an expert guest on various shows such as This Morning, Richard and Judy and the BBC's Heaven and Earth. Gordon has also presented one of the nation's favourite paranormal shows, Living TV's 'Most Haunted', as well as his own series on the Biography Channel. He even managed to find the time to squeeze in a cameo in a Jacki Collins movie, Paris Connections!

He has travelled to many parts of the world to appear before audiences, read for many celebrities, and written numerous books, including Spirit Messenger and The Unbelievable Truth, which have been published to critical acclaim. Gordon has written regular columns for newspapers such as the Daily Record, Take A Break magazine and Best magazine.

From early childhood Gordon had the ability to see, sense and hear spirit people. As a young boy his ability often unnerved those around him and so he learned to close his mind to these experiences.

Through his teenage years he pushed his abilities into the background of his awareness and lived a very average teenage life. He pursued his passion for gymnastics until he was 19. He was good enough to be selected for the Scottish Commonwealth Games squad. It wasn’t until he was 24, when a friend’s brother appeared at his bedside in the middle of the night that these gifts were re-awakened. He later learned that the brother had died that night in a tragic fire. Gordon went with his friend to a spiritualist church, during the service he was told that he would one day be speaking from the ‘platform’. This was the start of over 15 years of study and practice as Gordon went on to develop his outstanding abilities as a medium or messenger from the spirit world under the tutelage of some of the great legends of the spiritualist church. He developed in a mediumship circle run by the extraordinary Mrs. Primrose, an inspirational figure in Scottish spiritualism and became a close friend of the legendary Albert Best, who is widely acknowledged as one of be best mediums of the last century.

Many years on Gordon Smith is now one of the world’s top psychic mediums and spiritual teachers in the UK. Having spent 15 years balancing his work as an internationally renowned medium with his day job, as a barber in his native Glasgow, Gordon now conducts mediumship workshops and events around the world. Gordon’s Celtic charm and lively demonstrations provide his audience with a rare opportunity to experience the fascinating phenomenon of mediumship, which he delivers to his audience with a mix of his distinctive style of humour, pure passion, and empathy to others.

Reviews

[Heidi Wiechert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Intuitive Studies really drove home to me the idea that the New Age/Spirituality movement is an incredibly diverse and complex system of beliefs and practices. I have read many materials by authors who claim to be channeling spirits and I've also read books by practicing psychic mediums, but this was the first book that taught any practices or examples of ways to use these abilities outside of the obvious ways like card reading, message delivering, book writing, etc. Among the many topics it covers, Intuitive Studies includes exercises for trance work, remote healing, reiki, physical transfigurations by spirit, and more! Interesting stuff... now, does anybody want to start a circle and see how we do? :)

If you enjoyed this book, you may want to start out your practice by finding meditative ways to clear your mind that work for you. I'd recommend trying Seeking Heaven by Eben Alexander, Brainwave Journey by Jeffrey Thompson (or any of his brain-sync CDs really), or Meditations for Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself by Joe Dispenza.

[Olwen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting reading for any students of the spiritual world. The author makes it abundantly clear just how long it takes to develop mediumship skills.

There is a particular quote on page 111 I want to remember: I have said so many times to many people on the spiritual path, 'You must be strong in yourself to help others. People who are in the emotional sea need someone who can pull them out, not someone who gets in with them and gets dragged away by the tidal wave of human emotions. We have to become emotional lifeguards.'

[Lauren Chase · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, I didn't really like this book. Instead of teaching the reader Gordon Smith talks a lot *about* teaching others. It made it challenging for me as it read more like a stroll down memory lane about his students and teaching circles than a "A Complete Course In Mediumship." Not so much. There are a few good exercises but they get lost and the book as a whole is bogged down by the narrative, which was a weak framing device all around. About a 1/2 way through this became a hard skim for me.

Would not recommend. Instead read his book "Mediumship Made Easy: An Introductory Guide to Developing Spiritual Awareness and Intuition" which is way more direct, informative, and useful (rated that one 5 stars).

[Deb · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did not care for this book. This book was misleading in its title I believe. I expected a book that was more or less a textbook, detailing a course of study directed at ME, the pupil. Instead, this book was a story of how the author mentored a student. It detailed the student's learning progress. It also included a lot of exercises within a circle, which is useless for a single person to use. I found the book to be not helpful at all. There are much better books for learning intuitive studies that are directed at the reader.

[Dodie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was the first time I read this author. The book deals with communication with spirits. The title uses the word mediumship and the book does cover mediumship but also includes communication with your spiritual team. The book is half theory and half practical exercises. It really focuses on belonging to a developmental circle therefore many of the practical exercises you had to do with a partner. I did like the book but if you are looking for being in a developmental group I think you will appreciate the book more.

[Murlee · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was not helpful for individuals to grow, but only benefits people in a group setting. I was not able to do the activities, because I have no one here to help me.

[Jenifer Roberts · Rating 1 out of 5]

Disappointed

Not what I expected this is for groups of two or more people. Would be good if you have a group of people to do the work.

[TheShamanicParent · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mediumship, according to Gordon Smith, requires patience and practice. This is true for other worthy but long-term pursuits, such as learning to play soccer or learning to play the piano. Sometimes my piano teacher assigned the same song for months! In a similar vein, Gordon builds from the foundation up, and advises students to practice regularly. The curriculum is made up of 19 sequential exercises which are clearly described and easy to follow. They begin with the meditation "Sit in Silence" and advance to "Balancing the Chakras" (#8) and "Trance Healing" (#18). I understand how theses exercises could take years to master.

I would have liked a chapter defining "What is mediumship?" and how it compares and contrasts with other modalities, like shamanism. Smith's viewpoint seems pure and distilled; he hardly mentions any other modalities. Only on page 140 does he briefly discuss the difference between a psychic and a medium: "a psychic gift … depends on their own sensitivity and intuition. A medium… is looking to open up a link to someone in the spirit world to give them information that is helpful to someone…" A bit of history of mediumship through the ages would be great too, plus some guidance on how to find, join, or set up a mediumship circle, since most of the exercises are to be done with other people. Lastly, a chapter on business matters would be valuable to those who have questions of that sort, like how and when to go professional, how much to charge, business ethics, how to handle skeptics, or worse, hostility.

The only medium I have met in person is someone who uses both mediumship and shamanism skills to assist others -- Betsy Bergstrom -- who teaches compassionate depossession and curse removal. Working with Spirit is a big, wide world; I wager that Smith's way is not the only way.

All in all, I found this work to be solid and instrumental in helping me decide whether I wish to pursue this particular path.

I received this book for free from Hay House Publishing for review purposes.

[Sydney · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have found what I was looking for in its pages. The author has written the book as a teaching guide and encourages you to start from a blank slate. Being new to the study of Mediumship, this is just what I needed. His explanation of why we need to start with just sitting in silence really turned the lights on for me! This book is truly a how-to guide for development and forming and sitting in a circle. My only complaint is that I wish I had bought this book in a paper format instead of for my Kindle so that it would be easier to refer to the exercises again and again.

Sydney

[Angel Andújar · Rating 2 out of 5]

The rating is misleading

This book was the highest rated mediumship book and I don't understand why. It does not give you a clear ritual or methodology for you to follow and develope your mediumship skills.

[Juliet Foster · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gordon Smith books are always accessible, easy to read and down to earth on a topic one might expect to be discussed in terms as esoteric as the subject. A very good starting point for anyone wanting to investigate the world of the medium from an observational or participatory point of view. They are also a valuable read to mediums, psychics and healers setting out on the spiritual path and to those same groups to touch base again with the basics further down the line.

If I’m completely honest, this book was not quite what I expected. Where I took it on face value to be a development course, it in fact documents the development of a course. That might sound odd, yes, but by charting how Gordon and his student, Steven, put together and delivered a development course to 40 students, he makes it clear that we can, by all means, follow the exercises but, without a development circle to sit with, we’d get a fraction of the results.

Patience, trust and perseverance are the fundamental points that come across and this is true; without those results can be neither guaranteed nor predicted. Smith sets a good standard for students and at the same time lets those with just a passing curiosity gain an insight into the makings and workings of a medium, psychic or healer. With meaningful quotes from his own spirit guide, Master Chi, at the start of every chapter, we are given little snippets of the wisdom of spirit throughout, as well as the wisdom of many years’ experience working with spirit.

When I first started reading this book, I wasn’t in a position to benefit and only read the first third. With a couple more years’ experience behind me, I picked it up again and read it cover to cover with a better understanding in a better frame of mind and found it a far more enlightening read. Perhaps it is more relevant to those already in or beginning a development circle, perhaps it will inspire others to find one. All will become clear with time…