My Life As a Medium

by Betty Shine

  I met them at a restaurant four years later, and they still looked extremely happy.

  I am continually amazed by the fact that married couples find it so very difficult to assure each other of their love. One of the major causes is embarrassment, and this is most apparent in men, who simply do not seem to think that their partner needs reassurance on a regular basis. Whenever this problem arises, the standard answer from most men is, ‘Why does she need reassurance? I married her, didn’t I?’ Although this is often said half-jokingly, there is a strong feeling on the part of the male that marriage says it all. On behalf of all the frustrated women I have met, I have to say that it doesn’t. There are so many ways to show someone that you love them, and showing that love becomes easier with practice. Have a go!

  CHAPTER NINE

  The last five years had been incredible. Although I had known instinctively that something sensational was going to happen sometime in my life, nothing on earth would have convinced me that it was going to be of a paranormal nature. And yet, in retrospect, it is difficult to understand why this had never occurred to me, especially as I had been seeing spirits since the age of two. It was possibly because I had become engrossed in an operatic career, as well as looking after a young family, and so the psychic part of me had to take a back seat.

  When I was finally made aware of my gift, and accepted it, the spirit world probably celebrated and said, ‘At last! She has woken up.’ The first medium I visited had said, ‘There are many people who wish to work through you, and you have refused to accept your destiny.’ To be honest, I did not understand this statement at the time. I have always embraced knowledge with open arms, so perhaps there had been something wrong with their communications system!

  The spirits could have been forgiven for thinking that I was stubborn; after I had found out about my psychic abilities I was, most definitely, a reluctant medium. Although I was coming to terms with the fact that psychic talents cannot and should not be separated, there was that old enemy – time. I felt that healing should be given priority over sittings, and I still feel that way. I also knew that spirit communicators would be more than happy to convey their messages whilst I was healing. Some people, unfortunately, insisted that they did not require healing and were upset when I said that I was too busy to give them separate sittings. Although I regularly asked for guidance on this matter, the problem remained with me for some time until one day, a lady asked if she could accompany her friend who was to receive healing. I agreed. When they arrived I took them into the healing room and suggested that the friend relaxed in an armchair in the corner of the room. I had been healing for about twenty minutes when I heard someone whispering. I looked up and there, standing behind the armchair, were two spirit entities. They told me their names were Ethel and Nan and that they were aunts of the friend sitting in the chair. I was able to describe their dress in detail, and the fact that one of them was wearing an emerald choker. When I mentioned the necklace the friend froze in her seat. She sat looking at me as though she had seen a ghost.

  Then Ethel said, pointing to the choker, ‘This was left to you.’ Family history and names were mentioned to verify that they were, indeed, who they claimed to be. It was only when Ethel and Nan had gone that I realized that the mediumship and healing could be given simultaneously.

  The recipient of the survival messages was still looking slightly dazed.

  ‘My sister and I were brought up by the aunts,’ she explained. ‘Ethel had told me many times during my childhood that I would inherit the choker, and Nan had promised my sister that she would have her diamond ring.’ She smiled, as the memories came flooding back. ‘We loved them so much and really did not care whether they left us anything or not. As far as we were concerned they were never going to die. But, obviously, they did.’ The friend looked at me, and went on tearfully, ‘Ethel went first and Nan died three months later. I don’t think they could bear to be without each other.’

  ‘What happened to the jewellery?’ I asked.

  ‘Unfortunately they never left a will, and although we told the rest of the family about their bequest, it was ignored, and an elder brother claimed everything. That’s why I can understand her frustration now. He couldn’t have cared less about them whilst they were alive.’

  ‘Did they leave you their home?’ I asked.

  ‘No,’ she replied, ‘the house was rented. But we were able to afford the rent between us, and the landlord allowed us to stay on.’

  I was puzzled. ‘Why didn’t Nan speak out about the ring?’

  ‘My sister was fortunate enough to have received backing from a relative on that issue, and was given the ring. But the choker was sold for a very considerable sum of money.’

  We talked for a while and, when they were ready to leave, she said, ‘You’ve killed two birds with one stone today. I was going to ask you for a sitting.’

  This gave me an idea. Friends often wished to visit me together, and I was frequently asked to give healing to one and a sitting to the other. I decided, in future, to ask whether they would like to share the hour. I explained that if there were to be any survival messages, they would come through during the healing. If there were no messages, then time would have not been wasted for either of us. And it worked! At least sixty per cent of friends were willing to share their experiences, and I had time to give private sittings to the rest. Perfect!

  During one of these shared meetings I began to explain my theories on mind energy. During a visit from a lady called Joan, I demonstrated how the hand could be used as a magnet by placing it on her head and then gently pulling it away.

  ‘There you are,’ I said. ‘You should feel lighter now the compression has gone.’

  ‘Betty!’ she gasped.

  ‘Yes, what is it?’ I asked.

  ‘It is my father. There, in the corner of the room,’ she replied.

  Following her gaze, I saw a man dressed in old clothes holding a straw hat. He was smiling.

  ‘Can you see him?’ Joan asked.

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Oh!’ she said. ‘I can’t see him any more, he’s gone.’

  Joan looked dumbstruck. ‘That was definitely my father,’ she told me. ‘He was a teacher, and his favourite outfit was his gardening clothes and straw hat.’ She looked at me earnestly and asked, ‘Did he say anything?’

  ‘No, I’m afraid he didn’t,’ I said.

  ‘I have never seen a spirit before. Why was I able to see one today?’ she wondered.

  ‘It was because I had expanded your mind energy. You only see spirits with your mind, because it’s made up of the same components as they are.’

  Her friend, who had been receiving healing, was sitting on the couch looking completely bewildered. ‘Do you mean to say that if you did the same thing to me I would be able to see spirit people?’

  ‘I doubt it,’ I replied. ‘These things happen spontaneously, and rarely happen twice unless one is a medium. You see mediums have naturally expansive mind energies. When they close their eyes and relax, it expands further, enabling them not only to see but hear.’

  ‘Why didn’t my father speak to me?’ Joan asked.

  ‘He was probably as surprised as you were that you were able to see him.’ I told her that friends and relatives are often around, but the majority of people cannot see them.

  Helen, my patient, said, ‘I think you’re right. I’ve been told by many people that they have felt their parents near them after they have died.’ She sighed. ‘I would love to be able to see my mother again.’

  ‘Well, maybe you will, especially if you meditate regularly.’

  I had been thrilled by this experience, not only for Joan, but for myself as well. It was being proved to me time and again that my theories were correct.

  I had been told on several occasions that patients had seen someone standing by them while they were receiving healing. Now and then they would recognize a relative, and the joy on their face was a sight to beho
ld. The complete simplicity and naturalness of the moment also surprised them.

  It had become common knowledge amongst my patients that this phenomenon was likely to happen. Unfortunately, it was not as frequent as they would have liked, causing some disappointment.

  It was, however, happening more frequently to those who had asked for absent healing. I received letters and phone calls every week telling me stories of loved ones who had appeared to them during the hours of healing – some for a split second, while others stayed for a few minutes. Even pets they had lost could be seen. The explanation is simple: when receiving healing the energies are raised, in some more than others, and those who could see spirits were viewing them with an expanded ‘mind energy’. It is especially successful if you are linking in with a powerful healer, for it is that boost of energy that frees the mind.

  One day, I received a letter from South Africa. It was from a lady called Bella, who was in her eighties. We had been corresponding for over a year, and she had been delighted with the healing she had received. In this particular letter she told me that her late mother, father, and two sisters had appeared to her whilst she was linking in with me. At first she had closed her eyes, but then sensed that she should open them. When she did, her family were standing there before her. She had thought at first that she was dreaming – or that she had died.

  ‘Betty,’ she wrote, ‘I still can’t believe it happened. I was looking straight at them.’ Bella died three years later, and I am sure all her family were waiting to meet her.

  As far as my own life was concerned, spirits were still appearing every day, in some form or another. Sometimes there would be a wisp of energy that resembled a human form, another time the entity would be physical, and distinguished from a living person only by trails of energy that swirled around the floor. Another type would be a beautiful human, but totally transparent. The hands that appeared over my patients when I was giving healing nearly always looked solid, making it easy for the patients to feel the pressure when they were touched.

  I was woken, one night, by a bright light shining in my eyes. I thought at first that it was an intruder, but soon realized that the light was not man-made. Silver beams were moving around the room, and the walls appeared to be made of glass. Then I heard a voice say, ‘The secret of everlasting life – is love.’ The silver beams vanished and my bedroom returned to normal. ‘What an enigmatic thing to say,’ I thought. Love had always been the most important factor in my life, and I had always known that the immune system is weakened when one is unloved. But there were all kinds of love. Love, the secret of everlasting life: what sort of love is it? I had to wait a little longer before I received the answer.

  There was one sort of love that I was able to witness on a daily basis, and which thrilled an enormous amount of people. Friends and relatives accompanying a patient would often feel spirit hands on them whilst I was healing. They would say, ‘Betty, someone’s holding my ankles.’ Or, ‘I can feel someone’s hands on my head.’ This phenomenon suddenly escalated to such a degree that I was no longer surprised by it. And the fact that several spirit healers worked on different people in the room at the same time convinced me that this was a demonstration of a totally unselfish love. It was very moving, and was a love that changed many lives.

  I have met many men who were quite cynical about the benefits of healing, and who had only accompanied their wives under duress. The subject of mediums was definitely taboo; in fact, the wife usually asked me in advance not to mention it. I have to admit that I found it quite funny when the husbands received healing from unseen hands, and enjoyed seeing their expressions as they sat rigid, eyes popping, and rendered totally speechless. I usually gave them a diagnosis whilst they were recovering from the shock. This had a very strange effect on some of them. Still struggling to hold onto their scepticism, they accused their wives of disclosing their problem to me beforehand. On the whole, these sessions were fun, and the men enjoyed the leg-pulling as much as I did. There were many converts. As one gentleman said, ‘I will never doubt that there is an afterlife again.’

  I always made it quite clear that I was not seeking converts; I did not see that as my role at all. I was usually quite at ease with the sceptics, as I was with those who had faith. I believe that those people who have open minds have a very precious gift; they can embrace all knowledge and have a lifetime to arrive at their conclusion. I find people with closed minds very boring. They seem to arrive at a conclusion and stick to it doggedly for the rest of their lives. Moreover, they can never acknowledge that they might be wrong.

  One such person was a man who was so agnostic that I found his presence quite disturbing. About fifteen minutes into the healing, he shouted, ‘Bloody hell, I can feel hands around my ankle!’ He was terrified.

  ‘It is your left ankle,’ I told him calmly. ‘You have damaged your achilles heel.’

  He was extremely angry. ‘How the hell do you know that.’ Pointing to his wife, who was by now looking very uncomfortable, he said accusingly, ‘I suppose you told her.’

  I found his words and actions so unbelievable that I had to cover my face with my hands to hide my laughter. I decided to leave the room for a few minutes to recover. When I returned he had calmed down, and, looking a bit sheepish, asked me for an explanation. I told him that when the energies in the room are raised during the healing, the energy counterpart of the body loosens, enabling the recipient of the healing to feel the hands of the spirit entities. I also explained that they never wasted their time healing those who were completely well.

  Before he left he was gracious enough to apologize for his behaviour, but admitted that he had received quite a shock. I told him I could understand his reaction.

  ‘Well, someone cared enough to shake you out of your complacency,’ I said with a smile.

  He grimaced. ‘They did that, all right.’

  His wife later told me that his scepticism had made her very unhappy for many years, as she had always believed in the afterlife and healing, and that she had prayed that one day he would share her beliefs. Her prayers had finally been answered.

  ‘He is a changed man,’ she told me. ‘He’s read all my books on the subject, and has even bought some himself.’

  I am always surprised when I read or listen to supposedly learned people talking absolute rubbish about the paranormal, and remember these words, written by a famous philosopher: ‘The greatest critics are those that know nothing about the subject.’

  I had by this time gained an enormous amount of confidence, and was no longer disconcerted by any adverse comments that might be directed at me. I have also been blessed with a sense of humour; indeed, the gift of laughter has been the greatest asset in my life, and when faces appeared on the wall – by now another common occurrence – I found myself laughing out loud. It just seemed so ridiculous to have my wall used as a giant screen by an unseen projector.

  Relaxing one evening after a particularly busy day, I watched in amazement as the profile of a very dear friend built up on the wall. Then a voice said, ‘He needs you.’ The profile disappeared and reappeared at five minute intervals. Smiling to myself, I could imagine his incredulity if I was to phone him and say ‘Hi! this is Betty. I’m now a medium, and I’m ringing because I’ve seen your face building up on the wall.’ The more I thought about it the more hilarious it became. Then the voice spoke again. ‘He has had an accident, and is in need of your healing.’ This did disturb me.

  I hesitated to call him, as we had not been in contact with each other for about seven years. I had been living in Spain for many years and, when I returned, the mediumship had taken over my life. I decided to take my time thinking about the situation. The spirits, however, did not approve of this decision and the profile of my friend appeared on every wall in my home. It was obvious that they thought immediate action was necessary.

  I picked up the phone and called him. The next part of the story is described by my friend himself.
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br />   Many years ago, I had the privilege of being Betty’s singing teacher. We had not met, or even spoken to each other, for seven years, when, quite out of the blue, she called me. My partner answered the phone, and I heard him say, ‘No! This is Stewart.’

  Then he said, ‘Good heavens! Betty, Betty Shine! I thought you were still living in Spain. How are you?’ Betty apparently asked about my health, because I heard Stewart say, ‘If you had asked me that question two days ago I could have told you that David was very well, but I’m afraid that the situation has changed since then.’

  There was a pause, and then he said, ‘How could you know that?’ Apparently, she had told him that she was now a healer, and that her spirit guides had told her about my accident. I remember Stewart asking her if we could call her back later that day. It was quite extraordinary. I had fallen the previous day, and had injured my arm and thumb very seriously. After having had them set, I was required to stay overnight in the hospital. The next day Stewart collected me and brought me home. I had only been in the flat for a few minutes when Betty called.

  I later spoke to Betty for some time, and at the end of our conversation she told me that she was giving me healing.

  I retired to bed that evening in some considerable pain. I was also extremely worried by the fact that the doctors had not held out much hope of my recovering the full use of my arm and thumb. This disability would seriously affect my work.

  I was woken up in the middle of the night with the most extraordinary sensation in my arm. Then I endured a series of quite violent manipulations – and had no control over my arm at this time. I could find no explanation for this phenomenon at all.

  The next morning I called Betty and told her what had happened. She simply laughed! and said, ‘Oh! That was my spirit doctor. These manipulations are all part and parcel of the healing process.’ I was extremely impressed, especially as my arm and thumb quickly returned to normal.