The following questions were put to us by our visitors  and workshop attendees. These questions are then answered by various teachers working for the sanctuary.

What is your spirit?

Jim Thornton: Your spirit in the part of you that is eternal. The part that never dies. The part that, when you take away all the fears, traumas, anxieties of the material world, lies in the quiet, the stillness in peace and love and knowing. When you quite your mind and relax, your spirit lies in the silence When you put aside the burdens of negativity and allow yourself to dream about how you want things to be, all the things that bring you joy, all the people you want to be with, all the things you want to do, all the things you want to feel, it is your spirit which is being expressed and you feel it coming alive.

When you die what happens?

Jim Thornton: You never die, but you transition from the material world into the spirit world. That spirit that was 'tied' by a silver thread to your physical body, is set free to return to the spirit world. It is no longer confined to the physical body, has no pain, no hunger, no thirst. You are met by guides and loved ones who welcome you into the spirit world and help you to adjust.

What is the spirit world like?

Jim Thornton: All accounts of the spirit world speak of wonderous beauty. They also talk of places of learning, of fun and comfort, of relaxation, but also of work. The soul progresses in the spirit world much as it does on Earth with a balance of work, rest, play and learning. Much reflection is done on the life just past to learn what may have been done differently, and make amends where possible.

What is in it the reading?

Jim Thornton: The reading should include an explanation of how she works, description of features and personality of loved ones, evidence of information known to you and them, and messages of things they may wish you to be aware of.

Does my spirit look the same as my physical boday and what about reincarnation?

Jim Thornton: In spirit, you don't have a physical body, so you can think of yourself as pure energy or light. However, when you show yourself to others, you can project any image of yourself that you want them to see. E.g. If they would recognise you one way, you show that way, if they don't you can choose how to present yourself. Its more about being who you FEEL.

I believe reincarnation happens. As the soul progresses through eternity, each visit to earth brings new learning experiences and opportunities to develop the soul. People CHOOSE whether to come to earth or not.

How would you know if you were dead? do you still have thoughts?

Jim Thornton: Well, not all spirits know they're dead, or it may take some time to realise All spirits have 'free will' so they don't have to enter the spirit world, some choose to stay in earth-bound energies. Most however, see a bright light which they move towards and there they find their guides and loved ones.
You absolutely have thoughts in the spirit world. In fact the spirit world is in many ways thought-driven. Your thoughts create your reality. You think of someone and you draw them towards you, you the think of a place and you're there. Communication is through thought.

It is our conciousness, the fact we can think and are aware, which is the only thing that gives the universe any meaning.

What is an Apport?

Ian Jones: An apport is the dematerialisation of a physical object from it's current location to another. In most cases it is subsequently materialised again in a completely different location from where it was originally. Apports are sometimes associated with poltergeist (or noisy ghost) activity where house hold objects such as keys are moved from one room to another (even across countries). Apports have also been experienced in physical mediumship development circles where the sitters frequently give their energy for such phenomena to work.

What is Astral Projection / Out of Body Experience?

Ian Jones: Astral Projection is the art of separating the etheric spirit body from our physical counterpart at will. Most of us are unaware that when we dream at night, we are actually astral travelling the many spheres. The astral worlds are mental worlds where thought has the power to manifest anything we think into being. When astral travelling, you may find yourself floating around the etheric carbon copy of this physical world or you may encounter a thought world where all past, current & future possibilities are already present or shaping together. For example you may come across a structure that doesn't exist on Earth as it's still on the drawing board and yet to be built.

The Astral body is connected to our physical body by what is known as the silver chord. This chord is infinitely elastic allowing us to move where ever our thoughts take us, but if we suddenly think about our material body or perhaps venture too far, our physical body will instantly pull us back. An exercise you can try with a willing companion is to make a pact that you will meet each other at certain location & time during sleep. Before going to sleep, make an affirmation that you will meet your chosen person at a given time, and that you will become aware within your dream to realise that you are astral travelling.

What is a Development Circle?

Ian Jones: A development circle is where would be mediums, experienced mediums and healers sit quite regularly to fine tune their energies to work with spirit. Normally within a circle you have at least one experienced medium who can overlook the proceedings and ensure everybody is working safely. The circle is usually opened with an 'opening-prayer' where the sitters ask for protection using love, light and integrity.
Members of the circle may take it in turns to run the circle for a while, which helps keep the circle fresh and help everybody feel apart of it.
Typically most circles sit in meditation for a while, usually with the circle leader guiding everybody into the meditation using visualisation techniques. This valuable time helps the circle member to blend their energy with their spirit guide which in turn will help them to improve their spirit link. The blending of energy is a two way process, with the guide learning to blend with us as much as we need to blend with them.
Once the meditation is over, each member can discuss with the group any impressions or visualisations they experienced. Some people see, others hear and some feel or do all three. Or, you could just become aware of something you didn't know before, an inner knowing, it can be quite subtle especially in the beginning. Once the meditation is over, the members can practice reading each other using various techniques, Psychometry, Angel or Tarot cards, water reading, flower reading and many more. The evening is always followed by a closing prayer thanking guides, spirit and loved ones for working with the circle and asking that everybody remains safe until next time. Finally, healing is sent out where ever it's needed.

What is Psychometry?

Ian Jones: Psychometry is the art of reading past events & emotions absorbed by an object. Everything around us is made up of energy, which we are connected. At some level everything we do is being recorded and absorbed by every object we come into contact with, however, the more emotional an event is, the deeper the memory is recorded into it. A wedding ring is a good object to practice on because the wearer would have experienced all manner of emotions whilst wearing it. This would allow a psychic person to easily pick things up. It does appear that tragic events leave the strongest impressions.


What is a Poltergeist or Ghost?

Ian Jones: Poltergeist is German for noisy ghost, there seems to be a number of different causes for Poltergeist activity with the most common being either a trapped earthly soul or an adolescent child with an abundance of psychic energy.

Let's examine the first case, if somebody died of tragic circumstances they may not yet be aware of their fate, so to this end they are confused as to why family and friends are ignoring them, or why strangers have moved into their house. Another explanation is the person has a deep attachment to the earth plane because they still want to use earthly pleasures such as drugs, alcohol or other material objects. Or, they might have been involved in a heinous crime for which they're not ready to face up to. Until the soul can let go of these attachments they will remain close to the Earth plane.

Young children with an abundance of psychic energy can also cause Poltergeist activity, especially those who are suffering acute emotional stress. The child's over active psychic energy is released into the atmosphere causing house hold objects to move, which to all intents and purposes looks as if the house inhabited by the child is actually haunted. Sometimes once the child has received help from a therapist to deal with the bottled up emotions, the phenomena plaguing the child, abruptly stops.

What is Reincarnation?

Ian Jones: It is widely believed that for the soul to reach a certain perfection and stop the constant cycle of re-birth & death, the incarnating soul needs to master many experiences and emotions. This can take many life times to achieve but with eternity on our side there isn't any need to rush, but the sooner we realise this predicament and act upon it, the sooner we can break it's spell. Many souls remain in the spirit world for many hundred or thousands of years between lives but when it's time for us to come back and learn new lessons, we generally do so with the majority of our soul group who have been experiencing many of our lessons with us, for all time. Once we have mastered everything that there is to learn we may progress for ever onwards within the spiritual spheres.

What is the period of time before one can communicate with spirit after their passing from earth?

Jim:We are often told 'there is no time in spirit', this is because they have no physical limitations anymore and can achieve in nano-seconds of earth time what it would take years for us to achieve here. Despite what some say, it is our experience that spirit CAN come through very soon after their passing We have certainly had friends through within 1 week of passing, and some mediums I know have communicated with spirit during their own funeral. It is true that some souls may require more healing than others or there may be other reasons why it is not appropriate for them to come through straight away, but we believe it is certainly possible.

If spirit can incarnate, how can we as family members communicate with them if they are back in human form?

Jim:My understanding of reincarnation is that most incarnations happen some time apart, so that all those known to the person in their first incarnation on earth, are already in spirit themselves by the time it comes to their second incarnation. However, there is also information to suggest that our spirits may be bigger than just that which comes into our physical body. There may be part of our energy that remains in spirit, the culmination of knowledge gained from previous lives perhaps. This is what many refer to as our higher selves'. It would be possible therefore, for mediums to communicate with the higher self of a soul who also has a part of their energy incarnated on earth.