Clairvoyance and Mediumship - can we rely on them exclusively?

In all classes of human beings, there are those specially endowed with the ability to see and hear persons who have departed the earth-life, who can thereby receive messages from the beyond. These abilities can be natural gifts, but they can also be partly acquired through psychic exercises and various exertions. The effects are of course rather different, but we need not concern ourselves with them here. However, since there are only a handful of people who boast such abilities, and who are often visited by numerous others desperately searching for some answer to persistent problems, it is important for us to determine whether we can rely on these gifted ones exclusively.

The question should be answered with a definite "NO!" And here is the reason: the ability to see things of the beyond should not be strange to us, but it can be likened to the ability to see the physical world around us. Just because we see things happening in this physical world does not mean that we understand precisely what is going on. We behold, but do we comprehend? Far from it. An ordinary person can see an architectural drawing, but without the right amount of knowledge, he is unable to liken specific aspects of it to the building being constructed. An architect, on the other hand, is also familiar with the drawing, but simultaneously possesses the inherent knowledge required to understand how it relates to the building.

In much the same way, a clairvoyant or psychic person sees a picture in the beyond, or sees a person or hears a message, and transmits it to the earth, but does not necessarily possess the necessary spiritual knowledge and intuitive ability to interpret it aright. Surely, that is the key requirement in analysing the words from the beyond. If this is lacking, then all kinds of fantasies can emerge, often quite contrary to the truth. That becomes a danger, not a help, to the person who relies so one-sidedly on mediumship.

Many times, the palmists, astrologers, clairvoyants and persons with other similar gifts neglect to pass on just this vital piece of information to those who come to them. It is no different with religious rituals. The priests and disciples of various religions perform various rituals in order to determine a certain direction from the beyond, and they give their own interpretation of the answers. In the process, the visitors are pressured to believe in something that otherwise need never have affected them. If it is the case of a message that indicates that suffering is on the way, the person may develop an unnatural fear that actually does call this suffering in!

From these brief explanations it should be clear that, while these gifts are not wrong to bear and put to use, it is more important to acquire true spiritual knowledge that empowers the individual to interpret the results of using these gifts aright. We cannot rely on the bearers of the gifts for complete guidance because they, like us, are currently lacking in this knowledge. But once we absorb a complete Knowledge of Creation, we at least have everything we need to weigh and examine everything that crosses our path.