Not long ago I attended a trance workshop at the spiritualist church in the town where I live. It was presented by Tim, a full-time medium, and I was immediately struck by his professional approach to the event. Upon arrival, the first thing Tim did was shake my hand and introduce himself to me, as he did all of the participants in the course.

When Tim opened the workshop, he stated that he was not an educated man, but his spiritual guide, Edward, was highly educated and very philosophical. Edward, Tim’s guide, helped Tim in his work as a professional medium, and gave him insights he may otherwise not have gleaned. Tim would go into a trance state and Edward would come through, speaking to his audience, quite happy to be amongst the living once again.

While in the trance state, Edward spoke through Tim and informed the members of the workshop that they all had within themselves the answers to the questions they seek and had no real need of mediums. He jokingly said that he did not want to belabour the point because if people knew they had the answers within themselves then Timothy would soon be out of a job.

Edward, Tim’s spirit guide, was also able to transform his face to take on other features, such as beards and spectacles, thereby enabling him to resemble other people, such as that of a Chinese man. I personally did not witness any changes in Tim/Edward’s appearance, but other members of the workshop said they did.

One of the first exercises Tim had the members of the workshop participate in was to go into a deep meditation to allow each individual’s spirit guides to come closer to them. This exercise was followed by another exercise, where we invited our spirit guides to come to us and make themselves known to the other members of the workshop, if they so desired.

During that exercise I personally did not find myself to be in a deep enough meditative state to allow my spirit guide to come to me, but it was a pleasant experience nonetheless. The woman sitting next to me allowed her spirit guide to come through, and this guide attempted to speak to the group after being able to use the physical body that he was inhabiting. A man who sat across the room from me also allowed his guide to come through, and this being was clearly very pleased to be able to present himself to the workshop. He gave a great monologue to the group, quite happy that he could speak out loud and clearly amused that he could hear the sound of his own voice.

The woman sitting next to our gabby spirit friend appeared to be in a state of distress, which was difficult for her to conceal. She was sobbing, whimpering, and making such a scene that the group leader had to pull her out of the trance state. The woman said the spirits were trying very hard to pull her into a deep spiral, and she did not feel that she could fight it. I personally found her reaction to be a bit paradoxal because she told the group that she ran her own circle and worked with others as a medium. I was perplexed, therefore, as to why she was so frightened to engage in the exercises.

After lunch we had an exercise where we practiced trance healing, which is apparently the direction that spiritualists are moving toward. We went into a deep meditative state and put our hands on the shoulder of the person who we were giving healing to. During this meditative state we invited our guides to use our bodies as a vehicle for healing.

It was while I was performing trance healing that I first became aware of my spirit guide. He was a Native American with a full headdress, which meant that he must have attained a high position in his tribe. He used my body as an instrument for healing for awhile, and then eventually stepped aside to allow a nurse to come through and complete the process. The one thing that stood out in my mind’s eye about this woman was that her uniform resembled that which someone might have worn in the 1970’s.

When the healing was complete, the individual who I gave trance healing to confirmed that the energy used was initially masculine and then changed to a feminine essence.

We performed another exercise where we went into a deep meditative state and again invited our guides to join us. Again, the man across the room allowed his guide to come through and he chatted to the group without a care in the world, quite happy to be in the material world and enjoying listening to the sound of his own voice. The woman sitting next to him again began whimpering and sobbing, so much so that her behaviour was somewhat disruptive to the group because it kept others from achieving an appropriate meditative state. I thought it odd that for someone who ran her own psychic circle, she certainly seemed quite frightened to be amongst that circle. Although I am only an acolyte to spiritualism, I would have thought that she is either not ready for not suited to trance work if she is obviously so frightened by the experience.

It was at this point that I felt the very subtle energy shift, as an entity very quietly and gently slipped into my auric field, metaphorically as if a person would put a hand in a glove. I made the conscious effort to move my psyche to the side so that my guide could step in, and as I did so I could feel my back straighten and shoulders broaden ever so slightly, as if I was attempting to sit tall in my seat.

I could sense that my guide was not amused at the behaviour of the other spirits and participants alike. He considered the woman who had been weeping and blubbering all day long to be very weak and have no pride in herself whatsoever to present herself to a crowd of strangers in such a way. I also had the distinct impression that he would never demean himself by performing what he considered to be a circus act for an audience, which is why he refused to use my body as a vehicle to speak. He had such a high level of self confidence that he had no further need of a physical body, which is why he has not reincarnated back into the Earth plane.

From the visual images I received in my mind’s eye, I knew that my guide was a native American. He had been a great warrior in the 19th century American west and lived at peace amongst the bison, which were so much a part of the landscape of the American Great Plains before those of European descent moved into the previously unfettered land.

It was during this state of altered awareness that Sitting Bull came to my mind. I do not think my guide was necessarily Sitting Bull, a prominent figure in 19th century native American history, but feel that my spirit guide knew Sitting Bull and may very well have fought alongside him during the battle of supremacy of great the American west.

That was not the first time I made contact with my very proud guide. The first time I came face to face with him was a couple of years previously when I was living on a totally vegetarian diet, trying very hard to abstain from animal products altogether. It was during this time that I awoke one morning at 3:00 am to see a red Indian brave standing by my bookshelf with his arms crossing over his chest. I got the distinct impression that he was acting as my protector, although I do not feel particularly protected in what can often be a very cruel world.