Experiences, Business Practices, and Familial Characteristics of Secular American Mediums

  • Julie Beischel, PhD The Windbridge Research Center
  • Mark Boccuzzi Windbridge Research Center

Abstract

Little is known about the day-to-day activities of practicing mediums in the US. Medium participants (n=128; 91.4% female, 93.6% white, 54.0 years) completed online surveys. Over 60% reported each psychic, precognitive, remote viewing,  sychometry, and energy healing abilities, and half communicate with living and deceased animals (47.6% and 52.4%, respectively). The majority (55.9%) first experienced mediumistic communication at 10 years or younger. Family members with similar abilities were 74.2% female and 69.3% from the mother’s side. Participants worked with law enforcement (21.5%) or other investigators (32.8%) and had ‘training’ with living mentors, spirit guides, or the deceased. In person readings are most popular; most mediums perform two or less readings per week lasting 31-60 minutes. Nearly 30% do not charge for readings; 82.8% of those who do, charge less than $200. These novel data provide unique insight into the lived experiences of mediums and offer directions for future research.

Author Biographies

Julie Beischel, PhD, The Windbridge Research Center

Julie Beischel received her doctorate in Pharmacology and Toxicology with a minor in Microbiology and Immunology from the University of Arizona in 2003. She previously served as Director of Research at the Windbridge Institute, LLC (2008-2017) and is currently Director of Research at the Windbridge Research Center, an Arizona non-profit corporation. She uses her interdisciplinary training to apply the scientific method to controversial topics. Dr. Beischel's research mainly focuses on people who report experiencing regular communication with the deceased (mediums) and those who receive mediumship readings (sitters); specifically, the accuracy and specificity of the information mediums report; their experiences, psychology, and physiology; and the potential social applications of mediumship readings.

Mark Boccuzzi, Windbridge Research Center

Mark Boccuzzi is the Executive Director of the Windbridge Research Center and managing editor of Threshold: Journal of Interdisciplinary Consciousness Studies.

Published
2023-03-05
How to Cite
BEISCHEL, Julie; BOCCUZZI, Mark. Experiences, Business Practices, and Familial Characteristics of Secular American Mediums. Threshold: Journal of Interdisciplinary Consciousness Studies, [S.l.], v. 5, n. 1, p. 1-26, mar. 2023. ISSN 2575-2510. Available at: <http://tjics.org/index.php/TJICS/article/view/36>. Date accessed: 10 nov. 2024.