This post picks up where I left off in the How I Discovered I Am a Medium post in which I shared the series of events that led me to believe that I had mediumistic abilities. The story continues with what felt like my initiation from the Spirit world in doing my first real reading, and the events that followed.

Mediumship Development: The First Reading I Gave and How It Surprised Me

I had been sharing some of my mini mediumship experiences with Amy Brookes, the medium who read for me before my dad passed. I told her that I was doing some online practice readings through workshops but was too nervous to ask friends to practice with me. She offered to be a sitter for me. Initially I was very nervous to try to read for her as she is a professional medium, but then accepted the offer knowing she would be supportive.

One April morning in 2023, I logged into a ZOOM call with Amy and surprised myself by doing my first reading, bringing her Nanny through with evidence and messages. (Amy talked about my experience in Episode 66 of her podcast titled Following the Spiritual Breadcrumbs).

Near the end of the reading, I got the sense that news of a baby would be coming. Amy said she couldn’t think of anyone in her life who would be expecting. A few hours later, she sent me a screen capture of a Facebook post her cousin had just shared announcing her pregnancy and I couldn't believe it!

When My Light Turned on for the Spirit World: My First Pop Through

Amy suggested I try a reading by email so that I wouldn’t feel the pressure of having a sitter across from me. Someone I had recently met shared with me the name of her mom in spirit. I sat by myself in my office feeling kind of foolish and tried to tune in to see what happened. I started to type a list of things that came into my awareness, having no idea what was correct as it felt like I was making it all up (which I've now learned is how it always feels)!

I took a deep breath, hit send and closed my computer. As soon as I closed the computer, I felt a little surge of energy in my body and heard “father figure.” I assumed her father had now connected and I opened my computer back up and typed a list of about a dozen very random things. I sent the woman a follow-up note saying that I thought her dad had also come through.

Shortly after, she responded and verified several pieces of the evidence about her mom right away (and more was verified later) but said that what I sent about her dad didn’t sound like him at all.

For several days I wondered about who the unknown spirit could have been. One day while driving a woman I had recently met at a luncheon popped into my head. I remembered her telling me that her ex-husband had died and how she was disappointed because she wasn’t receiving signs from him.

I ran into that same woman a few days later while away on vacation in another town which felt like a synchronicity I didn’t understand at the time. I wondered if my mystery spirit might be her ex-husband.

When I reached out to her, she responded right away, verifying almost every item on the list and telling me the relevance of all the random bits. This would become the first of many what I call “pop throughs” that happened over the next several weeks that largely took over my life.

When It All Cracked Open: Learning to Set Boundaries and Making a Commitment

That first pop-through felt like it became some sort of signal to the spirit world. It was like spirits connected to people I knew or met started seeing me as a conduit to get to their loved ones. I started getting bombarded by spirit connections.

I would have a spirit connection happen, often while I was driving, and words and messages would start flooding in. Things like…Betty, two kids, a boy and a girl, a smoker, "you need to tell her to stop worrying so much about the boys – they are going to be fine."

When I stopped the car, I would type everything that came through in my notes app. I would then play spirit detective and try to figure out who this spirit was for and reach out to them. It was often someone I had been with in the past 24 hours, or I had recently seen a post from on social media.

It was overwhelming, partly cool and partly scary, and all-consuming for a few weeks. I knew that something had to change, but I didn’t know how to stop the connections from happening. I also felt an obligation to serve as the sprit messenger for these spirits desperate to connect with their people, but didn't want to continue to feel like a crazy lady reaching out to people!

It came to a head one day while driving in downtown Toronto, when I was overwhelmed by Spirit energy. I felt a surge of electricity coursing through my body and felt disoriented, like I couldn’t think straight, after connecting with a spirit related to someone I met at an event that day. It’s a miracle I didn’t have an accident.

When I got to my friend’s house, I literally got down on the floor on all fours trying to ground my energy and stop whatever the heck was happening.

I started asking Spirit for help in understanding how to control the energy and was led to several teachers including Suzanne Giesmann, MaryAnn DiMarco, Hannah McIntyre and Marissa DiSimone. I read several books, took a few on-line courses, and had some conversations with mediums who had been through what I was experiencing.

I learned to set boundaries with the Spirit world so that I could function in life! I made an agreement with the Spirit world that I would block times in my calendar each week to practice and that I was not available for connections outside of those hours. The pop-throughs subsided, and they only occasionally happen now when someone in spirit, often a child, really needs to communicate.

I then signed up to do some more formal training with a well-respected medium and teacher, Andy Byng, who I believe my dad led me to through a series of synchronicities.

Of course, my dad would guide me to a medium named Andy, who loves fishing like my dad did, and who teaches an approach to mediumship based in storytelling. My dad was also quite a storyteller and one of the final projects I worked on with my dad was creating a book of stories of his life.

Continued Development: Letting Spirit Lead the Way

Since agreeing to develop my abilities more formally, I’ve been practising with fellow students in the programs I’m taking and Spirt has led me to the people I’m meant to read for in the most fascinating ways.

Each week, I block off time for readings, without knowing who I’ll be reading for. Somehow, I’m always guided to someone—or someone enters my life who needs a reading. I often receive signs or “snags” from Spirit through things in the real world that I know will connect to the person I’m to read for next or the reading itself.

As an example, at one point the word Nova kept coming to me in several different ways and I had no idea why but noted it. One day I opened Instagram and the first post I saw was from a person I’d only recently met sharing it was the anniversary of her father’s passing and the special connection her daughter had with her father. Her daughter’s name was Nova.

I got full head tingles and knew I needed to reach out to her. We did a reading, and her father provided some beautiful evidence and messages, both in the reading and through a few clever signs he shared with me right after that were mind-blowing.

I’ve now done many practice sessions and full readings at this point and every single one has been incredible in its own way – delivering what the sitter needed in the moment and teaching me the lessons I need to learn about how mediumship works for me specifically.

It is extremely challenging and humbling work that requires me to let go of my own ego and trust the spirit communiator to lead the way, but it so rewarding and leaves me with a sense of gratitude and awe every time.

A Life-Changing Mediumship Experience: When I Truly Understood the Responsibility and Healing Power of Mediumship

In September of 2024 I made the long drive to the Omega Institute in upstate New York by myself to attend a workshop with the well-known medium and author of the book Signs, Laura Lynne Jackson. I read the book Signs a few years ago and it was my first introduction to the concept of receiving signs. I am a huge fan of Laura’s work and jumped at the opportunity to learn from her.