In the section entitled "Necessary Virtues", we looked at what kinds of attitudes, habits, and characteristics a medium should have in order to be successful in the use of his mediumistic faculty, to protect himself from the potentials for downfall and the dangerous influence of inferior beings, and to draw to his side, Spirits of an elevated nature who share in his benevolent objectives and who can help him through their counsel, guidance, protection, and friendship.

A medium's possession of the above qualities requires that he put forth the efforts necessary to overcome his weaknesses and increase his tendencies and inclinations toward these positive qualities, turning them into his strengths.  This change is not expected overnight; naturally, it will happen over time, over lifetimes in fact. What is important is the continuous effort toward improvement.

In addition to working toward these virtuous qualities through a mental control over thoughts, attitudes, and reactions toward different situations,  what else can the medium do in order to be successful in his work and secure his own protection ?  Below are some practices  that are recommended by the Spiritist Doctrine.  Keep in mind that while directed here towards mediums, as part of our overall study of mediumship, these recommendations concern practices that should be followed by all.    

 Regular Study of the Spiritist Doctrine

This study that is needed by the medium refers to both the Doctrine's teachings on mediumship as well as it's philosophical revelations and moral lessons. 

In order for the medium, the Spirits that communicate or heal through him, and those who are being helped through such interactions to benefit most from the medium's work, that medium needs to understand the mechanisms of his faculty.  When he is aware of the what is happening while he is under the influence of a Spirit, the medium works with tranquility and confidence.  He also understand the roles of the many individual and environmental factors, both within his control and out of his control, that either facilitate or block constructive and valuable communications. In addition, this study teaches the medium not only about his own type of mediumship, but also about that of other mediums that he works with, and a mutual understanding among members of a work group always contributes to a more harmonious execution of the task. 

In addition to knowing how their mediumship functions, mediums must learn how to evaluate the product of their work;  the Doctrine gives them the tools of analysis to understand what kind of Spirits are using them as intermediaries and teaches them how to be on guard against deceptive and mystifying Spirits. Lastly, the exercise of mediumship, while not inherently dangerous, does present potential dangers for the medium who is not on guard against the negative impacts of pride, discouragement, unhealthy thoughts and behaviors, and ultimately of the inferior Spiritual influence that the former will attract. The value of the Doctrine is indispensable in its lessons on how to avoid these potential dangers and attract a positive Spiritual influence and to deserve the cooperation and commitment of elevated Spirits who seek sincere partners for carrying out God's work.

Equally, if not more important than the study of mediumistic mechanisms, is the medium's regular study of "The Spirits' Book","The Gospel" and other philosophically enlightening and morally edifying works of the Doctrine.  The philosophical and moral teachings of the Doctrine help to keep the medium grounded by teaching him about the purpose and objectives of his existence and by explaining the conditions in which he and others find themselves living, both in the material and spiritual realms.  They also reveal to him how to overcome his difficulties and and minimize his own suffering by using the tools that he has within.  The books help the medium to understand the moral qualities that he must seek to develop and inspire him to work hard on doing so.  By reading from such literary sources and attending lectures at the Spiritist Center, the medium, just like all of us, tunes in  mentally with the good Spirits that accompany him, and he opens his mind to the advice and comfort that they  have to offer, which are captured by intuition.  Not only that, but one's positive mental state during those moments helps to draw in healthy and uplifting energies that transform and rebalance one's personal energy field, affording a sense of calmness and, if done regularly, thiswill have a positive effect on the physical body as well. 

 Frequent Prayer

For all Spirits, incarnate and discarnate, prayer is an invaluable resource in obtaining spiritual and physical balance and in attracting positive forces to our own aid and to that of others.  For prayer to be truly beneficial, it must be sincere, with thoughts and "words" that come from heart, and not a memorized string of words or some kind of formula by which he who prays feels no emotion.  The prayer that is most effective is also one that appeals for well-being, protection, and guidance, and not for material gifts or harmful forces.  It is through sincere and meaningful prayer that we are able to create a link between ourselves and our Spiritual benefactors; through this link we tune in to them via the vital force of thought, by which they hear our appeals and offer guidance and help.  In addition, a mind engaged in prayer emits positive vibrations that are amplified by the contributions of our Spiritual friends, and these vibrations envelop our spiritual and physical bodies in waves of positive energies. When the prayer is directed toward another in need, we appeal to good Spirits who hear our request and go to the aid of such person or persons, who benefit, as well,  from the positive energies that we emit and project in their direction.

*For a  detailed discussion on the power of prayer, please see the subsection "Prayer" under the heading Religion/Morality in the main study category, Triple Aspect of Spiritism.

For mediums, in other words those who are particularly sensitive to the influence of Spirits, prayer is extremely important for them to keep their minds in tune with the elevated thoughts of their spiritual mentors.  Prayer should be for the medium, and for all of us, an integral part of daily life.

Prayer is also an important element in a mediumship session conducted at a Spiritist Center, again for establishing and maintaining a strong connection and tuning with the spiritual mentors who are guiding and contributing to the activities of the meeting and who support the mediums in their tasks.  The Spirit author, Andre Luiz, in his book "In the Domains of Mediumship" tells about a mediumship session that he witnessed (in the discarnate state), in which he was able to observe a circular crown of light that "hovered" over the head of each medium at the table, as well as a beam of light shining down over each of them, evidence of their zealous state of prayer that put them in connection with the higher spirituality.

 Active Participation in the Spiritist Center

The medium who works in the Spiritist Center is considered a worker of that Center, and it is important for him to be an active member.  This medium should participate in other activities and tasks of the center, and should not go to the Center only on the days of his mediumship work.  This is important because the medium needs to establish ties of fraternity with the other mediums (outside of the mediumship sessions) as well as with other members of the Center.  He also needs to be in contact with the good Spirits that assist that Center. In addition, the Spiritist Center, while at the same time a hospital, a school, and a home, operates solely on the volunteer work and contributions of its members.  Therefore, the active participation of all members who offer their collaboration helps the Center to be a source of spiritual aid to those in need and a place of learning and friendship for all.

 Careful Selection of Places Visited

Mediums must be careful not to make a habit of visiting places that have vicious environments, referring here to environments charged with negative energies created by the unhealthy and morally inferior thoughts and behaviors of those present (both incarnate and discarnate) and the activities carried out at such places.  All mediums, no matter how moral they are, are still fallible, like all of us, except they are even more sensitive to psychic influence.  This influence has the potential to tempt their moral weaknesses and/or affect their personal energy field, which in turn influences their emotional and spiritual well-being, as well as their ability to be of beneficial service to others through mediumistic practice. At the same time, such places are not frequented by Spirits of a higher order, unless they are accompanying an individual who goes there in service (to help others), which should be the only condition that takes a medium to places normally visited by Spirits who are only of the lower order.

 Proper Care of the Physical Body

We've discussed, in many instances, the importance of the medium's care with respect to his moral and mental state, the conditions and qualities of his thoughts and behaviors.   However, the medium must also take good care of his physical body and avoid bad habits and vicious behaviors that have a negative impact on its health, such as smoking, drinking, drug use, sexual promiscuity, even excessive and unhealthy eating, etc.  On one hand, all of these activities, while obviously detrimental to his own physical body, also pollute the medium's spiritual energies and impede his ability to offer healthy, positive vital fluids to those whom he is supposed to help.  One obvious example is with the healing medium, who loses his ability to donate good energies of his own and may even present a potential harm to the patient (if his negative energies are not blocked by the patient's lack of affinity or nullified by the work of good Spirits).  Another example stems from the positive impact received by suffering Spirits who are able to absorb the calming and healthy energies of a medium through whom they communicate in a mediumship session; this donation of energy by the medium is, again, hampered by the consequences of the medium's neglectful behavior.  On the other hand, these behaviors do not only harm his body and impede his work. They also attract inferior Spirits who share in the same material passions and vices, and who literally feed off of the energies and fluidic formations created by the incarnate being's inferior thoughts and actions, while robbing him of vital fluids.

 Charity and Compassion

Whenever possible, one should seek to recognize the opportunities that he is given to be compassionate toward others.  When done discreetly, and from the heart (no ulterior motives), acts of charity not only benefit those who are receiving, but also have multiple rewards for those who practice acts of kindness.  After all, as the teachers of our Doctrine advise us, "it is in giving that we receive" and "without charity, there is no salvation."  For the medium in particular, the regular practice of charity also represents one way in which he can prove to the superior Spirits that he is dedicated to good-will and deserving of their support and collaboration.