Mediumship is more than mere "entertainment" says Horsham-bound Tony Stockwell

Does Tony think that’s fair enough?

Well, no, not really.

“I would suggest that any evening of mediumship should be entertaining, but it should never be seen as entertainment. I should speak in a way that is exciting and enjoyable for people, but I would say that it has got far greater meaning than just being a joke or a song or a dance for people.

“And I do feel that we have been singled out. I am pretty sure that if a Christian preacher was preaching, you wouldn’t have to say that it was for entertainment purposes.”

Is that really the same thing?

To an extent yes, Tony would say. The point is that they are both about spirituality… in Tony’s case non-religious spirituality.

“I find religion divisive. We are trying to bring people together. Religion is different, but spirituality is all about togetherness. The thing about mediumship is that it is welcoming and it binds people together. We all lose people. We are all stricken by grief at some point in our lives, and mediumship binds people and offers them hope.

“As human beings, we all battle to make sense of loss. When mediumship is good, it is certainly entertaining, but in a crucial way. I really believe that the human soul goes on. I really believe that there is a veil between the two worlds.

“It has been said before by people far more eloquent than me, but I do believe that there are times when that veil gets thinner. It will be about atmosphere, so I will be doing my best to keep everyone buzzing. If you can create a happy atmosphere, an atmosphere of hope, an atmosphere where there is something positive, then I do believe that that veil does become thinner and we are able to perceive that other world much clearer.”

With the wrong atmosphere, it could well be that nothing will happen: “If I was demonstrating to 300 people that hated me, the atmosphere would be so flat and so difficult that it would be almost impossible. A good link starts off very, very subtly. If I said something and everything was thinking ‘Oh yeah, everyone’s got a mother!’ then it would make it much more difficult for the next statement to come through which might be more specific, like ‘She was an air hostess with BA.’

“It has got to be collaborative. I gave a talk the other week on the part played by the recipient. They need to come along with an open mind and to be hoping that something comes through. If you come along with your arms crossed saying ‘I don’t believe any of this! I have been forced to come along’, then of course it will be much more difficult, but you can get through.

“Last week, a woman came in, arms crossed, saying her family had forced her to come along, but the name Richard came into my head like a bullet. I wrote it down, not quite daring to say it, and she said ‘What have you written there?’ And I said ‘Richard’, and it was the name of her husband who had just died. And from that moment on, she was a different woman. She was just waiting for something that defied logic, and by the end of the hour, we were best buddies…

“But if people were really hostile, maybe nothing would come through. When we start chatting, people see that I am not a weird person and they start to relax. I am only ever kind to people.

“I am not there to bamboozle them. I am just there to share what is coming through. That’s all. And I am very, very lucky that the vast majority of people that come to my theatre evenings or my one-to-ones are… I would not like to call them fans… but they are people that have some level of belief that I can do what I do.”

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