BASIC EXPLANATION OF A TRUMPET SEANCE The trumpet séance is a spirit circle consisting of approximately 12 people and a medium or channel with the ability to produce physical phenomena. Physical phenomena mediums are rare because it takes an extraordinary amount of psychic energy and they must vibrate at a higher frequency. The medium goes into a deep trance and channels master teachers, his own personal spirit guides and teachers as well as those of each of the sitters in the circle. The so-called "trumpet" is simply an aluminum cone, shaped like those orange cones that are used to indicate construction work being done or to block off parking spaces, but in this case, is a lightweight silver-colored aluminum cone. The sitters sit in a semicircle in seats assigned by the medium as suggested to him by his spirit guides during the meditation he performs alone before the sitters arrive. The sitters are arranged in such a way as to balance the energy, as we all transmit different energies. The sitters serve as a battery for the medium to be able to call in the spirits and to achieve the direct voice phenomena and the levitating of the trumpets or cones during the sitting. More information concerning the trumpet séance is given in the various sections that follow. CHANNELING Spirits do not have vocal cords so, in order to speak audibly, they need to use the vocal cords of a medium or channel, speaking through him and using his vocal chords. This is called channeling. In a regular spirit circle or at a private reading with a clairvoyant medium, the medium will go into a trance and have what is called an out-of-body experience or astral projection. Spirit will then inhabit his body and use the medium's vocal cords to speak to the sitter or sitters. THE TRUMPET OR ALUMINUM CONE DIRECT VOICE PHENOMENA With the cone or trumpet, the spirit guides are able to use the cone as a cabinet and produce simulated vocal cords out of a light and moldable substance called ectoplasm, which is a lighter form of protoplasm, that is emanated from the medium as well as from some or all of the sitters during the séance. The aluminum cone also amplifies their voices, so the spirits can speak audibly to everyone in the room through the cone or trumpet. This is called direct voice phenomena. Spirit also uses the ectoplasm to enable them to raise the trumpet off the floor. Because the circle is in complete darkness, the medium usually paints the bottom of the cone or trumpet in fluorescent paint, so the sitters can see the levitation of the cone or trumpet during the séance. There are only a handful of mediums who can do this in the light or a soft, subdued light. Light breaks up the ectoplasm, so most trumpet séances are held in complete darkness. The voices that come through the trumpet can be heard by all of the sitters, so they get to hear, not only the messages directed toward them, but everyone else's messages as well. Often, a message that is delivered to one person contains information that is useful to all. A TYPICAL SPIRIT CIRCLE TRUMPET SÉANCE SESSION A typical spirit circle or trumpet séance session lasts for about two to three hours, depending on the amount of sitters. In the ones I attended, there were usually ten to twelve people invited to attend. The sitters are arranged in a semicircle facing the medium who is seated in a comfortable chair a few feet in front of them, facing the circle. The trumpet, or aluminum cone is placed between the sitters and the medium. The trumpet(s) must not be touched during the circle, except when specifically told it is safe to cup your hands under it to receive your apport after your spirit guide has done whatever he or she does to make it safe. You can touch them before or after the séance, but not during, as they are energized and could cause a shock to the medium or to the sitter. Most circles utilize one big cone or trumpet, but at the ones I attended there was the large one, a medium-sized one (no pun intended), and a smaller one. The spirits mostly used the large one, but some preferred to use the medium one. I think the small one was a personal one of one of the sitters and just placed there for show or to absorb the energy in the room and maybe levitate, at least at the end of the seance. It is neat to see the cones levitate at different heights according to the energy of the spirit who is speaking. As I mentioned in the section about the "The Trumpet or Aluminum Cone", a ring of fluorescent paint across the bottom of the cone allows the sitters to see a round light when the trumpet or cone is levitated. It is not necessary to paint the bottom of the cone, but the seance would not be as interesting if we couldn't see the trumpets moving around. At the end, all the guides get together and levitate all the trumpets, swirling them around, in a light show for us, and then when the energy is gone, they crash down to the floor. At the start of the spirit circle or seance, while the medium or channel is going into his trance, the sitters say the Lord's Prayer and ask for the protection of the white light to surround them, the medium, the room, the house, the neighborhood, etc. Nobody can break the circle or touch the trumpet(s) once the séance has started and any sudden noise such as a knocking on the door or a light switched on during the séance could cause the medium to jolt back into his body too fast (he is in astral projection during his trance) and can cause a shock to the physical body and in a couple of documented cases, has caused the death of a medium. After the protection prayer, the sitters start singing quietly the Alleluias or another hymn. When the medium has reached a state of deep trance, the voice of his Gatekeeper or Joy Guide comes through. Joy Guides are childlike in their manner and are upbeat, but they are master teachers, nonetheless. He or she protects the medium and the circle by allowing only certain spirits to come through. When a circle is scheduled, there is sort of a spiritual bulletin board whereby spirits who want to contact the sitters will line up to wait their turn. The Gatekeeper or Joy Guide is the medium's "control" and acts as a go-between or mediator between the discarnate spirit world and the incarnate physical world. He or she also controls the séance and raises or lowers the vibration in the room when necessary. In the séances I attended, the medium's Joy Guide was a female personality, but they can be either male or female. In order to communicate with spirit, spirit has to lower their vibrations and those in the physical bodies have to raise theirs, so we can reach an in-between state of vibration where the two worlds can meet. At this time, the Joy Guide will ask us to sing some lively childhood songs such as "You Are My Sunshine" and "She'll Be Coming Round the Mountain" in order to raise the vibration in order for the spirits to have the energy to come through. Singing and laughter raise the vibrations and the spirit guides often display a wonderful sense of humor and get us laughing. We sitters are instructed to speak to the guides when we are addressed. We can ask them questions, respond to their questions, laugh with them if joke with us, just as long as we keep the energy flowing. Spirit uses the energy of the vibration of our voices and if we do not speak, they will leave. It is sort of like a phone call. If we do not speak to the caller, the caller will eventually hang up. After the vibration is raised, usually a Master Teacher will come in and deliver a lesson or message, sort of like a sermon one might hear in a church. Then an Indian Guide usually comes in and perhaps one of the Doctor guides of the medium. Then two or three guides of each sitter will come in, speaking to one sitter at a time starting at one end of the circle, or rather, semicircle, and going down the line to the other end. A more detailed explanation of spirit guides follows in the section, "Spirit Guides and Teachers". After a sitter's spirit guides visit and chat with them, the sitter is invited up to the trumpet to receive a gift, called an apport. A more detailed explanation of apports is found in the section, "Apports". The sitter cups his or her hands under the trumpet and soon hears a clinging noise as the apport trickles down the cone. Then the sitter takes his or her apport that can be felt but not seen until later when the lights are on, and sits back in his assigned seat. The guide who presented the apport then explains what the object is and if it is to be used to meditate, or for healing, or if it has a special meaning to the sitter. Usually the apport is a crystal that can be held and sometimes it is presented on a pendant so it can be worn, Sometimes it is just a little statue of an animal of the same name as an Indian Guide, for example, a guide named "Running Bear" or "Little Turtle" might give a little bear or turtle statue so the sitter could be reminded of his or her spirit guide. I once received a statue of Kwan-Yin (also known as Quan-Yin) from my Chinese Doctor of Chemistry because we both had worked with Kwan-Yin (Quan-Yin) in a previous incarnation. I go into a more detailed explanation in the section, "Apports" which follows at the end of the article. After everyone has spoken with their spirit guides, the medium's Joy Guide comes back and chats with the whole group for a few minutes and then asks us to sing another song. Then all the guides come in and levitate the trumpets and swirl them in the air giving us sitters a light show finale (they like to see us having fun and love to entertain us). When the energy leaves the room, the trumpets come crashing to the ground. At this time, we start singing quiet hymns until the medium indicates he is back (into his body and out of his trance). Then the lights come on and we all admire our apports and then take a look at the apports the other sitters received. We chat for awhile, have some coffee, and then go home with lots of food for thought and messages and lessons we have learned from our spirit guides. SPIRIT GUIDES AND MASTER TEACHERS At the trumpet séances I have attended, only the master teachers and the sitter's main spirit guides come through. The medium asks for only the highest and the best, and the messages are usually very spiritual and the master teachers usually come through with an important spiritual lesson, not unlike a sermon one might hear in a church service. Only on rare occasions have souls who were not in the sitters' immediate family of spirit guides come through. Sometimes they are departed family members or loved ones and sometimes they are guides who are assisting the sitter's main spririt guides with something that requires their expertise and will leave when their mission is accomplished. It was explained that we have five major spirit guides who surround us in each lifetime, from the time we are born until we die. Other guides and teachers come and go as we need the lessons they bring or the help or healing they can provide and then leave when their mission is finished, but our main guides are always with us. We have a Master Teacher, a Doctor of Chemistry, a Doctor of Philosophy, an Indian Guide, and a Joy Guide or Gatekeeper who protects us from negative or harmful spirits entering our vibration.
