Suzanne Giesemann medium readings provide evidence of love and guidance |334|

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Suzanne Giesemann medium readings provide evidence of love and guidance |334|
by Alex Tsakiris | Nov 22 | Spirituality

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Suzanne Giesemann traded a career in the Navy for a life as a psychic medium.
photo by: Skeptiko
Alex Tsakiris:
Today we welcome Suzanne Giesemann to Skeptiko. Suzanne is a retired U.S. Navy Commander turned, get ready for this, evidential medium, and apparently, she’s quite good at being a medium. Her work has been praised by medium researchers like former Skeptiko guest, Dr. Gary Schwartz, and other notable figures in this small but growing field of after-death communication research that we’ve talked so much about.

She’s also the author of 11 popular books, including Messages of Hope andWhere Two Worlds Meet. She’s a great speaker, as you’ll hear in a minute and quite an inspirational person, in general.

Suzanne, it’s great to have you here. Thanks so much for joining me on Skeptiko.

Suzanne Giesemann: Thanks, Alex. It’s so good to be hear.

Alex Tsakiris: Well, like I said, I’m really delighted and excited to have you here. Let’s start with the very basics. Your story is really quite remarkable. Tell folks, briefly, how you got started as a medium.

Suzanne Giesemann: Well, Alex, it’s really important that people understand that I was not even aware there was a greater reality during the 20 years that I served in the Navy. My last job in the Navy, I was aid to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the head of the whole military, and I think now if anybody knew that I was a working medium, they would have yanked my security clearance, but that was even kept hidden from me. I had no idea I could communicate with those on the other side, but unfortunately, it was a family tragedy that led me to that discovery, the death of my stepdaughter when struck by lightning ten years ago.

Alex Tsakiris: It’s really a tragic story, but it is obviously, relevant to the larger story of what’s happened in your life. Tell folks, briefly, what happened.

Suzanne Giesemann: Well, she was a Marine, a Sergeant crossing the flight line on active duty and a bolt out of the blue struck her down. She was six months pregnant. And when I went to her viewing and saw her body in her Marine Corps dress blues laid out there in the coffin, that was a pivotal point in my life because I looked at that body and I said, “That’s not Susan.” I said it over and over like a mantra, as if I was in shock, but the shock was that the body could look so different when not animated by whatever it was that was her spark, and I now know, of course, that’s the spirit and the spirit survives death. I didn’t know that at the time, but being very mission-oriented, I made it my mission to find out if it was true what I had heard over the years, that there were certain people who could tune into the souls of those who had passed, so that was step one.
 
"... so many people are left brain, those in the spirit world must know that we need the proof"​

You also need the evidence so you know who is communicating with you.

"I think that it would suit science better if we found other ways of speaking of this force from which we are derived."​

It depends who you are speaking to. You have to speak the language of your audience or they won't understand you.

"Can we avoid evil by not looking at it?"​

It's a complicated question. There are always exceptions, but the people who are most susceptible to paranormal "evil" are those who are most sensitive and/or least trained. Those who are least sensitive and/or have training will be less susceptible to paranormal evil. So, to answer the question, in general, yes if you are not sensitive and/or well trained, no if you are very sensitive and/or don't have training.

Your intentions also have an effect. People who think spirit communication is a game will tend to attract spirits who like to play games. People who are interested in spirit communication because they want to help others will tend to attract spirits that want to help others.

But the most common experience of paranormal "evil" (and there are always exceptions) is an ordinary human spirit (sometimes maybe a bit grumpy or mischievous) who is just trying to communicate and people become frightened because they don't understand what is occurring. They confuse their own fear with an apprehension of evil. Horror movies, ghost stories, and some religious teachings add to the problem. But you are more likely to have a heart attack from your own fear than suffer any harm directly from paranormal phenomena.


http://ncu9nc.blogspot.com/p/62014-contents-evidence-for-afterlife.html#articles_by_subject_psy_dev
 
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She was six months pregnant. And when I went to her viewing and saw her body in her Marine Corps dress blues laid out there in the coffin, that was a pivotal point in my life because I looked at that body and I said, “That’s not Susan.”
That is something my Mother said to me about various people she had seen dead, and when I saw her in her coffin, I could see what she meant.
But you are more likely to have a heart attack from your own fear than suffer any harm directly from paranormal phenomena.
I guess even if someone was killed by an evil spirit, they would appear to die of something like a heart attack.

Alex, you were never going to get her to spill the beans about military ψ projects!

David
 
But you are more likely to have a heart attack from your own fear than suffer any harm directly from paranormal phenomena.

Reminds me of an interesting idea on voodoo (which I believe I read in Irreducible Mind). The idea was that voodoo is the nocebo effect "on steroids". If one grew up in a culture that so deeply inculcated a belief that a curse means one's death, the belief itself might be enough to cause death. It also explains why voodoo is non-existent in a materialistic culture such as our own - we inculcate the belief that voodoo is nonsense.

Anyhow, if voodoo is a paranormal phenomenon, then giving yourself a heart attack via your own fear certainly is too ;-)
 
"... so many people are left brain, those in the spirit world must know that we need the proof"

You also need the evidence so you know who is communicating with you.

"I think that it would suit science better if we found other ways of speaking of this force from which we are derived."

It depends who you are speaking to. You have to speak the language of your audience or they won't understand you.

"Can we avoid evil by not looking at it?"

It's a complicated question. There are always exceptions, but the people who are most susceptible to paranormal "evil" are those who are most sensitive and/or least trained. Those who are least sensitive and/or have training will be less susceptible to paranormal evil. So, to answer the question, in general, yes if you are not sensitive and/or well trained, no if you are very sensitive and/or don't have training.

Your intentions also have an effect. People who think spirit communication is a game will tend to attract spirits who like to play games. People who are interested in spirit communication because they want to help others will tend to attract spirits that want to help others.

But the most common experience of paranormal "evil" (and there are always exceptions) is an ordinary human spirit (sometimes maybe a bit grumpy or mischievous) who is just trying to communicate and people become frightened because they don't understand what is occurring. They confuse their own fear with an apprehension of evil. Horror movies, ghost stories, and some religious teachings add to the problem. But you are more likely to have a heart attack from your own fear than suffer any harm directly from paranormal phenomena.

I just bookmarked your wesite/blog. I was wondering if you can break down your meditation epihany? lol I would like to understand it better, thanks B flat!
 
I just bookmarked your wesite/blog. I was wondering if you can break down your meditation epihany? lol I would like to understand it better, thanks B flat!

I'd like to know also, I frequently refer back to the blog and its been a great help in understanding the various arguments for and against NDE among other things.

Alex's question at the end of the podcast:

Can we avoid evil by not looking at it?

You hear often from New Agers that you bring evil into your life by thinking about it, and that if we just all collectively stopped thinking about evil it would stop existing. In my opinion this is a very convenient view to take if one wants to avoid responsibility while maintaining moral superiority and I hate hearing people with lots of followers espouse this stuff. Even if this view is correct, you will never convince 100% of people of anything so there will still be people who are enabling evil by thinking it, and if the view is incorrect potentially vast numbers of people are enabling evil by allowing it to go ignored.

Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing. - John Stuart Mill.
 
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I just bookmarked your wesite/blog. I was wondering if you can break down your meditation epihany? lol I would like to understand it better, thanks B flat!

I'm not sure what you want to know, but if you, @LetsEat, or anyone, wants to asks more specific questions I'll try to answer them. There is a thread that is more suited to the topic here: http://www.skeptiko-forum.com/threads/meditation.1784/

I have a few articles that refer to meditation on my blog and web site ... I assume you are referring to this "epiphany":

http://ncu9nc.blogspot.com/2015/02/joy-during-meditation.html

and this technique:

https://sites.google.com/site/chs4o8pt/meditation-1#meditation_serenity
 
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Alex's question at the end of the podcast:

Can we avoid evil by not looking at it?
It seems like a strange idea coming from anyone who has ever served in the military. Isn't the whole point of a military to remain vigilant and protect citizens from potential evil-doers inflicting harm upon them?

It's usually the civilians who don't look at evil and who don't want to know what the government does in their name.
 
Mediumship seems to be one of those talents like artistic skill or musical ability, gifts whose owners don't worry about the source of too much. If information is validated, that's sufficient. Alex attempted to frame the source of such information in way Suzanne hadn't thought about, or was uncomfortable with. It was reasonable that he ask the question, but it clearly wasn't going anywhere. Some mediums are conscious of their informational supply chain, and prepare a session with prayers and divine invocations, some just come right out with what they tune into.

Bearing in mind the variety of people one might meet at a busy railway station, from hawkers selling wares, to people soliciting "favours", to travellers just trying to get to their destination, I would be instinctively cautious of both the accuracy and motivation behind such data. The most important thing for people grieving is to know their loved ones haven't simply disappeared forever. That can be ascertained by basic details, unknowable to a wider public. For me these have to specific and completely anomalous, like the colour of a ring and exactly where it is kept for example, or the location of a first date, not someone whose name begins with G wants to say Hi. Information beyond that is superfluous, the living have their time to complete, and the "dead" their path, and trying to maintain a dialogue is ultimately unhelpful to either party moving on.

The tragedy of her daughter's death by lightning is always going to raise unanswerable questions. I admit to being slightly phobic of thunderstorms, and have lived in two houses that were hit by lightning, so I take storms personally. My childhood home was one of scores of identical terrace houses, none higher than the other and with much taller chimneys in the area, but a bolt of lightning shattered the chimney and put parts of it through my bedroom ceiling. That this occurred from one small black cloud in an otherwise perfect summer day, on the first anniversary of my uncle's death who lived opposite, lends a certain shape to events. It's impossible not to perceive the symbolic in such strikes, and I can see why someone would want answers as to why?
 
Mediumship seems to be one of those talents like artistic skill or musical ability, gifts whose owners don't worry about the source of too much. If information is validated, that's sufficient. Alex attempted to frame the source of such information in way Suzanne hadn't thought about, or was uncomfortable with. It was reasonable that he ask the question, but it clearly wasn't going anywhere. Some mediums are conscious of their informational supply chain, and prepare a session with prayers and divine invocations, some just come right out with what they tune into.

Bearing in mind the variety of people one might meet at a busy railway station, from hawkers selling wares, to people soliciting "favours", to travellers just trying to get to their destination, I would be instinctively cautious of both the accuracy and motivation behind such data. The most important thing for people grieving is to know their loved ones haven't simply disappeared forever. That can be ascertained by basic details, unknowable to a wider public. For me these have to specific and completely anomalous, like the colour of a ring and exactly where it is kept for example, or the location of a first date, not someone whose name begins with G wants to say Hi. Information beyond that is superfluous, the living have their time to complete, and the "dead" their path, and trying to maintain a dialogue is ultimately unhelpful to either party moving on.

The tragedy of her daughter's death by lightning is always going to raise unanswerable questions. I admit to being slightly phobic of thunderstorms, and have lived in two houses that were hit by lightning, so I take storms personally. My childhood home was one of scores of identical terrace houses, none higher than the other and with much taller chimneys in the area, but a bolt of lightning shattered the chimney and put parts of it through my bedroom ceiling. That this occurred from one small black cloud in an otherwise perfect summer day, on the first anniversary of my uncle's death who lived opposite, lends a certain shape to events. It's impossible not to perceive the symbolic in such strikes, and I can see why someone would want answers as to why?
I think that's why I appreciate the work of Jeff Kripal, who suggests that the sacred can be dangerous. It isn't by default good or bad, but powerful and transformative.
 
You hear often from New Agers that you bring evil into your life by thinking about it, and that if we just all collectively stopped thinking about evil it would stop existing. In my opinion this is a very convenient view to take if one wants to avoid responsibility while maintaining moral superiority and I hate hearing people with lots of followers espouse this stuff. Even if this view is correct, you will never convince 100% of people of anything so there will still be people who are enabling evil by thinking it, and if the view is incorrect potentially vast numbers of people are enabling evil by allowing it to go ignored.

Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing. - John Stuart Mill.
I get what yr saying. there's also the issue of how one deals with the dark/grey spiritual dimensions. this has become a hot topic lately in the US election:
 
It seems like a strange idea coming from anyone who has ever served in the military. Isn't the whole point of a military to remain vigilant and protect citizens from potential evil-doers inflicting harm upon them?

It's usually the civilians who don't look at evil and who don't want to know what the government does in their name.
I don't buy it either.
 
I don't buy it either.
Yes, but to be fair, talking about that stuff isn't how you market the sort of books Suzanne writes. Plus, it's tough enough dealing with the skeptics, now she has to deal with even harder questions... ones that could potentially harm her standing as a keynote speaker in places like IANDS.

That kind of willful blindness is almost a prerequisite for selling love and light.
 
If you want to avoid "evil" you have to use a technique appropriate to the different speheres of interaction, physical on physical, spiritual on physical, and spiritual on spiritual. In the physical realm we are mostly all at the same "vibration" most people can't tune evil out, you have to deal with physical on physical "evil" using physical methods. "Evil" coming from the non-physical realms can only interact at a limited range of "vibrations" and "not looking at it", if that means maintaining a higher "vibration", can be an effective technique.
 
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Yes, but to be fair, talking about that stuff isn't how you market the sort of books Suzanne writes. Plus, it's tough enough dealing with the skeptics, now she has to deal with even harder questions... ones that could potentially harm her standing as a keynote speaker in places like IANDS.

That kind of willful blindness is almost a prerequisite for selling love and light.
agreed... we all make compromises and choose which windmills to push against.
 
I'm usually up there cheering on Alex when he's going in for the kill (OTT metaphor!) but this time I felt a little uncomfortable.
I got the impression that her life was divided in two - the military career which was a kind of sheeple 'we're serving the country and God' probably without giving the whole thing much deep thought....and then her second life as a medium in which she tuned into something that was obviously light and not dark and she's stayed there helping others as best she can.
There are people like her who don't have the curiosity we have about the ins and outs of everything - probably that's how she came to join the military in the first place without asking the deeper ethical questions.
So to her, the question of 'Can we avoid evil by not looking at it?' is irrelevant and unimportant because as she says 'That isn't my path'
I have noticed with some other mediums I know that they are very often quite practical people who suddenly find they have this talent which seems to help people, so use it without questioning its nature or whether there is a dark side.
I have this picture in my mind of a journey across a landscape peppered with deep holes which you can fall into - either because you're not being careful, or because they are unavoidable. The holes are negative or 'evil'.
Most folk here are curious about the holes and research their nature - some of us even do some abseiling down them. But people like Suzanne just wander along happily with little curiosity or fear about the holes and say they'll deal with it if and when they fall down one.
Am I being too simplistic by second guessing her nature?
 
Psi, I think that's probably fair. Its foreign to me personally, but I've known people that generally fit the description you've put forth.
 
That was the worst interview I've heard yet, and I've listened to almost all of them. Alex wasted a great opportunity to speak with a very interesting woman who probably could have shared some remarkable insights with us. But Alex chose instead to not " go where the evidence takes him" and instead go where his agenda takes him. Painful. Awful. I don't blame her for being irritated and tense. I was irritated and tense. The only line of questioning that even remotely made sense was her take on evil forces. It's interviews like this that make me re-think listening to this podcast.
 
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