What Happens During a Mediumship Reading? | A Step-by-Step Guide to Evidential Mediumship
.Learn what happens during a mediumship reading, how to prepare, what evidential mediumship is, and how Spirit communicates with loved ones.
MEDIUMSHIPSPIRIT COMMUNICATIONMESSAGES FROM SPIRIT
Donald Rumer-Rivera
7/23/20265 min read
What Happens During a Mediumship Reading?
By Don Rumer-Rivera
Psychic Medium • Tarot Reader • Attorney • Engineer • Author • Speaker
If you have never had a mediumship reading before, it is perfectly natural to wonder what to expect. People often ask if there is anything they should do before the reading, how the process works, or whether their loved one will come through. While every reading is unique, the overall process is remarkably consistent.
Before discussing the process itself, I think it is important to understand what mediumship is truly about.
To me, mediumship is the proof of love and life beyond physical death. Everything else is secondary. The purpose of a mediumship reading is not entertainment, prediction, or curiosity. It is to provide meaningful evidence that our loved ones continue to exist beyond physical death and, when the opportunity presents itself, to communicate with those they left behind.
Preparing for Your Reading
Preparation for a mediumship reading actually begins before the appointment. I encourage every sitter—the person receiving the reading—to spend a few quiet moments letting their loved ones in Spirit know about the upcoming session. Simply tell them the date and time of your appointment and let them know that if they wish to communicate, they are welcome to do so. There is no ritual involved. Just speak to them as you would if they were sitting beside you.
I also recommend arriving well hydrated. Hydration is important in every area of the metaphysical because energetic work can be physically demanding. Both the medium and the sitter benefit from being properly hydrated before and during the reading. For that reason, I always offer water before we begin.
Perhaps the most important thing you can do is simply relax. Many first-time sitters worry that they have to do something to help the reading. You don't. The work belongs to the medium and to Spirit. Your responsibility is simply to be present and allow the communication to unfold naturally.
Laying the Groundwork
Once you are comfortable, I spend a few minutes explaining how the reading will proceed. I tell every sitter that the conversation is not between them and me. The conversation is between them and their loved one in Spirit. My role is simply to interpret what Spirit is communicating and deliver it as accurately as I can. In many ways, I think of myself as an interpreter. Spirit communicates through impressions, images, feelings, memories, symbols, and experiences. My responsibility is to understand what is being shown to me and translate that into words the sitter can understand.
I also ask the sitter to help me conduct the reading in a way that protects the integrity of the evidence. At the beginning of the reading, I ask that they limit their responses to simple answers such as "yes," "no," "I'm not sure," or "I don't know." There is a reason for this. In evidential mediumship, the medium should be providing the information, not receiving it. Short answers help ensure that I am not unintentionally being given information that could influence the reading. As the communication develops and we clearly identify who is communicating, I may ask additional questions. At that point, more conversation often helps place certain pieces of evidence or messages into their proper context.
I also remind every sitter that this is their reading. If we begin discussing a subject they would rather not explore, they are free to stop me at any time. A mediumship reading is never about creating drama, forcing conversations, or sensationalizing someone's personal experiences. It is about facilitating meaningful communication with compassion and respect.
Finally, I explain that everything discussed during the reading is confidential. The details of a reading belong to the sitter. If I ever refer to a reading in the future for teaching purposes, I do so only in general terms and never in a way that identifies the individual or reveals personal information.
Once everyone is comfortable and I sense that Spirit is present, we begin.
Establishing the Connection
The first responsibility of an evidential medium is not to deliver a message. It is to establish who is communicating. This is one of the defining characteristics of evidential mediumship. Before I discuss any message from Spirit, I first provide evidence about the individual who has stepped forward. That evidence may include physical characteristics, personality traits, occupations, hobbies, relationships, significant life experiences, how they passed, meaningful possessions, special gifts they gave, family memories, or countless other details that identify them as a particular individual.
Sometimes the evidence is very specific. It may involve an object that still sits in your home, a vacation only your family would remember, an inside joke, a favorite chair, a cherished recipe, or another detail that has special meaning only to you.
The purpose of the evidence is straightforward. It allows the sitter to recognize that I am communicating with a specific loved one rather than offering generalized statements that could apply to anyone.
Once both the sitter and I are comfortable that the communicator has been identified, we move to the reason they came.
The Message
Every message is different because every relationship is different. Most messages are centered on love, reassurance, understanding, forgiveness, gratitude, encouragement, or healing. Sometimes a loved one addresses something that was left unsaid during life. Sometimes they acknowledge something the sitter has been struggling with since their passing. Other times they simply want their family to know that they are still present and still aware of what is happening.
People occasionally expect a mediumship reading to predict their future. That generally is not the purpose of mediumship. Questions involving future relationships, career decisions, finances, or life direction are more appropriately addressed during a psychic reading. While intuitive information may naturally present itself during a mediumship session, my primary responsibility is to facilitate communication between the sitter and the loved one who has crossed into Spirit.
One Spirit at a Time
It is not unusual for more than one loved one to present themselves during a reading. Every medium develops their own way of working. Personally, I prefer working with one Spirit at a time. I have found that doing so allows each communicator the opportunity to fully express what they came to say without feeling rushed or competing with another Spirit for attention.
When I believe that communicator has shared everything they wished to communicate, I thank them for visiting and respectfully ask them to step back. If another Spirit is present and there is sufficient time remaining, I then begin working with that communicator.
Closing the Reading
When the communication has concluded, I invite the sitter to ask questions or provide additional information that may help us better understand certain pieces of evidence that surfaced during the reading. It is not uncommon for something that seemed unclear during the session to make perfect sense once additional family history or context is shared. After all questions have been answered, I close the session by thanking both the loved ones in Spirit for communicating and the sitter for allowing me to be part of such a personal experience.
Every reading is different because every family, every relationship, and every communicator is different. What remains constant is the purpose. For me, mediumship has never been about proving the abilities of the medium. It has always been about providing evidence that our loved ones continue to live beyond physical death and that the love we shared with them does not end when the physical body does. That is why I often say that mediumship is the proof of love and life beyond physical death. It is a privilege to serve as the interpreter for those conversations and to witness, time and again, that the relationships we value most continue well beyond this lifetime.
About the Author
Don Rumer-Rivera is a psychic medium, tarot reader, attorney. former engineer, speaker, and author dedicated to helping people better understand Spirit through evidence, education, and ethical mediumship. Through private readings, workshops, and classes, he teaches that mediumship is not about mystery or performance—it is about providing meaningful evidence of love and life after physical death.