What Is a Mediumship Reading? (And What It Actually Isn’t)

If you’ve never had one, “mediumship reading” probably conjures something between a séance and a magic trick. Neither is accurate. A mediumship reading is a specific kind of communication — not a performance, not a guess, and not the same thing as a tarot reading, even though the two often get lumped together.

Here’s what it actually is, what happens in a session, and what it can’t promise you.

The Short Definition

A mediumship reading is a session in which a medium connects with someone who has died — usually someone close to you — and relays specific, identifiable information about who they were and what they want you to know. The approach behind this is called evidential mediumship: the goal isn’t a vague vibe (“I sense a male energy”). The goal is evidence — names, relationships, personality quirks, the way they died, an inside joke, something only you (or someone in your life) would recognize as unmistakably them.

I trained in this approach with Lee VanZyl in a lineage that treats accuracy as the standard, not theatrics. That’s the whole point of evidential mediumship. A reading that can’t be verified by the person sitting across from me isn’t a reading. It’s a cold read with better lighting.

How It’s Different From a Tarot Reading

Tarot is a mirror, a forecast based on psychically tapping into your energy. It reflects your own patterns, blind spots, and choices back at you through symbol and archetype. The cards don’t claim to be a person — they’re a tool for self-inquiry.

Mediumship is a connection with your loved ones—not you. It’s not about your psyche; it’s about someone else’s continued presence. The information should feel like it’s coming from outside the reader’s knowledge of you — because it is.

Some sessions blend the two (spirit can and does show up during a tarot pull), but they’re functionally different practices with different aims. One is introspective. The other is relational.

When To Consider A Reading

Grief is not a linear process, and, while it evolves, most people often feel waves or pangs around holidays like Mother's Day and Father's Day, Christmas, Thanksgiving or Easter, as well as anniversaries, birthdays and milestone moments in life.

What Actually Happens in a Session

There’s no incense-and-crystal-ball theater required. A typical reading looks like this:

• I spend a few minutes “linking” — building a connection with whoever is coming through, rather than with you directly.

• Information arrives in pieces: a cause of death, a physical description, a personality trait, a specific memory or object, a name — it’s a bit like charades and Pictionary together.

• I state the evidence and ask you to confirm or deny it. I’m not leading you into agreeing with something vague.

• Once the connection and identity are established, the reading usually moves toward message: what this person wants you to know, resolve, or hear.

  
  

Good mediumship is interactive. You’re not a passive audience member. You’re the only person who can confirm whether what’s coming through is real.

What a Reading Can’t Promise

It can’t guarantee contact with one specific person on command. Spirit communication doesn’t work like a phone call you can dial — sometimes the person you’re hoping to hear from doesn’t come through, and someone else does instead. It also isn’t a substitute for grief therapy, medical advice, or legal/financial decision-making. A reading can offer comfort and connection. It shouldn’t be the thing you’re leaning on to make a major life decision.

My Promise to You

I will be transparent and honest about the evidence, messages, and information that does — or doesn’t — come through. Living with grief is hard. I understand the level of trust involved in seeking this kind of connection. It’s work I consider sacred.

That’s the practice. Not a performance — a practice.