EP 76 Ethics and Spiritual gifts

When I started on my spiritual paths, I admired people who had spiritual gifts such a clairvoyance, healing powers or who could do remote viewing. I assumed that people who had those gifts were more spiritually advanced than I was, but I have since realised that this is not true. The pursuit of spiritual gifts such as described in the Autobiography of a Yogi can actually be a distraction on our spiritual path. if they blossom, good, but if they don't, that doesn't mean anything about us. In today's episode, we are going to talk about the ethical side of spiritual gifts and why that is incredibly important. I have been reading the Ethical Psychic by Jennifer Lisa Vest, who has both an academic view point from her background as a professor of philosophy and the practical view point of a practitioner of various modalities such as shamanism, reiki, medical intuition, reading the akashic records and more. I do recommend reading her book whether you have psychic gifts or are seeking the guidance of someone who has. Just because someone can do something doesn't mean that they should. And that is the starting point of this discussion. Discernment, boundaries and ethics are paramount because I believe that psychic gifts can actually be harmful be they not used appropriately. This is the reason I was actually quite reluctant to use mine. I was afraid of doing harm and leaving people worse off, especially with my tarot readings. People who seek the guidance or help of people with psychic gifts are often vulnerable. Some also need mental health support that they might not be willing to seek out for whatever reason, so it is our responsibility to recognise that and encourage our clients to go to counselling or seek professional help when they need it. I have a couple of rules that I stick to. I do not read for kids. I do not read people without their permission. I only work with clients who are perfectly aligned to what I offer. I set my intention that the information and guidance that I share is always, to the best of my ability, useful, uplifting and inspiring. And I never use my gifts for entertainment. Of course a huge part of being ethical as a psychic is to refrain from cultural appropriation which is something I explored in last week's episode.