Value Of Identification
In impersonation mediumship, however, no matter how interesting the
manifestation may be, it is of prime importance that the identity of the
spirit should be clearly established, providing that the spirit himself
claims positively to be some particular individual; this, of course,
does not apply to instances in which the spirit does not claim identity
with any particular departed person, and where the communications are
given anonymously. It is this feature of identification that renders
this phase of mediumship so valuable and important. A well-known
medium, in a trance state, once delivered the following message from a
spirit: "Impersonation mediumship is the most valuable that the world
can possibly have today. When by the aid of the impersonating medium,
the inquirer is enabled to converse with his beloved deceased friends,
and they make themselves actually visible in the personality of the
medium, plain to consciousness and understanding, and tell him
specifically points and facts of identity and experience that are
utterly beyond the power of any other intelligence to tell, then he has
something borne in upon him through the senses of sight, of hearing and
understanding that appeals to him. Therefore, the impersonating medium
is the most valuable medium you can present to inquirers." Another
mediumistic writer has said: "This kind of mediumship carries conviction
of the real presence of the so-called dead, and your aim should be to
get into communication with the intelligent operator at the other end of
the line, and elicit from him evidences of his identity and purpose.
Table movements, raps, materializations, writings, messages, or
controls, are of comparatively little value unless by their agency you
can secure proofs of the personal identity and survival after death of
your departed friends, or some indications of a rational purpose on the
part of the operator."