Mediumship in Animals
It is challenging to consider an animal as a medium for this concept because despite having intelligence, they do not have the intellectual capacity to express their feeling, at least not directly. “For intelligent communication, there is a need for an intelligent intermediary, and this is the spirit of the medium.” Some people affirm that animals cannot be mediums. Between the spirit and the medium, there must be necessary and sensitive elements in their brain to interpret and reproduce a message. But again, we can disregard their ability to see and feel things because we don’t share the same protocols and methods of direct communication.
Still, no matter how trained it is, an animal cannot reproduce this transmitted thought, so it cannot serve as an interpreter. Still, nothing indicates that they do not have the mediumistic capacity. What they cannot reproduce in an intelligible way for us humans.
Animal Mediumship: Mediunity and Trained Animals
Mediunity or Mediumship is the practice of purportedly mediating communication between spirits of the dead and living human beings. Practitioners are known as “mediums” or “spirit mediums”. There are different types of mediumship.
The limitation resides in the concern that the animals may be unable to transmit the content received psychically and reproduce it or teach it. But science (especially an animal behaviorist one) is advancing and proving otherwise.
Scientific studies done with chimpanzees and gorillas show that they are able to learn modern sign language. The couple Allen and Beatrix Garner, both faculty scientists at the University of Nevada, USA, taught a gorilla this language. She articulated grammatically correct sentences and expressed feelings such as anger, compassion, solidarity, jealousy, and a sense of humor.
The transmission of knowledge was also achieved. In its relationship with the puppies and other group members, the gorilla taught the learned human language. Therefore, the research was able to prove the gorilla’s ability to reproduce information.
Nothing is yet proven, but this leaves doors open to the possibility that animals are also mediumistic and highly empathic beings.