Silent Voices Meets Robert Goodwin

Hi Robert, Thank you for doing this interview for Silent voices

You already have 5 books on the market - have you any plans this year to release any more books?

Hi Sharon, thanks for inviting me. We have no immediate plans for more, although the latest book ‘The Collected Wisdom of White Feather’ that was published in May has now also been translated and is just about to be published in Danish! Regarding future books though, a recent survey that we carried out suggested that people would like a book about how to develop trance mediumship, so we’ll see. I’d like to give people the benefit of my experience.

When did you first come into contact with Spiritualism and how?

When I was about seventeen I had healing and will never forget the impact that it had on me. I came out of my body during the session and I knew from that moment there was something more than this earthly life. From then onwards I began going to spiritualist churches and most weeks I would get messages from different mediums telling me that I too would be working for spirit. I used to think ‘no way!’ But then I joined a development group and sat weekly to develop my abilities for about seven years before I was allowed to work in public. I will never forget those times because they prepared me for all that has followed since and gave me the necessary grounding that has always served me so well.

Can you tell us about your guide 'White Feather' Many people say White Feather is their guide, does White Feather look the same to everyone?

As it has been explained to me, White Feather is part of a group consciousness or collective of like-minded souls operating under this name. This group is also part of ‘The White Brotherhood’ in the spirit world and their work is to bring wisdom and guidance to mankind. As there are many individual souls operating under this umbrella, I doubt that they would all appear identical.

What advice would you give to those that have not as yet made contact with their guides, apart from patience?

Patience, motive and discipline are the most essential ingredients when connecting to the spirit world. They are more important for a developing medium than knowing the name or identity of their guide. It was many years before White Feather revealed himself, even though he had been working through me for all that time. Sometimes, it can be a block for the medium to know the identity of their spirit guide too early, as they tend to focus upon this to the exclusion of other more important aspects of their development.

You are a trance medium - can you explain what this is and what happens when you’re in a trance?

In truth, all mediums work in a trance state to some degree – whether it’s a light overshadowing or full-on trance state. Trance is basically an altered state of consciousness, controlled by a spirit guide. Where I differ to most mediums is that I am taken deeper by the spirit world so that more of what White Feather says can come through without too much interference from my conscious mind. Where ‘I’ go to when under spirit control, I have no idea. I just surrender myself to their influence in absolute trust and confidence and leave the rest to them. I am certainly not asleep – just in another place. The only time I don’t work at this deeper level is when I do private sittings or clairvoyant demonstrations, when the ‘energy’ is much lighter and quicker.

What is the difference between channeling and trance?

Channeling is a relatively modern term for someone who is used as a conduit for a spirit guide to work through. I think it sometimes gets confused with real trance which in my view is true mediumship in operation and comes from a deeper spiritual level, not just a psychic one. I have heard and seen so called trance mediums channeling this or that guide, but I am not impressed to be honest. There’s a lot of pseudo trance around and you have to be able discriminate between what is false and what is genuine. There are obvious ways to do this and when you have experienced real trance, you will always know the difference. For example; we always say to people before we demonstrate that a true marker for genuine trance is that the guide will not only deliver the answer in a fashion that exceeds the intellect of the medium, but also be able to answer spontaneously any question put to him without hesitation. If this is not in evidence it is one sure sign that what is being witnessed is from the ‘mediums’ own subconscious mind and not from spirit.

What do you feel about full trance? Is it advisable? Is it safe? Does it affect health wise?

It does have some implications for health. I have suffered to a degree and I know many other mediums that also have their share of problems because at the deeper levels of trance you are touching upon the borders of physical mediumship. I know for a fact that the endocrine system is used as well as the nervous system itself. The guides do of course take care and have their medium’s best interests at heart but it’s a matter of balance really. It is safe in the sense that like will always attract like and provided a person opens up with love in their heart and the desire to serve the truth, they will always draw similar souls into their aura. The power of intent is its own safety mechanism really and if the motive is good, the protection will be there. The only thing I would add is that all mediums, although possessing human frailties and weaknesses to some degree, should always endeavour to live a life free from extremes of behaviour so that they can be as clear a channel as possible.

On your Website you write a blog (Daily thoughts) - is this another way of getting your message out, or is it just life as you see it?

A bit of both I guess! People have said to me that I shouldn’t mix my own views up with those of White Feather and I totally agree with that which is why I try and make it clear that the ‘blog’ contains much of my own views of how I see the world. I have a great interest (fed by what the spirit world tells me) about what some would call conspiracy theory and I often find myself led to certain items of information that are kept hidden by the mainstream media - items such as the Codex Alimentarius agenda which will affect the lives of every man, woman and child upon the earth. Many people won’t have even heard of this nasty piece of legislation, so I feel it is my duty to inform them if I can. I see this as part of my work as a spiritual teacher, not as anything political or divisive in any way. In fact I have no interest in politics at all. The bottom line is, you can’t ‘un-know’ something. You either know it or you don’t and if I uncover something that I know will affect the lives of people I see it as vital (and spiritual) to inform them so that they can make their own minds up. I hope people also take the time to look at some of the other items on the site too. We have over fifty pages of information including extracts from some of the White Feather books.

Why do you think spirit communicate in so many different ways to different people, ie; - smell, sound, music, touch etc - would it not be easier just to speak?

I guess because everyone is different and the spirit communicators utilize whatever abilities they can. A few years ago I did a course in NLP and learned how each of us view the world through our own unique rep system. That is to say, some of us are very visual and represent our thoughts through images and pictures, whilst others may be auditory and describe the world using phrases such as ‘It was as clear as a bell’ or ‘I hear what you are saying’’ Still others are more tactile or find that their olfactory sense (smell) or gustatory sense (taste) is more prominent. Spirit ultimately knows what gifts, abilities and attributes we each possess and use these to our (and their) best advantage. I am very fortunate in that I operate as a medium on many levels so when I’m giving someone a message I often feel something about the communicator (clairsentience) hear what they are saying (clairaudience) and see what they look like (clairvoyance). Sometimes only one of these senses is in evidence, depending on who is linking through me. Some spirit people are better communicators than others, as indeed they may have been whist upon the earth.

To what do you put the great upsurge of awareness down to in particular these last years?

It may sound like a cliché, but I do believe there is some kind of paradigm shift taking place at the moment. On the surface it all seems to be doom and gloom with the world being turned upside down by extremes of violence, poverty, disease and war everywhere, but I also see so many people beginning to wake up and glimpse the truth that lies beyond this massive illusion we call reality. For those who have seen the Matrix films, there is a great insight there into the nature of what we think is real and what is imaginary. When more people truly wake up and see through the lies we are told on a daily basis, the world will be transformed. What we have to remember is that if we want to change the reflection in the mirror of life, we have to change what we put before it – ourselves. When WE change, the world will change. Spirit understands this of course, which is why there is a concerted effort by many, many souls to bring this enlightenment to mankind at this time.

In your view what would you say are the positives and negatives of the increased media exposure to spiritualism in general ... and do you think the media portray the correct message and knowledge?

One the one hand it is good to see more mediumship expressed in the media, which was not the case a few years ago. But it does concern me that a small handful of mediums (not necessarily the best) are promoted to celebrity status, particularly through exposure via their clairvoyant demonstrations on TV or through clever marketing. We have to stop putting people and particularly mediums, on pedestals. In my view the general public should also be made aware of the deeper teachings and wisdom that underpins all spiritual contact. It is one thing to have evidence of life after death, as wonderful as that is, but it is another to know the truth and the reality of existence. I remember a story that went something like this: if you give a man a fish, he can feed himself or his family for a day, but if you teach him to fish, he can feed himself and his family for life – so true. Now, if the deeper teachings of the spirit world were given as much media exposure as psychics and clairvoyants, the world would become a better place.

What can any learning/practising mediums learn from one of your many workshops and what advice would you give to them?

There is always something to learn because we never stop learning, any of us. I guess I am from the ‘old school’ in a sense because I won’t let sloppy mediumship or lack of good training and sound practice slip past me. When my wife Amanda and I undertake workshops we always convey the importance of working from the highest and aiming for the best – anything less is unacceptable. We emphasise the need to develop humility and trust in those that work alongside us and the best piece of advice that we give people is ‘be true to yourself’. As in most things, if we give of our best and strive to be honest and truthful, we generally succeed in attaining our goal. Oh, and by the way – I have always refused to seek any kind of certificate for my mediumship. I don’t knock those that do and I understand the need to maintain standards, but people forget that mediumship is not a left-brained academic subject. It is a natural gift. All that we can do is to hone it and develop it. A medium is only ever as good as their last demonstration!

Work and personally, what would you like for the future?

As I now work full time as a medium, with Amanda joining me on all of the trance evenings and workshops, I’d like to think that our work – especially the teachings of White Feather could reach many more people. We are constantly getting invitations from new places and in addition to our demonstrations in the UK we have also recently been working in Denmark. The plan is to expand into other European countries over the next couple of years as our reputation increases and we are prepared to travel wherever we are required provided we can continue to work at the highest level. The problem we sometimes encounter is that people tend to pigeonhole us! They forget that I have worked as a medium in public for over thirty years and also give frequent one to one sittings, plus Amanda is a Reiki Master and qualified Hypnotherapist and NLP Practitioner as well. So although the White Feather philosophy is what we are best known for, we do have others strings to our bow!

I’d also like to let as many people as possible know about our special White Feather Gathering at Farncombe Estate next July 9th 2011. It will be a fantastic event and we’d like as many people as possible to join us. If you like trance mediumship, spirit surgeons, psychic art or just enjoy a nice three-course meal – it is the place for you and you won’t be disappointed.

Finally, on a personal level, I am about to become a granddad for the first time through my only daughter and I really can’t wait!

Thank you Robert, we at Silent voices wish you good luck and best wishes for the future