My name is Eamon Seix, and I’m a Spiritualist.

That’s a line I used to open an address I gave at a Spiritualist church recently.

And it’s true: sometimes, letting people in your life know that you’re a Spiritualist feels like you’re standing up at a meeting and admitting a shameful secret about yourself.

Not because you’re ashamed of being a Spiritualist, but because that person is likely never going to look at you in quite the same way again.

And that’s terrifying.

For a start, most people don’t actually know what Spiritualism is – i.e. a religion. In my case, my chosen religion.

“I am a Spiritualist” means so much more than what people sometimes assume it means – burning incense and owning a few crystals.

When you explain that it actually means you believe the human soul lives on beyond the physical body, you tend to get a quizzical look, but not necessarily resistance… yet.

When they inevitably ask you to explain what that means, and you tell them that you and your fellow Spiritualists believe this can be demonstrated through mediumship, channelling, trance and other forms of Spirit communication…

That’s usually when you get the raised eyebrow, and you’ve reached a fork in the road of your friendship.

Option 1: They’ve got another 101 questions to ask, and it’s only added another layer of colour to your already fabulously colourful relationship.

Option 2: They’re visibly uncomfortable. They still like you, but you’re now legit crazy in their eyes, and they’ve already started mentally phasing you out of their life.

I’ve experienced both of these scenarios.

And it’s never who you think will react the way you think they will.

Years ago, I worked in a company where it was well known that I was a Spiritualist and working medium – and that I was also quietly ridiculed for it behind my back.

On one of my last days in the office before I moved away, a bunch of us were chatting together when someone said that, now I was leaving, would I not just say or do something to prove my “abilities”?

I had always been fiercely protective of my beliefs in this kind of setting. I never discussed my mediumship at work, and I certainly never felt the need to prove it to anyone.

But for some reason, in that moment, I zeroed in on one of the girls, Louisa, and simply announced that she was named after her grandmother — but in reverse.

Louisa revealed that her full name was Louisa Margaret.

Her grandmother had been Margaret Louisa.

Knowing that I had her grandmother’s energy with me, I described her grandmother to her. The description itself was fairly ordinary, but then I suddenly asked:

“What’s wrong with the wing mirror of your car?”

One of the other guys in the office, Jay, immediately called me a freak.

He then confirmed that he and Louisa had been sitting in her car about five minutes earlier, discussing the repair of one of her wing mirrors.

The whole thing was over in less than three minutes.

But everyone was stunned.

And, I’ll admit, it felt fantastic!!

Because I knew Spirit had given me just enough to shut them all up once and for all… even if Louisa said afterwards that she didn’t believe in any of it anyway.

So, after my little mic-drop moment, I got up from my desk and started walking towards the kitchen to make myself a coffee.

Another girl, Sarah, was standing between me and the kitchen.

As I walked towards her, she took a step backwards.

I took another step.

She stepped backwards again.

I stopped when I realised what was happening.

She was scared of me.

She kept staring at me. She wouldn’t take a hug from me – and I was her office buddy too!

Every time I moved towards her, she backed away and asked me to “stay away” from her.

I remember that hurting a lot.

And it was a big lesson for me.

Who I really am, and what I really believe, is simply too much for some people to accept.

Which is quite ironic, really, when you consider that I’m a gay man who has received more backlash and ridicule for my religious beliefs during my lifetime than I ever have for my sexuality.

It’s taken me years to get to a point where I can simply say:

I am a Spiritualist.

No apologies. No regrets.

Yesterday, I wrote a post on my professional social media account about an upcoming church service. When I switched back to my personal account, I decided to share it there too.

Having taken a break from being an active Spiritualist for so many years, I did stop and think about the fact that quite a few people who would see it probably had no idea that this was such a significant part of who I am.

And, yes, I wondered whether some people might react negatively.

Thankfully, I can report that every reaction so far has been positive and encouraging.

And I haven’t had anyone unfriend me yet.

Either that’s a sign that times have changed…

Or I’m just better at picking friends these days!