For Marilyn Mazzotta, the key is to enter an altered state.
That’s what the medium says is needed if one hopes to attract spirits interested in communicating with their still living loved ones.
“Prior to the show, I'm preparing my brain to be in a different octave,” Mazzotta tells MidlandToday.
“When I get out on a stage or even when I do a divine service at a church, once I go into mediumship I truly am oblivious, I'm in an altered state. But in meditation, or in mediumship, you can't get too relaxed, because you need to be almost in a higher octave of energy to connect with the spirit world.”
Mazzotta, who has been a medium for close to five decades, appears at the Midland Cultural Centre Friday for an interactive ‘Soul 2 Soul’ show.
“Mediumship has gone through a lot of historical things where there was a lot of quackery and that kind of thing,” says Mazzotta, noting the profession still attracts those who are only trying to make a fast buck and don’t actually offer legitimate services.
“And unfortunately, there's still some quackery out there. There are some television mediums that I just say, ‘oh dear.’ There’s a lot of bad information out there and people expect the impossible.”
A well-known medium living in the GTA, Mazzotta’s client list includes prominent corporate types and politicians.
“COVID has definitely changed my work in a lot of ways,” she says. “Forty percent of my business is on the phone because I’m international.”
Mazzotta says that when mediums go on stage they have nothing, meaning they rely on the audience and the spirit world to ensure an event’s success.
“I always say I think mediums are the bravest people in the world,” she says. “Unlike singers, who know what songs they are going to sing, or a musician knows what music they're going to play or an actor, who knows what lines they’re going to say, I go out there and I have nothing. I have no idea where we’re going to go tonight and it’s exciting.”
And unbeknownst to some, Mazzotta says a spirit will normally possess the same personality traits of the person had when he or she was alive.
That means, if a person was effervescent and fun while living, his or her spirit will follow a similar path with the same being said for someone who was moody or quiet.
“Just because we pass over to the other side doesn't mean we lose our effervescent personality,” she says.
Mazzotta has also helped people reconnect with beloved pets who have passed onto the spirit world and notes that spirits can also help her envision an object.
As an example, she noted that at an event last year, she saw a cake and asked the woman on stage about it since there were no candles.
She told Mazzotta it wasn’t close to her birthday or a loved one’s birthday, but rather the anniversary of her father’s death. When Mazzotta expressed puzzlement at the cake symbol, the woman exclaimed, “‘because he loved cake!’
“Mediumship is a gift,” Mazzotta says. “It's when there is a part of me where I know if a person is shedding a tear and actually feels that spirit person with them I've accomplished my goal to show them that they (the spirits) are with us all the time.”
Besides being a certified medium, Mazzotta is also an ordained minister with the Spiritualist Church of Canada along with a certified astrologer, horary astrologer, lecturer, spirit healer and reader of the Tarot, Numerology, Runes and other tools.
But sometimes the job can be extremely difficult.
Mazzotta recalls one particular show at a casino out west that had attracted about 400 people.
“And it was the most depressing room I've ever been in, because I've never seen so many spirituals (who had) all committed suicide. It was horrendous and I'd say at least 50 percent were children.
“That left an imprint on me, like a heaviness, to see so many children in such a small group.”
Mazzotta says the medium might also receive an audio message.
“I've had some words, and I have no idea what they mean. Sometimes I'll hear a word and I have no idea what language it is and I'm stuttering over it because it's a foreign language for me.
“So I may mispronounce it, but usually, they get it. They know exactly what the word is. Spirit is never wrong; it's a medium interpreting what is being given to them.”
And generally speaking, Mazzotta says readings should be fun.
“Life is not always doom and gloom,” she notes. “A reading should be able to go through all that muck and find something good at the end of the tunnel. Or at least find a better path to travel on. And with all that, be a little entertaining – ’cause laughter is enchantment.”
For tickets to Friday's show that begins at 8 p.m., click here.
