Mary Duffy Centre

This month I went back to my home town of Edinburgh to serve the Friends of Mary Duffy Centre! However, in my heart it will always be Albany Street.

Way back in 1997 my professional journey as a medium started. We would sit in the tea room at Albany Street until very late at night singing, chatting and having a good laugh. In my time, I’ve seen many many wonderful mediums walk through those doors and who have now passed to the spirit world, and I was even lucky enough to watch Mary Duffy work with some of the great Mediums of the past, who had a big part to play in modern day spiritualism.

I strive every day to become an even better conduit for the spirit to do their work. As I watched those mediums, all those years ago, prove the existence of the human soul beyond reasonable doubt, I’ve in turn taken it upon myself to make my life's work to be the best I can be for the spirit world and to help heal those here as well.

People often say to me, a medium Is just a vessel and I wholeheartedly do not agree! It takes someone special to be a medium, it takes emotional strength and the ability to be able to counsel and look after people in your care. Sometimes a reading isn’t what they need, sometimes it’s healing or counselling, a good medium should be able to understand the needs of their sitter.

A medium isn’t just a vessel for the spirit world, a medium is someone who has worked hard on their craft, sitting in development for many many hours and looking after their mental, physical and emotional well-being! This should be recognised, as that person has worked very hard to get to that point, and the modern medium is always working on themselves. This is important to acknowledge as nobody is ever fully developed, we are always gaining new knowledge and new understanding about ourselves that is making us even better at what we do!

My guidance comes from the unseen army that works with me every single day and they never fail to amaze me with the support and love they give me as their ambassador.

Jackie, a previous President of Albany Street, was in her role for over twenty years and still is in service to the spirit world to this day. She has been there for me and my family, helping me through those awkward young years before I met Nicky, and finding myself as a medium.

“Trust them son, they will guide you” she would say, and they always have.

On my wedding day Jackie fed me Famous Grouse whisky in a mug. My first day working the platform in a packed room and many other memories came flooding back as I sat outside the old building yesterday. All those memories but the soul of Albany Street lives on in the Friends of Mary Duffy Centre. It’s not the bricks and mortar that make a place but the people.

I stood with Jackie, Helen and Rae, in disbelief when Albany Street closed and I’m lucky enough to have been gifted some of the many things that once sat in the wonderful building that now have pride of place in my shop!

In those early years in the late 1990s and early 2000s we held psychic suppers also called the ‘pie night’. Jackie, Rae, Helen and the team would order pies from the local butchers and provide a grand spread in the platform room, a wonderful night for mediums to come together also which is quite rare as we don’t see each other enough!

The pie night would consist of us connecting with the spirit world and proving survival of physical death in the usual fashion. I’d also be fascinated in their tea and would do tea leaf readings too, which help strengthen my connection with the spirit world. Jackie helped to cultivate my growth as a medium and reading other things like tea, cards and even ashtrays way back in the day. Yes I know how disgusting that sounds now but it's amazing the things we see in an ashtray!

When I asked for Jackie's permission to share this in my blog and in my book a sudden realisation came upon me, it was Jackie's belief in me and ultimately her kindness to that young boy all those years ago that helped me become who I am today. Kindness at play again, I felt looked after and cared for by Jackie, Rae, and the team. My wife Nicky experienced really difficult times emotionally before we married, and Rae and Jackie were on hand to show kindness and love by administering spiritual healing but also speaking to her and counselling her through those tough times. For all their help, I am eternally grateful.

A big emotional blog today, but I’m so grateful for everything over these last 25 years. I've met so many amazing people and conducted thousands of readings proving that we do not die.

So a massive thank you to the unseen world and to Jackie, Rae and the team for your friendship and guidance in those early years and even now!

Never underestimate the power of connection and being kind to others in their hours of need.

From my soul to yours

Steven x