BONUS Weekly Weird: Consent and Clairvoyance

So an interesting thing about being a Medium is that it requires consent. If you are a Talent surprised by a sudden apparition, it might seem like this is not true. It seems pretty obvious that a ghost says BOO! regardless of what the living want to see.

But the idea here is that everyone born with mediumship Abilities gave their consent to the interaction when they chose to be born with a Life Contract that gave them those Abilities. And even unTalented folks are thought to have consented in this same way, since even unTalented infants are pretty universally able to see/hear their Guides, and simply lose the Ability over time. Basically, Featorian scholars believe it is a basic tenant of a standard Life Contract to consent to being contacted across the Veil as infants, regardless of later Talent levels.

It should also be noted that not every medium is capable of seeing every incorporeal. Some might only see ghosts and not Guides, some may only see crossed over spirits and angels but not Native Near-Siders. Some might be capable of seeing every known type of spirit, but just because a medium is capable of seeing a particular group of incoprials on the regular (like Native Near-Siders or Angels) doesn't mean they can or will, simply because the particular incorporeal might choose not to be seen. It turns out, beings on both sides of the Veil have to give their permission.

Spirits, Native Near-Siders, demons and angels can all choose to be seen (or not) by a particular medium (or even a non-medium.) Even ghosts, if they are powerful enough, can appear to non-mediums if the conditions are met. All incorporeals exist on metaenergetic frequencies that are not typically perceivable to the living, to which Mediums are more sensitive. However, because each Medium’s perception is generally strongest in only a certain band of frequencies, and incorporeals are capable of adjusting themselves to a different frequency to stay hidden. Thus, a medium’s Ability to perceive *everything* unseen is a common misconception. Basically, more than any other magical Ability, clairvoyance is all about consent.