Médios

Médios (médium, plural médios) are individuals who claim to communicate with spirits or beings from beyond the living world, acting as intermediaries between the living and the spiritual realm. The term derives from Latin and entered Portuguese through historical usage in spiritualist and religious contexts.

Based on how they obtain and convey messages, médios are commonly categorized as mental or physical. Mental mediums receive information through clairvoyance, clairaudience, or precognition, and relay it telepathically or verbally. Physical or material mediums aim to produce phenomena such as levitation, ectoplasm, or automatic writing during séances. Subtypes include trance médiums, who enter an altered state; psychographers (médiuns psicógrafos) who channel messages in writing; psicófónicos who vocalize messages; and those who practice materialization during séances.

Historically associated with spiritualism and the 19th century, médios became prominent in Europe and the Americas. In Brazil, Spiritism emphasizes ethical development and the study of médios, with numerous organizations that train and assess abilities and promote strict conduct for participants and researchers.

From a scientific standpoint, evidence for mediumship remains inconclusive. Critics point to fraud, sensory cues, or unconscious motor activity, while some parapsychology studies report tentative results but no consensus exists. Researchers emphasize methodological safeguards, replicability, and ethical considerations in research and practice involving médiuns to protect participants and maintain inquiry standards.