Glyn Edwards
A Renowned Medium Remembered

An abridged biography about Glyn Edwards. Taken from a much longer biography about his mediumistic life and work in the anthology of his wisdom The Potential of Mediumship (expanded edition). The longer version is also in the tribute book Glyn Edwards: A Renowned Medium Remembered.

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Glyn Edwards was born in Liverpool on 17th August 1949. During his Earth-life, Glyn became internationally recognised as one of the UK’s finest mediums. At 16 he joined a Benedictine community. Within this period of his life, various mediumistic experiences he had had since a child intensified, which subsequently led him to leave the community after staying for two years. He then went on to train at Sassoon’s, became a sought-after hairdresser and began to take a deeper interest in his mediumistic abilities after a sitting under an assumed name with a medium who gave him remarkable evidence about his grandmother and other members of his family.

 

After doing his first public demonstration of mediumship at 19, he immediately went on to working regularly as a medium. He later became a certificated medium of the SNU (Spiritualists’ National Union) and a protégée of the world renowned medium Gordon M Higginson, and worked on a variety of projects with him for many years, including demonstrating his mediumship at the Derby Assembly Rooms in 1991 as part of the SNU’s centenary celebrations.

 

He travelled extensively, speaking, lecturing, demonstrating and running workshops throughout the UK and worldwide for over 40 years. He owed much of his early work to Jean Matheson, a long-time friend and organiser of numerous successful events and courses in the north of England, who sat for him in a highly productive development circle and helped him gain confidence in his abilities.

 

He was the main founder of the Gordon Higginson Fellowship and the Gordon Higginson Awareness Foundation (later known as the Glyn Edwards Spiritual Awareness Foundation after Glyn's passing), both of which ran various courses in the south of England. He was also a regular course organiser and teacher at the Arthur Findlay College for over three decades, worked at the Spiritualist Association of Great Britain, and was involved with the research of PRISM (Psychical Research Involving Selected Mediums).

 

He was particularly known for the quality and depth of his work and his ability to demonstrate his mediumship almost effortlessly in front of large audiences. On some occasions he gave a demonstration of trance mediumship. More than anything, Glyn was highly respected for his understanding of and insight into different areas of mediumistic unfoldment and his devotion to helping students explore and realise their individual potential.

 

He was interviewed on television and radio throughout the world, recorded many teachings and practices, wrote numerous articles on mediumship and spiritual growth, and coauthored two development manuals: Tune in to Your Spiritual Potential and 21 Step to Reach Your Spirit (later titled Unleash Your Spiritual Power and Grow for the US market). Both books were thoroughly revised and given new titles in 2011: The Spirit World in Plain English and Spirit Gems. Glyn was also extensively featured in two in-depth interviews in the low-cost book Realms of Wondrous Gifts (published by one of the organisations Glyn founded),* and featured in a book called The Best of British, which was released to coincide with the new millennium. An anthology of his wisdom, The Potential of Mediumship, was released in 2012. An expanded edition was posthumously released in 2017, which included a biography about Glyn and two additional articles by him.

 

For a while, Glyn undertook instruction from a renowned tantric yoga master, Sri Jammu Maharaj, as well as a teacher from the Bihar School of Yoga, Swami Dharmananda Saraswati Maharaj, who gave him the name Devadasa (meaning ‘servant of God’). Along with Eastern wisdom and practices such as Mindfulness, Glyn was for many years deeply inspired by the teachings of the New Thought writer and teacher Ernest Holmes, took serious interest in the revival of Centring Prayer pioneered by Thomas Keating, and found times being amongst Nature an important part of his spiritual life.

 

In 2003 he made the front page of Psychic News (which he had done many times in his mediumistic life) after being struck down by a mystery illness that affected the muscles on the left side of his face as well as his balance and often used a stick for walking from then on. After this, he showed how determination and the power of the spirit can overcome adversity. Remarkably many testified to how his work and teachings moved on to a deeper level. He personally found this chapter in his life opening up many profound insights and experiences that expanded his mediumistic and spiritual understanding.

 

In the late spring of 2014 he was diagnosed with cancer and underwent chemotherapy. Although it became clear Glyn was not responding well to the treatment, he insisted on teaching up to the last and even began an outline for an article from his hospital bed towards the end of his Earth-life. He remained positive and passed to spirit peacefully with his mother, Violet, and sister, Elaine, by his side at 10 am on 31st May 2015.

 

A service for close friends and family was held in the morning at Crownhill Crematorium, Milton Keynes on 12th June. A celebration of his life was especially held in the afternoon at Akeley Village Hall for public attendance and to coincide with his youngest brother, Delwyn, and one of Glyn’s closest friends and coauthor and editor of Glyn's books, Stephen/Santoshan, being in the UK at the same time. People whose lives had been touched by Glyn came from as far as Scotland, Germany, Sweden and Holland. Other celebration and memorial services and remembrances of Glyn’s life were also organised, including one at the Greater Boston Church of Spiritualism in the United States, and one by the SNU at the Arthur Findlay College on its Open Week in 2016.

 

Glyn’s work lives on of course in his books, recordings and with various people and students he helped, many of whom have become teachers and mediums because of Glyn's help. There has even been reports of him communicating via some working mediums and mediumistic development circles, and the Glyn Edwards Spiritual Awareness Foundation ran many popular courses honouring his name for five years after his passing. 

 

On 31st May 2019, a tribute book celebrating Glyn’s life and work was released to coincide with the anniversary of his passing. And to coincide with what would have been his 70th Earth-year on 17th August 2019, a beautifully designed mid-price meditations book of inspiring quotations by him was released, which was expanded in 2021 with extra passages. In the summer of 2023, a companion book, More Reflections with Glyn Edwards, was also release, along with a 252-page Complete Collection, which combined the two previous books.

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Introduction about Glyn from the tribute book Glyn Edwards: A Renowned Medium Remembered, by Santoshan (Stephen Wollaston).

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* Glyn especially asked his co-author friend Stephen/Santoshan to write the ‘Realms of Wondrous Gifts’ book as Glyn wanted to encourage a more inclusive interspirituality amongst his students. Stephen in return asked Glyn if he’d like to be interviewed for two extensive sections of Q&As about spirituality and mediumship for the book. A new low-cost 3rd revised printed edition, which has a larger page size, extra images, and been completely redesigned and expanded, was released in 2020, along with a low-cost eBook edition.

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