“Boo! That’s all I got, goodnight!” says Maureen Hancock, the internationally renowned medium, as she runs onto her stage for the night. String lights, sheer curtains, and lotus flowers – the venue feels like heaven, just as our star describes. At a recent Tuesday night event, the crowd is sitting in anticipation, all 75 of them hoping they will get the chance to reconnect with their loved ones who have died. Hancock calms the audience’s uneasiness, and her own, with the kind of humor that would make you laugh, even when you feel like crying. Then, she tells her story.
At just 5 years old, the medium from Massachusetts – whose book is titled “The Medium Next Door” – discovered her gift upon coming out of a coma caused by lead paint poisoning. “Who are all these people?” she asked her sister, who recommended that Hancock keep the comments to herself.
Yet, she was not able to hear the spirits’ voices until her second near-death experience. Hancock was in a car accident in her 20s where she recounts a miraculous recovery after hearing her late grandmother’s voice. All the bones in her face were broken, but when doctors went to do her surgery, she was inexplicably completely healed.
Now, 50 years later, she uses her gift to “[bring] peace, comfort, closure, and validation,” to those who are grieving. She starts with the first row and within a few minutes, she recites precisely what the audience member requested her dad say to her before she arrived at the show.
The blonde, blue-eyed medium’s giddy excitement is contagious. Hancock said she gets chills and feels a rush when the connection is clear and certain. “We’re having a three-way conversation, like I am the overseas operator,” she said, describing what exhilarates her the most.
Her fans feel the same astonishment. “It was really just [Hancock] telling a story, but we couldn’t see [our son] anymore,” said Michelle Usseglio, an avid supporter of Hancock’s who attended a recent event at WeBreathe Wellness in Walpole, Mass.
The popular medium said that her abilities do not come completely from left field. “We come from a long line of intuitives, Irish mystics if you will,” Hancock said.
Her grandmother’s sister had crowds of her own lining up outside her cottage, requesting her services. Strangely enough, “everybody says that I look just like her,” Hancock said.
Other women in her family have gifts of their own and even her two nieces are mediums themselves. She said even her youngest son has healing powers.
On another note, the medium’s bubbly, genuine character speaks for itself. Hancock works at Boston Children’s Hospital, the same place she received care for her first incident, to help kids with cancer and other terminal illnesses.
She also gives parents who lost children priority. “Those are the only private readings that I do and they’re all free,” Hancock said. The waiting list is currently over 1,000.
Usseglio, who lost a son in a tragic accident, said after emailing Hancock about her work, the medium invited her for a private reading at her home. She mentioned Usseglio’s son’s name in that very email response and requested she come March 7. That was her son’s birthday.
The mother recalls Hancock “just really assured us he was okay,” while relaying specific information that only the family could know. Today, Usseglio has attended many of the medium’s events, listens to her podcast, and holds her in increasingly high regard.
In another department, Hancock provides aid to law enforcement, including the FBI. At times, she is able to astral project to the scene of crimes in order to piece together what happened.
During her show, she demonstrates her extraordinary talent after she asks a large group to stand up for a reading. Hancock senses she is about to transcend her body when she reacts uniquely to this reading. She called this her “FBI mode.”
Hancock asks if she can describe the scene she has been transported to to the audience and proceeds after receiving the family’s confirmation. The whole crowd gasps as they realize this is a well-known story in the Massachusetts area that circulated the news recently.
John O’ Keefe was found outside his home during a record breaking blizzard in Boston this past January. Allegedly, his girlfriend hit him with her car earlier that day, then left the site. Later, he was pronounced dead. Hancock exhibits what Usseglio called an “element of her own surprise,” that told the audience members she had not realized right away who she was connecting with.
The medium’s words seem to provide some solace to the family who lost their loved one in such a devastating way. They shed tears as Hancock, once again, builds the bridge between the living and the dead.
Hancock said amazing occurrences like these are “what makes [her] say ‘wow’ after 22 years.” She is unwaveringly ardent about her role, though most are unaware of the toll it takes on her.
After all, even for Hancock, it is no easy feat. “It’s like I ran a 26 mile marathon,” she said, detailing how it feels after a night of readings.
The exertion of energy makes sense when she is deliberately raising her vibrations in order to relate the messages she is receiving. Hancock said that the spirits have a higher vibration than living people, making them very fast. “It’s like trying to hear someone yelling out of a car going by at 100 miles an hour,” she said.
Over time, Hancock has learned to manipulate her ability to create “spirit boundaries.” She recalls it being constant in the beginning and how unsustainable that was.
However, when the medium tunes into the spirit station in the radio of her mind, the room goes silent as she covers her ears to concentrate. When she finally speaks to her intended crowd member, her tissue assistant is at the ready and others listen attentively.
“She doesn’t take her gift for granted,” Usseglio said. The mother has had experiences with other mediums and reports Hancock being unlike any other.
“I don’t think Maureen is in it for the money,” the mother said. Hancock is really passionate about helping others and it shows.
In reality, Hancock thinks being a public figure can sometimes be a double-edged sword. She too has needed to create boundaries with the living as people often demand her services even when she is off the clock.
Initially, she had trouble saying no. Still, she can’t help but give in sometimes but has found herself in dangerous situations.
Once, a woman at a restaurant grabbed her and aggressively insisted she give her a message from her late mother-in-law. After Hancock’s multiple polite refusals, the woman proceeded to have a psychotic break that she accused the medium of causing. “That traumatized me,” Hancock said. Even so, she still adores what she does and would not trade it for anything.
“I love when people come up to me and tell me how I have changed their lives,” Hancock said. But not everyone is in support of the medium’s work.
Many Christians believe that what Hancock is doing is blasphemous as they interpret the Bible as permitting the practices. The medium counters this argument by openly claiming herself as a
Catholic woman and confidently proclaiming that her abilities are a gift from God. As it happens, a priest once said that her gift was that of the Holy Spirit, the medium said.
She even said some people find faith through the hope she revives in them. “It can only come from one place and I say from the God place,” Hancock said.
Non-believers have left the medium’s events with an expanded mind and though her skill speaks for itself, her way of being allows anyone to feel vulnerable. “She’s like an old friend,” Usseglio said.
Hancock also understands that people are programmed to feel skeptical about everything at first. “The mind can’t wrap itself around this sometimes,” she said. Still, she invites people to leave some wiggle room not so that she may prove anything, but so anyone can have a chance to hear from those they have lost.
Some people do end up changing their minds after seeing Hancock in action. “I was definitely unsure if Maureen had any real abilities but after seeing the show, I have no doubts,” said Melena Rodriguez, my friend who accompanied me to the event.
The medium knows skeptics personally. Shockingly, she has one brother of her eight siblings total, who does not believe. Less surprising, he works as a psychologist.
In spite of critics, Hancock has a following of loyal fans who she attributes much of her success to. Coming far from your medium next door, she actually has a talk show debuting very soon. Hancock said she already filmed the pilot and is just waiting on the go ahead to film the first twelve episodes.
Despite largely appearing on television nationally before, Hancock feels this network “is finally the right fit.” She recalled other appearances she made where the producers attempted to dramatize things for viewers. “They were trying to change me…” Hancock said.
Gaia is the streaming service through which the medium is awaiting the green light. She believes they have an audience for what she has to offer. “I feel safe, I feel good,” Hancock said. The segment will give her the opportunity to share her gift in a new way.
Overall, it is clear the medium has found her calling. As a result, her impact on others is one-of-a-kind.
“I know that what I’m connecting with is the purest of light and love and [beauty],” Hancock said.
Maureen Hancock’s website: https://maureenhancock.com/