[hyacinth-halcyon-blog]

How does one confirm a sign? I know when I research spiritual things, I see 11's everywhere later, but how do I spot a sign from a deity,

Usually time and repetition. It’s the safest and most reliable bet. Is the sign repetitive? Is it too much to be pure coincidence? Is it happening over a sustained period of time? Chances are though, judging by my experience and the experiences of most people I know, you’ll still doubt if it’s an actual sign even though it’s practically smacking you in the face. So if you’re at that point or ever are, know that it’s pretty normal to still be doubtful of your findings.

Now knowing who its from and what it means is also tricky. Spirits can send signs too, not just deities. Deities don’t always send things that are symbols of theirs especially if it’s a message they’re trying to convey rather than a “hey pay attention to me!”.And they’re likely to use things specific to you to get your attention which is why it’s hard for an outsider to help interpret signs. It’s an imperfect science and it’s common to want to see things as signs that just aren’t. 

I realize this probably isn’t very helpful. Signs are difficult like that.

[unexplained-events]

The Black Phooka

The black Phooka is a shape-shifting creature from old Celtic mythology. It is a benign but mischievous creature. Their normal appearance is similar to that of a cat (its tail will twitch when its angry much like a cat), but this creature can take the form of horses, goats, cats, dogs, hares and even humans. No matter what shape they take, their fur is always dark.

They mostly prefer to take the form of a pony and will try to entice humans to take a ride on their back. If a someone does get on, they will give the rider a wild and terrifying journey before dropping the unlucky person back at the place they were taken from.

While they’re mostly mischievous creatures, they’re also known to be benevolent and will help farmers with their harvest and field work. Due to this, they are associated with Samhain, a Goidelic harvest festival.

The character Puck from A Midsummer Night’s Dream is based off of this creature.

SOURCE for pic on right

[windvexer]

troubleshooting spotty spirit connections/"godphoning"

This post is full of my personal UPGs and stuff. These are just my beliefs and what works for me. YMMV.

It takes them a lot of energy to come through to us. Feed them and help them get across the veil.

Have you ever done a big tarot reading and got really drained? Or focused really intensely on a spirit guide meditation that left you feeling lightheaded and hungry? When we connect to the spirit world it is tiring and energy-intensive. There is no reason to believe that connection on their end is any easier.

A lot of rhetoric gets tossed around that spirits and guides are so powerful and life-changing, etc. And this might be true, but I think it gets construed in a way where we assume that because they're so powerful, it must be very easy for them to appear to us - so any failure of communication is squarely on our shoulders.

This is unfair to both them and us.

Your offerings aren't just token gestures. You are actually providing energy to your spirits - dense, earthy energies they need in order to be able to come through to our world. Fresh water is refreshing and polite, but not really energizing. Food offerings are especially helpful.

This is the point of spirit houses and spirit vessels. You create a sacred object or space aligned to a spirit's energies, and invite them to come inside of it and use it as they please. As a magic-worker, your words of dedication and consecration make a literal foothold for that spirit to more easily come to our world. This also provides a place for the spirit to rest and relax as they speak to you.

Liminal times and spaces make it easier for us to reach the spirit world, and therefore easier for them to reach us. Taking actions such as laying a compass, casting a circle, or reaching trance states can actually be extremely helpful. It's not about "spirits are dangerous so cast a circle first," and it's not about "you have to meditate and clear your mind" (trance can be achieved ecstatically, after all). It's about creating or entering into in-between spaces where our worlds more easily meet.

If you primarily use tools to communicate with spirits, cleanse and charge them more regularly. The spirits can direct the energy within your tools instead of having to use their own.

If you're already using spirit vessels or houses, try gently cleaning them and re-consecrating them. Provide as much energy as you can to the spirit at that time, so that they can more strongly imprint upon the vessel.

Stop trying to talk to them all of the time.

Spirits are people too. They shouldn't be treated like invisible humans with cool new skins, but that doesn't mean they don't have autonomy and personhood.

Spirits exist independently of us and they don't disappear and go into the void when we stop paying attention to them. They are living their own lives. Even if you believe the spirits do revolve around you, at some point they have to leave to go find information you're asking about, or review the strands of fate to make sure you're headed in the right direction, or whatever.

You don't expect your human friends to be on call 24/7 and it's rude and inconsiderate to just assume all spirits are going to want to communicate with you every single time you want to communicate with them.

No, the point of this is not "you're clingy and the spirits need space."

The point is that if you're just picking up the spirit phone at any random time, of course some of your communication will "fail" because they're not free to answer!

You might be blaming yourself for having unreliable psychic abilities when the reality is that you're just sending a FaceTime request at a bad time.

It is my experience that this is true even of gods. Sometimes I walk by the shrine of my primary god and it's just empty - he's not there right now. It's not because he hates me or because my psychism failed. He's probably off chasing nymphs or something, he'll be back later.

Try setting a schedule with the spirits if possible, such as determining what time(s) of day they're free to talk, what days of the week or moon phases they're usually free or busy, and so on.

You have times when you're more or less attuned to communication, too. The most random stuff can make psychic senses go haywire. For some, a strong cup of coffee will turn off their second sight like flipping a switch. If you try to get more of a schedule going, it will be a lot easier for you to control the variables contributing to your successes or failures. It's not fair for you to assume your psychic senses are static and you should just be able to turn them on at any time you want.

Give them a good reason to talk to you.

There are many kinds of spirits. Some we primarily interact with as friends and companions. For them, the reason for them to talk to you is that you're cool, interesting, and they want to spend time with you (all your friends think that about you! I promise!).

Other spirits can hold a much more spiritual or tutelary role in our life. When they speak, they have something important to say - and they're not necessarily going to let that be drowned out by everyday chatter.

Have you ever done a tarot reading you didn't like or understand, and then re-drew the spread to ask again? And the second time made even less sense?

Talking to spiritual teachers can be like that. They tell you something important, and they're not necessarily going to rephrase it. The problem with spiritual teachers and guides is that you still have to be the student and the explorer.

I have often communicated with the gods and spirits of other people. In these situations, I do my best to give them a really good reason to want to talk to me. "Hello, gods and spirits of [client]. I am helping [client] with [their question/problem]. I will be empty, and you can speak through me. I'll do my very best to clearly share everything you want them to know."

No matter what, though, spirits might just not want to talk. And that's ok.

Ask yourself the kinds of relationships you have with the spirits and beings you're attempting communication with. Having a very close and fulfilling relationship with a spirit doesn't mean it's appropriate to treat them like a casual friend (just as I can have a very fulfilling relationship with a professional mentor, but it's still inappropriate for me to call them at 3am after some wine).

Keep an eye on the intention of your communications. Are you unable to "find" your guide when it's about an important spiritual question, but they show up just to chat? Or vice-versa? Ask why a spirit might choose to not respond to some types of communication.

I find that spiritual guides can get irritable and non-responsive if you continually request communication without applying their advice.

In the case of spirits who are primarily friends/companions, try thinking of a fun activity for the two of you to do together, or something interesting to show them. Spirits enjoy novelty, too. Maybe you could read a new book together :)

Conversational skills transcend dimensions.

There is a difference between requesting communication and just vibing with a spirit's vibes.

When you want to communicate with the spirits, do you actually think, say, or sign, "hi, it's me, I want to talk to you today about [topic]"? Or do you just kinda show up like, "I'm here, so... yeah."

I like vibing with the vibes. I like sitting quietly with people and spirits and just existing with them. But I wouldn't sit quietly in the vibes and then say, "okay, so you're just not going to talk to me??"

Other things like manners go an incredibly long way. Spirits have a concept of boundaries and politeness - some more than others.

Active listening and critical thinking helps a lot too (and it's a great way to strengthen relationships with other humans!). Make sure you're treating spirits like a conversation partner, and not a novelty toy that spits out mystic answers to your questions.

One of the best ways to bond through communication is to create the space for the other person to share their thoughts. It's more than reasonable to show up to a spirit with a question.

But if you redirect the conversation always to be what you want to talk about, think your senses are going haywire just because a spirit is showing you something that isn't what you asked about, or only want to talk about yourself or your problems - it's not reasonable to expect that 100% of spirits want to be a part of 100% of those conversations.

Try approaching every spirit communication with clear intent. Just wanting to chat and hang out is more than okay, but be upfront with your interests and needs.

Try asking the spirits if they're free to talk and if they're interested in talking about what you want to discuss.

Make time and space for the spirits to bring up their own topics.

Employ manners at all times, even if you think your communication effort failed. Please, thank you, hello, and goodbye are powerful words.

Be open to the idea that the spirit might not want to talk about your question or your problem, and that they might have something to share with you that doesn't appear to directly benefit you.

[macabre-inactive-deactivated201]

Spirit Work vs Make Believe

If you suddenly read a post or see a listing for a kind of spirit and you suddenly find yourself surrounded by 20+ members of that species your probably not really interacting with members of that species.

If you find yourself with an entire species or 20+ members of a species hanging around your home and never leaving to do anything outside of working with you they are probably not real

If you read a book and suddenly a species from that book starts showing up around you they are probably not real

If you have 20+ spirits wanting to ‘mate’ with you or be in a relationship with you, thats probably not real

If you have enough child spirits around you to call yourself an ‘orphanage’ they are probably not real.

If all of your companions look the same or seem to have all the same interests and fashion sense that you do , they are probably not real

If your companions are all your ‘type’ (meaning you think they are all hot) they are probably not real

If your companions have the same personality, they are probably not real

If all of your companions are supposed to be a special secret version of a group that no other members of the species have ever mentioned and show sincere confusion when it’s mentioned, they are probably not real

If your companion deviates from all the morals, traditions, and aspects of their species and claims it’s because they are ‘special’ or that they are from a ‘separate more important group’ they are most likely not being honest and you are being played.

If the person who has spent years working with a species, getting to know them, and learning everything about said species tells you that the things you are being told are not true, you should probably think about the fact that you may be wrong. 

If your companion acts like an anime protagonist and that they are the only person who knows the true evils of ‘insert species here’ or ‘insert royal family here’ you are probably being lied to.

If a spirit claims YOU are the only person powerful enough to do *inert thing here* and do all the protaganisty things in the world to save their species, your probably being lied to

[ashley-calendula]

Keep in mind, people are sharing the most interesting and exciting parts of their practice online. No one wants to talk about the months that nothing supernatural happened, and it was just normal routines and regular spells, so they talk about objects moving, rooms feeling cold, getting sudden headaches or dizzy spells, strange dreams, and an abundance of animals, and it can seem like a lot of stuff is happening to them in a very short period of time. You're just getting the highlights reel.

[jasper-pagan-witch]

Do you actually have a problem with "negative" entities?

Or have you convinced yourself that "negative" is synonymous with "malevolent"?

[amariofthenight-deactivated2024]

So you want to Vet a Spirit?

So you want to vet a spirit who just showed up. Or maybe they are a past life spirit™️ and you want to make sure they are who they say they are. Well how do I do that? You need to Vet them. No one really talks about vetting as a cohesive resource. All vetting topics are split up in “vetting questions” or some options for vetting. I’ve only found a few cohesive vetting resources which are:

Vetting your comp by @hereticalapothecary

And one that’s more shop geared by @hecaatia

Now after taking a look at those I wanted to take a second to add my own two cents to the “How to vet a spirit” topic.

Going in to the Vetting Process

When beginning the spirit vetting process it’s important to go in knowing what you want out of the relationship. The way you vet a Guide vs how you vet a Past life Spirit are all going to be drastically different.

It’s important to ask the hard questions. Don’t shy away from tough questions because of fear. The potential damage is mitigated by asking comprehensive questions that can give you an accurate view of this spirit. The hard questions are the most important to help you figure out where they stand.

It’s important to ask the same question in multiple ways to determine if they gave an accurate answer. It’s also important to ask the same question multiple times over a long period of time to make sure you get the same answer over and over again. INVESTIGATE ANY DISCREPANCIES.

Things to keep in mind while Vetting:

Companions:

With companions the main thing you want to vet for is safety of the companion. So double checking their background, checking their home status, checking their family status, get references from their friends and acquaintances.

Guides:

Guides will need time to determine if their advice is sound. You’ll need time to determine if the advice they gave was the right advice or if they do not have your best interest in mind. Most people would say guides don’t need to be vetted but I disagree and say guides need more vetting than a companion. You’re putting so much trust in a spirit you don’t know with guides. Please please vet your guides.

Past life spirits:

A past life spirit will need longer and more extensive vetting processes. Half of which is determining if they are safe for you in THIS life. Keep in mind you won’t know fully and completely how the past life ended.

It’s important to remember that just because a spirit was good for you in the past doesn’t mean they are good for you currently. People change; their wants and needs change and their perceptions of the world change over time. They won’t be the exact same they were then and well.. you’re a whole new person.

I would argue that past life spirits can be even more portentously dangerous than any other spirit you encounter. They can connect you to past life baggage as well as you don’t know the baggage they themselves carry from that life.

A spirit cannot follow a boundary they don’t know is a boundary. Spirits come from completely different cultures with basis we can not understand completely. It’s important to remember this when vetting and to make boundaries clear and concise. A boundary they don’t know is there is a boundary that will get broken and they will pay the price for it.

Communication will be the most important tool in your belt during the vetting process.

Questions for Vetting

Here are some examples of questions you can use:

Questions for Companions:

How much time do you need? How much do you want?

How would you like to spend time with your companion?

Does your species have any racism? Do you?

Are there any spirits/species you refuse to be around?

Are you understanding of human mental health issues? Do you need me to explain them? Can you handle those difficulties?

How do you handle anger or fighting? How will you handle struggles in companionship?

How will you handle potential lulls?

What are your morals? Ethics?

Questions for Guides/Mentor:

What is your teaching style?

Does their teaching style match your learning style?

How would you handle your student experiencing lulls? Not hearing everything you’re saying? Being too low energy to work that day?

How will you determine what advice to give your companion?

Are you able to divine answers? Is that how you will guide your companion?

What will you do if your companion disagrees with you?

What if your companion completely ignores your advice?

How long are you willing to be patient for your companion? In what instances would you be unable to be patient?

Questions for Past Life Spirits:

Did you know your companion in a past life?

(if yes)

What was your relationship with your companion?

How did you meet your companion? When was it?

Why did you stay with your companion?

Why do you want to be with your companion in this life?

What do you want your companion to learn from your relationship? What do you want to learn from your companion?

Do you have any advice for your companion in this life?

Tell us a story of our past with your companion?

What did you admire about them? What do you admire now?

What did you hate about them? What do you hate now?

Did anything bad happen between you and your companion in the past? Be honest.

Is there any reason you would have animosity for your companion? For your companions current family?

Did any bad things happen between you and any current members of their family in the past? Anything that will cause issues or tension now? Or even something you want your companion to know.

Some resources for Questions:

30 Day get to know you by @sleepytisi

Questions to ask your spirit friends by @spiritvexer

Spirit conversation prompts by @silkensorceress

Red flags

What are some red flags that lead to an automatic banishment? For me:

Anything I would identify as abuse. I.e. gaslighting, attacking, manipulating, feeding without consent, magic without consent.

Basically doing anything to me or my companions without consent. Consent is a big boundary for me.

Things not adding up. If their stories don’t add up chances are they are lies. Now it’s important to be real with yourself about you ability to hear. If you are confident you got it right and discernment tells you it’s true I would question the spirit about this and it could lead to a possible banishment.

Harming anyone in my family, harming me, harming children or pets.

Breaking any rules I have established. Breaking my house rules.

I won’t go into too much detail on red flags as I have link plenty of sources about those.

Resources on red flags:

How to indentify an abusive spirit by @spiritadvice

Spirit abuse red flags by @letheofthevoid

Spirit work red flags by @witchy-oates

Ways Spirits will manipulate you by @will-o-the-witch

Common Spirit Scams by @windvexer

What does vetting look like?

Now that we have that out of the way what does vetting actually look like? Well:

Step one: For the first few visits you should meet them with wards up, protections up, and with a circle of protection (depending on your practice) actual length of this depends on your comfort level and the results of the questions asked of the spirit. This is the time to ask them the hard questions. The questions that can enact anger or negative responses. Ask them now while you are protected.

Step Two: Meet them without a circle of protection. During this stage you’ll still have your personal wards up but without the circle of protection. This is the time to continue asking questions. Really get to know them.

Step Three: Meet them without wards or protections. Have them spend time with you and your family. Keep an eye on how they act or react. Keep an eye on their behavior and your families behavior. This is the time to really learn who they are without boundaries. Have them around you in all the different kind of situations possible. Really see how they handle every day human life.

Step Four: Check out their references. Go into the astral alone with them. Meet their family, their friends, learn more about their culture and get more information about their background. Take trips with them.

While this isn’t everything that is needed I hope at least this can be a resource to begin learning how to vet spirits.

-Willow

[wyrd-gazer]

You don’t have to know every single thing in witchcraft.

I remember being overwhelmed when I saw how many different things there were to learn when I first started exploring witchcraft. I’ve seen others getting overwhelmed too.

You don’t have to learn spell jars, spell candles, astrology, sigils, etc. You don’t have to learn every type of divination. If you want to, that’s great; but there’s no need to if you don’t want to.

Learn what you feel drawn to. Learn what interests you. You’ll burn yourself out if you try to learn everything at once.

[bloodlikefire]

I found it weird and frustrating that the term fairy gets applied to many cultures all across the world when it is specific to like Ireland.

In media, and in the mundane world, the term fairy has become a stand-in for many spirits, but when we have deep and ideally nuanced discussions about spirituality, I would hope that I would see this term used more accurately.

I've literally seen people say that fairies can be seen all around the world, including African fairies. We already have words for African spirits, and fairy is not one of them lol

A fairy has a specific culture to the spirits and a country of origin and a language associated with them, and it's not something that can just be applied willy-nilly to any pantheon.

If I started calling your gods Lwa, how would that feel? Lmao

[zarya-zaryanitsa]

Me: Dear ancestors, I offer you this milk and honey, and this incense, and these flames to warm yourself by… The voice at the back of my head: Stop being stingy, pull out the vodka. Me: *sigh* …and this vodka and these cigarettes…

[letheofthevoid]

Discernment Demystified & Some Practical Advice

By Lethe 29/07/22

So… first of all- what is discernment? That word gets thrown around everywhere in the community, overused to the point of meaninglessness, worn-down by constant claims about “discerning” and accusations about “lacking discernment”.

The dictionary definition states that discernment is simply “the ability to judge well”.

Wikipedia, which is a god-send sometimes, further expands upon this very bare-bones description with the following:

“Discernment has also been defined in the contexts; scientific (that is discerning what is true about the real world),[3] normative (discerning value including what ought to be)[4] and formal (deductive reasoning). The process of discernment within judgment, involves going past the mere perception of something and making nuanced judgments about its properties or qualities.”

I think this encompasses the concept of discernment in relation to a spiritual practice extremely well. It is not merely questioning to the point of an existential crisis, or purposelessly doubting every spiritual experience you’ve had. Rather, it is a process of applying your critical thinking skills to determine if your subjective feelings and initial conclusions/perceptions about something match up with objective facts and reality.

Discernment, though it seems tiresome and daunting, should not ever be a scary process. Skepticism is a healthy attitude to cultivate in any spiritual practice, and discernment is the stepping stone to through, genuine, fulfilling spiritual experiences. Without it, you’re left only with delusions, maladaptive coping mechanisms, and uncertainty about your reality and spirituality.

Now that we’ve covered that- let’s get to the fun part. What are some good and bad discernment practices and why?

A favourite discernment practice in spiritual communities that gets thrown around is “seek third party verification”.

As an idea, this sounds great. Sure, go find a reader who will perform a reading and they can confirm if you are genuinely experiencing something by comparing results.

However, there are a myriad of issues with something like this. First of all- not every reader is a legitimate one, or qualified, or capable, or ethical. Trudging through the piles upon piles of fake offerings, cold readings, and overpriced services that deliver nothing more than LoveLightDivine messages Can be frustrating at best and maddening at worst.

Now, let’s say you eliminate this by going to a trusted reader. You constantly engage with them. You are friends, even. However, you’ve shared so much with them that there is huge bias in their readings. They now understand you deeply, and a lot of the information they provide you with may (purposefully or not) feed into your biases, particularly if you have a friendship at stake.

Generally, this issue of bias in “friendly” readings can be eliminated by ensuring that the reader is not privy to every detail of a situation, and that the information they provide is not psychoanalytical, but instead something more tangible, provable, or actionable.

Another way to ensure that the readings you receive from practitioners (close to you or not) are legitimate, is by ensuring they provide information that you have not shared before and they couldn’t otherwise know. They should not be repeating the same issues back to you, but rather delving more deeply and allowing you to gain insight.

Lastly, you can ask for your spirit (if the matter at hand is involving one) to either give a sign in the reading, like mentioning something specific or showing a specific card (that the reader is not aware of) OR you can ask for a physical sign as confirmation after the reading to verify the validity of your results.

Another favourite discernment practice of spirit workers online is “sense the spirit’s energy/ learn to feel it.”

While someone who is experienced and has an established practice with a reliable spirit they commune with regularly and who has proved they can manifest in other ways may be able to get away with this- this never should be your first method of discernment, nor your only one. The mind is very powerful- so powerful in fact that it can even have some degree of influence on your health. Just look up more about the placebo effect or somatoform disorders!

Relying on intangible feelings only (when there is no other backing to a spiritual practice) is extremely dangerous and can ultimately become a pathway to enabling delusions, maladaptive daydreaming, avoidant tendencies, etc.

On the controversial method of asking for physical manifestations as discernment

Listen- if you want to work with a spirit- asking for physical manifestations of some kind should be your goal. Just as you are putting in effort into cultivating a connection with them, so should they showcase that they are willing to do the same for you.

When I suggest people request physical manifestations from a spirit- it invariably is met with some level of discomfort. Discomfort which is usually rooted in fear at the threat that their spirit might not be able to do so and what that might mean for them. Delusions? A collapsing spiritual practice? Invalidation?

To address this- I think that a few things need to be discussed.

Firstly, not all spirits are able to physically manifest to the same degree. A deity and a brownie are not on the same level in the hierarchy of powers, and as such expecting a brownie to do the same a deity can do is counterintuitive, unfair, and ultimately will lead to disappointment.

Furthermore, there are some misconceptions about what a spirit should be able to do physically right off the bat as a spirit companion/ upon first contact (or else they’re not legit).

In reality, because you’re not formally “pacted” with the spirit, because you have not cultivated a relationship with them, etc. physical manifestations with a spirit companion in the beginning might be very small. As you slowly grow in your work together, nurture your bond, figure out what works and doesn’t for you, and what physical methods of manifestation are most suitable for them- then the degree of manifestations you have will also increase in potency and frequency.

Having said that- what should a physical sign request look like?

Make it SIT.

Specific- Write down (this is important so you have proof and record) a specific request. No “show me an animal that reminds me of you.”

Improbable/Impossible- Make it something you’re (at the very least) unlikely to encounter in your daily life. Please take into account that Pinterest, Google, Tumblr etc all track your browsing patterns. Seeing something that might look like a sign online is probably the algorithm, not God.

Timely- Give a set, specific timeline by which you hope the request is accomplished. For example “By July 30th at 7PM CST”.

You can also agree to provide a spirit’s favoured offerings should they complete the task- but only so long as they have done so.

Remember! Sometimes a request might not be fulfilled for a myriad of reasons and that’s not necessarily something to have a spiritual crisis over. A reading from a third party (even a trusted one) might not always be completely correct.

Something you first thought was a spiritual sign might end up being disproved as such later down the line.

However, if a lack of signs, reading inconsistencies, etc becomes a frequent and pervasive issue, no other aspect of your spiritual life is flourishing, and your other discernment checks don’t stand up to scrutiny, then that means something is definitely wrong.

But you know what? That’s okay. Spirit work is uncertain, scary, and mistakes are going to happen. If they don’t, you’re absolutely doing something wrong. It is not invalidation that should scare you, but the idea of clinging to that which is verifiably false out of a desire for comfort and stability.

I hope this primer on discernment and small breakdown on some do’s and don’ts is helpful to you all.

Questions? Comments? Thoughts?

Find us over at https://discord.gg/j43AwFte5r

[cloudselkie]

One of the things that really gets me when it comes to online witchcraft and magic spaces is how hard people push the narrative that beginner magic is dangerous. It really isn't. No demon is going to show up and suck out your soul because you accidentally summoned it. No deity is going to go out of their way to harm you. Most spirits can be dealt with using a basic banishing spell. It is extremely uncommon for witches to hex each other, but you wouldn't guess it from the fear mongering that goes around about it.

What IS important for beginner witches is learning mundane skills like discernment and critical thinking. Because when you're just getting started, the most dangerous thing you are going to encounter is other practitioners preying on newbies. Know how to spot grooming. Know how to spot cult-like behavior. Know how to read books critically. Know how to spot bullshit when you see it.

Have fun with beginner magic. Get messy. Make mistakes. Fuck around and find out. There's no need to be afraid of it. No one ever cultivated a craft or skill by being too afraid to DO.

[thecultoflexithewulf]

Basic Understanding Of Conjuring Spiritual Entities:

Conjuring entities is a process in which you summon forth an entity to your location in order to communicate, and interact with them. In order to conjure an entity to you all one must do is call for them. this can be done in many different ways but will usually include some form of connecting with them, so that you can ask them to appear to you.

Protection, and banishment:

All entities that you run into may not be friendly, so before you attempt to bring forth an entity you should be ready to protect yourself. You should take some time to learn some protection, and banishing methods so that you will be able to defend yourself if needed. You should also try not to bring forth anything you will not be able to banish, or protect against, so that you do not put yourself in any position where you will not be able to be safe.

Respect, and Trust:

When dealing with other entities you should be respectful, and honorable to them to the best of your ability, and to the most that you would like to provide. You, and them both have a say in what goes on when you guys work together, and a little bit of respect can go a long way. When working with other entities you are engaged in a partnership with which both parties should acknowledge, and honor. Remember that one entity does not know everything, you should trust them but you should also always check to make sure the information is right, and true. Do not just accept things because entities tell you that they are correct they could always be misleading you, and not have your best interest at heart.

How to communicate:

There are many ways to communicate with entities. These can be complicated, or they can even be very simple. In order to make sure your communication was entities is clear and consistent you should take time to learn communication practices, because it is very important to be able to communicate with anything that you bring forth into your space. The methods that you can use in order to communicate with entities are going to be primarily forms of divination and in this practice Adalama.

Evocation, and Invocation:

For the practitioner to bring forth all manner of entities they should try to follow this paradigm that will lead them down the path to fulfillment. The primary purpose of this paradigm is to bring forth safe and unknown entities, and there are two pathways in which one can choose from: Evocation, and the other Invocation.

Evocation:

In evocation the practitioner will summon the entity outside of themselves usually into a triangle, or another form of binding, so that you will be able to place yourself in a seat of power over the entity during the summoning. This will be done with entities that you do not trust, you do not know, or entities you believe would try to harm you. Any entity you don’t have an established relationship with should be summoned through this pathway of understanding. The triangle or another form of binding should be used like chains to constrict the entities who do not generally work in your favor, or that you are not sure about. This will allow you to control their movements outside of your protection and will make it easier for them not to hurt you and for you to send them away if needed. Though the binding will not be able to hold all forms of entities.

Invocation:

Invocation brings the entity very close to you, so it is a good idea to make sure that you trust the entity, and have a good relationship with it before doing so. Invocation is primarily used in order to connect with positive entities such as yamasa, and positive metaphysical kna, or it can be used to call forth entities that you trust such as your skaqa ona, skacaga ona, ancestors and entities you have interacted with that you know will not harm you.

Step-by-step for conjuring entities:

Nothing is needed to call forth the entities except their sigils, and a name that the entity is known by. If you do not have either of these tag locks you could always go through the process of making your own by giving it a name that you can refer to it as and by creating a specific name sigil for that name. After you have that all you will need to do is follow these steps in order to summon forth the entity.

Preparation:

First you will need to start off by cleansing the area, so that you will be able to bring it back to how it was naturally. This can be done through any cleansing method, and should be done quite thoroughly. This will allow you to make a space where you will have complete control over all the kna that is present within it, so that you have no surprises during your conjuring of entities. If you are going to be conjuring entities that you do not trust, or are iffy about you will want to construct a triangle, or another form of binding. Remember that you want to place this outside of your circle, or other form of protection, so that the entity will be able to be stuck within it. Place the sigil in which you have constructed within the binding apparatus, or on top of it, so the entity will be binded once it is called from that sigil.

If you are going to be invoking the entity into your space you should bring any connection to that entity, including the sigil into the space where you will be casting your circle, or other protective shielding. By doing this you will allow the entity to be able to come into your space to communicate, and interact through the invocation process.

Next you will want to take time to center, ground and call down in the spot in which you will soon be making your space of protection through the circle casting process, or a another method. This will be good in order to get yourself balanced, and aligned to the kna of the universe, while also giving you a connection to the earth, and the moment in time in which you stand. Once you feel like you have yourself in order you can then begin the process of setting up your space of protection. You can do this through casting your circle or any other form of protecting method that makes a shield between you, and the outside space. It is imperative that you do this in some regard in order to keep yourself safe, and to keep out other forces that you do not want to interact with.

Next summon the elements, and guardians to the cardinal directions that you associate the elements with. This will go through the process of empowering your working, and your shield in order to provide you with more power. Take your time to call in the elements of fire, earth, water, and air. If you are going to be invoking the entity into your space you should bring any connection to that entity, including the sigil into your circle, So that the entity will be able to come into your space to communicate, and interact.

Calling forth the Entity:

Once you have reached this point begin to charge the sigil through any sigil charging method, and then activated through an active activation method in order to release your calling out into the world to summon forth the entity that you are targeting. This will allow the entity to come to the location of the sigil which is either going to bind them within your triangle of the art, or allow them to be drawn directly to you, so that the communication and interacting process can begin. You may also want to chant out their name, and express your intention for them to show up, so that you will be able to will there manifestation into being. It may take them some time to show up depending upon different factors, but once they do you will be able to feel their presence. Once they show up you will be able to work with, and communicate with the entity.

Next you are going to begin your communication process, during this time you are able to communicate with the entity for whatever reasons you decided to summon them for. This part of the practice is really up to you to decide what you would like to do. Whether or not you want to build a relationship with this entity, take it on as a companion, ask it to complete a task for you, and then send it out to accomplish that task, or anything else that you can come up with. It all really depends on you and your prerogative.

Once you are done communicating with the entity you must go through the process of sending them away. If you invoked them you can simply say goodbye to them and allow them to leave on their own accord, because there is nothing holding them here. They will simply be able to leave, and go on with what they were doing.

If you used evocation in order to summon the entity to a triangle, or other form of binding you will have to banish them in order to make sure that they never are able to directly interact with you. Once they are gone you can then begin the cleanup process of your ritual.

Closing:

Now you are able to undo your protection, and cleanse the area in order to bring everything back to how it was naturally. After that it would be a good idea to Center, ground, and call down again in order to connect you back with the physical world and any kna that may have gone astray during the ritual. Once you complete that you can then return back to go about your day as you do normally, or maybe even record your experiences.

[mermaidenmystic]

Lost Spirit by M.Erskine ~ https://www.artstation.com/artwork/Vd14LZ 

[windvexer]

Windvexer's Spirit Work Masterpost

Click here to go to my masterpost post which is a post linking to a lot of masterposts. A'yup.

Click here to go to my original version of this spirit work masterpost, which may have updates or changes since this version was reblogged.

Discernment and Spirit-Seeing

How to talk to the spirits within the things around you

Ask: Getting started with spirit work when you can’t discern

Hospitality and Exchange

Offerings: Why, and How?

lowest spoons candle dedications

Spirit Troubles

Ask: Spirit traps

So You’ve Got a Spirit Problem: An Adept’s Guide to Taking Care of Business

Ask: Did casting a curse attract the attention of bad spirits?

Meeting Spirits

Guardian Animal Shielding

[if you like my posts, consider buying me a coffee :)]

[creature-wizard]

If anyone tells you that they’re doing the world a huge service through the battles they fight on the astral plane… get the hell away from them because this one’s a massive red flag.

[acakaos-archived]

a small reminder

your practice is your own. You have rare tarot decks in their handmade bags along with a pricey set of runes? Enjoy them. You like communicating with a set of pokemon cards and your ipod? You’re a cool kid. Telepathy? Still valid. Think you can only get yes/no answers with a pendulum? Sweet, just remember not to invalidate someone else’s communication. Have a system for getting yes/no answers with tarot? Still sweet.

you think ____ tool might be cool to communicate with? your practice, your beliefs, go for it. Remember your discernment, stay within ethical boundaries, and you’re golden.