spirit houses: a container spell for your spirit vessel needs
In honor of realizing how much easier spirit boxes have made my life, here's a full moon post about spirit boxes 101.
A spirit box (maybe it has a bunch of other names; I don't know of any others) is a box which functions as both a house and a vessel for a spirit.
Spirit houses in and of themselves have historical precedence.
Trial records contain references to demon familiars living in glass or leather bottles; crystals; baskets; boxes; earthenware pots lined with wool kept under the stairs or by the hearth; under borders of 'green herbs' in the garden and under the roots or in the hollows of trees.
Wilby, Emma. Cunning Folk and Familiar Spirits (2005), 77
In the text above, many containers and locations are referenced. For simplicity's sake, I'm going to talk about boxes in this post. In this post, spirit box and spirit house are synonymous.
Why use a container-based spirit house?
I use 'em because I ran out of altar space. It's not even like my "inner keep" is chock full of spirits. It's just that sometimes, spirits don't like to have room mates and keeping everyone happy can require a lot of space.
For me, I have a lot of objects dedicated to my spirits. Using a non-container vessel (such as a quartz crystal) doesn't solve my space needs, because then I'd have a bunch of devoted objects and a vessel crystal to deal with.
It helps because the spaces devoted to each spirit are clearly delineated. This makes some stuff like psychic communication less confusing (more on this later).
I have a belief that spirits can literally enjoy objects placed within their home. Filling a spirit box with comfortable, lovely things actually allows the spirit to enter this space and enjoy their gifts.
Giving offerings and other interactions are simplified. No spoons for an offering ritual? Leave a gift on or in the container and it belongs to the spirit now (not in if the object will rot and need to be disposed of!!! we all know we'll forget about it). Did the spirit really piss you off? Put a black cloth (or t-shirt) over the container and move it to the back of your closet. No ritual or spell required.
(Also, re-arranging and moving them around is a heck of a lot easier than open altar spaces)
They also function as spirit vessels, btw
You want to meditate, commune, work with, or give instructions to the spirit? Easy peasy - the spirit house functions as a spirit vessel. Touch it or interact with it to also interact with the spirit.
Make them by 1) finding a container and 2) giving it to the spirit
Cleanse it if you want. Definitely try to make sure it's clean. Some beliefs might dictate that air gaps are required for the spirit to move in and out of the vessel (so, no sealed jars).
Then, give it to the spirit. A ritual or spell is fine if you want to do one. Otherwise, get into the zone where you feel close to the spirit (as close as reasonably possible in the moment; no need to feel like you're having a numinous experience just to get the job done).
When you're in you're zone (or like, just sitting in your room calling to the spirit a few times), announce (internally or externally) that you're giving the container to the spirit.
And yeah, how about that! That's all it takes.
Maybe frontload the process with a few gifts, though
An empty, plain balsa wood box isn't too impressive. I mean, an opportunity to imprint on a physical vessel and come ever-closer to our physical world is a gift in and of itself. But it's still an empty container.
Try popping some gifts in that bad boy at the same time as you dedicate it to the spirit.
Something soft and comfy for the spirit to sleep on (soft fabric pad will do; good chance to put your crochet skills to use!)
Something interesting or valuable (coins, miniature figurines, neat beads, etc)
An energy offering (candles; incense; food or beverages; your own energy; most disposable offerings should be left on or near the vessel, not inside of it)
Stuff they'd personally like
Things that are sentimental to you, which you gift to the spirit as a form of your personal reverence towards them
In the future, you can add and remove gifts. I'd definitely double-check with the spirit before removing anything at all, but you can.
You can also do magic with it
Ask the spirit to charge and enchant an object, and place the object in the spirit house for a full moon cycle (or longer, or less; the spirit should be able to tell you).
Include spirit petitions asking them to do tasks, or house rules to follow, etc.
The spirit houses make an ideal way to commune with spirits, especially as opposed to shared altar spaces.
You can literally pick up and move a spirit box into the area where you're doing divination. Or, touch it and use a pendulum or practice psychism (or hold it while you're meditating).
I personally just find this convenient.
Consider being open to developing them over time
You don't need to wait to devote a spirit box to a spirit until it's fully decorated, you have tons of objects to fill it up, etc.
The spirit box can grow and change to reflect your relationship with that spirit.
Spirits can and will ask for things, ask for the container to be modified in some way, and so on. Watching the collection of devotional items grow is a beautiful thing.
After all, it's not like spirits will like everything you want to give them. It might be a waste of time to agonize over collecting offerings before you've even gotten feedback on the initial spirit house itself!
Do your best to be open to input from the spirit about what kind of home it wants and what kind of things it wants.
If the spirit box is for a familiar, strive to include a portion of the physical species of the familiar (acorns for an Oak familiar; bobcat skull for a Bobcat familiar, etc).
Soil can make a very suitable "bed" for chthonic, dead, and certain earthen spirits - ask them about it, but it's definitely an option.
If your spirit has no original body on earth (e.g. it is a grandmother dollie and isn't associated with any living spirit), make a body for it (like, make a poppet) and keep the body in the house.
The spirit box, in and of itself, gives the spirit a greater foothold in this world. So don't take this step if you're not ready for it.
Feed your spirits often with earthly substances to give them power in this world
When you and the spirit have a falling out
If the relationship is done, try to act with honor if possible. Announce (as ritualistically as possible, is my recommendation) that the spirit is no longer welcome to use this container as a home, and that you will strike any spirit from using it.
Take the things out. Really wouldn't recommend taking back gifts, so only give gifts that you're happy with never having back. But dispose of them properly. E.g. if you've given a lot of coins as offerings, bury them so the spirit can still have them.
Nuke the container's energies, Announce that your permission for the container to be used as a Vessel are Revoked, and get rid of the container.
Yeah, it's UPG, but this is also my post, so -- cleansing and re-using some objects is fine for some magic. "This is a physical object that I gave to a spirit so it can have a foot-hold in this world and affect my physical reality, but now we're not friends any more and I want to use the jar for my prosperity spell" is not a great situation.
Strive to only use containers and gifts for spirits that you are willing to never, ever reclaim.
(Big asterisk on this for practitioners worth their salt; but for beginners, I don't recommend risking it)
(the "container spell" in the title is a bit tongue-in-cheek but I thought it was funny so I'm keeping it; I guess this all counts as a spell, sort of, so it's probably fine)
