It's been a while since my last posts but I've had some thoughts that a new PSA might be nice in regards to the spirit working community.
Scientific thought should not be divorced from the over all practice of spirit work (or magic in general):
You should challenge and hold experiments for the sake of consistency as well as for confirmation of information, theories, and/or results for your personal practice.
Challenging, questioning, and striving to determine fact from perception or ideas alone should not be considered inherently problematic. Neither should the pursuit of consistency or results.
It's true that the realm of spirit work and magic in general is personal and in many cases very spiritual. But that doesn't mean you should throw away mundane practices or logic practices, like science for example.
This applies not only in regards to discernment... but in my personal case this approach has been undeniably important in building my discernment and confidence.
Tldr is that there are so many mundane reasons or explanations for the brain doing or perceiving wonky things that aren't paranormal. To ignore and not explore to the full extent of your ability leaves room for errors and in my experience it leads to lack of confidence in one's practice as well as seeking out external validation from others which can also lead to it's own kind of troubles.
Wisteria, this is all fine and dandy from the sense of my personal practice... but how/why does this apply to commissioning others for services?
You should be able to respectfully question (and respectfully challenge answers given) those who are offering you their services, especially for commissions:
You absolutely need to and should be making educated decisions as much and often as possible.
People who are offering you a service are not always going to be ethically or morally responsible or have your best interest at heart. You absolutely need to be your own advocate and do all you can in your power to assure you are making a safe and sane choice in who you trust.
On the other hand, even if someone doesn't intentionally mean to mislead or harm; those who are inexperienced or offering services that are unreliable/less knowledgeable as they present themselves to be can still lead to harm.
In the case of there being cultural practices and/or folklore:
If the conjurer uses terms incorrectly; or in an inaccurate to an established meaning or base of understanding way- absolutely question and challenge for understanding and full comprehension along with if the person is making things up to fit some kind of a narrative of their own.
If they use terms in a way that is inaccurate or does not align with the established meanings and culture background; then you absolutely need them to be able to explain in what ways and why they deviate along with why they continue to use those terms despite it being out of context. Consider it a red flag if they either are incapable of answering or outright shut down and/or dissuade respectful questioning.
If there are entities with clearly established lore and background info, absolutely respectfully question any outlier exceptions.
While there may be an exception here and there for a race of entities; a large number of 'friendly but misunderstood' members looking to work with humans when the majority of the lore warns they are highly dangerous to humans in general (or are only nice to certain individuals on a circumstantial basis) is sus.