Spirits

Fairies, demons, Djin, devas, dybbuks, dakinis, Nymphs, mermaids, ghosts, nagas, orishas, Iwa, *mysteres*, Elves, dragons: that's just a few of the many kinds of spirit beings. Considering how many people vociferously refute their existence, the extent to which spirits permeate modern human culture is astounding.

You don't have to believe in spirits to be surrounded by them. In fact, it's pretty hard to avoid them. Let me repeat: spirits permeate human culture. References are so all-pervasive that it can be easy to overlook their original meanings.

## The Secret Lives of Spirits

What more *could* you want from spirits? Well, what would you like? What do you need? What is missing from your life?

* Your desires may be material (money, prosperity, a better job, a home).
* They might be emotional (true love, an acceptable spouse, a child).
* You may seek a cure for an ailment that defies conventional solutions.
* You may need protection (from an abusive spouse, partner, or relative; from enemies, ghosts, eviction, bad influences, or even from yourself).

You may need a miracle. You may seek comfort, vengeance, reconciliation, or justice. You may not *want* anything per se: maybe you just crave the company of spirits. Perhaps you long to feel the presence of the sacred. Maybe you'd just like to personally unravel some mysteries of the universe: to truly *know* whether or not spirits exist.

Maybe there is a spirit who calls to you, who fascinates and enthrals you (Rhiannon, Lilith, Oshun, whomever). You'd like to bring this spirit deeper into your life; you'd like to experience its presence firsthand. All this and more can be had.

Name your desire, secret hope, wish or fear: a spirit exists who can fulfil or prevent it as needed, who can help you make your dreams come true. Somewhere out there, one or more spirits are waiting to work with you. Working with spirits is not exactly like finding a genie trapped inside a bottle or rubbing an old magic lamp, but those legends do possess a kernel of truth. Spirits really do protect and provide for people.

Here's an open secret: spirits do more than pervade literature, advertising, games, myths, and movies. They also walk among us. Some may find that statement shocking or surprising, ludicrous or laughably absurd, but for *many* people, all over Earth, coming from *all* walks of life, unconventional and conventional alike, it's a statement of basic, obvious fact.

There has *never* been a time when a substantial number of people did not consider the presence of spirits to be a part of normal reality, including right now.

Among those who work with them, the presence of spirits is generally perceived as positive, a *blessing*, rather than the opposite. Interaction and communication with spirits is usually beneficial; at least from the perspective of those who actually know them. Those who loudly proclaim otherwise tend to be religious disciplinaries with a vested interest in other peoples' spiritual choices.

Working with the spirits is a shared and universal human experience. *Every* group of people *everywhere* on Earth has some history of spiritual interaction, whether or not it is publicly acknowledged, whether or not it is currently celebrated, condemned, or suppressed.

Right now, somewhere on Earth, on each and every continent, people are actively, consciously venerating, petitioning, thanking, channelling, communicating with, interacting with, and/or pleading with spirits. What do they seek?

* Healing
* Protection
* Prosperity
* Happiness
* Power
* Direct contact with the sacred

People haven't been doing this futilely for thousand of years because there's nothing else for them to do with their time. Spirit veneration has survived and thrived despite thousands of years of brutal opposition because it produces joy, success, and positive results. In fiction, people run from vicious spirits, but in real life, people actively seek their presence and have historically suffered tremendous persecution in order to maintain relationships with spirits because the rewards are immeasurable.

Thousands of years of propaganda to the contrary, encounters and experiences with spirits are generally positive. That's why people keep seeking them out. Rather than wreaking havoc, spirits help, protect, and guide us. They rescue us from all sorts of disasters, performing miracles, and provide lifelines when conventional solutions fail.

Requests for contact, personal encounters with spirits, and rituals honouring them are occurring *right now* in modern, highly populated, sophisticated cities as well as out in the boondocks and everywhere in between.

Yes, some of the people engaged in these activities may be poorly educated or low intellect, but others are academics, engineers, physicians, and other highly educated professionals of all kinds. Presumably some *are* delusional, but most are not (and anyway, plenty of certifiably delusional people fervently deny the existence of spirits, too. There's no proof in that, one way or the other.)

Those acknowledging the existence of spirits subscribe to every possible religious and political persuasion. (Despite Marx's aphorism about religion being the opiate of the people, many Italian Communists claim the Black Madonna as a fellow traveller.)

Those who venerate or work with spirits don't consider themselves "believers": they *know* their own experiences to be valid and true. Others, having had no experiences with spirits (or being unable to recognize them), do *not* know this to be true and may assume - and insist - that what isn't true for them can't possibly be true for anyone else.

It is possible that not everyone experiences the world in exactly the same way, and so there's no point in arguing: tolerance may be the wisest course of action.

* For those who are already devotees, no explanation is necessary.
* For those inclined otherwise, no explanation may be sufficient.
* For those who are curious or "on the fence," familiarize yourself with the rules and methods of spirits working and find out for yourself.

## The First Lesson: Anyone can have direct contact with Deities, no mediators required

    If you consider all the implications of that statement, then you will understand why authorities of all kinds, secular and religious alike, have historically attempted to suppress spirit working and its close relative, shamanism. Working with spirits instils independence and personal responsibility; it does not encourage passivity. Working with the spirits offers each individual direct access to higher powers.

*This* is why people can't forget the spirits. *This* is why people won't abandon them, despite persecution. *This* is why stories, legends, and myths about spirits have been recounted for thousands of years. This is why people are willing to die for them:

* During the European witch craze, veneration of spirits like Diana, Freya, Herta, and Hulda was forbidden on pain of slow torture and death. Yet inquisition records show that, for centuries, many defied these restrictions.
* Kidnapped Africans, sold as slaves in the Western Hemisphere, were forbidden, on pain of horrific torture and death, to venerate their old spirits. The proof that they continued to do so anyway is demonstrated by the survival and vitality of various African-Diaspora spiritual traditions.
* The Bible records the number of times the image of the controversial Hebrew goddess Asherah was removed from Solomon's Temple. Clearly someone kept putting her back.

Why? Because whenever times are trying and tough, people turn to spirits. Not because we are foolish, superstitious, and ignorant, but because over millennia, spirits have developed a track record.

## Benefits of working with spirits

* Spirits and the process of working with them bring joy
* To be in the presence of spirits is to be in the presence of the sacred.
* Working with spirits is a conduit to ecstasy.
* Spirits help us fulfil our dreams, save us when we're in trouble, and provide healing when conventional medicine throws in the towel.

Apparently our fascination is mutual: spirits have consistently proven to be as interested in us as we are in them. (At least some of them; those with absolutely no interest in humans are probably of no concern. You are unlikely to ever encounter them.) It's not just that we can't forget them; they can't seem to forget us, either, or leave us alone. And, in general, as many people know, that's an extremely good thing.

Yes, every once in a while, negative experiences occur: a ghost gone astray or an angry spirit encountered. Some spirits are less pleasant than others. Yet this shouldn't be cause for panic; these situations can be effectively dealt with, *if* you know what to do.

## Who or what are spirits?

    Spirits are powerful, independent entities who resist human effort to define them. That's the absolute most simple and most basic definition - and ultimately the only one you really need to understand in order to work with them. More complex definitions exist, too; lots of them. For millenia, mystics have catalogued complex, esoteric cosmologies explaining the true nature of the universe including spirits. If this fascinates you, a lifetime can be happily spent in study and exploration. However, this is not necessary for practical interaction with spirits any more than really understanding exactly how the lymphatic or endocrine systems work is required for close, personal, satisfying relations with other people.

Spirits are ephemeral, volatile, fluid; they can be hard to pin down. Spirits have specific names, personalities, and responsibilities, but sometimes spirits masquerade as each other. Sometimes one spirit answers to many names. Sometimes several spirits share one image.

Confused? Then you're on the right track. Working with spirits is not like buying a carton of milk. Requesting a miracle is not like requesting a time-share or bank loan. As familiar as spirits can become, they are *never* commonplace, but always awe-inspiring. Although an intrinsic part of our world, spirits always remain out of the ordinary.

A common synonym for *spirits* or *deities* is *mysteries*. (It's even more common in French and Spanish: *mysteres* or *misterios*.) Spirits are among the universe's true sacred mysteries. If you are looking for something easy to define, control, comprehend, and pigeonhole, well, forgive me, but you're in the wrong place.

Spirits resist easy categorization. Spirits challenge standard modern axioms of space, time, and reality. There are valid reasons why so many have a hard time accepting their existence. But, be that as it may, as those who have had direct experience with them can attest, they are genuinely here among us.

Modern scientific method requires predictability, uniformity, standardization and the ability to reproduce results on demand. Modern scientific method is a human construct, created by people to fulfil human needs, goals, or desires. The spirits don't play by those rules. Some mysteries of the universe defy human control and complete comprehension, spirits foremost among them.

Contrary to scientific method, spirits offer results as they please, when they choose. If anything, *we* are *their* lab rats. Sacred texts, myths, and legends recount innumerable instances of spirits testing humans. The most famous examples derive from the Bible, most explicitly in the Book of Job. Odin travels the world personally testing human hospitality, as does the Prophet Elijah. The myth of Santa Claus checking who's been naughty and who's been nice is a vestigial memory of spirits testing humans before deciding whether to dispense gifts or punishment.

Spirits are living, intelligent, sentient, and willful. They live *outside* our imaginations. We didn't invent them or make them up, although we have certainly embellished and twisted many of their legends.

Spirits are alive in their own way, which is not exactly the same way people or animals are alive (especially those ghosts). No existing word may adequately express the manner in which spirits are alive, but that is an inadequacy of language. Attempts to surmount this inadequacy have le to common paradoxical terms like *undead* or *the living dead*.

Spirits are animated, capable of communication, travel as they please or are ordered, react to stimuli, and demonstrate individual personalities and emotions. Not all spirits are immortal, but in general, even those who are not posses life spans so long that, for all intents and purposes, at least from our perspective, they might as well be.

Spirits possess their own kind of consistency. They are true to their own selves. They possess their own rules, but generally those rules have existed for hundreds, if not thousands of years. If you familiarize yourself with individual spirits *before* working with them, there should be no unpleasant surprise.

Those spirits who are temperamental, prone to violence, perpetually grouchy, or pranksters make no pretence of being otherwise. They are who they are; they make no secret of their nature. Loki, Papa Legba and Mercury are unabashed tricksters (Norse, West African, and Roman spirits respectively). Kwan Yin, goddess of mercy, is forever patient and loving, but sacred harlot Pomba Gira makes no such promises.

Some people keep their deepest desires secret, but the spirits' own needs, desires, dislikes, and predilections tend to be up-front and on the table. Information required to work with many of them is straightforward. Spirits may appear in different forms or manifestations, but each still has a basic nature, a true essence, that remains constant.

* The Barons and Gedes, Haitian spirits of the dead, adore profanity and ribald humour.
* Yewa, a cemetery spirit, despises vulgarity. If you utter an obscenity in front of her altar, don't expect favours.

Spirits are generally invisible, although many can make themselves selectively visible when they choose. All that open space around you? That seemingly empty air? Many claim that it's actually filled with all kinds of spirits. The Talmud suggests that it's a good thing that spirits are invisible: if we could actually see all the myriad spirits constantly surrounding us, we'd drop dead of shock, awe, or fright.

Spirits most often show themselves to people in dreams, but sometimes people see spirits while they're awake, even when other people present are unable to do so. This may be because the spirits wishes to communicate only with the person or because, for one reason or another (high fever, intense hunger or emotions; entheogens), the filters that normally prevent us from seeing spirits have, at least momentarily, slipped. Visions are also sometimes shared; spirits may manifest themselves to groups of people, simultaneously or not.

Some special people possess the power to consistently see spirits even when others can't, with or without a spirit's permission. Sometimes people welcome or actively seek this power, which may be the conscious result of intensive spells and rituals. (Some spirits also bestow this ability.) Others just see spirits, whether they want to or not. This person may possess specialized vision or lack standard filters.

Some cultures and traditions perceive this power as a sacred gift: people are taught to use and control their abilities for their own benefit as well as for the community at large. Other cultures and traditions perceive this ability as dangerous, scary, diabolical, a mark of Satan, or alternatively as preposterous and unbelievable, hence a sign of mental illness. In fact, it *can* be very traumatic to consistently see what others cannot, especially if living among those who fear, despise, deny, or disparage this talent, and most especially if lacking the knowledge to control this power.

Many spirits shape-shift, meaning they assume different forms. In general, specific spirits consistently manifest in specific, recognizable forms. They own different forms the way you or I own different outfits. Some have more extensive wardrobes than others.

It is crucial to remember that, regardless of how they appear, whether in grand or humble form, these are really sacred beings of spirits and energy. They may resemble a person, animal, bird, or bug, but that guise is a cloak. Most spirits are aware that humans generally find it difficult to communicate with anything except another human - or at least something resembling one. Hence, when spirits wish to communicate or make their presence known, many do so in a form that we can understand and handle. (Of course, there are also those spirits who don't care and may even enjoy being terrifying.)

There are some stupid spirits. (Again no surprises: their reputations precede them.) Some possess vulnerabilities that make it easy for humans to manipulate them, but in general, spirits are smarter and stronger than people. They truly possess the magic powers of our fantasies and dreams.

There are many different types of spirits. Not all spirits are of equal power. Some spirits profess to be supreme creators (of all or part of the universe; of us). These spirits may or may not be one and the same, just using different names in different places and with different people. Other spirits are created, just like us.

Some spirits rule or serve other spirits. Some possess unlimited power; others are comparatively limited. Be forewarned: it is wise to assume that even the lowest-level spirit possesses a few tricks up its sleeve and should be treated with caution and respect.

Some spirits are primaeval; they may have existed since the dawn of time:

* Damballah does not speak because he is so primordial; he is from a time before speech.
* The same is true for forest deity Faunus.
* Archaeologists trace goddesses Car and Kybele back to at least the Neolithic Era.

On the other hand, new spirits are born daily. Hindu goddess Santoshi Ma emerged in the 1960s. According to some spiritual traditions, every living person has the potential to evolve into a spirit after death. Korean shamans (manshin) summon the spirit of General Douglas MacArthur at Inchon Harbor near where he landed during the Korean War. Images of visionary artist Frida Kahlo now appear on altars indicating that she has assumed goddess status.

## Realms of Spirits

    Spirits live among us. Many posses powerful links with specific locations (the presiding spirit of a particular mountain or city, for instance) or with general regions (lakes, oceans, forests, deserts, swamps, the moon). Spirits reside in caves, stones, and trees. Some spirits are profoundly attached to their own shrines and images. Others prefer to stay near the humans they love and serve, sometimes residing in their homes. Some spirits haunt marketplaces and bathhouses. Ghosts may linger at the scene of a crime.

Spirits also possess their very own realms. The true definition of a *shaman* is someone who can journey back and forth between human and spirit realms. Shamanism is among the primal human skills, maybe the true oldest profession. Luckily, many shamans over the ages have shared their experiences. Much of what we know about spirit realms derives from their descriptions, the spiritual equivalent of a travelogue.

There are many, various individual spirit realms. Envision a huge spirit universe, parallel to our own, which is then subdivided into smaller realms, similar to how a huge catering facility may be subdivided into rooms. Many parties occur concurrently: beings pass from one to another. Portals and passages connect these realms, including our own.

Some realms are heavily fortified, difficult to access, like an elite, private club. Like that club, entrances to these realms may be guarded by fierce gatekeepers. Other realms are welcoming and comparatively easy for people to access.

Different spirits reside in different realms. Some claim residence in more than one realm. Others travel back and forth, visiting different realms, just like shamans. Among the Norse deities, Odin, Freya, and Frigg each preside over their own halls within the realm Asgard, while sea spirits Ran lives among the waves and Hel rules over the realm of death.

Morgan le Fay presides over Avalon. Itzpapalotl presides over Tamoanchan, a paradise where, according to an Aztec creation myth, modern humanity was first formed from blood and bones stolen from Mictlan, the Aztec realm of death. Mictlan, in turn, is ruled by the spirits Mictlantecuhtli and Mictlancihuatl, Lord and Lady Death.

Hades is the traditional Greek realm of death. The name of its ruler is a secret. Because it was considered dangerous to call him by his true name (no need to draw his attention), people instead refer to him by his realm's name. The general population of Hades consists of shades of humanity (ghosts, dead souls) but other spirits live there, too:

* Charon, the ferryman
* Cerberus, the three-headed watchdog who keeps ghosts where they belong
* Persephone, Queen of Death
* Hekate, who moonlights as Persephone's personal handmaiden
* Adonis, who spends part of the year entertaining Persephone

Hades, Mictlan, Hel: we've just begun, and already three different realms of death have been identified. Keep reading. There are *many* more. Which one is real? Maybe all of them. The more crucial question is, which one (or ones) is most significant for *you*?

Spirits travel between realms, but people can, too.

* Shamanaic training teaches how to visit spirit realms *and* safely return home.
* Spirit realms are accessed via dreams and visualizations.

## Where are spirits most likely to be met?

Ultimately in your heart. That said, spirits are more likely to be encountered in certain types of places:

Thresholds and crossroads are particularly conductive to spirit encounters. If you want to meet spirits, those are the places you're most likely to find them. (Conversely, if you *don't* wish to meet them, then those are the places to avoid.)

Thresholds are border areas where they one force, power, energy, or element meets another. Thresholds exist everywhere: for example, the seashore is the threshold between land and ocean, the liminal, transitional area where earth meets water. Hedgerows were once the threshold between wilderness and civilization. Your mouth is the threshold between thought and speech.

Thresholds may be physical (the seashore); spiritual (the cemetary is the threshold between realms of life and death); and plain old literal; many spirits; Djinn in particular, like to congregate at door thresholds. That's why the root reason behind the common superstition urging people to step over, not on, a threshold. No need to wake or annoy any resident spirits. Universal folklore considers brides especially vulnerable to jealous spirits. The tradition of carrying the bride over the threshold emerged as a safety precaution, albeit a fun, romantic one.

Thresholds posses a liminal quality: if you are small enough to balance on a threshold, then you are neither inside nor outside, you are someplace inbetween. Twilight and dawn are thresholds of night and day: during those times, it is not quite night *or* day but some fleeting, transformative magical time in between. "Once there was and once there wasn't...," a traditional opening line of Eastern European fairy tales, the equivalent of "Once upon a time," signals that the story takes place in a threshold zone.

Crossroads are where something intersects with something else. A crossroads might be literal (a traffic intersection; a meeting of roads) or spiritual (a shrine or altar is where the mundane meets the sacred). Unlike a threshold, a crossroads has a point of intersection. That point is perceived as possessing and emanating *tremendous* magical, metaphysical, and spiritual energy. Spirits both crave and contribute to that energy.

Places where spirits are more likely to congregate include:

* Natural portals to their realms: wells, caves, springs, certain trees
* Shores. mountain peaks (natural thresholds)
* Cemeteries and birthing rooms (thresholds of life and death)
* Crossroads
* Ruins (especially those of sacred sites or scenes of disasters)
* Traditional fairs, markets, and festivals (spirits enjoy them as much as we do)
* Mirrors and divination devices

Spirits are also encountered, venerated and petitioned at their shrines, temples, and tombs. Some have intense associations with specific locations. Journeying to a spirit's special shrine is like visiting them at home. Homes are provided for spirits by erecting altars, shrines, and spirit houses or by planting certain types of trees, plants, or gardens.

## Why do spirits help us?

Different spirits possess different motivations and reasons:

* Love: they are your ancestors, personal guardians, or spiritual patrons.
* Some are just beings of incredible loving generosity and mercy.
* Others, while not so consistently altruistic, have generous moods. Ask at the right moment or in the right way and be rewarded.
* They have a loyalty of some sort, including ethnic, spiritual or professional patronage.
* Some spirits respond well to bribery.
* Others help because they like you, identify with you, or seek an ongoing relationship with you.

Any one or combination of the above reasons may be true, but in addition, many spirits who help humans do so because it is their job. Providing assistance is their special function,their sacred charge, their *raison d'être*, their reason for being. In many cases, they live to serve and are eager to help. Some have made a sacred vow of assistance and so they *must* help, providing, of course, that you ask and they are aware of the need.

We may never know how many unrequested miracles occur on a daily basis. How many disasters have been secretly averted via spiritual intervention? Some guardian spirits operate undercover, but most desire credit and rewards for their good deeds: they want to be sure you know who saved the day.

The most powerful spirits can do anything. There is no wish that Isis can not fulfill. However, most spirits are specialists. Should you seriously need legal advice, you wouldn't just ask anyone: you'd look for a lawyer. If your sink backs up, you need a plumber. If your teeth hurt, you wouldn't call that plumber; you'd look for a dentist, preferably one you like and find sympathetic. After all, they will be putting their fingers in your mouth. Requesting assistance from spirits is similar. Associate with spirits you like and find sympathetic: they will be inserting their presence in your life.

So, for example, if your child needs spiritual protection, you might invoke Anubis, Bes, or Kwan Yin. If the love of your life wants to take you on a cruise and you wish to go but are secretly afraid of the sea, spirits who can guarantee safe passage include Poseidon, Agwé, Yemaya, Ma Zu, various mermaids, and the Stella Maris.

Another theory explains why some spirits may offer or withhold help. According to a Jewish legend, two worlds existed before our own. The one just previous to ours was populated by a race of beings who eventually came into bitter conflict with the Creator, who scrapped that world and created a new one with humans instead.

Some of the earlier beings were destroyed, but others survived and still linger or lurk in the shadows. (Depending upon who's telling the story, those primordial survivors may be called spirits or demons.) Some are helpful; others perceive people as usurpers and are resentful; still others are ambivalent. Some blame us; others worry we'll meet the same fate and seek to protect and assist us. These survivors, the Old Ones, may perceive themselves as our elder siblings, disenfranchised step-siblings, or unfairly evicted prior tenants, thus explaining the complex blend of protectiveness, hostility, love, jealousy, and craving for gifts characterizing the attitudes of some spirits toward people.

## Communicating with spirits

Methods of soliciting human assistance are straightforward. Make your request in person or by proxy; call someone on the phone; send a fax, letter or e-mail. Clearly, contacting spirits is more complex. Challenges include:

* Getting your message heard
* Communicating clearly, accurately, and precisely so as to prevent miscommunications
* Recognizing, interpreting, and understanding spirit messages and responses

You may speak to spirits out loud or silently. They can hear you either way. Because you did not speak it aloud does not mean the request was not made. Vows made silently - only in your mind - count. Acknowledge whatever pops into your head, if only to refute, refuse, or clarify.

You may certainly communicate with spirits in any human language. Spirits respond to spoken and written petitions, so clearly they understand us. Some spirits also communicate via human languages, especially those who appear in dreams or who engage in ritual possession, in which case they speak through the mouths of people.

Some spirits possess powerful verbal skills and are extremely articulate, especially those who exert domination over poetry or communications or who once had human incarnations. Be cautious with spirits who take special pleasure in human language. Human languages tend to lend themselves to abuse by tricksters, whether spirit or human. Some spirits, like some people, revel in creative word games. Always consider potential implications. Pay close attention to exactly what's been communicated. Speak plainly, clearly and *precisely* from your heart. Don't use mystic, esoteric language if you don't understand it. The crucial concern is making sure your needs and desires are expressed accurately. If you don't understand what you're saying, how will you know what message the spirit has received?

Working with spirits will sharpen your ears and comprehension. Spirits will teach you to choose your words wisely and to consider what it is that you truly seek. You will learn to clearly articulate your desires: to the spirits, but also to yourself and to other people, as well. Among the by-products of working with spirits is enhanced self-knowledge and improved social skills. The spirits will teach you to *really* listen and hear what's communicated to you, regardless of who's talking.

*Many* spirits, however, including those who visit in dreams, do *not* communicate verbally or at least not consistently in that manner. This does not mean that they do not communicate. Spirits *constantly* communicate with us, assuming perhaps that we still possess the once more prevalent skills of recognizing, interpreting, and understanding their messages. (One theory is that spirits can see the best in us and thus expect nothing less, even if we do not yet possess those skills. They expect us to live up to our potential.) If one anticipates only verbal messages, then much communication is easily overlooked and lost. Spirits consistently communicate via *symbols*.

Once the knack for it has been acquired, symbolic language is eminently practicable, clear, and straightforward. Fluency requires that you slow down and examine the world around you, paying special attention to any coincidences. The spirits will teach you to read your surroundings the way you read a valuable, trusted road map.

Symbolic language is how spirits are more likely to communicate with you. Even verbal spirits complement their conversation with symbols. This is how it works:

* Most spirits possess various forms, which they consistently assume.
* Most also possess various preferences in food, fragrance, colours, and gifts
* Some spirits are identified with certain numbers, trees, animals, birds, or plants.
* Individual spirits possess specific symbols, known as attributes, which serve as the equivalent of a calling card. Poseidon's attribute is a trident; Rosmerta's is a cornucopia.

These objects, forms, symbols, and preferences are used as vehicles of two-way communication. They are the vocabulary of spirit working.

For example, Yemaya's colour is blue, and her number is seven. She is associated with the ocean, with saltwater, and with wet, juicy fruits containing lots of seeds, like watermelons or pomegranates. To attract her notice, you might somehow prominently feature her symbols. She in turn, might use them to send a signal to you.

Methods of catching Yemaya's attention include lighting seven blue candles in her honour or inserting a note to her within a hollowed watermelon and sending it out to sea. Shortly after accomplishing either or both of these actions, were you to observe seven blue balloons unexpectedly floating in the sky, this could be interpreted as a response to your petition or at least an indication that she has heard your call.

But that could just be a coincidence, you say. A basic tenet of working with spirits (or any kind of magical working, for that matter) is that *there is no such thing as coincidence*. Coincidences do not exist. The universe is not random. The concept of coincidence was invented to make it easier to dismiss things to which we should be paying attention. What is labelled *coincidence* is actually a signal to pay closer attention to something, to analyze its meaning and significance. What is labelled *coincidence* is more accurately called *synchronicity*.

To work with spirits is to live in a world where *everything* is potentially sacred. It is not a world to rush through, but to consider and savour. Every colour, object, number and encounter is potentially significant. Spirits open a door to a world that is the diametrical opposite of meaningless and random.

Now clearly, not all coincidences are of equal importance. Some are of great significance; others minor. Some are just little markers indicating that you are on the right path or that attention should be paid. Each is considered, weighed, and interpreted, not ignored or dismissed.

Other means of communicating with spirits include divination, dreams, oracles, and visualizations. Spells and rituals can also facilitate communication.

### Magic Messenger Dolls

1. Create a small handcrafted doll to transmit a message to the spirit world. It's your message: sew or make it yourself. No need to be skilful or talented; what you craft may be as simple or elaborate as you choose. (The simplest doll involves two pieces of fabric stitched together with stuffing inserted and a face painted on.)
2. Consider the spirit you are seeking to contact: select materials or colours evocative of this spirit.
3. Decide exactly how to phrase your message. Focus intently while crafting the doll.
4. Write your message on a small piece of paper, which may then be attached to the outside of the doll or stuffed inside, perhaps adding a small gift for the spirit.
5. Look the doll in the face, and tell it to transmit your message for you.
6. Leave the doll at a crossroads, cemetery, or any place where you perceive the spirit is present and/or powerful. It may also be buried, tied to a tree, or deposited in water.

## Commanding and Compelling

Spirit working is associated with folk magic. Another method of working with spirits, associated with High Ritual or Ceremonial Magic, also exists: Commanding and Compelling is an informal name for methods of attempting to dominate spirits, ordering them to do your bidding. (The nature derives from ritual chants that traditionally begin, "*I command you, I compel you*.") It is the central theme of many medieval grimoires (books of magical spells, rituals, and invocations) and is the inspiration for many movie and television depictions of spirits. Spirits are forced to serve as a magician's minions.

Commanding and Compelling is not the same as working *with* spirits. To work *with* spirits means to form bonds of love and loyalty and assumes cooperation. Spirits and people serve each other with mutual affection and respect, forming symbiotic relationships beneficial to both parties. Commanding and Compelling means people bossing spirits around or at least trying to do so.

Commanding and Compelling assumes a hostile relationship between spirits and people. Because the method involves force, trickery, and humiliation and because *no one* likes to be compelled, especially not a powerful spirit, even if the relationship wasn't initially hostile, it will become so once the method has been tried.

How hostile could it become? Elaborate rituals intended to provide safety are an integral component of this method of spirit summoning and commanding. The magus will ritually cast a magic circle of safety from which it is not safe to emerge until the spirit has departed: the mage is the magical equivalent of a diver in a shark tank. (For those completely unfamiliar with the concept of magic circles, fictional examples of varying degrees of authenticity commonly appear in movies and television, for example in *many* episodes of the television series *Supernatural*.) Amulets (power objects intended to provide safety) must be carefully maintained to prevent the spirit from returning until summoned by the mage from the safety of his circle.

Because the proceeding is insulting (much like calling a dog), even normally good-natured spirits react combatively. The mage can never let down his guard because the spirit will be waiting. The classic cautionary tale involves a spirit who only pretended to depart, instead turning invisible and patiently waiting for the mage to step out of his circle - with predictably fatal results.

The concept of Commanding and Compelling is based on King Solomon's legendary ability to command spirits, but those legends were intended to emphasize his unique powers and gifts, not to imply that anyone with a grimoire and some magical tools who emulates methods attributed to Solomon will achieve the same success. In general, these are very advanced methods, historically favoured by theologians and dedicated, full-time, professional sorcerers. They are not safe for amateurs.

Commanding and Compelling came to providence concurrently with the European witch-craze. It has been theorized that the whole concept was originally a smokescreen. Venerating or working with spirits was forbidden. Punishment involved torture and death. Commanding and Compelling was intended to circumvent this taboo.

Erudite, educated (almost invariably male) devotees who sought relationships with spirits *and* personal safety argued that demons under their dominion were at least temporarily prevented from serving Satan (because they serve the mage instead), and thus the mage was doing the world a favour, even when the demon was being used to abduct virgins or discover treasure. (Fascinated? Many old grimoires containing these rituals, such as *The Black Pullet* or *The Grand Grimoire*, remain in print.) The argument was also made that because Commanding and Compelling involves force, insults, and humiliation, clearly spirits weren't being venerated and so the mage should face no penalties.

These arguments and the grimoires reflecting them may originally have been intended to fool the Inquisition so that devotees could safely, secretly mingle with spirits (while devotees with less education and resources were burned at the stake). Various stray references in several grimoires hint at offerings, sacrifices and genuine veneration. Books were encoded and served as alibis. Actual techniques were taught orally. Oral techniques were eventually lost, however, and later generations read and understood grimoires literally.

## **What does it mean when prayers and petitions remain unanswered?**

Many possible reasons exist:

* Maybe the spirit just didn't hear you. Try again.
* Maybe the wrong spirit was petitioned, either because this is not their area of expertise or because, for whatever reason, they lack interest in you. Find a more sympathetic ally.
* Somehow you've displeased this spirit; they are deliberately and consciously not fulfilling your request.
* Silence or lack of response is sometimes a spirit's bargaining chip; the spirits may be holding out for a better offering.
* Your request has been denied because it is not beneficial for you. You may devoutly believe that you know what is best, but maybe the spirit knows better. Sometimes we ask for things and years later are so grateful not to have received them. Reexamine your situation: perhaps what looks like lack of fulfilment is really a recommendation to consider alternative plans or desires.

Unfortunately life is full of growing pains and harsh lessons. Those who never experience grief, loss, or disappointment may remain shallow, ignorant, or immature. Sometimes it takes pain and hardship to make us live up to our finest potential.

For whatever reason, it is sometimes our destiny to learn and experience what we'd rather never know. Knowledge accrued from pain and disappointment may turn out to be necessary and valuable someday. Spirits are more farsighted.

* Some spiritual traditions, especially those indigenous to what is now the southwestern United States, consider that if spiritual petitions are ritually correct down to every last tiny detail (including the state of the petitioner's heart), then spirits are obliged and compelled to grant the request. Thus, if a petition is not granted, something was wrong with the ritual. It must be human fault. For this reason, incredible attention is paid to every aspect of ritual, prayer, and petition. Every dance step must be correct, every *t* crossed and *i* dotted.
* The answer may never be known, at least not in this life or realm. Unfortunately, this is part of the mystery of life : not everything can be explained.

## Further Reading

Working with spiritsFinding your spirit alliesThe care and feeding of spiritsAre spirits dangerousApparitionAttributeAvatarFeastIconographyPathPossession

## Information Source

Encyclopedia of Spirits: The Ultimate Guide to the Magic of Fairies, Genies, Demons, Ghosts, Gods & Goddesses by Judika Illes