Spirit Communication
3 Simple Practices to Make Contact Today
We live in a world of spirits. We don’t necessarily know it, but the spirits aren’t on a separate plane of existence. They are around us, waiting to be called in and connected with.
Yet what often stops people from connecting with the spirits is the lack of psychic awareness they have around how spirits show up. It doesn’t help that we live in a busy world that takes up a lot of space, physically, metaphorically and spiritually.
However, the spirits are around us and we can reach out and connect with them. We just need to know how. In today’s guest article, I’m going to share three practices you can use that will help you contact spirits and create relationships with them.
Before I get into the practices, I want to share the importance of creating collaborative relationships with spirits. There are some schools of thought that argue that spirits should be worked with coercively. The grimoire traditions in particular emphasize summoning spirits and forcing them to do tasks for you. While that approach can work it creates enemies out of the spirits and sets the stage for needless antagonism.
My approach to spirit work emphasizes the importance of creating collaborative relationships with spirits. A collaborative relationship is a long lasting relationship where the spirit becomes a friend that you connect with. It’s easier to get practical results this way and you can also learn a lot from the spirit and yourself by choosing a collaborative relationship.
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Types of Spirits
There are different types of spirits you can work with and some of them have specific purposes or functions that determine how they show up in the world. Below is a simplified guide on the types of spirits.
Elemental spirits - spirits of air, fire, water, earth and spirit who drive the creation of manifest reality.
Nature spirits - Spirits of the land, water, etc. that are focused on taking care of the cycle of nature.
Ancestral spirits - Spirits of the mighty dead, the people who have passed beyond the veil of life.
Daemonic spirits - Spirits of wisdom - they are focused on different spheres of influence.
Angelic spirits - Spirits of function - these are spirits of purpose and function that operate within the function they perform.
Planetary spirits - Spirits associated with the planets that channel the astrological influence of a given planet they are associated with.
This isn’t an exhaustive list of spirits, but this gives you an idea of some of the spirits you can encounter work with, if you choose to.
What types of spirits have you worked with?
I promised you three practices you could apply to contact spirits, and I’m going to share those with you now. You’ll be able to walk away from this article able to apply any of these practices today.
One caveat: An important principle of spirit work that is often ignored is: What you bring to the relationship you form with a spirit matters.
In other words, if you are afraid when you contact the spirit, it will pick up on that and it will respond to your fear. Spirits act as mirrors in some ways. They are receptive to what we bring to them and mirror us accordingly so they can meet us. Keep this in mind as you explore these practices.
Practice 1: Use a Pendulum to connect with a spirit
One of the the tools I like to use to make contact with a spirit is a pendulum. Pendulums can be used for anything from energy work, dowsing, divination and spirit work. What makes them so useful as a magical tool is that you simply suspend the pendulum, attune it to what you’re working with and ask a question.
The motion of the pendulum is used to answer the question. If the pendulum swings clockwise, the answer is yes and if it swings counter-clockwise the answer is no. This can be a simple, yet powerful way to establish contact with a spirit and learn about the spirit in the process.
What you’ll need:
A pendulum
The name of the spirit
The Practice:
Say the name of the spirit out loud, while closing your eyes. Hold the pendulum in your hand with the weighted end suspended over the palm of you other hand.
Continue saying the name of the spirit until you feel it. There may be a sensation of heat or cold or a feeling of vibration. Once you feel the spirit, ask it to move the pendulum.
When you feel the pendulum move, don’t resist it. Allow the movement to occur.
Next ask the spirit a question. This could be a question about the spirit itself or it could be a question about your situation. Allow the pendulum to move and track the motion of the movement so you know what the answer is.
Continue asking yes or no questions for a bit to learn more about the spirit and/or a situation you want answers around.
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Practice 2: Use a Symbol to contact a spirit
Some spirits have symbols or sigils associated with them. When you want to contact a spirit it can be helpful to use that symbol to communicate with the spirit or focus on the spirit. You can use a pre-existing symbol or create your own version.
The picture above is an example of the sigil of Orias, a Daemonic spirit, I’ve worked with. I created the drawing as a way of forming a more intimate connection with Orias. The benefit of creating the sigil is that it provides you a way to commune with the spirit in the process of creating the symbol.
After you’ve created the symbol, put your hands on it and call to the spirit. You are essentially calling the spirit through the symbol and asking it to contact you. You may end up feeling a sensation of energy or a sense of information coming through the symbol when you call the spirit. Allow yourself to experience the energy/information for a bit and then take a few moments and write down what you experienced.
Practice 3: Use Automatic Writing to receive messages from spirits
Another practice you can use to connect with spirits is automatic writing. In automatic writing you take a pen or pencil and paper and call in a spirit. You then ask the spirit to start communicating by writing. You put pen or pencil to paper and let the spirit write through you.
What I recommend doing is calling an ancestral spirit, such as a grandfather or grandmother and ask them if they’re willing to communicate with you. I did this as a way of connecting with my maternal grandfather so I could ask some questions and get answers.
You can also do this practice with other types of spirits. I’ve used it to communicate with daemonic spirits and get answers to questions around their respective spheres of influence.
This can also be a great method to use as a way of learning more about a spirit. You can ask the spirit to describe itself and how you can work with it. Keep what’s written as a reference guide. I use automatic writing to contact spirits that I know a bit about. It allows me to learn more about them and in the process deepens the contact with the spirit.
Conclusion
These three practices are great ways to contact spirits initially and start learning how to work with them. If you’re interested in learning more about spirit work practices, check out my substack magical experiments, where I write about spirit work, among other topics.
Bio:
Taylor Ellwood is the magical experimenter. He’s also the author of Walking with Spirits, Pop Culture Magick, Space/Time Magic and numerous other books on magic. To learn more about him and his latest work, subscribe to the magical experiments substack.