Sentence stems as a form of writing magic

I recently came across a new writing technique that I am using as part of my personal development work, but I’ve also found it has some interesting applications for writing magic. This technique is called sentence stems and it was developed by psychologist Nathaniel Branden. The way the sentence stem works is you are provided a partial sentence and then you fill the rest of the sentence out with your own answer. Below are a few examples of sentence stems:

If I were to take 5% more responsibility I would…

Taking care of myself means…

I am becoming aware of…

The sentence stems provide the core of the sentence, but require you to finish the sentence. Ideally you write out a few sentence stems around an area of your life that you want to work on and then you fill them out each day. A month is typically suggested for working with the same sentence stems. This is a repetitive process, but the benefit of the repetition is you get to see how your answers evolve. A couple of examples of filled out sentence stems would be:

Taking care of myself means I am exercising each day, eating nutritious food and getting the sleep my body needs.

If I were to take 5% more responsibility I would write enough content to be scheduled out for several weeks.

I’ve been applying sentence stems to my magical practice as well. I use a sentence stem as a foundation and then complete the sentence. I use it for several purposes. The first purpose is to refine my awareness around the specific result I want to manifest. By continually writing out the sentence stem over a period of time I get the opportunity to drill into the result that I want to manifest and consider the different iterations of that expression. This process helps me develop a precise awareness of what I want, and allows for more effective targeting of magic.

The other purpose I use it for is sigil generation. After I write out the sentence stem multiple times, I can pick out the best expressed statement of desire and then use the classic method of sigil development, where you get rid of repeating letters first, and then vowels or consonants, if you still have too many letters. The sentence stems make it easy to come up with different statements of desire that you can turn into sigils around whatever you want to work on magically.

I’m also experimenting with using sentence stems in my writing magic practices, with the idea being to pick a specific them and use the sentence stem in my journaling to write that theme into reality. I’ve done some similar journaling practices in the past, but what makes the sentence stem different is the deliberate repetition. The repetition conditions your consciousness to focus more on the theme you are writing about and this in turn allows you to be receptive to how that theme shows up in your life.

Sentence stems is another example of how a writing practice can be taken and applied to magical work in order to get consistent results. It’s also an excellent method for doing internal work on yourself and having an objective record of the work.

The Role of Daemons in Necromantic practices

I’m currently doing a lot of research and magical work with daemonic spirits and one of the themes I’ve consistently noticed is how daemonic spirits are linked with necromantic practices. S. Connolly notably has several books exclusively devoted to necromantic work with daemonic spirits, which are insightful and helpful, in terms of introducing magicians to the spirits who can be helpful for necromantic workings. I also recently found an intriguing connection in Clavis Goetica by Frater Acher and Jose Sabogal, where they too note the role of underworld spirits as facilitators and allies for connecting with the spirits of the dead.

In my own spiritual practices I’ve done some necromantic practices over the years. When I first started out, I found that working with a spirit emissary was very helpful. My initial work was with Euronymous who’s continued to be an ally I work with for purposes of necromantic magic. I’ve also worked with Saturn, Bifrons, and several other spirits since then and each time what I’ve observed is that the spirits play an essential role as intermediaries in necromantic practices.

My definition of necromantic practices are practices done to communicate with ancestral spirits, the spirits of the dead in general, but also ritual done to assist a person in the process of dying, so they can pass over. My practices are done from a place of reverence and respect, both in terms of working with the daemonic spirits and the spirits of the dead.

My early workings with the necromantic practices focused around near death experiences. Euronymous played an important role in this work, helping to create a state of near death I could work with and apply to myself, which I ended up utilizing in several workings I’ve shared in Space/Time Magic. My later workings have focused more on ancestor work, specifically around letting my ancestors help me and inviting them to help me in my life, and that work has been facilitated with Saturn’s help.

It strikes me that one of the most important skills that a given spirit can bring to a working is how the spirit can play a significant role in facilitating connection with other types of spirits. I think this faculty is sometimes glossed over, but its a significant feature of spirit work and one that can be very useful, especially if you want to create a respectful relationship with all of the spirits involved. In general, this theme of spirit facilitation can be found with nature spirits, and connecting to the land through them, or connecting with underworld spirits or angelic spirits and it is an aspect that is almost taken for granted because it plays an implicit part of the work.

I’ve noted similar facilitation in my work with the Djinn. Initially an archangel is called on to mediate and direct the connection with Djinn. The grimoire traditions apply a similar approach in working with daemonic spirits by calling on angels initially. In some cases the facilitations takes a top down approach, which I don’t recommend, but I do think its important to explore and understand how spirits can be intermediaries for connecting with other spirits, especially on the initial contact with new spirits. You might, as an exercise, track your own experiences with spirits and see if this holds true.

Even now, with my own necromantic practices I still find it to helpful to connect with a spirit that facilitates contact with the dead. It enhances the overall connection because the daemonic spirit naturally has an affinity toward what death represents which is a breakdown and transmutation of life into something else. This isn’t to say a person couldn’t do necromantic practices on their own, because its certainly possible, but in my own experience this work is enhanced by the facilitation of the process with other spirits.

Constructing a personal cosmological system of magic

I discuss how to create a personal cosmological system of magic and what the benefits of creating such a system are, as well as how it can transform your overall approach to magical work. I share an example of a system I’m currently refining and developing and the medium I’m using to represent the cosmological system.

The ebbs and flows of magical activity

Should you do magic all the time? Is it a good idea to take a break with magical activity? Is there such a thing as too much magic? I answer these questions as I discuss the importance of the ebbs and flows of magical activity in your life, and consider what makes a magical life.

The Eros of movement

Eros, aside of being considered a Greek Deity, is also a concept that shows up a lot in multiple spiritual contexts. The usual context is around sex, because Eros as a force is classically associated with Eros as a god of love, but if you dig into that classical context you can discover there are different myths and that Eros is also associated with movement, as an overall force. Eros is an erotic force, but that eroticism goes beyond sex into other dimensions of being and identity that are just as relevant as sex can be to the experience of Eros.

The experience of Eros is the experience of life. Movement is one of the ways we encounter and experience Eros. The most obvious form of Eros is found through sex and its not surprising that its emphasized so much because sex can be a very powerful and life affirming experience (though it also contains the seed of death within it). The one problem with sex is that it can also be a distraction from the experience of Eros. What I mean by that statement is that the pleasure aspect of sex can override the experience of movement and life and become the most important experience. While pleasure is good to experience, it doesn’t always create the desired intimacy that two or more people may want to experience with each other. Pleasure can be an essential part of Eros, but an embodied expression of Eros doesn’t focus on one sensation over others.

For example, if you practice sex magic, you know that if you fixate on pleasure it actually takes you away from the sex magic you are working. Sex magic isn’t focused on pleasure. It may use pleasure as a source of energy for the magic, but it never lets the pleasure become the reason to do magic. When pleasure becomes the reason to do the magic, the Eros leaves the experience and the magic isn’t as powerful as a result.

Eros as it is related to movement in general is a practice that brings you into intimate awareness with yourself and the environment. For example, when I practice Kung Fu or Qi Gong and I am connected to Eros I feel each sensation as I move and I am feeling it on ever level of my being. I am also connecting with how those movements bring me into awareness with the environment around me as well as whatever is present within that environment. Eros as movement allows us to connect to the overall embodied experience of reality…our bodies, but also the body of the universe and for that matter all the other life, in all the other forms that exist.

Meditating on this awareness of Eros can open you to how movement acts as an elemental force in your live. Movement is fundamental to Eros. Eros is the underlying power of movement. Eros is the first movement of the universe and so Eros goes hand in hand with movement and may even be thought of as movement, in and of itself. The eroticism of movement isn’t inherently sexual, so much as it is connective and that is true understanding of eroticism in general. Eros is a connecting principle and that connection occurs in many different ways.

A practical example of this…go for a walk and spend that walk paying attention to how the act of walking connects you to your environment and to whatever is in the environment. Pay close attention to your movement as well as to the sensual experience you have as you open your senses to the environment. Part of what you are experiencing is Eros at work and when you apply that understanding to your walk, it will change the way you experience yourself and the world as well as movement itself.

Working with Eros is a discipline as well. It requires discipline to connect with movement and not get caught up in distraction. The distraction is the choice to focus on sensation to the exclusion of the work. When we work with Eros we accept the sensation as part of the experience but we stay with the movement of Eros and allow it to guide us deeper into the mystery of the connection instead of letting the sensation take us in ourselves and out of connection with everything else. It is the difference between senseless hedonism and mindful awareness.

Interpersonal Growth and the Magical Life

Your interpersonal growth goes hand in hand with your magical practice. If you aren’t growing and changing as a person then your magical practice will go stale. I share why you can’t settle for less in your life if you truly want to live a magical life.

The sun's role in planetary magic

I’m reading Retrograde Planets by Erin Sullivan (affiliate link) and she makes a very intriguing point about the nature of the sun as it relates to astrology. She claims that the sun is ultimately a reflection of the other planets that mediates those energies in our lives, through the sun sign. I found this commentary relevant because of ongoing magical work I’m doing that involves creating a specific space where you phase out sublunar energies, because of how they interfere with magical work. I also found it relevant for another reason, because when you are working with specific materials you don’t want direct sunlight to tamper with the energies. The commentary filled in a gap for me around the work I’m doing.

If we consider that the solar energy is essentially a mediation of other planetary energies as they show up in your life, then there exists the possibility that we can change our relationships with a given planetary energy by changing how the solar energy mediates that planetary energy. For example my Saturn is in Leo. My sun is in Libra and mediates that Saturn energy around relationships and my ability to love myself versus seeking love with other people. The result is that I’ve necessarily had to do a lot of self love work around myself because of the Saturnian influence as mediated by Libra, but in doing that work, one of the aspects I’ve explored is how to change my relationship with Saturn. This necessarily has involved changing how I approach setting boundaries and healthy relationships in my life, but it also of late involving working on self-responsibility and applying a Saturnian approach to relationships that redefines them in favor of healthy self-awareness and taking responsibility in a way that empowers me, instead of punishing myself.

This new perspective also has helped me see how retrogrades can actually be powerful and positive experiences that open us to awareness around the areas of our lives where change is needed and opportunities are available. For example, when Mercury goes into retrograde, the opportunity is revealed around the area of communication and what you take for granted about communication that could be worked on. Or apply this to Venus or Jupiter, with whatever meanings are associated with those energies. What could you discover about yourself in a retrograde period that could be worked on and developed in a meaningful way?

The application to inner alchemical work is clear when you apply this lens to planetary magic, but you can also apply it practically to your life. For example in the case of relationships, you can engage in magical work that’s designed to help you improve your communication and relationships skills. This ay mean you work with mercury to call up situations where you can practice your communication skills or that you approach a specific situation with an aim of enhancing your communication using mercurial magic…and at the same time you’ll factor in the solar influence and how that shapes your approach to communication. In my case, the solar influence is Libra/Scorpio cusp so I have to consider how that communication might be really intense and also a balancing of different perspectives, in a way that might work against me. The solar mediation of mercurial energy is an essential aspect to consider in terms of how I might apply magic to communication.

Taking this perspective on around planetary magic has shifted my overall approach with a consideration of how to factor in the planetary influences on the sun, as well as how the sun also plays a role in the other planets. It is a two way street and meditation on this idea can be helpful, especially as you develop planetary magic workings further, or apply them holistically to other endeavors. I’m applying this awareness to my daily work as well, in consideration of how to best direct the given planetary influences and also be more aware of them in terms of how they show up in my personality so that I can apply them in a way that is helpful to my efforts.

A nuanced approach to planetary magic factors in the way the planets influence each other, instead of treating them as siloed entities. Ideally you’ll get the various influences to play off each other, but even if you don’t learning how to plan for them can help you get better results with your planetary magic. Applying this understand may provide an additional key that opens doors for you with the respective planetary forces you are working with.

How to use game creation to construct pop culture magical workings

I discuss how game creation can teach us principles of magic that can be applied to pop culture magic workings as well as magical workings in general. I also share a couple of ideas on how to use game creation to construct magical workings that are executed when a game is played.

Causality, responsibility and results

When I look at the essential process of magic I find that it can be really helpful to consider it from different perspectives, especially in relationship to achieving results. I’ve recently discovered an interesting formula that frames results in terms of outcomes. The formula is Event + Response = Outcome and I learned about it from a class I am taking. The formula works like so. An event occurs and you determine the response that will provide you the best possible outcome. It’s a pretty simple formula on paper, but when considered in real life it calls for strategic awareness.

In results based magic, the process is defined by the result. The first question I ask is, “What is the result I want to achieve?” When I can define the result I want achieve then I can start to develop the process of magic and mundane actions I’ll take that helps me get the result. The formula I mentioned above takes a somewhat similar approach, with a nuanced difference.

The nuanced difference is that events happen and you determine your response to the event and take action to get the outcome you want to manifest. In contrast with magic, the idea is that you are happening to the event or rather using magic to create the event that produces the result. However there is a lot of magic that is done as a reaction. An event happens and a person does magic in order to make a result occur that resolves the event in their favor. This latter example of doing magic fits into the formula mentioned above.

What I’ve been considering about that formula is how it focuses the attention on response. An event happens and a response is warranted. The question I ask myself is, “What is the outcome I want to generate?” This question asks me to carefully consider the outcome I want to create as well as the steps that will need to be taken to achieve that outcome.

I recently applied this formula to a situation where I needed to consider the outcome I wanted and specifically how that outcome would address an experience I was having. I looked at all the choices I had available to me, from the improbable to the most probable and I asked myself how the choices would actually get me the outcome I desired. I considered whether I would need to employ magic or mundane means as well as subjective variables I was aware of and could anticipate. Then I took action based on the outcome I desired with the best possible actions I could take.

Anytime I come across a methodology that breaks down how results or outcomes can be achieved I like to apply it to my process oriented approaches for magic to see how the methodology can be applied to magical work, and to life in general. It inevitably improves my understanding of process work, magic, and all the other facets of life that these methods can be applied to. In the case of this formula, it’s helping me consider the overall outcome I want to achieve and what the best path will be for getting to that outcome.

Processes for mediation of planetary and astrological influences

In this video I discuss how I use sound, scrying and pentacles for the purposes of directing and focusing planetary and astrological influences. I also discuss the purposes of the overall purpose of these processes in relationship to ongoing work I’m doing with the sphere of art.

The cosmology of maps and magick: The path is the territory

I’ve recently started reading The Sacred Alignments and Sigils by Robert Podgurski (affiliate link) and he shares the following: “The way to illumination has long been described as a path, route, or journey, along with other numerous allusions to the plotting of a course…the path is an emblem that is vivified as students engage with their quest. The going makes the path: it’s both agent and action as well as facilitating magickal velocity bringing about union with the godhead or the One and All.” I thought this was an interesting passage and it got me thinking about my own use of the word path and what it describes in relationship to spiritual work.

It seems to me that path is both an ontological and cosmological term in context to magical work and perhaps spiritual work in general. Yet the path is also a descriptor of the map that we’re working with, and a route through that map. The path becomes the territory by which we understand the map. Wordplay aside, the path becomes the process through which we depict and explore the spiritual work we’re doing and put it into context within our lives. I use the word path because it is generally a relatable term and yet it is a highly personal term as well. My path isn’t necessarily your path, and yet can still be relatable.

What I’ve noticed in general is there is a tendency to map out the spiritual journey and work that a person does. I suppose the advantage of this tendency is that it provides a way for a person to make sense of and make meaning of the spiritual work in relationship to their lives. This is an essential aspect of spiritual work: We seek to meaning and sense of it so we can apply it in a way that actually changes our lives.

Maps, metaphorically, become systems and processes that we use to create change in our lives. They describe where the dragons are but they also describe how the world, the cosmos, etc., should be…while the path describes how the practitioner gets there. The practitioner is describing the path and creating the map as they go through the territory. The territory becomes known through the path and the map, and yet the challenge is to continually wander into the unknown and learn. We don’t want to rely upon the path so much that we don’t discover the journey.

I’ll likely never stop using the word path in my lexicon, or other words that are similar. It’s a convenient word that describes the process a person is undergoing. Nonetheless its important to also recognize the limitations of a given word. The map isn’t the territory and the path isn’t necessarily the full experience we think it is. The ontological and cosmological implications of your work may never be fully describable because some experiences can’t be fully put into words. And we’ll continue to try because that is part of how we make meaning out of experiences and turn them into realities we can make sense of and live in, in a way that is truly essential and empowering.

How to work with your inner identities

I discuss parts work and share how you can use this method to work with your different identities or aspects of yourself, for healing, learning and a variety of other purposes. I also discuss how to recognize and work with inner aspects in a way that empowers you entire identity.

Sound and spirit: How singing and chanting creates connection

In Holy Daimon (Affiliate link) the author shares how spirits love the sound of humans singing. When I read that it reminded me of a statement what William G. Gray shared in Magical Ritual Methods (Affiliate link) about invocation and how he uses sound to setup the connection between the magician and the spirit. In my own work with spirits, and magical work in general what I’ve discovered is that sound is powerful medium that conditions the receptivity of the human consciousness while also establishing a specific space in the environment around you. Frater Acher shares the following in the first aforementioned book:

“The spoken word is the sword blade of the magician. It forms the bridge between the realm of the spirits and the realm of matter. It is itself a hybrid power, half born from flesh, half born from spirit. Singing - making our voice carry particular melodies and vibrations that express intent not only in the words spoken but also in the meaning of the melody”

When I sing or chant to connect with spirits, I infuse vibration into the singing because it serves to harmonize the connection through the energy of the vibration. The vibration aspect is essential because I use it to find the frequency of the connection. The sound of the words form the essence of the desired connection and provides meaning to the human mind, while the vibration calls forth to the spirit and invites it to connect and work with me. The sound also mediates the shared essence of the practitioner and spirit, creating a relationship between them that enables communication. That communication can come in the form of visual or auditory experiences, but in my experience is more succinct and powerful as a spiritual transmission.

This principle isn’t new, but it is worth coming back to and exploring in depth in your own practice. The sound of the spoken word, the naming of a spirit is a power into itself and this concept of sound and connection underlies what is happening when we call to a spirit. It also can play a role in the naming of a space. For example, my partner and I name our home and the name of the home speaks as much to our relationship as it speaks to what we cultivate in this home and in our interactions with each other. The name is significant but the sound plays a role as well. When I say the name of my home, I’m evoking through the sound of the name all the experiences that have occurred as well as calling for more experiences.

Singing has another effect as well. It elevates us emotionally and energetically. It’s important, as a result to consider what energy you want to bring into your interactions with the spirits you’re connecting with. When I sing or chant, I do it from a place of joy for the experience of the magic as well as for the opportunity to connect with the spirit. I like to make sure that I put myself in the right frame of mind and emotion because I want to give myself over to the experience and showing up with anything less than my best effort is a disservice to myself and the spirit. Singing creates the space, the emotion, the energy, and the presence when you fully invest yourself in it.

How do you incorporate sound into your connection with spirits? Comment below.

Visions of alternative realities and space/time magic

My girlfriend recently told me about a short story she was reading from Sooner or Later Everything Falls into the Sea by Sarah Pinkser. In this story the main character is just one of many different versions of the same person and she is invited to a convention where she gets to meet the alternate versions of herself. I started reading the short story and it reminded me of a technique I came up with long time ago, and shared in my book Space/Time Magic.

The technique works along a similar premise, namely that there are alternate versions of ourselves and each version of yourself has something about them that is different from you. However they also have a connection to you, namely being an alternate version of yourself that is tied to you through your identity. I think its possible to connect with alternate versions of yourself utilizing magic in order to exchange information, swap skills, and otherwise interact with the alternatives of you. I have used meditation and pathworking techniques to connect with my alternate versions and this has proven to be a helpful process for skill swapping.

The way it works is that you pick a skill that you want to learn. There is an alternate version of yourself that knows this skill. For example, say you aren’t very good at managing money. You could connect with a version of yourself that has really good money management skills. That version of yourself can share those skills with you through spiritual transmission. You are already connected to each other by virtue of being the same person, albeit with some differences so the process of transmission is very easy.

You do a pathworking where you visualize the DNA spiral of the universe. The spiral contains infinite versions of the world and each version has a version of you in it. Seek out the world that has the version of you that has the skills or information your desire. Call out to that version of yourself or invoke yourself into the version.

When I connect with a version of myself that has skills I want, then I also have to determine what skills I can offer to that version that it may want. What I’ll do is a skill swap where I’ll transmit the skill I have to my alternate self in return for the they have that I want. For example a long time ago I reached out to a version of me that had really good financial skills and asked for those skills so I could become better at finances. In return I gave him some skills around spiritual work.

It can be fascinating to connect with alternate selves. I do this working every so often and I always find it insightful because it gives me a glimpse of my life if I had gone down a different path and made other choices. I still have this life I’m living but there are alternate versions of me living different lives and all of us have something to offer to each other.

How I integrate pentacle work with other forms of magic

Picture copyright Taylor Ellwood 2024

Recently a friend gifted me some planetary pentacles for Neptune, Uranus and Pluto. I was intrigued at the opportunity to work with the pentacles and also inspired to integrate them with other magical process and experiments I’m currently working on. In the past I’ve found that the pentacles have been useful tools for focusing planetary energies in my magical work as well as setting up specific passive magical workings that are activated as needed.

In my initial working I decided to work with two Uranian pentacles that helped inspire creativity. I set them up in conjunction with a folkloric magical working using three sticks in a pattern that’s designed to create focus. That very evening I was going through a class and I found myself feeling very creative and focused on how I could apply the learnings from that class. I started implementing some of the ideas and felt a sense of deep awareness around how the specific application pentacles, mixed with another form of magical could be used to inspire specific states of being and awareness.

In the picture above is another working, this time with a Venusian pentacle for love, as well as a Uranian pentacle for time work, a Uranian pentacle for creative balance and a Neptunian pentacle for power. Three sticks are being used for several purpose. The initial configuration of the sticks is focused on enhancing scrying work that is done for the purposes of connecting across time with younger versions of the self, or with ancestors, or other people. Once the connection has been made the sticks are changed to another pattern to enhance the work with the pentacles. The mirror and flame are used to focus the attention of the magician in a trance state that can then be applied to interface with the pentacles.

picture copyright Taylor Ellwood 2024

In this example above the tree sticks have been put into a pattern of a star. The star creates a focal point above the Venusian pentacle, drawing in the other pentacles, while also aligning the spirits attributed to each stick to aid with the scrying and in this case spacetime magic being worked with. The star serves to both amplify and focus the overall intent and energy of the work so a connection can be made to a past self with the intention of doing self love as a form of healing for the person being worked with AND with the ancestors. The healing work is around the specific traumatic patterns that are existent in both the person and their ancestors. The approach here is driven by a desired result to heal the person and extend that healing into the past while also breaking the traumatic patterns for future generations.

Combining different techniques and systems of magic can be a delicate piece of work, because the original context of the respective techniques and systems is that typically they weren’t intended to be combined with other techniques or systems. The question that always comes to mind for me is: Can I combine multiple techniques/systems in a way that either creates a new magical working or enhances an existing one?

The purpose of the working is another important factor to consider. The purpose of this working involves using scrying to connect with a past self and then applying changes to both myself as I am now and my younger self so I can do healing around trauma, while also sending that healing into the past via the ancestors. The pentacles applies planetary influences, while the folkloric magic calls in the ancestors as well as animal/plant and faerie allies to aid in the process of connecting with the past and healing the trauma. The work is also carried to the future, to future generations to promote peace and harmony in the world. At the same time, I use the pentacles, scrying mirror and candle, and the folkloric magic to also call in that same peace and harmony to the world now. My thought is that this work can apply across time and that through personal healing, using homeopathic principles, it can create a ripple effect in the larger continuum of humanity.

This is part of a larger work I’ll be continuing to work on. It is also my continued experimentation with Scrying beyond what I’ve shared in my book Scrying the Divine.

Perspective exercises

I share some perspective exercises I like to do that can increase the mental flexibility and spiritual awareness you apply toward your magical practice and your life.

How to counter curse

In this final video of the series I discuss counter cursing and why you may want to do it and how to do it. I also discuss how to turn someone cursing you into an opportunity that benefits you by taking the curse and turning it into an advantage.

How to protect against curses

I discuss how to protect against curses and share what your thought process and overall approach ought to be toward handling curses that someone sends your way. I also share how to turn someone’s curses into fuel for your own magical work.

The Karma of Cursing

I discuss the karma of cursing and how the act of cursing can create attachment or karma between yourself and the person who is cursed. I share why this can actually cause the curse to not happen or backfire on the curser.

What makes a spirit a spirit?

I've been thinking about the question, "What makes a spirit, a spirit?" 

I'm currently writing Walking with Nature Spirits, and in the writing of this book I've been thinking about this question because of how I approach the work with nature spirits, but also because of the stereotypical imagery associated with nature spirits, which usually has them set up with imagery of gnomes, undines, slyphs, etc., basically humancentric shapes and appearances.

The benefit of the humancentric shapes is that it makes easy for us to identify with those spirits. The downside however is that we all too often get stuck filtering our experience of a given spirit on the basis of the human oriented shape we associate with it. This isn't limited to nature or elemental spirits either. 

We see this same tendency to humanize the appearance and experience of spirits with Daemonic spirits, angelic spirits, and any other type of spirit out there. This tendency brings with it a kind of entitlement as well: Namely the entitlement that the spirits are really here to serve or work for us. It's a naïve belief that isn't fully accurate and can create potential problems when we adhere too strongly to notions of what we think spirits are or are not. 

One of my main purposes for writing the Walking with Spirits series is to present an alternate perspective to spirit work that is rooted in building a collaborative relationship with the spirits, but also recognizes that to experience the spirits we must be willing to experience them on their terms as much as possible. 

What does that look like?

When I work with a spirit what I try to do is engage the spirit on the level of experience that it chooses to show up at. What that means is that instead of expecting it to show up a specific way or in a specific form, I open myself to the experience of the spirit as it chooses to show up.

Sometimes that still includes a human form and human communication, but sometimes the experience is more direct, the feeling of sensations as the spirit makes itself known sensually. For example, I might be walking down a path and feel the spirit show up and connect with me emotionally or through physical sensations. I might experience a transmission of information.

We've gotten so used to spirits showing up in ways that are easily understandable to us, but I'm interested in what gets lost in the translation as it were, because I think that some of what a spirit could share does get lost in translation.

This brings me back to that question of what makes a spirit a spirit?

Is a spirit defined by the categories and taxonomies that we put it in or by the shapes it takes on and becomes for our benefit? Or is the spirit something we can't quite define because it doesn't fit our conventional human experience?

I don't have an answer to these questions...just observations and experiences that help me connect with the spirits, but also help me realize how filtered and biased that connection can be. I recognize that even with the approach I've taken which is a much more sensorial approach I can't necessarily remove all the bias and filter that comes with the human experience. I can be aware of it, but it is still a part of me, a part of the reality of my life, and perhaps it is something that the spirits find value in.

I wonder if they ask a similar question...what makes a human, a human?