Somatic meditations can play an important role in spirit communication, helping us to connect with the spirit through the medium of our bodies and in the way the spirits interact with the body. I discuss that this experience can be like and why it can help you improve your communication with spirits
5 common misperceptions about communicating with spirits
One of the questions I see frequently asked by other practitioners is how to test and verify if a spirit is on the up and up as it were with the information it provides. Another question I see asked is whether anyone has ever seen a spirit manifest in physical form. These types of questions are valid ones to ask but what they often indicate to me is that the person is caught up in surface level details and is missing out on the subtleties of spirit communication. This brings me to the topic of this article…
5 Common Misperceptions about Communicating with Spirits
The first misperception that many practitioners have around communicating with spirits is an expectation that spirits will communicate using the verbal language you are used to hearing. Naturally we want spirits to communicate with us in the language that we are used to using every day and some spirits may choose to do that, but more often than not I have found that spirits communicate in much more subtle ways, and through what I would consider to be a transmission of information, which acts as a download. Spoken and written language, in comparison are very limiting.
The second misperception is the expectation that spirits will appear in a physical form that you can see. This is one of those tropes of modern occultism where there’s a perceived value in a spirit manifesting physically even though said manifestation doesn’t accomplish much if anything meaningful. I’ve never had a spirit manifest in a physical form yet I’ve had efficacious workings with the spirits. The need for a physical manifestation is a vanity and ego play in occultism which keeps the practitioner from accomplishing real work with the spirit.
The third misperception is the expectation that spirits have the same types of desires and needs that we have. This is reflective of a tendency to humanize spirits. We do this because we want to ascribe motivations and desires to the spirits that we can understand, but these motivations and desires are out of alignment with the nature of a spirit. A spirit may have desires and needs, but those desires and needs are based in the experience that spirit has, which is significantly different from our everyday experience.
The fourth misperception is a tendency to focus on specific aspects of what a spirit can do or provide without considering the bigger picture. This misperception is rooted around the tendency to focus on specific aspects of a spirit, such as its elemental correspondence or domain of influence, because you want the spirit to do something specific for you. It cherry picks the spirit for what is convenient for you and ignores other aspects that either might be helpful or detrimental…or may cause you to ignore other possible spirits to work with.
The fifth and final misperception is around the understanding of power and potential versus form and manifestation. Spirits don’t have the same material awareness or form that we have, but they have access to more power and through it potential. What they provide is possibility and influence which can be directed to help manifest a result, but we bring something essential to the equation as well. We bring the ability to manifest potential into reality through our material and manifest form. If you want to turn a possibility into reality you necessarily sacrifice power for manifestation.
If you want better communication with spirits, where you get consistent results that transform your life then you’ll want to sign up for the Spirit Communication class, where I’ll share my tried and true techniques for connecting with spirits.
Why do people want to communicate with spirits?
Communicating with spirits is an activity that fascinates people, regardless of what they believe about spirits. I share some thoughts on why people want to communicate with spirits and why spirits want to communicate with people and discuss the importance of building reciprocal relationships.
Power over and power within
I explore the dynamics of power over and power within in magical practice as a way of considering the overall approach we take to our magical work and what will produce the best results for the work we do.
The latest podcast interviews I've been on
I have been getting interviewed a lot lately, both solo, and with my magical mate Joanna Brook and I thought I would share them.
I was interviewed twice by Chaos Vibrations. In the first interview we discuss living a magical life and in the second interview we talk about my newest book Scrying the Divine.
Joanna and I were interviewed by Vic Hyland about creativity, divine inspiration, poetry and cutup magick.
Joanna and I were also interviewed by the Knights of the Nephilim about mediumship, spirit work and magick.
What is your purpose for practicing magic?
In my latest Patreon I explore the practical question: What is your purpose for practicing magic? I share my thoughts on on what that purpose can look like and why we need to look beyond the immediate gratification of getting results if we truly want to live a meaningful life.
How to review your protection magic
In this week’s Patreon video I get candid about protection magic and discuss how to review the protection magic you have put into place, as well as how to recognize when your container is leaky.
Pop Culture Magick 20 years later...
I wrote and published Pop Culture Magick 20 years. Today I share some thoughts on my book as well as pop culture magic in general and where I see it going as well as recognizing where its changed.
What resistance signals in magical work
I explore what the experience of resistance signals within magical work and how you can use resistance to get in alignment with what you really need and want.
The rules of Spirit Summoning
Photo by Farzad Sedaghat: https://www.pexels.com/photo/mysterious-shadow-behind-dark-backdrop-3809379/
Lately I’ve been reading books on how to work with Daimonic spirits, as research for my next book in the walking with spirit series. One of the subjects I find fascinating about the books is the rules that the authors provide for summoning spirits. From what I can tell most of these rules are arbitrary rules, personalized to the theories and ideas that writers come up with as a way of explaining how to safely call forth the spirits. While there is some consistency in regards to utilizing angels to help in the process of summoning the spirit, the process itself seems to vary from purely psychological and symbolic workings to elaborate ceremonial and ritual magic.
The question that arises in my mind is how much any of these rules are essential and how much of them are arbitrary, based on cultural and religious assumptions and modalities that create a narrow and limited perspective of what it means to work with a spirit. When we step outside the Western informed framework of spirit work what is discovered is a multiplicity of perspectives on working with spirits, all of which provide valuable insights and perspectives about how to work with spirits without necessarily employing everything that is brought into play with the Western model of spirit work.
One of the assumptions that we ought to question carefully is what we believe about spirits versus what we know about them versus what we are told about them. Take a piece of paper and write down what you believe, what you know, and what you have been told. Where did each of these perspectives come from in your life? What informs your beliefs, the facts, and your experiences?
And here’s another perspective to consider? What did your ancestors believe about spirits? You may be able to ask your parents or grandparents directly, but go back further. What did your ancestors a century, or two centuries or further back think or believe about spirits?
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How Correspondences Work
In this video I talk about correspondence tables and what the real purpose of correspondences is and how this can help you with your magical work.
Inner Alchemy of Life: Physiological Magic pt 2
In part 2 of Physiological Magic I share how I gradually evolved my system of physiological magic and discuss the thought process and methodology involved in the evolution of that system, as well as how this enabled better communication with the neurotransmitters and hormones.
Releasing Old Identities: How changes in appearance inform reality
picture copyright Taylor Ellwood 2023
For the first time in over 30 years, I cut my hair short. I've had long hair since I was a pre-teen but I recently decided that I wanted to make a change. I felt like it was time to cut my hair and in the process shed old identities in favor of new ones. For me, getting a hair was a magical act of identity transformation. I had long hair for so long and in a very real sense it was an established part of my identity as a person and even as a magician.
Yet identity is fluid and malleable. What seems fixed can be changed. A lot of times what makes your identity seem fixed has more to do with your perspective and attachment to that identity than to the actual physical reality of it. I kept my hair long because I was attached to how I looked, and how I felt about having long hair.
The act of getting my hair cut may not seem overly magical, but for me it was the choice to let of attachment to appearance, to looking a specific way. It was the choice to let go of not just the physical appearance of long hair, but also all the attachments I had to that appearance and just as importantly it was an act of letting go of the weight of that hair, physically, but also metaphysically.
An astrological magic working with Saturn and the Moon
Picture copyright Taylor Ellwood 2023
One of the ongoing magical experiments I am exploring involves integrating astrological currents into my magical work so I can optimally draw on those experiences to help me with my magical processes and work. Recently there was a new moon and Saturn was going retrograde. It seemed like the perfect time to do a magical working to capture the essence of the experience and apply it to my life.
For the working itself, I created a painting, where I painted the Astrological symbol for Saturn, the moon, and then painted the sign for Leo. I picked Leo because Leo is where my Saturn sign shows up in my natal chart and because Saturn in Leo represents the need to work on self love, specifically applying it to your life.
You can apply a similar approach to your own life, by taking the time to learn about the astrological currents that are currently happening and may apply to you. Working with an astrologer can be helpful for getting this information, but applying it magically is ultimately up to you.
The Scythe of Saturn: A consideration of cyclical aspects of Saturnic work
One of the themes of my inner work this year has been around Saturn, in terms of sacred masculinity, but also in terms of space/time magic. I've lately been reading the book Saturn in Transit by Erin Sullivan which explores the astrological influence of Saturn on the transits. One of the more intriguing points she makes is the following:
"The need to castrate our old oppressor in order to install a new order, then swallow out creative issue so as to preserve the status quo, is quite normal in the various stages of development. When we recognize that this is a process, and one, moreso, which repeats itself, we are freed to re-enact this scenario over and over again without reserve. Saturn is the planet that establishes our rites of passage from the one status quo to another and, as that functionary, should be regarded with respect and not with fear and dread. Furthermore, once we recognize that the revolution is originating from within, we are then more capable of conspiring and cooperating with the timing of the events precipitated by the transit."
What I've observed in my own work with Saturn is that there are cyclical aspects of the work that need to recognized in order to get the most out of the work. Once I recognized these cycles and started employing them, I was able to get a lout of the work that I had previously missed out on. So what are the cycles?
The cycle of Fear - Saturn connects us with our fears, because the fears we feel often play a role in the limitations and boundaries we experience. However the real depth of Saturn with fear is that Saturn shows us how we sabotage ourselves with our fears. The mythos of Saturn demonstrates this because of how Saturn sabotages himself with his fear off being overthrown. We can either allow our fears to control us and sabotage our possibilities or we can learn to be present with those fears and discover how to work with them in an intentional way that allows us to liberate ourselves and achieve our potential. Saturn challenges us to do the latter by causing us to experience the former.
How to Cultivate Patience in your magical practice
picture copyright Taylor Ellwood 2023
In March, I started attending a Kung Fu school. I had previously been taking Qi Gong classes there but I finally cleared some obligations away and was ready to begin my Kungfu practice. For the last several months I’ve been learning specific techniques at the white belt level that will help me advance to the yellow belt, and today my Sifu determined that I learned them enough to qualify for my first yellow stripe. I appreciate earning that yellow stripe, because I put a lot of effort and exercise into learning the techniques. I can still improve on them, but I have learned the basics.
However the most important lesson I have learned from this process of learning these techniques is patience. I needed to put the time and effort into learning the techniques and I needed to let go of any expectation on when I might advance and instead simply focus on learning the techniques and letting those techniques teach me…not just the movements or the qi, though I learned about those things, but also the virtue that comes in focusing on the practice for the sake of doing it without expecting anything.
I’ve applied this same discipline to my magical work, because as I’ve learned various techniques over the years, what I have always come away with is an appreciation that truly learning those techniques has involved repetition, focus, and dedication. And while I have experimented with various techniques and systems, that experimentation has always occurred after I had already invested substantial time in learning the given system or technique as it is. If you want to learn any practice, in any discipline, you must cultivate patience. And actually that applies to other areas of life as well. But for this article I want to speak to how you cultivate patience for your magical practice.
Common problems with sigil magic
Picture copyright Taylor Ellwood 2023
With any type of magical working there can be challenges that occur which need to be addressed if you’re going to become proficient in that magical working. For this article I’m going to address issues that can occur with sigil magic that may cause your sigils to fail and suggest possible actions you can take to help you improve the efficacy of your sigil magic. Context: When I refer to sigil in this article I’m referring to the chaos magic method of sigil, as opposed to a spirit’s sigil.
I also want to note that with any type of magical working, it can be normal to encounter failures as you learn how to do a given magical working. As with any discipline you learn, it takes time, practice and experiences to develop the expertise and skillset that produces better results. with that said, let’s explore the common problems that can occur with a sigil.
1. You don’t have a well defined statement of desire. The basis of any sigil is the creation of a statement of desire. The statement of desire establishes the intent and defines the desired result, ideally in concrete terms. A well defined statement of desire not only defines the result but also ties up any loose ends. A poorly defined statement of desire leaves room for interpretation and in my experience when there is room for interpretation there is also room for results not manifesting exactly what you want.
For example the statement I want a job is a very broad statement. We can use that statement, but unless we’ve put some thought into the programming of it we are leaving a lot of room for interpretation and that room for interpretation can leave the door open for not getting the result you want or getting one that seems to fit the bill but has aspects you don’t care for.
I treat sigils as programs so when I create a statement of desire. The statement of desire should be the finalized expression of your thought process and include what you want, as well as excluding what you don’t want. When I create a sigil from the statement of desire I put all of that programming into the sigil, in order to define, focus and crystallize the sigil.
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A sneak peak of Iterative Magic
I talk about Iterative Magic and what it is and give you a sneak peak of my upcoming class iterative magic
Creating The Beltane altar for Coalessence
Picture courtesy Joanna Brook
Recently I was given the opportunity to create an altar for the Coalessence Ecstatic dance community which has dances every Sunday and Tuesday. It was the Sunday before Beltaine, and on a spur of the moment I decided to volunteer, feeling moved to create an altar. I decided that the theme/focus of the altar would be around Beltaine, and I would dedicate the altar to my patron goddess Aphrodite and patron god Eros.
My approach to creating this altar was also informed by a desire to consider the aesthetics of the deities I was working with as well as the energy I wanted to call into the dance hall. I wanted to make the altar into an art magic working that would call forth the divine power of Aphrodite and Eros and inspire the dancers to celebrate the energies of Beltaine.
I started my process by choosing the items I would bring from my home to the space I was going to be working in. I brought my statues of Aphrodite and Eros, conch shells I had placed on the altar, a bracelet with the inscription of “Live in the Moment,” some crystals in the shapes of hearts, a Lapis Lazuli necklace, a crystal goblet, and roses I recently bought for my beloved, but also as an offering to Aphrodite, since we both work with her.
My ongoing experiments with scrying
I discuss my ongoing experiments with scrying, my upcoming book Scrying the Divine and share how this work is helping me refine my spirit work.