Communicating With Spirits: Ghosts

Communicating with Spirits: Ghosts

-From my Grimoire

Preface

Ghosts are something that we’ve all come across at some point or another, and thats honestly what makes them one of the easiest types of spirits to begin communicating with! Most ghosts have a very relaxed attitude, because they’re just people ya know? There are lots of different ways to communicate with ghosts, so I’m gonna give a few examples that I personally have experience with, and some basic run downs of other methods that I’ve read about. These of course won’t be the only ways to do this, so feel free to experiment just always remember to keep yourself safe and protected!

Safety First

When communicating with any spirits, please always enact the highest caution! There are spirits out there that will try to trick you, take advantage of you, and in worst case scenarios do some serious psychological damage. Always, always, ALWAYS protect yourself and always make sure that when inviting a spirit into your circle, that you treat them with respect. Do some research, (i have even written an article about it on my blog) and practice your protection methods before trying to communicate with spirits.

Respecting a Spirit

I see alot of people on tumblr setting up their magick circles when speaking to a spirit to exclude the spirit from their circle. This honestly, I find rather disrespectful and kind of cruel. That’s like inviting your friend over, but marking an area out of tape just for you, and telling them they aren’t allowed to touch you, come close to you, or interact with you on a personal level. Yes there are dangerous spirits out there, but they’re not as common as most seem to think. You’re more likely to run into a content and casual spirit than you are one that wants to harm you. Treat spirits like people, because in the end that’s what they are, and allow them to come into this circle. If they show signs of aggression or give you a bad vibe, then simply banish them from your house.

Ghosts are People Too

The thing to remember about ghosts is that they’re literally people. Just people that have moved on. They’re personalities are going to reflect very heavily in your interactions, and can even determine what kind of energy they carry. A very happy, upbeat, and positive person is going to have a ghost thats very energetic and lively. While someone who was rather sad, disappointed with life, and negative will have a very gloomy, drag you down type of energy. Think about who you’re trying to contact, and trust your gut when it comes to communicating with ghosts or any type of spirit. If something makes you uncomfortable, immediately banish it from your space and do not allow it back in.

Communication Methods

This is not all the methods, by far, but here are some basic and easy to understand methods for communicating with the dead.

Invoking - When invoking the dead, keep in mind that this is like waking somebody from a restful sleep, so have something to offer them in return! Foods work best, and ghosts tend to love simplistic but filling foods like rice, meats, fruits and veggies, soups, and teas. Invocations work best when you know the name of the spirit in question, though you can also do a general one as well (though always be sure to state in a general invocation that unfriendly spirits with ill intent are not welcome!!!) To invoke a ghost, set up your space with your offerings, maybe even set up a crystal grid with a tealight in the middle and light some incense. Next speak with intention and call upon them. Anything along the lines of “I hereby invoke the spirit of _______, and I would like to call upon you with an offering of peace and friendship. Please allow us to speak and communicate, and may love and light be in our hearts. Those spirits with ill intentions and darkness in their hearts are not welcome, and shall be banished”

Speaking if The Ghost is Already Present - If there is a ghost already taking residence in your space, this makes it much easier to communicate with them. Simply strike up a conversation after setting up your space, and call to them like you would call to a friend. Don’t be afraid to interact with them and ask them questions, but also don’t be afraid to answer the ones they may ask you. Ghosts are curious just like you are, about the people they’re sharing their space with.

Ritualistic - If you like to be more formal, there are ways to do that too. I personally don’t use this method, but here are some tips:

Prepare, set up, and light your altar in anticipation for the ritual. Find the candles, crystals, offerings, anything you need to get ready. And don’t forget your bell!

Set up a safe space for you and the spirit to reside in.

Call upon the spirit you’re wanting to work with, similar to an invocation. Start by ringing your bell 3 times, use the chant/lyric/invocation you have chosen, have your conversation and end the ritual by ringing the bell another 3 times.

Tarot Cards - This method is pretty simple and very easy to do, though it will take some set up. Find something that you associate with, or have connected to the spirit you’re trying to contact. Cleanse your deck, and place this item on top of the deck and call to the spirit asking for them to put their energy into the deck. When you have received word that they’re done, or the feeling is right (hover your hand over the deck, if it makes your hand feel cold, then it’s likely not ready. If it makes your hand feel warm and a little tingly, then it’s probably ready!) you should be ready to do your reading.

Meditation - Personally my favorite method of communicating with any type of spirit. This is a simple method, where you get into a meditative state and call to the spirit to speak to you while you relax. You’re already focused and your mind is already clear, and this is the perfect time to speak with a spirit. Listen to your inner feelings, and what your heart tells you, and allow the spirit to connect with you on this personal level.

Phobophages

Remember how I was saying that a person’s personality will reflect just that as a ghost? Well, we’ve got to remember that there are bad people out there too, and thus bad ghosts. Thankfully, most ghosts don’t have the energy to really do much damage, but there are those that are out there to purposefully make you fear them and scared. We call these types of ghosts phobophages. They’re very mean and frightening little buggers that like to feed off people’s fear. These ghosts will do just about anything to get a reaction out of you, from making it sound like someone is slowly walking up behind you, to even banging on your doors and walls as hard as they can. This can be very scary, and rightfully so, but a really important thing to remember is that these ghosts cannot do you any physical harm.

What to do if you encounter one

First and foremost, DO NOT FEED IT! Remember these things feed off of your fear, I know it can be hard because the hungrier is the more desperate its going to get, but if you don’t even give it the time of day it will be powerless. Sometimes though, they’re very stubborn because the person they used to be was. Here’s what to do.

Banish it - First thing you’re going to want to do is get it out of your house. This is very easily done by speaking with intention. Saying anything along the lines of “Any spirit with ill intent is not welcome here, and is hereby banished! Only those with love and light in their heart and souls are welcome and may enter.” You can empower your words by drinking an energy/confidence tea brew, kissing a clear quartz, or speaking over the flame of a candle and blowing it out once everything has been said. Words like this forcefully cast out spirits, and there is nothing they can do about it unless you don’t have wards.

Cleanse your space - Next thing to do would be to cleanse and bless your space. Use some sage, burn a black candle, set up a crystal grid, speak with intention, or anything that will purify your space.

Tighten up and refresh your wards - Go through all the wards in your house, break them down one by one, and put them back up with some fresh (or newly charged) ingredients. Add a new layer of warding as well to show you really mean business.

Ignore it - Once it’s out of the house and can’t get in, all you have to do is starve it out. Don’t even give it the time of day, and if it starts pounding at your walls, laugh at it. These ghosts can’t hurt you and all they want if for your to be afraid of them so they can feed. Ignore them, and eventually they’ll get hungry enough to leave.

1- Hecate

Greek Titan of Witches, Witchcraft, Sorcery, and Crossroads.

When I first began this project, I knew that I wanted to end with Hecate. She is simultaneously the final and the first, our alpha and omega of Witchcraft. She dominates popular witch lore, but you would never know it as she resides in the shadows, side plots, and brief mentions. Only when you seek her out does she reveal herself to you, lighting your path while casting shadows and ghosts. Many, if not all, modern Witches, Pagans, and Wiccans see Hecate as a Goddess of Witches, amongst other appropriate attributes, and continue her worship and reverence now several thousand years ongoing.

As is the case with most of Greek Mythology, Hecate has multiple origin myths and genealogies. This is most likely the result of her originating outside of the Greeks, and being adapted and merged with the existing pantheon. Most traditions have Hecate as the daughter of the Titans Perses, titan of destruction, and Asteria, titan of falling stars and nocturnal prophecy. Hecate was their only child, and was able to retain her powers post Zeus’ coup as she helped him fight the Giants. As child of Asteria, her grandmother was the Titan of the Moon, Phoebe, and her cousin was Olympian lunar all-star Artemis.

There are various stories in which Hecate plays a part. Her most notable and appropriate for this time of year, however, is her integral role in assisting Demeter’s search for her beloved daughter, Persephone. Upon Persephone’s decent into Hades, Hecate, through the light of her torches, helped Demeter discover her daughter in the underworld. As such, Hecate has become a chthonic Goddess, and Persephone’s yearly attendant and psychopomp to the underworld. Her position as gatekeeper and guide to Hades solidifies many of her numerous attributes.

Hecate is associated with ghosts, necromancy, and magic. She is identified with crossroads, torches, and dark hounds. She was a common household deity for the Athenian—her shrines placed in doorways and city gates to both protect from restless spirits and bestow blessings and safe passage. Her worship and cult was as extensive as her various attributes, with temples and shrines scattered across the Mediterranean. As a key figure in the Persephone saga, Hecate was integral in the ancient Eleusinian Mysteries, impacting secret societies and occult rituals to this day.

Out of all her characteristics, her association with the crossroads is perhaps the most pertinent to my series. Most often, we think of crossroads as the intersection of two roads, yielding four directions. This was not always the case, however, as it was more common to have a proverbial ‘fork in the road’, yielding three directions. This is the kind of crossroads in which Hecate resides. Her statues depict her in triplicity, forearms outstretched, holding torches, keys, serpents, daggers, etc. One face in each direction, Hecate is the arbiter of passages, and in this way is the consort of the God Hermes.

Hecate is one of the original Triple Goddesses of Witchcraft, if not the primordial one. Her triplicity has defined much of Modern Pagan theology, with her stance representing the three phases of the moon, Waxing, Full, and Waning (Maiden, Mother, Crone respectively). Her mythological genealogy as the granddaughter of Phoebe and cousin to Artemis has yielded Hecate as a Goddess of the Moon in her own right, most often known as the unseen phase of the moon, the New Moon (however she is just as often associated with all moon phases). In Greek/Roman Mythology, Hecate joins many lunar goddesses in addition to Phoebe and Artemis, including Selene and Diana. The five were often conflated, confused, and worshiped both in tandem and in conflict. This ever shifting, impossible to pin down, lunar association echos her transient nature of existing in the shadows.

Hecate is both mysterious and severe. Her face is hidden behind her torches, or on the dark side of the moon, however her presence is a constant. She is life, death, and rebirth. She is both light and dark magic. She was beloved in her association with rites of passage like childbirth, and feared in her role as Queen of Shades, present at the final rite of passage, death. Her nature has permeated my entire series in such a profound and indescribable way, I can only show you:

#93: Lilith— often worshiped by modern Pagans in tandem with Hecate #92: Circe: Daughter of Hecate #89, #54, #39: Bewitched: A common expression “For Hecate’s Sake!” Occurs throughout the show. #79: Aradia: Daughter of Lucifer and Diana. Often seen as the daughter of an amalgamated Diana-Hecate. #70: Medea: Priestess of Hecate #67: Charmed: The Halliwell Sisters: Appears in the episode “The Wedding from Hell” #56: Ceridwen: Often worshiped in tandem with Hecate as Dark Mothers by modern Pagans. . #52, #27: Practical Magic: The necromancy ritual the Owen’s Sisters perform, albeit pronounced incorrectly. “Black as night, erase death from our sight. White as light, Mighty Hecate make it right.” #10: Willow Rosenberg: Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Mentioned in several episodes and referred to as “Queen and Protectress of Witches.” #7: American Horror Story: Coven: Supreme Fiona Goode invokes Hecate “Come to me Hecate, Mother of Angels, Cosmic World Soul.” #5: The Weird Sisters: Macbeth: Hecate is their master

This list is pretty fitting for a Goddess whose name etymologically may mean “she that operates from afar.” She is seldom a central figure or even visible, however witches from the Owens to the Goodes, from Willow Rosenberg to Endora, invoke her name and ask for her spirit, guidance, and presence. Hecate, in many ways, is both the first witch, and the last. She is our alpha and omega. She is the embodiment of power and strength. As a Goddess of Witchcraft, she does not merely exist in the margins of society like the rest of us—She is the margin itself.

Hail Hecate.

“Hecate, Cerridwen. Dark Mother take us in. Hecate, Cerridwen. Let us be reborn.”

9K notes View Post

insecurities-and-embarrassments

5 years ago

like/reblog if u are:

a bitch

a bastard

an all around fool

an omnipresent all-powerful being

a sparrow

c̵͙̳͕̈͛ụ̷̔r̸̗͎̽̓͗͜s̴̨̈́̿͘e̸͍̰̜͊̈́d̵̛̫̙͍͝͝

capable of moving at immense, incomprehensible speeds

an eldritch being

no one will know which one u chose! :D

167K notes View Post

insecurities-and-embarrassments

5 years ago

something about netflix castlevania felt really weird but oddly familiar in the way the story is medieval low fantasy and yet every character is not only speaking in a super modern way but constantly dunking on eachothers backstories, dropping f bombs with impunity, and going on 5 minute tangents on whether or not vampires really are killed by running water and I couldn’t put my finger on it until I realized they all talk like they’re players in a dnd campaign

134K notes View Post

insecurities-and-embarrassments

5 years ago

Women of Amphissa, 1887, by Lawrence Alma-Tadema (1836-1912).

Here Lawrence Alma-Tadema depicts a scene from a story told by Plutarch. The women sprawled on the ground are followers of Dionysus, the God of wine, and are seen recovering from a dancing ritual from the night before. These women originated from the city of Phocis, and had wandered into the marketplace of Amphissa. These two cities, however, were at war. The group lined at the back, clearly separated from their way of dress and posture, belong to Amphissa. Recognizing the danger the disoriented followers were in, the women of Amphissa form a circle around them, offering their protection and giving them food.

By representing these two very different groups of women, Alma-Tadema touches on the themes of femininity, compassion, and charity.

13K notes View Post

insecurities-and-embarrassments

5 years ago