How to work with the spirits
There are many types of spirits, and many ways of working with them, depending on the tradition.
Here, I’m going to give two overviews of the ways I work with spirits- ancestral spirits as well as 'unnamed' sprits- where I feel there’s no written record of how to interact with them.
Ancestral spirits refer to three things in my experience- the ancestors of your family (not necessarily blood relatives), the ancestors of the land, and and the ancestors of your lineage (your spiritual path).
You may find that your workings with all of these ancestors look similar, or you may pay greater reverence to some more than others.
Ancestral spirits can be a tricky one. Some of the most frequent questions I hear are:
-What if there are specific ancestors I don’t want to work with?
-I don’t know my lineage- can I still do ancestral work?
-How do I know if they’re there?
If there are spirits you don’t want to work with- don’t call to them. Banish them from your space. If you don’t know your lineages, call to your ancestors past. Ask for the ones that have protected you, guided you. Words have power- and trust that they have your back. Try and go for the ancestors who were closest to you- as they will be more invested in you as a person.
And you’ll know they’re there, because the things you petition for will come to pass. And if you’re so blessed, so you might see them, hear them, feel them. You might smell their favourite perfume or divine their words using a candle flame.
Much of this might depends on your view of death, or your ancestors view on death.
When working with ancestor spirits, I tend to have something symbolic for them on my altar, whether it’s a photograph, a skull, a treasured memento. I like to have something on my shrine that either comes from them- hair is fairly classic in the UK- or an item that they used often that will a beautiful calling card for their spirit.
I work with them every morning, alongside my other prayers, petitions and workings. Then I’ll leave them a few offerings.
One is almost always a candle flame- the offering of consistent warmth and light. It also acts as a second guiding point for them as well as the photographs and skulls.
Sometimes, I’ll pour them a glass of water or wine. I’ll almost always put out an offering of food- something that I know that my ancestors liked. Other offerings I leave out are things like flowers, playing music and a newspaper. When I have the time, I like to sit with them, talk with them, sing to them.
Encourage communication with them.
Unnamed spirits are spirits where I’m not sure what court they belong to- they’ve shown up for me but I have no context, no written - or un written- rules on how to interact with them.
For these spirits, I always have a candle out for them- sometimes in a specific colour if they’ve shown this colour to me.
I’ll always have an Offering incense burning, as well as a glass of water. This way, I’ve covered most of my fundamental bases when it comes to working with them.
Respect is always no.1 when it comes to working with spirits from the culture I was raised with.
With the way I work, I don’t forcefully ‘summon’ spirits I work with, unless contractually obliged to- or unless that’s the proper protocol with that type of spirit. (Which is something seen much more with 'courted' spirits, or with tricksters and some demons)
I invite them to my space, and give offerings. My normal relationship with the unnamed spirits is one of reciprocity, I give an offering with a petition and then- hopefully- the spirit comes through on their end of the bargain.
I then normally leave an extra offering out to them for their time.
From then on, a relationship can be built.
Of course, I’m only going over this information with broad strokes here- there are plenty of places online to look up how to work with various types of spirits.
Each tradition will approach different types of spirits differently- so it's up to you which one you want to study in. (Of course, if you're working with spirits native to a land of people, it's best to talk to people of that culture to make sure you're getting good information and are safe when practicing).
But hopefully this has given you an idea of what to expect when working with them.
If you want a class on this topic, let me know and I’ll get one sorted out!
