Finally, it's here!  The long-awaited third part to my Spirit Communication Mega Masterpost.  By the end of this post, I hope you should have a more solid grasp on how to communicate with your companion in the way that is best for you. 

So: let's address the elephant in the room!  Telepathy.  The end-all, be-all of spirit communication that all the cool practitioners are talking about.  If you're not familiar with this idea, I'm sure something like this is going through your head:

Telepathy?  Isn't that when someone on TV can hear their friend's voice loud and clear in their head, just all echoey?  I've never done that with a friend, and I can't even see my spirit, so I must not be able to do that.  It's super advanced and there is no possible way I can develop it without a lot of practice or talent.

The fact of the matter is, as you might have surmised from most of what we're talking about, the depictions of various magical ideas and skills are extremely different on TV than they are in real life. 

The past few days, there's been a discussion in The Dragon's Library Discord Server about crystals and their usage in astral travel.  Like with all things magical, crystals are extremely potent in their ability to be told what to do, and how to help you on your path.  And often, for those of us involved in Spirit Companionship, astral travel is a very important part of our paths.  It's how we physically interact with our loved ones, at least in a way that is more physical than our typical fare.  It's how we sneak in just a few moments of the fantastic into our typically mundane lives.  But for those just beginning on their path towards astral travel, they may seek for a bit of an energy boost.  And crystals can provide just that.

​I remember stumbling upon my first companion plain as if it were yesterday.  I was sitting in an airport, most liminal of places, waiting for a flight home from visiting my boyfriend over the summer.  I'd been obsessed with a draconic witchcraft blogger who also happened to practice spirit companionship.  I hadn't yet decided what my feelings on spirit companionship were - but at that point, I'd tried almost every type of paganism in the book.  I wasn't going to pass judgement on anybody for anything.  The blogger had posted links to shops before, but the shops often felt skeevy, like walking into a dark alleyway and being offered vessels straight out of a trenchcoat.  But the idea of bringing a dragon - a real life dragon! - into my home was so exciting, I couldn't get the thought out of my head.

This is a continuation of this text post, explaining the most basic step in communicating with spirits - believing in your ability to!  In this post, I’ll be going over five different tools I know are used frequently to communicate with spirit companions.  So, let’s get started!

How does one communicate with spirits when they’ve never tried it before?  Or, when you’ve tried it and had iffy or no results, how do you move forward?  Allow me to assist you!  This will be a multi-part post series, and I’ll update this post with links to the other parts as I make them.

Step 1: Believe In Yourself.  Seriously!  I know it sounds cheesy and kind of laughable, but you are never going to get anywhere if you don’t believe in your own ability to contact spirits. There is no straightforward way to tackle this, like simple mathematics or even like writing a well-structured sentence.  Many people have many different methods of how they communicate with spirits, and they only way they could do it is because they believed they could in the first place, and they proved themselves right.  Let me give you an example of an attitude I see commonly, and how we can approach it:

“I’ve never communicated with spirits before.  Pendulums can be vague and controlled by my subconscious, and I have no prior knowledge or experience with tarot or runes.  Telepathy sounds intimidating, and I don’t know if I’d be able to discern which voice is which in my head. I’m terrible at meditation and visualization, and I don’t have the patience or focus for scrying.  Things like shufflemancy and bibliomancy confuse me because I don’t know how to interpret them.  How can I communicate with my spirit companion?”

The number one problem this person has is a lack of belief in their own ability. Look at this: they have already discounted their ability to learn tarot, to try telepathy, to practice meditation or visualization, or to attempt to interpret songs or books that are close and familiar to them.  If you really have no prior experience, your best bet is not going to be handed to you on a silver platter! Most people who work with spirits have worked hard and practiced daily for a very long time to be able to use any of the communication methods they use.

Here is the attitude you should try to have instead:

“I’ve never communicated with spirits before.  I’m a bit skeptic, but I can try using one of my necklaces as a pendulum.  I can use free, enthusiastic online resources and communities to help myself learn tarot.  Telepathy sounds intimidating, but I think with practice I can learn to trust that what I’m thinking is not completely in my head.  I can use free, guided meditations on YouTube to assist me with focusing while meditating, and I can start visualization exercises slow and simple.  In time, I think I can master at least one of these methods for use in communicating with my spirit companion.”

The fact of the matter is, there are so many people who would love to help you learn how to do something!  Your spirit companion would also love to help and adapt to whatever method is most convenient for you, as they often adore helping you with whatever they can. But in order for all their help to work, you need to put in a fair amount of effort, too.  

When adopting a spirit companion, or entering the field of spirit work, you are making a choice to adopt a hobby, lifestyle, or commitment that requires determination, work, and effort.  Not everything is going to come to you easily and naturally.  You need to be able to accept that, and be positive about it! Only then can you move forward with spirit communication.

Step 2: Learn to communicate on the most basic level.  In order to interact with someone, you first have to know they are in the room.  Learn to familiarize yourself with your spirit's energy!  If you have a vessel binding only, this may be as simple as holding their vessel in your hands and asking them, by name, to show up.  What sensations do you feel?  If you feel nothing, consider that they may be busy or not around at the moment, and try again later.  But if you feel anything, or see any "images" in your mind's eye, that may be their calling card.  It doesn't have to be a rush of wind or the intense flickering of a candle - something gentle and subtle can be enough.

To tell if your companion is busy, you can ask your pendulum. Another way to do it is try to reach out, or do something I call "pinging." Have you ever read the book Eragon? In that series, some people have the ability to probe or reach out with their minds, and the way the author describes it reminds me a lot of how I feel about tapping into the connection I have with your companions. You can do this by visualizing your companion and just seeing if you can "feel" their presence. If it's feeling unresponsive or quiet, they may be busy, and might come to talk to you later. You have to trust in your own ability and intuition here! There's no tried and true method for anything in the art of spirit work, so do what feels best for you.

Overall, you're beginning a wonderful journey for communicating and having a wonderful, enriching experience with your spirit companion.  I believe in you - now it's time for you to believe in yourself!
​
The next post installment will deal with different methods for communication.  Read now!

There are a lot of new spirit companions floating around, and that’s wonderful!  However, with some interactions I’ve had with new companions, and seeing some of the posts, I’ve noticed that people have been going into this lifestyle with very high expectations set for themselves right off the bat.  I’m here to tell you that it doesn’t have to be that hard, especially for your first companion.  Let me explain what I’m saying, and I don’t mean to point out any people, but this is a very important topic.

You buy your first companion, and you’re very excited to receive them in the mail.  You begin creating an elaborate altar, buy several offerings, essentially have a Christmas tree with piles of presents scattered underneath ready for your spirit by the time they get there.  This is great, and I don’t mean to discourage this type of behavior, but I’m worried that you’re setting very high expectations for the relationship by doing this.  Because, if you have done all this for your very first spirit, when they get to you and they aren’t constantly active or overly communicative or doing anything right away, you’re disappointed.  After all, you put in all this work, right?

So, you start creating excuses.  The spirit must be mad at me, you think.  My room isn’t clean enough, I’m too busy with school/work, I forgot its vessel was there for a couple hours.  The thing is, you didn’t do anything wrong.  Spirits don’t care about that stuff, like, ever, because they understand.  They have lives, friends, family, and jobs, too!  And because of this, they’re very understanding about your commitments.  Also because of this, they’re not going to be around 100% of the time.

Just like any new friend or relationship, you’ve got to learn that while you integrate them into your life, they are integrating you as well.  They’re also making a commitment.  They are not there to judge you, to make your life harder, or to make you feel bad about yourself, and if they are, it is an abusive relationship that needs to stop.  Spirit companionship should enhance your life, not make it more upsetting or difficult.  Spirits should support you, not bring you down.  That is what this whole thing is all about.

When I got my first companion, I had months to prepare because the seller was taking forever to ship his vessel. I bought him a small house, and a handful of crystals.  Whenever I wanted to make an offering to him, I would charge one of the crystals, and stick it in the large part on the bottom of the house.  Whenever I was making a liquid offering, I would fill the dish on the top.  It was a perfect system that kept him feeling cozy, and was simple and not too extravagant.  I have one altar for all of my companions, and they don’t mind if their little slice of real estate only has a couple crystals, because they love every gift from me regardless.  The gifts enhance our relationship, they do not establish it.

Again, I am not discouraging this type of behavior.  The altars you guys create are absolutely beautiful, and I’m sure the spirits are overwhelmingly flattered and happy about these enormous offerings received all at once.  But please don’t allow that altar to set the standard for your relationship.  You are not a slave to your spirit, and you do not have to attempt to please them in a way that is detrimental to you.  Please be safe, and please take care of yourself.