[GUIDE] How to summon a Spirit and Deal with Them

Are you interested in summoning spirits and or/ getting rid of them? Have you ever wondered how to summon a spirit? Whether or not you are a student of mysticism and occult, you may have at one point considered summoning one in the basement or attic with your friends using an Ouija board or some other paraphernalia. 

But, have you wondered what spirits actually are, what kind of spirits exists and when or when not to “play” around with them, and what can be gained from them?

If so, congratulations — some sort of synchronicity has lead you to stumble upon the right article. The objective here is to cover the issue of dealing with all sorts of “spirits” from the viewpoint of occultism, by exploring the science of evocative magick.

Note: This article goes deep into the rabbit hole and may require rereading, pondering and going through various other sources recommended in order to truly understand how to summon a spirit; and by no means do I claim it to be exhaustive. It is written for someone who is genuinely interested in what spirits are, mysticism and occult, and want to learn how to communicate such beings. If you are looking for a quick recipe to play around in your basement, please look elsewhere.

Note 2:  DO NOT take anything given here as a given, and as dogma. They are to be used as "maps" only. The information herein is based on my experience and knowledge. ​ This article will be updated as new understanding presents itself before me. Read, experiment, explore and find out your own truth and what works for you!

Caution: We take no responsibility for the results and what may happen if you do decide to dabble without preparation.

Before we dive into the practical works, we must cover some preliminaries:

Firstly, what are “spirits”? Most people would likely —and immediately— conjure up negative images of trapped and distressed energy remains of dead people and/or demons; or in some cases, angelic spirits.

While they do amount to a fraction of the types of spirits that exists out there, they are far from all encompassing, nor can any spirits be deemed “good” or “evil” in the objective sense.

Some may cause “harm” to human life based on circumstances and how they were formed, and some may benefit humans in various ways. However, it must be understood that our human minds have a rather myopic view of what constitutes “harm” and “benefit”. The issue of dealing with potential dangers while learning how to contact spirits is covered at a later section in this article.

Not only that, it can also be said that the different types of spirits dwell in different planes of existence and may even be completely oblivious to each other's existence, except if they actively try to affect each other by exerting their influences in the other's “sphere”, or through a third sphere. For example, our own.

Your “self” too influence the spheres of the spirits, although your normal, everyday waking consciousness may not be aware of it.

First, let us try to encapsulate *some* knowledge in our minds as to what spirits are:

Are all spirits anthropomorphism?

Are all spirits anthropomorphism of different aspects of yourself? You could say that they are, but at the same time, not. You could of course look at spirits and work with them solely from a Jungian/archetypal projection perspective. Even with such a paradigm, learning how to summon a spirit wouldn't be wasteful. But if you are a seasoned occultist or someone who has had bizarre experiences also verified by others around you, such a model may not suffice.

It is of course, really difficult to say what spirits are with absolute authority, but the important thing to remember is that it is impossible to “know” whether or not reality itself is wholly objective or just a projection of the subjective.

As covered in more depth in the article on Psychedelic Shamanism, idealism may not be useful from a scientific standpoint, but it may just be a fallacy to say that materialism is the only way to explore, experience and understand the universe. Mathematics and other scientific tools are not intrinsic to the universe, but are devices that WE developed from the capacity of our own limited brains, to understand the objective world.

The scientific tools that we know today too are subjective “mental trips” to somehow encapsulate “understanding” into mathematical placeholders, into laws and theories, enough to observe the effects of these laws and theories by verifying them objectively. However, even though scientific results may be reliably verified by testing them in reality, they are still “mental trips”, and quite possibly extremely limited in scope and potential.

Here's a thought experiment: What if there is a different species from a different planet that has an organ that acted like a brain, but navigate the universe completely differently from the way we do (never known mathematics or physics for example), but operates far more efficiently than we do? I'd say the odds are quite high. In all likelihood, we are not the only lifeforms. It is fallacious to assume that all forms of lifeforms that are out there would eventually evolve the exact same tool sets that we have, to navigate the universe.

Back to idealism and subjectivity: It is theorized that the people of the old had little understanding of the “line of separation” between the objective and the subjective world, and that out of this delusion, various superstitions were born. However, how real is this “line of separation”? Even through modern scientific understanding of biology, we come to the conclusion that the reality we experience is what our brain stitches together based on sensory inputs.

Another interesting thought experiment: Even knowledge of your own brain (and the mind), the structure of it, what constitutes it, and so on are basically it's (mind's) own representation based on inputs and thought processes. Therefore, the objective is INSIDE the subjective and vice versa.

In various idealistic, mystical and magickal traditions, the brain and the mind itself is considered as a receiving antenna for the consciousness.

Aldous Huxley also went so far as to say that our brains act like a reducing valve. If you have any experience with psychedelics or any form of altered states of consciousness, you can clearly see how this is possible.

All theories and concepts about the universe that our minds can concoct are essentially “models” of the universe. In the scientific community, the standard model and later, the more accurate general relativity and quantum mechanics are models of the universe. Possible contenders would be String theory and the Holographic universe theory.

Keeping all this in mind, and how it might just be useful to think like the ancients — removing the distinction between the subjective self and the objective world, and understanding how both exists within one another, let us now dive into the occult map systems of the Kabbalah, and the Chakra systems and see where the various spirits fit themselves into these maps:

Mystical knowledge, Occult maps and how it all ties with how to summon a spirit

There have been many occult "maps” developed by various groups of mystics in different parts of the world that try to encapsulate phenomenon (various other worlds and spheres, spirits, mystical growth, magick etc.) that cannot be expressed through rational means.

These maps of course, have variations and interpretations and do not claim to exhaustively and objectively describe the universe. They are but simplified navigation devices that somewhat describes the basic structure of the subjective/objective world complex. For example, in the west, you find the Kabbalistic tree of life Sephiroth and it's antipole Qliphoth, both based on objective “worlds” or “spheres” . In the traditions of the East, you have the Chakra system, which is more subjective and layered on human anatomy itself.

Kabbalistic Sephiroth and Qliphoth

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The map of the Kaballah, although widely regarded as Jewish, is said to be even more ancient in origin. Some claim it may have come from the legendary Atlantis itself, although the early prototypes of it most likely originated sometime during the period of ancient Sumeria. A good account of what the Kabbalistic tree of life Sephiroth and it's antipole tree of knowledge Qliphoth is can be found here, but the gist of it is as follows:

In the beginning, there was Ain/sof or pure, unrealized potential. In a quest to become conscious of itself, it broke into Kether, the first spark or idea without form. Then came Chokmah, wisdom and the first principle that had the ability to define itself in relation to something else. Binah, or understanding came next, which balances Chokmah. Together, they form the trinity or the first principles of existence. All the other “spheres” come below them, and Malkuth or the “Kingdom” represents the lowest sphere that represent our gross, material world. Yesod, or the foundation above it, represents the astral world.

The goal of the Kabbalist or the “light adept” then is to rise the spheres (this may also involve learning how to communicate with spirits), back to the source or “Kether”, and unify with “God” by following strict rules, regulations and devotion. This is usually what the traditional religion advocates.

There is, however an alternate, less spoken path among the Kabbalists, which some even regard as the “true path”:

In the original tree of life, there existed an additional sphere or Sephira which went by the name of “Daath” (as seen in the diagram above), and represented knowledge. Daath stood in between Binah and Chokmah, and represented the highest Sun or Lucifer. The Sephira Malkuth or our material world, did not exist. Yesod, or the astral world is the perfect reflection of Kether. The connection between this map and the biblical mythology is quite evident.

However, even before the first principle of Kether was created, “Ainsof” had to withdraw inwards, leaving behind dark aspects of itself that did not participate in creation. This dark principle still retained in it, the need to create and separate. Therefore, it caused a “stir” in the original tree of life to advance it's agenda.

It did this by affecting the perfect reflection of Kether, Yesod — for it is the principle that had the potential, much like it's original to replicate godliness.

This was accomplished by a “fall” of the Daath principle or Lucifer into Yesod, to give the light of knowledge, and the creation of Malkuth, the material plane where the perfect reflection descended to.

The Daath principle and the dark principles then went onto create the ten anti-worlds of Qliphoth, occupied by demonic Kings and their subordinates.

The parallel to this is the story of Lilith, the dark goddess, who was the first wife of Adam (or Tipareth or the second “Sun”) . Lilith is also associated with Daath, who was the highest Sun. The argument between the highest Sun, and the second Sun caused the highest Sun or Daath (also associated to Saturn) to be banished from the Sephiroth, causing the creation of Malkuth, or Eve — our illusory material world.

However, Eve, or Malkuth still presents it's flip side Lilith, on occasion, causing an opening into the shadowy Qliphoth, where Lilith is the lowest Qlipha herself, and rules the higher Qliphoth above it (Gamaliel).

This is similar to the Tantric idea, where the great goddess “Maya” or illusion, who is also the personification of our material world often presents herself in various “roudra” forms of Shakti — Kali or Smashan Tara, for example.

As you can see, the shadowy Qliphoth and the anti worlds are in fact, aspects of the original Ainsof, or “God” responsible for creation. “Lilith” therefore, can be seen as the dark aspect of creation that did not form into the creation itself, but instead is what is left of the original Ainsof that is responsible for creation itself!

The goal of the Dark Adept or the initiate of the left hand path, is to continue the fall through Lilith, and complete the original intention of breaking the seed and creating a new universe and becoming “godlike” himself.

These are all abstractions concocted by mystics of course. In the east and in the traditions of Tantra, the end goal of both paths are one and the same — to return to the original universal soul.

Where do spirits come into all this: Using the occult maps to learn how to communicate with spirits

The lowest Sephiroth, Malkuth is where we dwell in, and it is what is perceivable to us using our senses. As we already discussed in an early section, what we perceive is but our own brain's concoction of what's out there. That is, if you talk in terms of occult anatomy, it is the brain's version of what Malkuth is. More precisely, Malkuth is the brain's (knowledge machine's) limited version of what Yesod is.

The world we most closely know and can relate to most, is a world of “personalities”, and not that of abstractions such as “spheres”. The personalities most closely resembling ourselves — other humans — are most easy to classify as “personalities”. A dog or a cat might also be classified as a personality by most of us. However, upon more contemplation, one can see that there are more subtle forms of personalities. Trees have their own personalities, but going even further, the hive minds of a group of ants or bees have their own personalities. In fact, we ourselves are “personalities” of groups of many different cells.

But remember —  our brains do not actively look at each other as a group of cells, but as personalities or “I”s. It is easy to see why we have the affinity to work with personalities, rather than any other types of abstractions or removal of abstractions. It is perhaps why when this illusion of “I” is shattered, that everything seems to be “one”.

Subtler still, there is a personality of a flame, the personality of a piece of music or a fleeting wave in the ocean, but we often ignore them even though we have great affinity to associate with them in terms of personalities, rather than labels. For children, this comes naturally and for adults on psychedelics, this becomes easier. Is it any wonder why you are able to enjoy music when you listen to it as a personality, rather than try to dissect its  constituents every second? Better still is when your own personality “or spirit” merges with that of the music's.

The ancients often treated diseases as an invading “spirit”. If you look at it, a disease oft has its own personality as a result of a group of viruses, bacteria etc, and it goes directly against our own “personality”, which is again just an abstraction for a group of cells. They are only more non individualized in nature in comparison to us, relative to us.

“Spirits” that we refer to here are essentially such personalities, but of an even more subtler nature. The personalities of the principle spheres in the occult maps of the Kaballah are deemed it's primary rulers, and are represented by Angelic or positive personalities or Demonic or negative personalities, based on which side of the tree you are looking into — Sephiroth or Qliphoth. Spirits could be said to be our way of perceiving those aspects or Spheres and it's constituents — as personalities, because that's what we have the most affinity to.

Each “Sphere” in turn also has its various dwellers and citizens, much like how we perceive in the sphere of Malkuth. In the higher spheres of Sephiroth, you find, what you would perceive as “angelic” or “light” spirits while in the Qliphoth, you find demonic or “lower” spirits and are given various forms.

But once again, remember — these representations of personalities are completely based on the constructs of how our own mind, and how Malkuth itself, is created and it is how WE can most relate to the aspects or spheres. There is no objective form or morality for these spirits; just different characteristics.

Hopefully this gives you an idea of what the spirits of angels, demons, and their various servants are. There are however, many more elementary spirits and subtleties below them and, and we shall cover them in subsequent sections.

For now, let us look at the Chakra system, which could be said to be the subjective version of the same occult map of the Kaballah.

The Chakra System

Much like the Kabbalistic tree of life, the Chakra system is an occult map, but directly mapped onto the human body. There are many variations of the Chakra system, but the most common one consists of 7 Chakras:

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​The commonly used English descriptions are as follows: 

1. Muladhara: Base or root Chakra (Ovaries/Prostrate)

2. Svadhisthana: Sacral Chakra (Last bone in the spinal cord)

3. Nabhi-Manipura: Solar Plexus Chakra (Navel region)

4. Anahata: Heart Chakra (Heart region)

5. Vishuddhi: Throat Chakra (Throat and Neck region)

6. Ajna: Third Eye Chakra (Pineal Gland or Third Eye)

7. Sahasrar: Crown Chakra (Top of the Head)

Each of the five Chakras that stand between the Sahasrara and Muladhara are also associated with the five great elements (Fire, Water, Air, Ether).

The ultimate goal of the traditions that adopt the Chakra system (Tantra, Yoga, Buddhism, Taoism etc.) is to raise the dormant Kundalini (often represented as the serpent) at the base (Muladhara) and to let it rise to the Sahasrara (similar to rising through the spheres).

In the Tantric traditions, the Kundalini is often anthropomorphized and personalized into some form of Shakti — Kali, Tara, etc. — often terrible forms of the feminine cosmic energy, and is considered to be the micro version of the macro creation (Shakti). The terrible form is given because it most accurately personifies what Kundalini can be like to our brains, once it is first awakened due to our entanglements with the material world. This is done to enable a personal relationship with the Kundalini, making it easier to go through the whole ordeal. She is also represented as “Maya” (illusion, or the material world) in her dormant form.

This also fits in very well with the “Lilith” characteristic of “Malkuth” or Eve, that breaks away from her shackles into the wild lands, and carries the will of the creation from the original dark aspect of Ain-sof. She is also the “serpent” (or the Kundalini) that tempts Eve (Or Maya, or Malkuth, or our world) to eat from the forbidden tree of knowledge.

Indeed, this parallel was already observed and Leonardo Davinci beautifully portrayed this in his “occult anatomy map”:

​If you are interested in the primeval feminine and it's importance, I highly recommend you read our article on Lilith.

Now let us move onto the Sri Yantra and the various deities and spirits that exists within it. This is not unlike spirits that dwell in various spheres of the Kaballah:

Sri Yantra and the Various Spirits and Deities

The Sri Yantra is a mystical diagram that represents the whole of the cosmos and the human body. It is said to contain all yantras, and is considered the mother yantra of all yantras.

The various deities and spirits that exist in the Sri Yantra map are described in the ​various accounts account of the Sri Yantra:

​The deities and spirits of the Sri Yantra can be found here​. Kulachev's research on Sri Yantra can be found here.

Another interesting article on Sri Yantra and can be found here.

Sri Yantra and the Chakra System

Moving on, the Sri Yantra is also mapped to the Chakra System in the human anatomy via the nadis​.

Essentially, the deities and “spirits”, including the lower ones, can be mapped to the occult anatomy of the Chakra system.

This is very much similar to the kabbalistic arrangement of spirits in the Tree of Sephiroth and Qliphoth. The only difference being that the discussion is wholly subjective, because the map is mapped onto the human body.

When we discuss the types of spirits, you'll be able to see the similarities and overlap in their functions, although there may be slight variations. For example the Incubi, Succubi; Pisachinis, Yakshinis, Gandharvas and Apsaras.

​Planetary astrology and effects of spirits through evocative magick

If you are familiar with planetary or vedic astrology, you will know that each planet is associated with certain affects (benefic or malefic), based on it's position in your “chart” at any given time, which is in turn, based on the position of the planets in your birth chart.

Each “Sphere” of the kabbalistic tree of life Sephiroth is also associated with the planets that correspond to the ones that are present in astrology, and represent the exact same characteristic effects on human life:

Malkuth = Earth

Yesod = Moon; Characteristics ruled: dreams, fantasies, emotions

Hod = Mercury; Characteristics ruled: Intelligence and communication

Netzach = Venus; Characteristics ruled: Charm, sensuality, passions

Tipareth = Sun; Characteristics ruled: Courage, nourishment, energy

Geburah = Mars; Characteristics ruled: War, separation, severity, aggression, drive and competitiveness

Chessed = Jupiter; Characteristics ruled: Abundance, Preservation and Protection

Daath (the fallen Sephira) = Saturn; Characteristics ruled: Knowledge, learning, hard work.

The spheres of Chokmah and Binah do not affect us by characteristics, but by the principles of who you are, and by your karmic profile. They can be equated to the correction factors of Rahu and Ketu nodes in the Vedic astrology.

Astrology is out of scope here, but the key takeaway here is this:

Through working with the ruling spirits of the spheres and their denizen spirits, one can affect the effects of the planets’ influence on oneself.

Mastering how to communicate with denizen and ruling spirits other than that of the personality of the individual spheres itself is only accessible to the advanced magician and can be worked toward as described in Franz Bardon's “The Practice of Magickal Evocation”, but chanting planetary mantras for example, can help synchronize your personality/spirit with that of the personality of the planet/sphere itself, reducing it's malefic effects and improving the beneficial effects.

Even if you do not have direct access to the other spheres, it is possible to work with the spirits of Malkuth or earth itself, to help build a better relationship with them, or to bring back “knowledge” from the other spheres.

It is perhaps through this method, that various psychic mediums function — by liaising with spirits of this sphere to bring back knowledge or information from other spheres, about the effects of the spirits of other spheres on yourself, or “Malkuth”. It is easy to see now, how this can be used for both “divining” the future, and also to detect the presence of spirits of any sphere (including demons, angels etc) in any given area.

Hopefully, you now have a better understanding of how all of it fits together, and a new appreciation for the various occult maps, including the Kabbalistic tree and the Chakra system.

Now, let us look at the most common types of spirits that influence our world:

What are the different types of spirits?

Tulpas, Servitors and Phantasms

Servitors are believed to be your thought forms manifested into the reality in a way that they have lives of their' own.

The Tibetan monks called them "Tulpas" and were adepts at manifesting such thought forms into altering reality. If you are a materialist atheist, a psychological explanation might help: They can be considered as aspects of your own personality, created by your own will.  The regular personalities that we adapt are largely given to us by the external world. You can observe this in your daily life pretty easily  — go watch a movie and identify with the hero completely.

You'll find that, after the end of the movie, you'll still be hungover by the identification with the character for a while before completely returning back to mundane reality.

It is not hard to see now, that you already hold multiple personalities within you that you cycle through, in your daily life, all given to you by the world around you.

With Servitors, you create a personality consciously, through rituals, in order to satisfy a certain purpose.

However, the psychological explanation fails when the servitors actually appear to take actions, seemingly independently, manifesting magick in the real world. Servitors can be valuable tools if created consciously, correctly and for the right purpose.

Sometimes, they can even go against the original creator of the servitor in the material world. Such a rogue phenomenon can be called as “phantasms”.

Remember that these beings (or personalities) can exist both internally and externally. A phantasm can also be your personality that is negative, and unconscious. The more this personality is reinforced, the more the phantasm grows.

Externalized, such a rogue personality can be the cause of “hauntings”. In most cases, the hauntings are simply the host being unaware of the rogue personality (or phantasm) taking action, very much in a schizophrenic manner.

But in some other cases, these phantasms can be externalized to an extent to have a life of it's own, and such hauntings can usually be experienced by other human beings around the host/in a given vicinity either through poltergeist type phenomenon or through the hijack of their own life functions by these phantasms. This can be either blatant or insidious.

If you are a beginner, I highly recommend you start working with these kinds of beings in your endeavor to learn how to communicate with spirits. Details and sources on how to get started are given in the sections below.

Elemental spirits or Bhootas

Our world (Malkuth) can be said to be constructed from 5 basic elements, the fifth being the Akasa or Ether principle that the astral world or Yesod is made out of, out of which all other elements come into being.

Note — It is important to keep in mind that the names given to the elements —  “fire”, “water”, “air” etc., do not refer to the actual fire, water, air or earth. They represent fundamental universal phenomena that run the clockwork such as expansion, contraction, the mediation between expansion and contraction etc. and are ubiquitous throughout the universe, not just the Earth. The names are such because phenomena such as actual fire, water, air and earth is what is observed on earth that most accurately encapsulate the elements (or clockwork phenomena)!

• The first element is the fire principle (Tejas) and it represents the “spark” or light. It is also the principle responsible for expansion, extension and transformation (including from one state of matter into another)
• The second element is the water principle and it represents contraction, darkness — interestingly, it is also life giving and nourishing (just like the original darkness of Ainsof!)
• The third element is the air principle and it represents the mediation between the fire and water element, making life itself, possible.
• The fourth element is the earth principle and it represents the “solidity”, and “material stuff”. It is what is responsible for space, weight, measure etc. And is also the representation of all three other elements in action, on our world including the formation of our own bodies.

Now, just as everything else, these clockwork phenomena or “elements” also have their personalities. The properly initiated magician seems to be able to learn to work with these subtle personalities and master how to summon and contact spirits of the elements, and manage to use their assistance to perform feats such as pyrokinesis etc.

Not only that, each aspect of our own personality and makeup (both negative or positive) can be associated with each of the elements. Anger for example, the fire element, because it represents expansiveness in the destructive form.

In such a manner, unwanted emotions can also be the cause of creating “elementary” or unwanted elemental spirits that can also cause hauntings and other phenomenon. They are also called “larvae”, or Tattwa debris.

If you are a beginner, it is highly recommended that you first balance the elements or Tattwas in your own system before working with any kinds of spirits (including elemental spirits). This is described in Franz Bardon's work — Initiation into Hermetics.

The various elemental spirits can manifest in different ways, based on your psychological make-up, but the most common manifestations are :

• Earth spirits — Gnomes
• Water spirits — Undines
• Air spirits — Sylphs
• Fire spirits — Salamanders

The advanced magus can cultivate the ability to even talk to the personalities of the elements (Pancha Bhootas) themselves.

If you have experience with psychedelics such as DMT, and have listened to Terence Mckenna's work on it, you will find an interesting parallel to both the nature and characteristics of the “machine elves” to the elemental spirits of the earth element. This is also observed in the Amanita Muscaria origin of the Santa Claus myth.

Succubi, Incubi, Pisachini, Gandharvas and Apsaras

This class of spirits is perhaps the most controversial, most misused, and considered blatantly dangerous and “pointless” by the occult community and to contact this type of spirit is considered a sort of sacrilege. The misinformation surrounding this class of spirits is staggering.

These spirits can be considered “servant” spirits or denizens of the Muladhara Chakra, the Lilith Qlipha or the Adi Shakti, hence their sexual nature. They are the denizens of the Kundalini Shakti.

In the Western world, the Succubi and Incubi are almost always described as appearing seductive but vile, whilst in the east, the appearance and nature of the Apsaras and Gandharvas vary from being both haunting and heavenly beautiful, like angels. However, their form and characteristics is wholly dependent on your own Tattwas and Gunas.

Remember that the objective world, and these spirits themselves, are manifestations of your own subjectivity and vice versa. The flip of Malkuth is Lilith, and so, the flip side of an Apsaras (heavenly maiden) is a Succubus or Pishachini.

There is nothing wrong with sex, but if you have a great need for sexual lust and summon them as whores to solely satisfy those desires, it will be your own lust collapsing in on itself perpetually, into a singularity. This explains how these spirits have the bad name of “draining the life force” of the summoner by means of sex, and being “jealous” if they engage in a sexual relationship with any other.

These “lower” spirits have no morality, direction or "clue" of their own. However, they can be of great assistance if used correctly and in order to be able to communicate with these spirits correctly, your sole purpose in life should be spiritual elevation.

There are lower, servant type spirits in each of the above spheres other than that of the Lilith sphere (both in the positive Sephiroth and negative Qliphoth), but covering all of them here would be impossible.

The right approach would be to come from an angle of assisting them to elevate into higher planes of existence whilst you ascend yourself, while they help you with any physical barriers that may hinder your (and their) growth. How to go about this is discussed in subsequent sections.

Various “Pretas”

Pretas are what can normally be called as “ghosts”. They are essentially residual personalities. They can be human, but they can also be residual personalities of animals, trees, objects etc.

Due to their subtle nature, most of the residual personalities or Pretas do not even register in our normal waking consciousness. Since human residual personalities most closely resemble our own, the really sensitive person or someone who has been trained to be a medium may be able to detect their presence.

How to summon a ghost: Human spirits, Ghosts or “Human Pretas”, “Brahmarakshasa” and Vampric spirits

Normal Human Spirits: In most cases, these personalities get reabsorbed into the Yesod (or the Astral world), the causal body washed, and then projected into the Malkuth (material world) again.

But in some cases, if the personality is too attached to some form of emotion or some other personality that dwelled in the material world, (which most often happen with human personalities and in some cases, animal personalities) they do not pass into the astral world, and may be the cause of “hauntings” and various other phenomena.

Such spirits are often used by necromancers for their own advantage, but I highly recommend against it. Unlike other types of spirits where there is a give and take relationship, all you do is manipulate the spirit, unless the spirit willingly agrees to it in exchange for liberation etc. Playing with such spirits will almost most certainly attract heavy karmic burden.

The best way to deal with this type of spirit is to help liberate them from the world of Malkuth, into Yesod, where they can be reborn and continue on their task of advancing their spirit until ultimate liberation.

Vampiric Human Spirits: As we all know, death is inevitable. When the time comes, the transitory “Maya” or Malkuth or the physical body fades away, back into Yesod. However, with extreme attachment to Maya and in seeking immortality, those who possess some amount of occult powers and sorcerers can produce and be subject to some really interesting circumstances. One such is that of the “Vampiric” spirits.

The sorcerer who turns into a Vampiric spirit usually manage to get their bodies preserved in a form that lasts for really long, either through physical means (objects etc.) or through various paranormal means, or both. The bodies are then “fed” and further preserved by draining and leeching off the prana or life force of living spirits that dwell in any given area, in hopes of “waking up” again at a later stage. Legends of vampires that suck actual blood come from this phenomenon, and the only way to get rid of such vampiric spirits would be to burn or destroy the body (or object) that is preserved, through certain rituals. How true the notion of body being persevered is unknown to me, but life draining sorcerer spirits that seek immortality exists in various cultures of the world. One such is the Brahmarakshas or spirits of a “sinner” sorcerer, which we shall see next.

Brahmaraksha: Another related an interesting type of spirit that is produced by a sorcerer is the Brahmarakshas. They are very similar to vampiric spirits in some sense, but they are often portrayed as both malevolent and benevolent.

The malevolent type is very similar to the vampire mentioned above, but without the notion of a body being preserved. They usually exist in a given area and drain the life force of living beings in those areas. Often, another sorcerer of a high order is required to free the Brahmarakshas or “trapped sorcerer” from their shackles. Otherwise, the only way would be to appease them by various rituals.

The benevolent type is the residual remains of a sorcerer/magus, who has left it in a given area by performing various rituals (including funeral rites on himself, called Swayam Pindam), before his death. Such a spirit usually takes the form of the original sorcerer and acts as a protector of the given area, often protecting and giving knowledge to his/her own lineage. My own family has such a spirit dwelling in our ancestral home.

Summoning a Demon or an Angel: Demonic spirits, Angelic spirits, Yaksha and Yakshini

What Angelic and Demonic spirits are was already discussed in the early sections. They are essentially the same “type” of spirits, but the opposite “flip” of each other. The demons are nothing but “fallen angels"and vice versa.

The difference between these spirits and the servant type spirits are that these have their own sense of direction, and goals and represent either the spheres themselves (like Lilith) or have their own personalities within the spheres and are usually assigned titles and roles — Duke, Prince etc.

Both angel and demonic spirits can be used for aggression and defense. The demonic spirits may be easier to access for the untrained, however and this explains the faustian legend and how teenagers accidentally summon demonic spirits. If untrained and used with ill intent, this is not unlike the above mentioned sexuality collapsing in on itself, like what happens with the servant spirits. They are easier to access than Angelic spirits, because the average human is more in tune with the lower emotions.

The Yaksha or Yakshini is the same as Demonic or Angelic type spirits. The only difference is that they are not given any particular characteristics and appearance (good or evil). They are often portrayed and described to appear in both forms.

Nagas and serpentine spirits

Nagas and serpentine spirits are the personalities of the transition between Maya and Shakti or Malkuth and Lilith. They are essentially, the gatekeepers of the underworld. They represent the transition from the Sephiroth Malkuth to Lilith Qlipha and vice versa.

This is the reason why the Naga spirit is also often associated with the Kundalini, and also represent the one that tempts eve into eating from the tree of knowledge (transition to Malkuth).

Since they open the gateway to the “underworld” as perceived by us, they are also represented as being evil and malicious.

The reptilian part of our brain is the oldest and is responsible for vital functions such as heart rate, breathing etc. The reptilian brain is the closest to the original “darkness” (or pre-creation) in our anatomy structure.

The Naga or serpent spirits often act as guardian spirits and were widely venerated among cultures of the old.

Even today, they are often erected in various places as guardian spirits, and function as defenders from “lower” spirits. Kerala, India is one such example.

If you are dealing with “lower spirits”, then appeasing the Nagas may be a very good idea.

In order to know more about the Nagas, the following book is recommended:

​Preparation and training before working with spirits

Like with most things in life, dealing with spirits will require you to have adequate preparation.

Of course, if your goal is to simply “see” whether or not spirits exists, good luck to you!

Occult powers seem to be something that nature intended to be used to measure your “spiritual growth” and your elevation to the higher spheres, not to satisfy worldly desires.

You could learn how to communicate with spirits for solely materialistic reasons of course, but you must know that by doing that, you are getting essentially using the other spheres to solidify the illusion. 

Essentially, you get snared and entrapped into the dominion of  Malkuth (or Maya) more and more. You may even get to a point where you become “trapped” in the flip side Lilith sphere and beyond. This is what a “pact” with the devil/demon is. There is nothing inherently “wrong” or “right” about it, but it is better if you know what you are getting into, rather than be taken by surprise, no?

The details of how to prepare will be given in the next section but the basic progression of your abilities whilst dealing with spirits goes like this:

1. Mental, psychic and physical training — thought and mind control, knowing yourself (both weaknesses and strengths), having a balance within the physical body.
2. Training to be a proper medium — remember that there is a difference between this and being “possessed” without asking for it.
3. Learning to access alternate states of consciousness using various techniques.
4. Seeing and communicating with spirits directly.

​

The dabbler, the sorcerer and the true magician

I like to classify those who dive into the mystical into three categories:

1. The merely curious dabbler
2. The sorcerer
3. The magician

It is my contention that the merely curious dabbler has no business summoning any kind of spirits. In order to learn how to summon a spirit or mastering how to communicate with spirits, a certain degree of sincerity is absolutely necessary.

The lower spirits may (depending on the nature of the spirit evoked) offer help to the dabbler, but will most likely refuse to listen to the dabbler and bind him/her into a “pact”, but even this is rare. Even this is more likely to happen to a sorcerer than a dabbler. In most cases, nothing will happen.

The energies of the dabbler will not be sufficient to make contact with a “positive” spirit either.

The sorcerer is someone who may not be an adept magician, but has worked sufficiently to enhance their spiritual faculties through meditation, mantra sadhana and some purification of elements and gunas etc. The sorcerer *can* work with spirits, provided they adopt the right mindset. The higher spirits may or may not work with the sorcerer, depending on the circumstances.

The lower spirits will likely assist the sorcerer no matter what the wish, but If they attempt to use the lower spirits for a power trip, it will most likely be answered, but the long term consequences will be dire. Like already discussed in the dark magick article, these spirits have no concept of what is “right” or “wrong” and are essentially like children.

But if the sorcerer is someone who continually strives to grow spiritually and dedicates his/her life for this sole purpose, and uses the lower spirits for protection and assistance, then the result will be a perfect match — the sorcerer grows, and the lower spirits get a chance to elevate themselves with the sorcerer, to the higher planes. Again, the tales of incubi, succubi and the like draining the life force out of humans is only true for dabblers and sorcerers who use them for physical pleasure and materialistic gains.

The magician is the highest adept; they are ones who have gone through sufficient training and preparation, and traversed the spheres. This type seems to be one that has already achieved the state of enlightenment, nirvana or satori. They are usually able to command and control almost any type of spirit including deities, because they become the will of the Ainsof, or the original universal soul itself. The highest arcane abilities are reserved for the magician.

It may take one several lifetimes to achieve to the state of the magician, however and I by no means claim to be one.

If you are truly serious about developing faculties for contacting spirits, then I highly recommend you start developing yourself in various ways. The following are two paths, one the path of the sorcerer and the other, that of the magician.

• The path of the magician may take you several years or lifetimes to develop faculties, but it is what seems to develop you fully, not only in terms of learning how to contact spirits, but also in terms of all magickal faculties.
• The path of the sorcerer will take you relatively less time, but you will have to remember the earlier warnings on how to use your occult faculties and eventually be working on your way towards the path of the magician anyhow.

Books are recommended below, but please note that the definitions and line of difference is not strict based on the knowledge given below. Don't take it as dogma, experiment and see what works for you!

​​Grimoires

Grimoires are essentially book of spells. They contain “seals” and symbols of particular beings which when used and channeled through the appropriate “mantra” or chanting, whilst undergoing certain procedures and offerings, can “summon” the apropos spirit(s).

However this is only partly true. There seems to be a huge misunderstanding about how to use and what they actually are. Countless dabblers have tried to use Grimoires alone in an attempt to learn how to communicate with spirits, with little to no results, and many sorcerers with adequate mana power have used Grimoires with dire consequences.

The Grimoires of the old are essentially magickal diaries of those magicians who have had contact with the various spheres all by themselves.

The various spirits have to be contacted directly, and it is an entirely subjective ordeal.

A sorcerer with adequate power may summon a phantasm that mimics the spirit of the Grimoire while having no way to determine whether or not they are the actual spirits or a phantasm etc. In some cases, a “lower” spirit may actually present itself and offer their services, provided they gain something in return —  either an opportunity to bind the sorcerer into a pact and then drag them into their own planes of existence, or an opportunity to grow with the sorcerer and rise into the higher planes (which is more ideal).

How to summon a spirit and make contact with them

A dabbler who wants to summon a spirit for “fun” and “games” should heed this warning: please don't. If you go ahead anyhow, it is my hope nothing really happens.

For the sorcerer, it is highly recommended to start working with Servitors, Tulpas (as described in chaos magick books) and perhaps even elemental spirits (as described in Franz Bardon's first work).

Working with lower order spirits such as Succubi, Incubi and the like is also possible for the sorcerer, provided you have a mentor deity assisting you and your mental framework and life purpose is solely directed towards mysticism and not materialism.

But even then, be careful about “spiritual ego”, because even such a thing can render the lower spirits to drag you down. Also, be careful about when you have any sexual relationship with any spirit — be it elemental, succubi etc. First, you may not be able to have a sexual relationship with another human and second, NEVER have a relationship with the spirits grounded on a sexual/lover only nature. It is best to have a parent-child relationship with the spirit.

As described in the article on dark magick, please use the following table for a HONEST self assessment. The higher the stars, the more likely you will be able to successfully work with lower order spirits (scroll right and left if on mobile):

 The altruist, regardless of whether or not he/she is sensitive or thick-skinned is built for the black magician’s path. This is because the altruist’s ego is very unlikely to swell. Moreover, the true altruist can only get into the practice of ​how to communicate with spirits an explorer​.

​Summoning and/or using human spirits or pretas is HIGHLY NOT RECOMMENDED for both the dabbler AND the sorcerer and goes into the realm of Necromancy.

A necromancer's sole goal is to summon astral, departed souls into bodies (necromantic resurrection), objects, or places in order to gain advantage for himself. This is highly not recommended, and will most likely lead to dire consequences such as paralysis death or worse — a fall into the lower planes. Learning how to communicate with these spirits and binding them is the most ideal if materialistic goal is the sole purpose. However, the amount of times I have come across people who have gotten into trouble, even after initial success cannot be counted with my fingers.  

Only humans from the lower girdles of the astral plane can even be summoned. Summoning higher human spirits is said to be impossible, unless the magician is of a higher development themselves. If you are already someone of that caliber, you will likely have ascended beyond most materialistic ambitions. Moreover, reading this article would be pointless.

​How to communicate with spirits

Summoning spirits aside, detecting spirit presence, possessions , haunting and communicating with them may be required, even in the case of human spirits.

In such a case, even a sorcerer's skill may come in handy, provided the intention is good. Various other methods like electronic gadgets are used to detect a spirit presence, but in this article, we will not be discussing them.

Unfortunately, the media has been projecting spirit presence as necessarily evil and “horror”. This is the wrong attitude to have, for the sorcerer.

Once again, one must remember that the objective and subjective is one inside another, like a fractal, and that everything is part of the “whole”.

The right attitude to have then, is that of a helping hand for the spirits, especially when it comes to human spirits, servitors and the like because in essence, you are helping yourself.

If one comes across lower spirits (such as familiars, incubus and succubi) as a sorcerer, the best way to deal with them would be as a teacher.

If a more demonic presence is detected, one may need the help of a deity or that of an angelic spirit to help liaise with the spirit (unless you are a magus of the higher order), but understand that it is all part of the cosmic play.

The specific details on how to develop faculties (like developing mediumistic capabilities) are inside in the books recommended above. I highly recommend you check them out.

​Conclusion

It is my hope that this article has given some sort of direction to the genuine seeker as to how to communicate with spirits, from an occult/mystic point of view. We have stripped off many details of course, but it is in the attempt to encapsulate the absolute essentials in a way that everyone can understand for further exploration and experimentation with spirits.

And if you are someone who does not believe in the existence of the supernatural or if you are merely curious, it is my hope that this article as given you a TLDR version of the lore/idea behind what spirits are from an occultist's point of view.  

All comments are more than welcome, and I would highly appreciate it if you share your own ideas down below!