Forget everything you know and enter into this world of something amazing. Magick is something that has to be approached from a fresh page in your life. Everything you have been fed all your life needs to be erased and you need to start again with the mind of a child. Like Suzuki Roshi says in his book Zen Mind Beginner’s Mind, “In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, in the experts mind there are few.” Jesus was also was also quoted as saying that in order to know God you must become as a child again. The more you try to study & understand Magick with your intellect you will fail in your attempts to gain mastery. There are many excellent books on the subject available to the general public but in many ways these are a hindrance and not a help. You can read and study all you like but getting the true essence of Magick is a real art form. In the olden days Magick was passed through word of mouth & by example.

You will read information about invoking spirits & using them to achieve certain ends. I will tell you that you must build a relationship with an entity before it will listen to you. Most of the books you read would have you believe you can just turn to a certain page call something out & achieve results. I have never known anyone to be successful in this way. I recommend you find a spirit you feel a drawn too. Something will spark when you read about the right spirit. I can think of various spirits I have researched & cared about who in turn have given me the attention I sought from them. The first rule you must learn is that no matter what a book tells you it is your own personal experience with an entity that is important. It is like meeting a new friend. You may hear rumors that tell you so and so did this or that or was a poor father or something of that nature but you really have to judge a person based upon your experience with them and treat all rumors as not always being accurate. You may read about a certain angel or demon and someone may give you their account of their experience with that spirit. They may tell you to never invoke this spirit on a Wednesday or something like that. If you feel drawn to invoke them on a Wednesday then go ahead. The rules made in stone are meant to be broken. There are no hard fast rules in spirit invocations. Planetary alignments certain days of the week etc. may help you to concentrate your efforts to a certain end but really it makes no difference what matters is yourself. Building your relationship with a spirit is what matters everything else is just extra. For example say your leafing through The Goetia (which I do not recommend for beginners) and you come across the spirit named Furfur. Something about the name attracts you but you are not sure what it is. You read the short amount of information in the book and for some reason throughout your day your mind continues to go back to that name. You think you want to invoke him but your not sure why. You may even meet someone new who reminds you of the qualities of that spirit. You decide that you need the kind of assistance you think this spirit can offer you. The first thing to do is write the name down several times a day. Start to bring your attention to being introduced to that spirit. Feel the presence and continue to open yourself to experiencing seeing this entity. You may begin to feel the hair at the back of your neck stand on end or you may see out of the corner of your eye a shadow lurking. These are all good signs that you are beginning to draw that spirit to you. Start to make requests of the spirit and watch to see what happens. Try lighting candles and saying things to this spirit under your breath. The point is to build a relationship slowly and with a good intention. Just because a spirit is immaterial does not mean you shouldn’t treat it as you would a Great Teacher. Spirits are just like human beings and if your invoking a spirit that has been called upon a great number of times throughout history you should be well aware that they have certain likes & dislikes just like any other person would. They have personalities and that is the key to knowing them. Offer them your loyalty & friendship. If you treat them with respect it is a given that you should pretty much expect the same in return. Expect to get to know a spirits personality. Certain days you will have a clear psychic connection and other days you may feel nothing at all. It’s like trying to call someone on the phone sometimes they are there and sometimes you have to leave a message and hope they will get back to you. If you feel nothing from a spirit speak out loud something they may be enticed to come to you. You can also kind of think of them as you would a pet. The kinder you are to them the more they will do what you say but just like a pet if they are abused sometimes they will still end up doing what you tell them to. If you mistreat a dog and keep it on a choke chain it is likely that the dog will do what you command it to but it won’t like you and may end up turning on you when it gets the chance to. Depending on who or what your contacting you may have to show it toughness. Think of joining a gang or something like that some spirits will test you. Don’t think that it’s beyond a spirit to drive you insane. I have learned something from such experiences. If you’re going to go off the deep end your going to. Sometimes accomplishing your will is freeing yourself from all your preconceived ideas of who or what you are. It is not unusual for a would-be magician to go through a period of insanity and even being institutionalized. I am just trying to be as honest as I can about it. If you’re going to delve into Magick you’re going to let go of your ego. This is a world of seeing & interacting with things most people don’t believe in or think of as being real. Not everyone is going to have the skill to let go. If you’re told something isn’t true your entire life then suddenly someone like me is telling you to believe it might not work. You may also think these things are your imagination and there is no reality to them. Again you must be able to let go and let God as they say.

I recommend learning the sigils of the spirits you want to contact. A sigil is a Magickal language of the spirit. It allows them to see you’re serious about contacting them. Concentrate on the shapes and patterns contained within a sigil. Try and understand the nature of the spirit by the lines, which are really its true name. If you have read any Fairy Tales you will know that having the true name of a spirit is the key to holding power over it. Think of Rumplestilskin. Knowing someone’s name gives you a better idea of how to communicate with that person. If someone’s name is George you don’t mistakenly call them Susie, if you do they may not be too happy to talk to you. So with the sigils it is important to get them right and know every line, curve and shape. I am an artist so I like to imagine what the spirit looks like in my mind and draw pictures along with the sigil of the spirit I’m trying to contact. The more personal you make it the better your results are going to be. Everyone likes their ego stoked and spirits are notorious for this. The more you call & contact a friend the better relationship your going to have with that persons and spirits are no different. It’s important to treat them like friends if not you could upset them. Upsetting something you can’t see that can enter into your consciousness and your surroundings is not recommended. Think of having someone visit you who you really don’t want around. This has happened to me so I know. This is the part where you start going insane. Not fun. I’m not telling you that contacting spirits is a bad idea & can lead to insanity I am just warning you careful what you wish for you just might get it. If your easily spooked I wouldn’t recommend you start summoning spirits from the ether. Those that are easily upset can have difficulties when they start seeing & hearing things that shouldn’t by logic be there.