Eye Harvester's Witchcraft 101

#W101 Episode #16

All About Spirits

Everything has at least one spirit, from humans and animals, plants, clouds, lakes and mountains,
to signposts and bits of trash. Even ideas have spirits, every thing, possible and impossible.

Most things have three spirits. Living and natural things, like birds and rivers, have a spirit in
each of the three worlds, upper, middle and lower. This includes you and I.

Some spirits exist only in a single realm, without souls in the other two. There are under and
over world dieties, who remain only in their own realms, and many spirits who exist in only one
world, strange creatures of light or shadow.

Ghosts are in fact merely the middle world souls of people (or other things) who are unable, for
whatever reason, to leave this world, and unite with their other souls, which allows them to add
their experiences to the Akashic Record, tally their karma, and begin the cycle again.

Not all spirits are helpful, in fact even really nice ones can be dangerous when disrespected.
Many are outright vicious, wanting nothing but to rip your soul apart, often resulting in mental
illness, or "soul-sickness."

Here are seven types of spirits listed by Aletheia Luna, with a shamanic viewpoint, from
lonerwolf. com, but there truly are infinite varieties.

1. Half Man Half Beast (Trans-Species)

The first ever spirit guide that I personally made contact with was Pan, a half man half goat
entity, who “revealed” to me my own personal shadow self and the need for me to embark on a
journey of healing my core wounds.

2. Animals/Totems

Animals are well-known spirit guides and have gained a lot of popularity over the past few years,
perhaps thanks to their accessibility in our everyday lives. Some ancient cultures, such as the
indigenous Americans and Chinese had animals as sacred representations of their tribes or
lineages.

These days, animals come to represent and reflect a person’s own inner yearnings and needs,
moving from group use to more personal and individual use in this day and age.

3. Light Beings

Many people describe “light beings” (also commonly known as guardian angels), as being their
spirit guides. Light beings are said to particularly help people move through traumatic areas of
life such as death, loss and grief. Light beings are called such because of their tendency to appear
bright, glowing or full of light.

4. Ancestors
Ancestral guides are entities that have some kind of blood connection to us and our lineage. An
ancestral guide could be a recently deceased member of your family (mother, father, aunt,
grandfather), or a long dead relative that you have perhaps never met in your lifetime.

When I have done shamanic journeying in the past, I have connected with what I consider my
ancestors. To me they appeared as shadowy beings that felt distinctly familiar. They taught me
that although I felt alone and isolated in my current family, I am part of something vastly larger.
The messages our ancestors bring can be beautiful and life-changing.

5. Plants

Shamans believe that the world and everything in it is composed of vibrant, living energy. This
includes plants. Ayahuasca – a psychoactive brew that is made out of a vine commonly found in
Peru – is one of the most well-known ways of getting in touch with the spirits of nature.
Interestingly the Banisteriopsis Caapi vine is known as “the vine of the souls,” and it is common
for all those taking it to feel guided by the plant into the realms of inner and outer existence.

The same can be said for many other psychoactive (and non-psychoactive plants). Plants can
either be symbolic, like in pagan traditions that associates certain qualities with certain plants, or
experiential, where ingesting the plant stimulates mental, physical and emotional expansion.

6. Gods and Goddesses

Gods and goddesses have been worshiped, feared and written about since the dawn of time. They
span across every culture, every tradition, every religion and every part of the world. Common
gods and goddesses that serve as spirit guides include Athena, Quan Yin, Apollo, Lakshmi,
Lugh, Kali, Hathor, Horus, The Green Man and Selene.

7. Ascended Masters
Ascended masters are beings that have already lived on this earth but have become enlightened,
awakened or have transcended the cycle of reincarnation. Thus, ascended masters represent the
ultimate teachers and gateways to the divine.

It is said that ascended masters, like all spirit guides, teach all people who call on them (not just
you) to achieve greater wholeness and harmony in life. Common examples include Krishna,
Jesus, Confucius, Kuthumi, Melchizedek, Mary the Mother of Jesus, Babaji, Gautama Buddha,
and many others.

I will add two more types to this list, the Fae, or Faeries, called by the Irish "Tuatha de Dannan,"
and Elementals.

The Fae were long ago driven out of the middle realms after the rise of humanity, and exist
primarily in the underworld, but are not purely spiritual in nature. They have physical bodies,
and can easily cross to our physical realm, usually to cause mischief and trouble.

Nevertheless, they can still be called upon to aid mortals, though not always in the ways we
intend. Some have long since risen to godhood, such as Brigid and Lugh, while others remain
only slightly more powerful than we mortals. They do not age or die in their home, Tir na n'Og,
which they keep in the underworld.

Elementals are that rare class of single souled entities which are composed of only one element,
Earth, Air, Fire or Water. While most souls are composed of all four elements, with that dash of
spirit which gives us our connection to the divine, elementals are composed of but one element,
hence the name.

Each type of elemental has a name, or several, depending on the culture describing them. From
the classical Paracelsusian perspective there are four elemental categories: gnomes (earth),
undines (water), sylphs (air), and salamanders (fire).

Spirit Allies
Anyone who has traveled the Otherworlds has seen that they are literally teaming with infinite
hoards of creatures, malevolent and benign, of all sorts. Through interactions with these spirits,
great respect and very cautious discernment, some may ally with you, if you wish it. The benefits
of these alliances are manifold.

For one, they can teach you things you have no way of knowing, both magickal and mundane.
They can act as guides in the spirit realms, translators and liaisons between yourself and even
greater beings. Each spirit has certain attributes, attitudes and behaviors, a special "medicine,"
which can be used for healing and magick in this world and others.

For instance, Crow has great intelligence, and a wonderful sense of twisted humor, especially in
the face of darkness and the macabre. He taught me to fly in the otherwords, allowing me to
access the overworld, a realm I had found previously inaccessible.

What do they get out of it, though? Well, they don't do it for free. The major bargain they usually
make is to "ride" you, to sit inside you and experience life in this realm, to eat, drink, make love,
and all the joys and pains of the physical world.

They may also place certain restrictions upon you, or require some specific action, a sort of geis,
if you will. As an example, while Crow only wants to eat meat, the Morrigan wants actual blood,
usually my own, but sometimes that of animals.

They will certainly require your respect and cooperation, and sometimes rites in their honor. It is
up to you to exercise free will, to determine if the cost is worth the gain.

Unintentional Riders

Not all spirits have your interests in mind. Many are greedy to experience life, or to wreak havoc
in our world, using your own self to ruin your life. Some will ride on you, causing soul sickness,
depression, anxiety, anger, and terrible impulses.
These riders must be eliminated by an experienced spiritual healer, usually a shaman, who can
find the spirit and send it back.

For this reason, it is extremely important to use very strong shields, not only in the otherworlds,
but always, even in daily life.

In my experience, through my ability to see auras, I've seen that maybe one in ten people have a
rider, usually because their aura had been weakened due to some trauma, whether emotional or
physical. These are not usually magickally inclined folks, and have no idea what causes their
problems, which modern medicine cannot fix.

Additionally, even living souls can become entangled, especially during a long or stressful
relationship. When both people are benign, without ill intent, this leads to close friendship, and
love, familial or romantic.

But when one is abusive, or the relationship is unhealthy, this entanglement, called cords, must
be removed. There are many spells out there to cut these cords, and fully sever that connection,
so you can move on. But really, the best spell would be one you make yourself, written
specifically for the person involved, preferably with a piece of the antagonistic person, or a
possession, which could be ritually burned.

So that's a little primer on spirits and entities. I hope it's helpful, but it's not meant to be the only
way to view them. Different people see these things differently in different cultures and
traditions, so find the viewpoint that works for you.

But please, never experiment with spirits, or hedge crossing, without the training and guidance of
an experienced practitioner. It is just crazy dangerous, and you really could die, or go mad, or
worse.

Brightest Blessings
Eye Harvester