Today in Cat’s Eye…
AR ASKS – I need advice. Am I wasting my time giving offerings to the dead? I feel like it’s busy work and I’m wasting my time and doing it wrong. This is a lot of upkeep and for what? Plus, it’s endangering my house because I leave candles burning unattended for a long time on these altars.
I feel this is my weak suit and don’t really know how to do it. The techniques ppl give that usually involves paying attention to what your brain shows you in your mind’s eye are never clear on how to know if it’s just your own imagination/wishful thinking or a 3rd party spirit.
I keep asking for advice and am told to start with my ancestors” Well, I have literally zero desire to talk with my ancestors. But I’m not gonna throw out advice on how to learn to do something I don’t know how to do just because “I don’t wanna”. So I set up an ancestor altar.
Problem: I don’t know what to do at that altar. I have a photo of some of the great-grandparents, some gifts from grandparents, etc. I light a candle on there daily and change the glass of water daily because that’s what ppl say you need to do at the ancestor altars. When I try to “hang out” with the ancestors after lighting a candle, I have NO idea what to say. So I’m just like “Good morning. How are you” (awkward silence… then I leave the altar and leave the candle burning) I don’t even know what would be appropriate to ask them for.
In addition to that, because of a homework assignment in one of Monir’s classes (the Black Pullet one where I chose to do the “get help with spirit conjuration” ritual), I also ended up with ANOTHER altar to a dead person. I had a short time to figure out who I want to conjure, so I chose a dead famous person (whom I’m not related to) to “conjure” and decided to ask them to help me with a thing.
So now, in addition to my ancestor altar daily upkeep, I have the same upkeep to the altar of this individual. The only thing I know to do is just say “Please accept these offerings ___candle, water, etc__. Please help me with _X_” And that’s it.
This does NOT feel like magick. More of like a prayer to someone who I don’t know if is even listening. I either need to stop the whole thing or change what I’m doing. If I need to change what I’m doing, what and how?
Please advise.
Thanks.
REPLY – I am so glad you asked this question! I am sorry you have had such frustration. Experiences like yours often make people feel like magic does not work so I applaud your determination to keep at it Good Job! I am going to answer this section by section. No, you are not wasting your time. The “for what?” Is simply to have those spirits you desire to work with near for advice assistance and inspiration. The candles, by the way, can be battery-operated ones as well, I have a ton of them all over my place, there is no need to endanger your home. No candle should be left unsupervised.
“The techniques ppl give that usually involves paying attention to what your brain shows you in your mind’s eye are never clear on how to know if it’s just your own imagination/wishful thinking or a 3rd party spirit.”
This is the best part of your question for me and I so agree, that most advice is short on full technique. The real start to this practice is: pause, sense, and scan. Where you do not solely rely on visualization but pause to look inside yourself for what you feel. Then sense what you are feeling letting yourself fully feel it. Then scan yourself and the area around you to determine if what input you are getting is imagination or real. You will be able to tell if you also scan your body. Are you getting goosebumps? Does your stomach have a feeling? Does your hair tingle or stand up, things like that.
Then you use the five faculties of the mind to fill out the blanks. They are: reason, will, intellect, perception, and discernment. In reason, we ask what is reasonable and what is fact or usual for us and what feels unusual. Be careful reason can reason you right out of your spirituality too. Then you apply your intellect and double-check what you are perceiving and apply your own discernment, meaning what you think of what feels usual and what is not. Then applying your will to it means, this is what I am gonna do about it.
If you set up an ancestor altar and did not want to, they know this and likely will not respond, so there is that. An ancestor altar does not just have to be related family either. Ancestors can be those affiliated with your chosen spirituality as well. As for offerings, they can be any nonfood, non-burning thing you think will attract or entice them.
Remember we can ask them to come but that does not mean they are ready to. We do not just command and they appear, but we can keep asking and hoping. Here is the secret to that. About the time you give up calling them, they will show up in your dreams. I have found that is how most spirits appear to us.
What to ask of them, nothing. Thank them for coming and for just being. Your asking them to accept the offering is the perfect thing to do. Expressing gratitude is what is known as feeding the stone. It feeds them and makes them more willing to be helpful. Then it is a matter of building a relationship with them like a friend which also makes them more willing to be kind and helpful.
A spirit conjuration ritual is not something that a beginner should be doing without more work and support from the instructor, I am sorry you had that experience and it speaks to the “quality” of the instructor, not your abilities. And just so you know, I and many others have one altar we do all our work from, we just change a few things now and then. As for it feeling like a prayer to someone who is not listening. Well, a prayer is a petition, and in this kind of work, we are petitioning a spirit to come aid us.
I suggest you practice being able to just connect with a spirit that is willing to work with you for a while, cause it does not happen right the first time. This is why we call it a craft, it has to be crafted. Magic is work my friend. You can practice getting a spirit to respond with the skills and techniques I mentioned above and more on these skills in detail can be found in my book, Psychic Skills For Magic and Witchcraft, by Cat Gina Cole.
Many Blessings to you on your journey, I am available to chat with any time on FB messenger if you like.
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Today in Cat’s Eye… AR ASKS – I need advice. Am I wasting my time giving offerings to the dead? I feel like it’s busy work and I’m wasting my time and doing it wrong. This is a lot of upkeep and for what? Plus, it’s endangering my house because I leave candles burning unattended […] -
Today in Cat’s Eye… AR ASKS – I need advice. Am I wasting my time giving offerings to the dead? I feel like it’s busy work and I’m wasting my time and doing it wrong. This is a lot of upkeep and for what? Plus, it’s endangering my house because I leave candles burning unattended […] -
Today in Cat’s Eye… AR ASKS – I need advice. Am I wasting my time giving offerings to the dead? I feel like it’s busy work and I’m wasting my time and doing it wrong. This is a lot of upkeep and for what? Plus, it’s endangering my house because I leave candles burning unattended […] -
Today in Cat’s Eye… AR ASKS – I need advice. Am I wasting my time giving offerings to the dead? I feel like it’s busy work and I’m wasting my time and doing it wrong. This is a lot of upkeep and for what? Plus, it’s endangering my house because I leave candles burning unattended […]
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Today in Cat’s Eye… AR ASKS – I need advice. Am I wasting my time giving offerings to the dead? I feel like it’s busy work and I’m wasting my time and doing it wrong. This is a lot of upkeep and for what? Plus, it’s endangering my house because I leave candles burning unattended […]
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