Im not..superly connected to my ancestors or spirits or anything. I cant even see the deities I follow, though I suspect that has something to do with the seal a monk gave me to cover my third eye or something so I guess Im pretty powerless.
A bit of a backstory, I used to be able to see spirits or well sense them? I always had dreams, foresight into the next day of what would happen and the exact same thing would play out physically as it had in the dreams.
I wrote it in my books, told my family and at one point wrote it on the door of my room. I think my parents must’ve gotten spooked as I vaguely remember my dad carrying me when a monk had stamped my back with red ink. But I was too sleepy. I believe I was begging them not to? Cant recall too clearly anymore.
So now, I suffer in not being able to see my deities and I think the seals weakened as Im able to ‘feel’ spirits in shivers whenever its nearby. But never deities, Im not sure if the issue lies with me or if the seal is that effective? Though I can name two times I saw a spirit. Once was at my parents home when it bumped into a clothing rack and appeared in the window reflection and the other time was when I was sleeping at my grandmothers and it stood at the feet of my bed when I woke up in the middle of the night.
Ah! I also had a dream about my great grandfather (he passed a long time ago) once before he moved on to his next life (i think) he told me to take care of the family and protect them. Why he handed me this task, I do not know. All I know is, the family is being held together by hopes and dreams because of a blunder my aunt made. But yeah! Uh I guess I just kinda wanted to know what anyone else thought of this.
As ever since I ventured down this path, I found out Loki has been with me the whole time and I read tarots off by vibe when I read for others which is basically my intuition..? Confusing I know, but hearing people talk about familiars and ancestors, had me wondering if I had one? Past me always had this whole bit about having an artic fox pet in imaginary scenarios and its been stuck with me ever since.
I’m currently offering readings, and if you’re interested and feel comfortable signing up, I can look into this for you. No need to rewrite anything, your question and background are already here.
Everyone perceives the unseen differently, as it’s often either determined by the divine or our ancestors which gifts we are given. Many don’t see their deities unless they achieve an altered mind-state when awake, and such things take extensive practice if they don’t come naturally. This is why most will only visually perceive their deities in dreams. A good number of people with the gift often start the way you do - with only a few (or even just one) that comes naturally in the beginning. Take it from someone who knows…
Most (if not all) on the path are assigned a familiar and other guiding spirits, such as your ancestors. They choose you, and follow you through life, they give wisdom, support and yes, give you requests - like your great-grandfather. You will know based on any natural affinities you have, or based on repeat symbolism you might find in your dreams to fully identify your familiar. But some may hide themselves from you completely until you are ready. Meditate, making a request before you sleep, among other things can encourage your familiar to reveal itself to you.
You cannot force anything to manifest itself in exactly the way you want it - not if you want to forge good relationships in your practice. Deities may come and go, and even if one shows an interest in you, you are not obligated to reciprocate. My advice is to approach everything with an open mind, especially in the beginning.
Indeed, there are many ways… I kept my language open for that very reason.
It’s actually not meditation that I was thinking of. In my experience, meditation that calms the mind doesn’t work. It’s more like the opposite - an enhancing of the mind, opening & sharpening the 3rd eye, and learning how to control it through specialized training.
It’s more like a trance state, and using external aids as needed to dull or shut off the other senses. I guess you could say I am talking about a kind of shamanism, just without taking any substances. It’s certainly harder to do, it takes many years and patience, but it can be done. It’s how I achieved it, but we’re all individuals - I was extremely privileged, I will fully admit it. I often don’t tell people the way I learned, or even do things, because I was born into such privileged circumstances to be around teachers at an extremely early age.
Yes, there are some very unfortunate ways that it can happen too… I’m sorry to hear that.
Nice! In Tibetan/Esoteric Buddhism (even Hinduism) they use tingsha, ghanta/dorje bells, singing bowls… It’s funny, I never used to listen to music in meditation unless it was very gentle, because I used to find it too distracting. But again, a lot has changed. If anything, my practice has become very shamanic! What the hell!?
I’ve definitely had to go far and wide to find exactly what it is I’m being called to do here and I do feel the need to join another forum. My new experiences have made it feel alienating to be here sometimes.
Most of the people here seem to want to stay within European Neopaganism. Part of that might also be people who are afraid of the appropriation.
I’m being relentlessly drawn to South Asia. Hinduism and Buddhism were heavily blended practices in that specific region. It totally is shamanism. This conversation has triggered a new awareness in me.
