Dear Mortellus: How Do I Protect Myself?

Anonymous Asks: I always feel when I start to research the ideas of mediums and spirits/ghosts that I’m being watched. On two occasions, I’ve thought I’ve seen something that wasn’t human. One could have been just me scaring myself as I’d been watching YouTube videos about “fallen angels.” I just got really scared out of nowhere, thinking I saw something standing in my doorway – it looked like how people describe “grey aliens,” but with stoney scaly skin. On another occasion, I saw what looked like human sized tree frogs – but made of the trees themselves. Mostly, I’m looking for info on how to protect myself while I learn more.

First of all, thank you for your question! I spent a few days looking into your question because I wanted to be thorough, and I really want to touch on a few major points. First, some practical rational information since you questioned possibly scaring yourself in one instance. In addition, some possibilities for those inhuman entities and a few resources that will give you good information on the practices you’re researching. Lastly, a tips few tips on creating good boundaries.

Rational skepticism

You mentioned that on one occasion you’d been watching YouTube videos and might’ve scared yourself – that’s a valid comment and it’s really good to always start with a baseline of questioning yourself. Being really honest with yourself as a magical thinker makes experiences all the more powerful when you’re willing to reject what feels inauthentic. In Current Biology’s “Neurological and Robot-Controlled Induction of an Apparition” (Current Biology 24, 2681-2686, Nov 17, 2014) researchers share that while studying participants who had seen apparitions that often those apparitions were found to be “an illusory own-body perception with well-defined characteristics that is associated with sensorimotor loss and caused by lesions in three distinct brain regions: temporoparietal, insular, and especially frontoparietal cortex.” Basically, the apparition seen was, well, the person seeing it. 

Do I think that makes the vision any less real? Nope. Do I think that makes it any less magical? Quite the opposite. What if instead of the creatures you described being independent entities, they were you? Not in the neurological sense of having lost differentiation between ourselves and an external entity (like the psychological misperception noted in the study) but rather some piece of your own soul, traveling outside the boundaries of your own body? Something worth considering. 

Yeah, but what did I see?   

So my gut instinct is that you were, like I suggested, seeing a piece of yourself, or an elemental creature. It could be that you have a gift for projection, or perhaps this was a piece of you such as the Shut, or Ba. But it also sounds pretty possible that you were experiencing manifestations of elemental creatures, as these creatures of earth, water, air, and fire do seem to fit the bill. Though it isn’t per se common for mediums to perceive those types of spirits visually, I myself have seen a guardian in the south – an elemental of fire – on at least one occasion. To that end you might enjoy reading “A Book on Nymphs, Sylphs, Pygmies, and Salamanders, and on the Other Spirits,” an essay by Paracelsus, which is available here, or as part of the Four Treatises of Theophrastus Von Hohenheim Called Paracelsus.

Though Paracelsus was particularly concerned with where such spirits fit into a Christian worldview, it’s still an informative read.

Where can I learn more?

I’d start with a few good modern books such as Magickal Mediumship: Partnering with the Ancestors for Healing and Spiritual Development by Danielle Dionne, Choosing To Be a Medium: Experience & Share the Healing Wonder of Spirit Communication by Sharon Farber, and even Psychic Witch: A Metaphysical Guide to Meditation, Magick & Manifestation by Mat Auryn which have a lot of great basics for flexing your extrasensory perception muscles. All of these books have information not only on expanding your skillset, but on setting good personal boundaries, which sounds like something you’re interested in right now.

A last thought on protecting yourself…

I like to think that knowledge is half the work in a magical practice – so I leave you with this: the average human body is comprised of 0.4 percent salt (that’s just shy of one full cup measure if you’re curious), so don’t ever forget that you’re your own salt ring. You have all the tools you need to protect yourself from unwanted spirit influence – you’ve had them all along.

For anyone else who’d like to ask a death, necromancy, or mediumship question (who am I kidding? I’ll take all kinds of questions), drop me a message at acrowandthedead@gmail.com with “Dear Mortellus” in the subject line.