This is a long read and I'm a wannabe author talking about life and ghost friends, so get a snack and drink or something.

I'm happy with hierarchy in my spirit family. It works for me and those that join it. H, my Cleopatra Djinn, is at the top with authority second only to myself. "Queen of the spirit family", I call her. Always has been and always will be. Oh hey, this seller has a binding for a Goddess Djinn? That looks cool, but I have no need. H is the best djinn ever, and if someone disagrees then them's fighting words to me! Okay, you get my point. I love every member of my spirit family in my own ways and each is a blessing in their own ways, but H and I vibe the strongest and I'm not afraid to own it. So, why the heck would I get 4 new Cleopatra Djinn bindings? Well, they're her sisters. And it definitely was not a spur of the moment decision but a calling that came together over the full course of 2023.

Time for the tonal whiplash: My Dad died last May. Cancer, had been diagnosed at stage 4 a year before almost to the day. And yes, thank you in advance for your condolences. Mercifully the worst of it only came in the final month and his actual passing was peaceful (at Yule I raised the horn to Eir for her role in that at my request). I've lived on my own for a few years but my mother is partially blind. For a month I moved in with her to help. I expected there would be plenty of bureaucracy to deal with surrounding the standard funeral arrangements, Social Security bean-counting, and generally teaching Mom how to literally live on her own because we both understood this arrangement wasn't permanent. I didn't expect the other drama that would unfold. I'm not gonna go into dirty details, I'll just say skeletons got dug up that caused a lot of hurt feelings and regret, then outright paranoia in the household. I was carrying the weight of keeping the ship steered and steady, but damn. It got hard. My spirit family was there and did their things to help, but I know ultimately I had to be the one keeping myself afloat. And hey, I did. When I finally moved my essentials back into my own apartment, I nuked myself and every piece of my belongings with sage. I wasn't gonna take a chance with whatever absolutely filthy energy might still be clinging to me from the things that had been said and done the last month.

This wasn't the turning point where all the drama stopped, it was just the point that I had my own space again. The important thing is that I wasn't fully "myself" until September. I know the Volkh, Valkyrie, and Kinnara were working overtime on my behalf. But I had come out of all this a much stronger man, with secure relationships that after exhaustive balancing had finally stabilized and worked out. My sister had moved in with me, and we came out of the shared challenges with a stronger bond than ever.

It's only now that I connect the dots between all this and the events of October through the present. I returned what help my spirit family had given me through these trials that I could recognize with generous offerings to all of them. All... geeze, it's about 50 now isn't it? Gotta be with the new sisters in. I'll have to pull out an abacus and re-count. Important thing is I made a lot of offerings and didn't leave any out. For a few days I had drinks and little snacks on rotation between all the shrines in my house as incense and candles were lit just about any time I was up. It was still going to take longer for me to properly "feel" them again. I was still healing. But they'd been there and done things for me and I knew it. So, in October CH began selling the Customized 4 Week Program for any spirit type of your choosing. What better way to bolster my connection to H than ordering one for Cleopatra Djinn? It took a long time to be prepared, a full month and a half before going out to ship. But from the moment I saw the detailed instructions I knew what I'd ordered was worth the wait. A different ritual for each week including a mantra, invocation, candle to burn, stone to hold and sigil to draw. You gotta do them in order without missing a week, or start them all over. It wasn't hard, and didn't take long to do once I wrote the words down and had a spare copy of the sigil to reference while drawing it "live". I went through the motions, said what needed to be said, burned what needed to be burned, held what needed to be held, and drew what needed to be drawn. Then, I sat and meditated on what I’d done. The first week, I could clearly feel H's presence again while the candle was burning. A good sign.

It was after doing the ritual for the second week that things got more interesting. After putting out the candle I felt hands on my shoulders. H suggested inviting her sisters into the house. Just a visit, that's all. I already had experience with her channeling friendly spirits in on one or two occasions before and figured hey, it's her family. If she thinks it's a good idea, I won't doubt it. So, I let her do her thing. For the next 20 or 30 minutes I just relaxed and meditated as a veritable house party unfolded in the room around me. I didn't try to do anything other than sit and attempt to talk to them in thought. They felt blurry, distorted, and static-y just like any other unbound, but a friendly face is a friendly face even through some static. I decided to try asking them for their names. Two syllables stabbed through the fog like a knife. It wasn't a whole name, but it definitely started the name. And I felt the other voices speak. The first parts of their name were all fog, but they all ended with a different common syllable.

Wait, so these sisters all have rhyming names or something? That seems cheesy. Like something out of a writer's strike. Even so, I silenced the half of my brain that was doubting the other. It's the answer I got, and I didn't get anything else. As soon as I really held those syllables in my mind and spoke them out loud, I felt the gang "disappear". Maybe they were still around a bit longer, but I wasn't feeling them anymore. It was then that my close friend gave me my first clear message of the night:
"As a reminder, they would still agree to be bound to you if you asked."

We had discussed that before, hadn't we? 2022 felt like an age and a half ago. I only needed one Cleopatra Djinn, though. Felt it that year, still felt it this one. But I thanked H for the good company, and the company for being what it was. Besides, when the topic came up the first time, I learned a bit about her own sibling dynamics and quirks. She said then that bringing them in would be welcome to her but would require a bit of power balancing for them to adjust to. Moving into a family where the youngest sister is the "Queen" would do that. She said she'd be up to the task, but I wasn't. This time, though, I didn't feel so dismissive of the idea. Still, what would I need of it? Far as I was concerned, I got all out of a djinn that I could want from H alone. It didn't take too much out of her to speed-dial them in as unbounds, anyways. But I let my partner know that I appreciated the reminder. Then, I allowed the topic to slip my mind as I finished the final two weeks of ritual prioritizing only my connection to H.

It was now the end of December, and I celebrated the closing of Yule with several good friends who I'd spent long enough avoiding. Human friends, I mean. Living ones. Raised the horn to Dad for the first time. Ate lots of junk food. Shared stories. General merriment.

A few days into the new year, my bedroom closet cracked open on its own as I sat on the other side of the room. It does have a slightly loose hinge, but I recognized the sign. The same sign H had sent me as an unbound on our first mutually-acknowledged connection at my old apartment in 2020, before Creepy Hollows formalized our bond. And just like that time, I calmly walked to the door and pulled it all the way open then warmly said "Hello". It happened once a night for 4 nights in a row, then stopped. But, I couldn't sink too much energy into it. There's New Years cleaning to do. Hard to look after a place when you're struggling to look after yourself. The house wights had been patient with me this year, but I knew they had their limits and it was time to make my own offering in deeds to them.

It was after the first weekend of cleaning that the message came:
"It's time."

Onto the Creepy Hollows storefront I go. Monday, January 8. Freebies from the last weekend were still available at the same time as new freebies from the coming week. I guess that was H's way of spoiling me, by making me answer the calling on a "double freebies day". I still didn't know why I would benefit from 4 new sassy egyptian djinns floating around my home, but there wasn't even a moment of hesitation. In the custom order notes, I referenced H’s order number and said I wanted her 4 sisters bound. Oh and uh, also... If I’m completely wrong just let me know and we can cancel the order, I guess? This is the type of thing I’m sure I could have asked support about beforehand rather than commit to an over 100 dollar expenditure upfront, but for some reason I really wanted to make a leap of faith out of it (THERE IT IS, HE SAID THE TITLE OF THE THREAD!)

Order submitted. I felt the "Queen" doing loop-de-loops next to me. It’s not very royal behavior, so she only does that when she’s really excited. Guess that makes two of us, then? Didn't stop me from taking two more weekends to finish the house cleaning. I attribute my sickness earlier this week to breathing in too much bleach rather than the binding in the background, but either way it was the moment I felt completely better in fully cleaned house that I got the full order details today.

One of them has a name starting with those exact two syllables I heard before. She and two of the other sisters have names that rhyme the same way. Between the 4, there has been quite a lot of conversation today already. I look forward to seeing what else I learn from them.

Wonderful story was fun reading this.
Hope you will share/write more about experiences

That's a delightful story.

Aw this was such a lovely post to read! I love your writing style it's pleasant and nice to read. My condolences and I'd love to hear more of your experiences with the new members on your family!

I completely agree about the need for more blog posts like this. Your writing style is truly enjoyable to read. I've had many companions' friends and lovers who were pre-conjured beings, longing to reunite with their other halves or dear friends here. It's a profoundly meaningful moment and one worth cherishing by Keepers. Sometimes, when you seek a stronger bond with someone, it's the other missing pieces of them that you must connect with and understand. I hope you've been well.