Not everything that glitters, is gold

This saying is very, very true.
In my years here in the spirit keeping community, I had my share of terrible, horrible and even traumatizing experiences with sellers.
From getting thoughtforms and servitors instead of entities to forcefully bound and imprisoned beings, who were trapped in such small places they could hardly move, were starving and/or going mad to beings that were kidnapped and bound and sold as something completely different.

Some of those sellers were around for some time, were established and well reviewed.
One of them did very fast conjures and what they did deliver were thoughtforms, sold as entities. Sometimes very interesting and imaginative races.

But what seems to happen more and more, at least in my view, is that sellers start to nearly instantly conjure.
With a practice like that, there's a lot of possible dangers that come with it.

Sure, it's possible that they have a pool of beings they've been working with and then they choose the best match out of those to assign to you.
But that's not what I would understand as custom conjure. That's more like a matched prebound to me. A custom conjure would be you scour the whole universe to find the best of bestes matches for you.
Anyway.

I have seen sellers claim to be gods, sell instantly, artificially created beings not servitors, since they were created out of flesh and bones and blood, etc, that had good reviews.
The reason for that was they had something around them, that fed into those delusions of grandeur. And to support this, that being went around and interacted with the people purchasing from that seller. The great interactions ceased nearly instantaneously after the reviews were posted. Because that being had done it's job and went back to it's true victim.

I've seen a seller claim to have found a being for the first time, never seen before, during their astral travels in the previous night, binding it and putting it up in the store. After my question how they made sure that this being was safe, the being offered suddenly was one they found a month ago and had worked with.
Suspicious, but hey, anything goes if you find people that buy, right?

We are talking about beings that have been around for a long time. How do you make sure they do not lie to you and trick you and pretend to be something they're not?
Some of them had centuries or millennia to practice.
Yes, there might be spells and magic tools that help you with discerning truth from lies. But those too can be tricked.

One mans lie is the other mans truth

Many people come into spirit keeping bright and starry-eyed, slightly overwhelmed with the possibilities and sometimes maybe a bit too trusting.
Everything is possible with magic, so why shouldn't someone be able to instantly conjure and figure out if that being is safe?
Yes, everything might be possible with magic, but that goes both ways.

Those beings might use kinds of magic we've never seen or heard of. Types of magic that might work around those tools and spells, maybe even nullify them completely.
And even then that being might not be evil and get through all the magic detection tools. Doesn't mean it won't be dangerous and harmful to you. Maybe even without those intentions.
Who's to say they're not just curious and start trying to figure out how your mind works by driving you insane or trying to figure out how your body works by making you sick.
Things like that aren't figured out by spending a day or even a week with that being.

It will not even just affect the buyer. It will also affect their keep. They will probably have to take the brunt of the fallout, since most beings can't easily affect the physical world.
Sure, you might get great interaction, feel a lot of touches and whatnot after a new conjure. But what if that is your keep trying to get your attention because something is wrong? And they're trying their best so you suddenly have the greatest interactions.

There's a story to tell, where I was involved, a story about a djinn that was intended for protection of a place.
He was the brother of a djinn that a practitioner had, a safe and trustworthy djinn.
So that djinn came through a portal projected out of the heart chakra of that person.
He was meeting everyone, talking to them, telling them to look into his eyes and that he comes from the heart.
The brother of a safe, vetted djinn, that has been worked with years has to be safe too, right? RIGHT?

By looking into his eyes he put a charm onto the person. Everyone liked him and rooted for him.
Him saying he comes from the heart made people think he's a good person because he comes from a good place.
It was no lie, he literally came from the heart, out of the person's chakra.

Were we all protected? Most definitely.
Did it help against the charm? Nope, not at all
Would his influence over us have increased over time? Most definitely.
Would we have notice it? Who knows

And this is exactly what might happen with said instant conjures.
That's why many conjurers spend weeks and months checking out a being.

The real world is already a big and dangerous place, now with the astral realms it becomes even bigger, if not to say endless, and much more dangerous and then you have to throw magic into the mix too.

Honestly, I'm of the mind that people should have learned how to protect themselves, shield, ground, etc before getting into spiritkeeping.
Because even if the bound spirits/beings are safe, there's a lot of other beings that will take notice that you've stepped into their territory and not all of them will be nice. Your spirits and entities might not be able to protect you from everything they encounter.

But the end it's up to the individual to look after their own safety and make their own decisions, hopefully well informed and well weighted decisions.
If your motivation is that the being sounds awesome and/or the binding is cheap and quick, then you might have to think about where that comes from. It might not be a call, it might just be your desires. In that regard do I have to admit that I am throwing stones in glass houses here because I'm not perfect either.
But I did grow cautious over the time thanks to my experiences and a little less trusting, for better or for worse.

Now this is a post on the internet so people can either learn what they can from it, take it to heart, think about it or go: "What a load of utter bullcrap".
After all, a post is basically just a personal opinion voiced on a forum, right?

So, stay safe or not, whatever you want, it's your decision and your life but also your consequences. Good luck!

What a load of good points : p
Thanks for sharing your experiences, Apro : )

I love this post so much and can relate to everything in it! Thank you for sharing Aprophis!

I see a lot of naivete in spirit keeping community, just because something cheap and fast doesn't necessarily mean it's good.

I cringe a little every time I see a new seller pop up with these exciting new bindings for a super cheap price and fast delivery. And people flock to them in numbers. Everybody is a conjurer these days.
But then again I am a cautious and cynical person, which actually has probably protected me from a lot of unpleasant things in my spirit keeping life.

Thank you for this! This is a very important post!

Always vet your conjurors. Research them, beyond reviews. If you feel like something is too good to be true, that's a possibility.

Also, do not EVER believe "anything's possible". I hate that maxim. Even in magic, that's not the case. There are limits, there are things that a conjurer cannot do, that a spirit cannot do, and that magic itself cannot do.

I fully support the idea that a potential spirit keeper should not enter this lightly and that learning to ground, shield and protect is foundational in any spiritual practice, spirit keeping or not. Most of us, honestly, did not start out thinking this way. I can say I definitely did not. However, within the first few weeks my first spirits impressed upon me the importance of this and it became very clear that I should not rely upon them. They would protect me as much as they are able, but they are limited by their own abilities, skills and power. So this is definitely something every keeper should consider.

A very good and important post, thank you.

I appreciate your post, Aprophis, and second the importance of starting cautiously.

There is a commercial aspect to spirit-keeping, as pioneered by Creepy Hollows and the era of the eBay sellers. To some people that's just always going to be distasteful, and so they will whine about it and suggest newbies start with conjuring their own spirits. I think that's irresponsible, and if asked I discourage it. A dedicated seller with a long history can really help if you run into trouble.

I was already an adult when I discovered Spirit Keeping. But I remember what it was like to be a teenager, and one of the more unpleasant things about being a teenager and dependent upon my family for everything was that it was hard to keep anything secret.

When I see a lot of the posts here, the anxiety about "doing something my family won't approve of" is palpable. But the problem is, if you do get into trouble, who else but your family can help you? Using a conjurer who stands by their work makes it safer.

The other thing about the commercial aspect of spirit keeping is that it shows where the demand is. Sometimes it seems the "sexy" entities get all the attention. I think CH does a good job at suggesting protective and friendly spirits, particularly for beginners.

But one of the more mature aspects of self-mastery is understanding what you really really want. If I'm secretly wishing for an anatomically correct Ken Doll who seems cold and inscrutable at first but reveals a sensitive side and a heart of gold once you get to know him, then it's foolish to order a dragon. (In this particular scenario maybe a vampire, instead ).

Everyone should think carefully about what they are really trying to get out of spirit-keeping. For me it has made the world even more interesting, and has provided some hints of beautiful and profound truths that are best conveyed through experience.

Thanks guys!

darkwing dook wrote:What a load of good points p
Thanks for sharing your experiences, Apro )

Well, don't know about good but it's definitely a big load
Thanks and yw.

Bumping because I've had similar thoughts.