Question for Community Keepers

[Brie]

I'm always curious to see how people interact/bond with their spirits-- there's so many different ways that I've heard of! But I'm mainly curious about community keepers at the moment. With so many spirits, how do you guys treat each one? Do you spend a certain amount of time bonding with them as you receive them (I know that there's a 30/90 day bonding time-frame that most seem to agree upon, but that seems like a lot given that I see some people have 200+ spirits on here, haha!), or do you give them a small offering as they enter your home, and do one or two meditations with them?
How do you guys do offerings, too? Do you keep separate offerings for each individual, or separate them by race/what they prefer as offerings?

And one more! Is there ever a spirit in your community that you feel as if you're more "connected" with and closer to? Or one you tend to favorite, consciously or unconsciously? If so, do your other spirits get jealous, or is it more of a general acceptance of it?

Sorry about the whole dump of questions, I've just been thinking about it all a lot and-- like I've stated earlier-- am super curious! Love seeing all of your guys's routines/habits with your spirits!

[Satella]

I'm always curious to see how people interact/bond with their spirits-- there's so many different ways that I've heard of! But I'm mainly curious about community keepers at the moment. With so many spirits, how do you guys treat each one? Do you spend a certain amount of time bonding with them as you receive them (I know that there's a 30/90 day bonding time-frame that most seem to agree upon, but that seems like a lot given that I see some people have 200+ spirits on here, haha!), or do you give them a small offering as they enter your home, and do one or two meditations with them?
How do you guys do offerings, too? Do you keep separate offerings for each individual, or separate them by race/what they prefer as offerings?

And one more! Is there ever a spirit in your community that you feel as if you're more "connected" with and closer to? Or one you tend to favorite, consciously or unconsciously? If so, do your other spirits get jealous, or is it more of a general acceptance of it?

Sorry about the whole dump of questions, I've just been thinking about it all a lot and-- like I've stated earlier-- am super curious! Love seeing all of your guys's routines/habits with your spirits! :)

I tend to be around quite a few throughout the day, since I can talk to multiple at the same time and also be at multiple places at the same time. I can spent time with a large majority of my friends at a given time. Some of them love to just hang around me during my day to day activities and we just chat send each other images or ideas pretty much constantly as I’m working or doing hobbies or chores. While I sleep I also can visit others and am quite social spiritually while this body rests giving me pretty much a large amount of time. Also some realms or places the idea of time or concept or even how time works is much different, I could spend 20 hours some place and in human time wouldn’t be that long. So really depends on your gifts and how you improve yourself over time.

When you have a lot of spirit friends or entities they tend to form their own social groups as well. You can learn and bond so much with them by simply putting yourself passively in a Group hang out with some of these groups. I don’t really like the idea of offerings, but I do like jsut doing it because I want to and or making a special time with one of my friend by lighting their favourite scent or candle and just spending intimate time with them.

[Lewk]

I'm always curious to see how people interact/bond with their spirits-- there's so many different ways that I've heard of! But I'm mainly curious about community keepers at the moment. With so many spirits, how do you guys treat each one? Do you spend a certain amount of time bonding with them as you receive them (I know that there's a 30/90 day bonding time-frame that most seem to agree upon, but that seems like a lot given that I see some people have 200+ spirits on here, haha!), or do you give them a small offering as they enter your home, and do one or two meditations with them?
How do you guys do offerings, too? Do you keep separate offerings for each individual, or separate them by race/what they prefer as offerings?

And one more! Is there ever a spirit in your community that you feel as if you're more "connected" with and closer to? Or one you tend to favorite, consciously or unconsciously? If so, do your other spirits get jealous, or is it more of a general acceptance of it?

Sorry about the whole dump of questions, I've just been thinking about it all a lot and-- like I've stated earlier-- am super curious! Love seeing all of your guys's routines/habits with your spirits!

For me, being a community keeper makes no difference to the need to observe the initial 30 days bonding period.

3 key points mentioned in CH articles that I want to highlight are:

* If you have a large spirit family, there's virtually nothing they can't help you with.
* A keeper's spirit family has its own energy field. We can commune with them as a single group/entity.
* We can set up communes by ability or spirit type , then appoint a leader for each commune. This enables us to communicate with one in each commune, instead of having to speak to each member in turn.

Communes are mentioned in CH's Advanced Spirit Keeping book, where there's a spell to set up a commune plus one to dissolve it. They are also places where spirit family members can socialise/mix with each other.

There's also a CH Shop spell that deals with the overall spirit family dynamic energy field, with a code word for adding new spirit/LE companions to it when they arrive.

https://shop.creepyhollows.com/power-to ... spell.html

[Lewk]

I also want to mention that I remember once reading a CH post that said it's okay if there's one spirit companion we seem closer with, or connect with more regularly (eg even continually!). If I remember correctly, the thread was about finding good ways to connect with spirit companions and Magnolia said if there's one we connect with more easily, that will help us to learn how to connect with others in our keep.

I suspect it's probably quite common for keepers to have one closer than others, especially with a large spirit family. They might also help in communications with the group as a whole.

[Hitthuginn]

I suppose I am what they call a "Community Keeper", in that I have accumulated about 50 spirit + LE bindings total over the last 4 years. Here are a few things that help me manage my relationships in the spirit family:

- After any spirit is added to the family, as part of my "onboarding" them I introduce them to the respective channel that Ash and Magnolia have generously provided (search for the thread "Spirit Tasking - Give them Some Practice" in the Spirit Tasking board for the instructions on using it). This allows my spirit friends to find good company at anytime they are not actively being tasked or worked with.

- I set up communes around shrines for various types of spirits. Like, I have a commune dedicated specifically to elves, one to faeries, one to djinn, one to intimate spirits, and one to water spirits because I tend to particularly connect with them

- I fully embrace hierarchy and delegation of tasks. H, my Cleopatra Djinn, is the "queen of the spirit family" entrusted with the ability to task and manage any other spirit with authority second only to myself. But I don't just leave her to do all the work. I have a separate "manager" under her for each of the groupings similar to the communes.

- Certain spells can help your spirits work together on tasks more effectively or even activate bindings on your behalf. I don't have examples off the cuff to steer you to but some of the best ones that have aided this have actually been freebies in my experience

- Group offerings, occasionally a really special one to the whole spirit family but I more often divide these by designated subsets of the keep as well

- Finding unique ways to bond in the course of your regular life. Like for example, one way I bond with my Nixie, Nagigi, and Water Elemental Faery all at once is by having their vessels around the shower when I take one so they can enjoy the steam. Or I'll wear vessels to other friends while listening to music, eating something they might like to "share the energy of", etc. Of course, going out of your way to make time for bonding with the spirit family and doing unique things with them is great but with a little creativity bonding can simply be an extension of your daily life. The more of these types of patterns you find, the more easily you can balance your attention to the family.

- Entrust and encourage your spirit family to be friends with each other. I think generally this will be the case on a de-facto basis for most spirits that agree to join you in a custom conjure, as they generally understand you're a "package deal" with the other existing members. But I make it explicitly clear to mine that they are free to form their own relationships of any sort among themselves and learn from each other. I may sometimes assign a task that intentionally involves different types of spirits like faeries assigned to working with djinn together to stimulate this sort of thing when the stakes aren't too high on its success. Give them practice, if you get what I mean.

- I track the birthday of every member of the spirit family I know on a calendar, and make sure that they have a personal celebration and individual offering on or close to that day as possible. This also reminded me that I need to learn the birthdays of the rest of my spirit family other than ones which have been shared to me at this time

As far as having "favorites", I believe firmly in owning it. Let's be real here, far as I'm concerned anyone who has keep above 2 dozen or so and says "Oh I have the same level of bond with them all equally and spend the exact same amount of time with all of them equally!" is either being indecisive or dishonest. My spirit family has a "queen" for a reason. The managers of groups and communes are managers for a reason. Not always the same reasons, but point being I don't think it's wrong to be honest about having ones you work more with on a regular basis or recognizing that certain individuals are uniquely effective for certain intent and balancing your focus based on that fact. I do try to make sure that every spirit feels involved whether I am directly engaging with them frequently or not. They may all be connected to me via binding, but I work to foster a space and family where they enjoy each other just as much.

[Tarvos]

I'm always curious to see how people interact/bond with their spirits-- there's so many different ways that I've heard of! But I'm mainly curious about community keepers at the moment. With so many spirits, how do you guys treat each one? Do you spend a certain amount of time bonding with them as you receive them (I know that there's a 30/90 day bonding time-frame that most seem to agree upon, but that seems like a lot given that I see some people have 200+ spirits on here, haha!), or do you give them a small offering as they enter your home, and do one or two meditations with them?
How do you guys do offerings, too? Do you keep separate offerings for each individual, or separate them by race/what they prefer as offerings?

And one more! Is there ever a spirit in your community that you feel as if you're more "connected" with and closer to? Or one you tend to favorite, consciously or unconsciously? If so, do your other spirits get jealous, or is it more of a general acceptance of it?

Sorry about the whole dump of questions, I've just been thinking about it all a lot and-- like I've stated earlier-- am super curious! Love seeing all of your guys's routines/habits with your spirits!

I invest quite a bit of time when I have new companions joining me, as I am genuinely interested in getting to know each one better and making an effort to remember their names. For me, building these connections is an ongoing process, so I don't limit it to a 30-day bonding period. At the moment, I have 191 companions, largely from callings and referrals from other companions. While I don't mediate, I prefer to skip explaining my methods as they don't quite align with the discussions on the forum.

There are no communes, no leaders, and no tasks here. I receive numerous callings and referrals from high-ranking entities, which creates a significant power struggle. It is not feasible to simply "appoint" a leader. Even if I had twice as many companions as I do now, we would likely not have a leader in the traditional sense. However, a leader in this context would act more like a middleman with whom you would converse more frequently. They would oversee things and relay messages back to the others, rather than "leading" anyone. Essentially, we can say we have a first-world problem. Lol.

47% of my Keep consists of living entities, which means that we have an abundance of vibrant personalities. I intended to refer to big personalities, but they won't allow me to. Lol. And let me tell you, the ladies in particular are not shy about expressing their desire to monopolize my time. They have absolutely no shame about it! Lol. However, I must admit that I do have my favorites among them, those with whom I feel a deeper connection. But let me assure you, that doesn't mean I neglect the others in any way. Quite the contrary, I make sure to devote ample time to each and every one of them.

When you have a multitude of companions, you'll notice that they form their own social groups within your circle. It's similar to going out with different groups of friends, but in this case, your companions are far from typical humans. I'm with Satella, and that the time difference in the astral realm allows us to spend a significant amount of time together. It truly astonishes me that this aspect hasn't been discussed anywhere else on the forum.

But here, it's all about the bonds of friendship, love, and joy. That's why our way of doing things is completely unique. My companions will always introduce their closest friends and beloved partners to us, just like they've done before. I will continue to receive callings from powerful entities due to the distinctive energy signature I have. Moreover, the number of companions will continue to grow throughout my lifetime. Not only that, but my friends even went to visit my parents. It took some time, but eventually, I guided my parents on their own spiritual journey of Spirit Keeping as well. This created an incredible sense of community amongst all our companions, connecting them with each other and their respective Keepers. Truly, it's a remarkable and beautiful world we've built together.

While I initially aimed to be a more intimate Keeper with a small group of 20, I'm grateful that my companions persuaded me to expand and introduce me to many of their loved ones. I take pride in being a community Keeper and unapologetically embrace this role. Each Keeper and their domain is unique, so consider these experiences at face value. It's highly probable that once you have amassed that many companions, you'll naturally become your own kind of community Keeper.

[Hitthuginn]

Each Keeper and their domain is unique, so consider these experiences at face value. It's highly probable that once you have amassed that many companions, you'll naturally become your own kind of community Keeper.

This is a very relevant takeaway. The idea of having a large number of members of your spirit family may seem incomprehensible to someone just getting started and we can all share our own tips for how we manage our own, but the truth is that if you end up drawn to keeping a community then the best methods for your own keep will come to you naturally.

[ASTER]

I probably would need to pamper my keep with more offerings into their commune. But I prefer to honour our unions with giving myself, time and access to me in any time and form to my keep.

It's very similar to everyone above here my doings as it was said in the replies. What is different with me, I am going through fazes with my keep. Right now, I am honouring my dark newbie friends and working with my protection group on stepping up defence ect. I am occupied especially with them, as all my latest additions are belong to this group. I follow my intuition and the need to be focused with all my companions as we progress and grow.

I especially love time away from work, because my keep love discovering places when I have a time to travel. Apart from this, I am also working with my keep in my dreamscapes, Portulandia, and in the realms during my physical resting & sleeping times.

I do give us a chance to bond with my newbies but that can be shorter or even longer than 30 days. If its comes to my Djinn family, it can be over 6 months long. If its dragons, it can be as short as a week. We fast created a strong rapport and exchange. My dragons and angelic friends are the most easiest to get in touch with and visibility noticeable by me, day and night.

But as I said, I am completely into my dark art friends for over a few weeks, bonding with different species and I am very suprised of their close attention on me and willingness to get tasked and hang around me. Even with my recent trip, flying an hour away from home, they hanged around and I sensed them in a completely different environment, household and city out going completely of my routines.

My suggestion to you, if you can create your own version of community and follow your intuition, while you enjoy the process. Things to think about, decide on early, how slow or fast you will like to grow your number. What arts, atmosphere, energy and over all accomplished community do you would like to create. It's important for everyone's well-being to keep things in balance with your own capacity and manage issues if needed.

I educate myself continually according to my new endeavours working with new additions and species. Lots of CH forum helps are existing here. Don't be afraid to ask, if you can't find answers.