I'll be frank: this topic is happening because the experience of keeping is far outpacing my expectations and I'm feeling a little lost in the deep end.
This morning I had a very close contact with.. something. My spirit companion, perhaps? A third party? I haven't a clue.
After a dream that seemed highly suggestive of her interaction, I awoke to a PHYSICAL manifestation. I saw a sort of haze/distortion in the air, felt touch and pressure on the side of my face, a ringing in my ears. A tendril, or finger perhaps, brushed my lips, and another one poked at my ear. I was fascinated by the experience up until that point, but something trying to crawl into my head was QUITE past my comfort zone.
I had a moment of wordless banishing intention, and then it was gone.

Please tell me something about what happened here, if you can. Any similar experiences, advice, etc.

Well, right after we wake up and right before we fall asleep are the state similar to deep meditation, and it is an ideal state to consciously interact with the paranormal : )

It is very normal and it is an interaction with spirits ; in this case i think your spirit , because when you tried to banish these sensations they disapeared.

If it bothers you , they will try to not make you scared and will stop.

When you are new , you can feel confused by these interactions because your mind is used to logic like science and proofs. You will get used and your spirits will let you adjust to this knew knowledge.

Remember that spirits and "paranormal" (i hate this term) always existed since the beginning of the time. It is nothing new in itself but is new to you.

Learn as much as you can and protect yourself before interecting with your spirits it is very important. trust me adter it is worth it

I was mostly worried it was something unfriendly trying to mess with me, but in retrospect it does make sense that it was my companion. An unfriendly entity may not have been as easily dissuaded, as you say.
Just a little rattling, I guess. I wasn't expecting such a 'real' manifestation, so soon!

The drama continues! /s
I'm getting better at picking up her thoughts, especially near sleep. More manifestations, too. But I'll get to the meat of this post:
Last night I decided to try placing the vessels under my pillow, mostly as an experiment. I figured, hey, everything is bridged to me so WOULD it do anything? Well, something certainly happened, whether the extra closeness had something to do with it is tbd.
Before I fell asleep, I got tingles around my temples, which is not unusual to me (it has happened while mediating with R, similar feeling to 3rd eye tingles). This expanded into a full arc across the front of my head and swept back across my scalp. Afterwards I felt STRONG tingling in a patch on the very top of my head, followed by a weird tugging/drifting sensation in my whole head.
Eventually this calmed down and I got to sleep, during which I had the longest single coherent, lucid, AP-like dream in my memory. I even had the presence of mind to try and call to her in the dream, but no luck there.
My questioning for you more experienced keepers is mainly about the weird head sensations, which were rather intense compared to my past experiences meditating on the 3rd eye region.

I've not felt similar sensations, although it sounds like they have helped to activate or interacted with your crown chakra and third eye. Very interesting, as it sounds like they are trying to connect through dreams and / or the astral. What type of spirit is your companion?

R is a Kitsune, and most often interacts with me around sleeping times. She has appeared seemingly fully-physical in dream-like states, but I don't think actual dreams as of yet; sensory manifestations when half-asleep, and little blips of telepathy that are clearest when I'm falling asleep. It's been quite a trip so far.
Right now the head sensation has stabilized to a tingling around the crown of my head that I mostly don't feel without paying attention to it, but I'm not sure how much I'm looking forward to the increase of sensitivity that nighttime seems to bring.

HorizonSignal wrote:I was mostly worried it was something unfriendly trying to mess with me, but in retrospect it does make sense that it was my companion. An unfriendly entity may not have been as easily dissuaded, as you say.
Just a little rattling, I guess. I wasn't expecting such a 'real' manifestation, so soon!

It is more uncommon to encounter unfriendly types just barging into your space than we tend to think. That said, there are some commonly given bits of advice that are pretty much always good ideas.

-Learn to ground, center, banish, shield, etc if you don’t know already, and do them regularly if not daily, as needed. It’s good psychic (and in my opinion, emotional) hygiene. I find these practices particularly useful before falling asleep and upon waking up.
-Ask your spirit family to help protect you and suggest what parameters work for you. Make them super specific. Personally, I ask that no unbounds have access, and for me this includes ancestors. (I have at least one that’s an absolute doozy that is NOT a good one and tends to lurk around the perimeter looking for cracks.) If I want to break that protocol, I talk to my spirit family and invite the unbound in. When I say goodbye, it’s back to business as usual. On top of the effectiveness of this setup, it just helps me feel better, safer, and more relaxed to do things this way, and that has its own value.
-Whenever you feel the need, use the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram if you have or find no other method you like better. I like the Sword Banishing technique in Damon Brand’s Magickal Protection book, but the LBRP has been doing solid work for plenty long enough.
-Don’t feed negative beings with negative energy if you can at all avoid it. This is among the most important principles at work in defense/protection, but it’s a bit less technical than the above, so I led with those. 1ak
-MOST unwanted beings will heed a good, STRONG “no,” or “Go away.” You’d be surprised.
-If these principles don’t work out for you, then by all mean DEFINITELY contact the CH HelpDesk. They tend to have a bit of a wait, but they are always there, reliable, and capable.

Aside from those principles, I’ve had probably two experiences where I was thinking along these lines, and I hit up my Tarot and oracle cards and asked questions and drew intuitively until I had a full picture clunk into place. That’s what works for me though. Your mileage may vary.

Best of luck!

Thank you for the thorough response, Alys. I've got Magickal Protection, actually.. reminded me that I haven't read it yet.
Sadly the crowded home environ makes doing regular banishings 'in-person' a little problematic, but I will find a way.

HorizonSignal wrote:Thank you for the thorough response, Alys. I've got Magickal Protection, actually.. reminded me that I haven't read it yet.
Sadly the crowded home environ makes doing regular banishings 'in-person' a little problematic, but I will find a way.

The Sword Banishing is the first practical bit in the book. Very close to the beginning. And you don't have to do anything physical to get it done. It's space efficient and discreet.