luxnoctis wrote: ↑Sun Jun 04, 2023 10:12 pm
Sharing, with permission, an account from an associate of mine.
She has a significant number of spirit companions, many being powerful entities. She interacts with them regularly, has deep and trusting bonds with a many, and overall has wonderful relationships with them. She has quite a consistent schedule for meeting with them, as well - a full spreadsheet, amusingly enough, of each to help her manage her time with them.
From what I have seen, it has served her well, and allowed her to have strong ties to most of them.
Unfortunately, this does not appear to have been sufficient. In recent months she has struggled with a number of spiritual attacks. These have been intermittent, varying in intensity, with some lasting a full 7-10 days, night and day, without ceasing.
In the middle of these conflicts, she has called upon her companions for assistance. They do respond to her calls, and have been invaluable in helping her overcome these struggles. Yet she noted something interesting; despite her close bonds, they will typically not help without tasking. One of her companions specializes in warding, for example, but he will not act if she has not specifically called upon him and instructed him on what to do.
She typically remembers to task, but when exhausted from long term difficulties she sometimes forgets. She expressed her frustration with the fact that she perpetually needs to tell them what, exactly, to do in every situation.
I would be interested in hearing if anyone else has had similar experiences. What sort of role does tasking play for you in serious situations? What, if any, theories do you have about why her companions are inactive without tasking?
I understand where your friend is coming since I don't task my companions as well. But I hasn't had this problem before. This is kinda hard to reply since it's written based on your understanding of her situation. I'm just assuming at best.
Personally, I don't like to give my companions strict rules to follow, but I do have some long guidelines to make sure I'm comfortable before diving in and the need to ensure that my companions and I am on the same page. My house "rules" are more like loose agreements that I tweak based on our interactions.
Regarding your friend's situation, three things come to mind: protection spirits/entities, protection spells, and house rules.
Protection spirits or entities can greatly prevent spiritual attacks. It's like a skinny bouncer at a club - he won't scare anyone away, and they might even try to sneak in because they think they can get past him.
Not all races of spirits are equal when it comes to protection. It's important to consider race of the protection spirits.
When your friend mentioned having "powerful" spirits/entities, it's worth asking how she defines powerful, what their main abilities are, and if they are primarily for protection.
Similarly, if your friend has the strongest protection spells and doesn't engage in conjuring, rituals, or anything more involved, she may not need protection spirits. But still, she'd need good protection spells in place.
As for the house rules, there's certainly a lot that could go awry. I concur with Darknorth that if she has her companions report back to her regularly on what's going on, they'd follow her commands accordingly, in the absence of specific guidelines.
Alternatively, she could sit down and brainstorm all possible scenarios to include in the house rules, so that her companions know how to handle any unexpected situations and whether they're authorized to act on her behalf. Well, we certainly don't want our companions to come in and cause chaos, do as they please, and leave us in a mess, now do we? Like Thyr mentioned, it might be wise to consider their bindings and many other factors before allowing them to act on their own accord.
Lewk's advice is also worth taking into account. Is she sure that the spiritual attacks are actually external and not just internal struggles? Additionally, the races of the spirits she's befriending could play a significant role in this. It's not advisable to ask someone at a water park to help with tax papers, after all. So perhaps take a little bit of break from the metaphysical and see if everything is clear.
It's possible that she may be overestimating the strength of her bonds with her many companions. I don't mean this as an insult, of course, but it's important to recognize that there may be aspects of their personalities that she hasn't yet grasped. Misunderstandings can also arise if communication between her and her companions is unclear. Therefore, she can continue what she's doing and ask her companions for guidance on how to proceed.
In my experience, even my non-social companions are quite active, manifesting themselves at least to 3-4 times a day on average, it's usually more. So my companions are anything but inactive and I don't task them. I'm the worst at tasking and wishing so I'll leave it as that. Lol.
Other than that, I'd love to hear about her progress and hopefully there's good news to share.
Spirit Family
