How do you know if they're helping

[cairngorn]

Spirit discernment is pretty important. You may trust a conjuror with good reviews, but nobody is perfect, so I still prefer to be aware, or as aware as I can be when dealing with invisible people I can't hear yet.

I've heard that with spirits, just like with living people, abuse and outrageous flattery are general warning signs.Anyone that keeps on about how "special" you are in a way that makes you want to separate yourself from other people generally isn't good. Too many warnings about other people is a warning sign itself. So is steering you away from things you want to explore: though maybe they might be right about some of them not being good for you.

I like the standard that you'll know the truth about a relationship by its results. Which I don't think should mean that spirits, especially dark spirits won't challenge you. But the result in the end should be growth.

That said, when is "the end"? When can you judge? Could some spirits be playing a long game to amuse themselves or for some other reason? I'd be interested in hearing what anyone who's done extensive work with the spirit world thinks.

Honestly I do feel pretty foolish going into the world of spirits blind and deaf but I spent years dipping into books about magick yet very carefully following the "never invoke anything bigger than your head" rule. I'm not going to learn anything if I never try to get any experience.

[Lewk]

I have no easy answers. But I think one solution can be to avoid seeking out unbounds until we have enough experience and effective protection layers in place. If we have good bound protection spirits from a reputable, experienced conjurer they can help keep out tricksters or troublemakers.

We can even ask our protection spirits to do that for us.

[Lux]

That said, when is "the end"? When can you judge? Could some spirits be playing a long game to amuse themselves or for some other reason? I'd be interested in hearing what anyone who's done extensive work with the spirit world thinks.

Even if someone is able to see spirits, it is good to keep in mind that there are beings who can appear and also project energy as something else, because they have the power of illusion over the human mind. In my experience when that happens it is very hard to recognize. I am very careful when I see spirits, I do not believe everything straightaway. In the long term, BS comes to surface, I have noticed, but it requires a lot of awareness, dedication and investigation.

[Thyr]

Could some spirits be playing a long game to amuse themselves or for some other reason?

So far I have had experiences with an impostor (a very dangerous trickster), pretending to be someone who was very close to me (an actual human man, who was visiting me everytime he was asleep). He was so good in copying him, that I wasn't aware it was someone else. At some point he was acting out of role and wasn't able to disguise himself anymore, but that took almost a year. My connection to the real one had almost vanished over that time. With some spirits only time can tell the truth.