Spirit is always listening

I was having a conversation the other day with someone who recently began “manifesting” on behalf of other people. She was a little concerned that there has been more spiritual activity in her home and around her since she started performing more rituals. Her concern was mostly about the “entities” that seemed to be creating a bit of chaos in her life. I responded without thinking and gave her a “Well yeah, what did you think happens when you do a ritual? Spirit gets involved.” This upset her. She had never thought that spirit would show up when she did rituals. She honestly thought that she would perform the ritual and her intentions alone made things happen. That her will was the only thing at play. Her reaction confused me and brought me to write this piece about what happens when we perform rituals. 

As always, I start by saying I speak from my experience and share my perception. What I believe and what you believe don’t have to align. Still, this seemed like something logical that this person never even thought to entertain. If you perform “manifesting rituals” what do you think happens behind the scenes? Have you thought about it at all? From what I have seen, most people don’t think about it, even a little bit. They do the rituals as instructed or even as they plan out themselves, but then they don’t watch and pay attention to what happens after the ritual is done. Depending on the ritual and the intention, we are likely calling on spirit to act in some way – even if we never say that in so many words. Someone in spirit is always listening and sometimes they respond. 

This sounds cool, right? If we are looking for some help achieving our goal, why wouldn’t we want spirit to help? I would be willing to bet that most of the time whatever attention our rituals attract is harmless or even temporary. However, when it is not, the trouble can be significant. Where do you turn when you have this kind of trouble? This is a big part of why it is important to have a clear intention and to know your energy well before engaging in any kind of ritual. Once done, cleansing is important. I know people like to think they are above that step. I have seen the memes about it, and I strongly discourage that way of thinking. I promise you are not stronger than the worst you can find in spirit. While I believe we are all equal, we are out matched when it comes to what takes place in the spirit world. We can’t gain the full picture. We have only a small amount of clarity and spirit has lifetimes of experience compared to our fragmented perception. Take care of your energy and your space or it might not remain yours. 

Even in our everyday lives when we put an idea into the world, someone in spirit is aware of it. Spirit can choose to intervene. Spirit can choose to manipulate a situation to better align it with their goal if they want to. Spirit can manipulate you without you ever knowing it’s happening. Spirit does not just mean your great Uncle Stu who was really nice when he was alive. Spirit is not all good. From what I have experienced, those that are “all good” don’t help or intervene unless we directly ask for help, and even then, they don’t always assist. When we perform a ritual with an intention, I want you to think about what happens after your candles are done burning, when your petitions have long been ash, when all of your pretty crystals are put back to their resting place on your shelf; think about what happens next. Is it all just over then? Or is someone in spirit watching and waiting? Is someone in spirit influencing?

Odds are, the spiritual energy you gather during the ritual and even the time leading up to it attracts someone. They don’t need to be in your space either. Spirit works in ways we can’t fully understand. Maybe you have a keyword in your petition that aligns with something someone in spirit holds a strength in. Maybe that word is one that someone in spirit looks for because it makes you an easy target. Maybe someone in spirit just wants to help people who look for a certain type of strength. All of these are possible, and more. There is no guarantee spirit will hold malice or benevolence. There is a 50/50 chance of either. 

Does that mean you shouldn’t engage in rituals? No. I do not think that is the answer. I just think it is important to be fully informed before you do. Many people see things on Pinterest or in Facebook groups and just give them a try. This is the type of ritual I would not engage in. You should know your energy first. You should know how to heal your energy and clear your space. You should know what you believe. If you have an ally in spirit that is great, but I don’t feel it is required. I can say that when things get scary and you don’t have an ally, you must have a very strong will and unwavering sense of self. If you do not have those things, I would not engage in rituals. You should be aware of what the spirit world holds. You should know who lurks in the shadows. Pretending there is only good in spirit will not be beneficial in the long run. Holding the delusion that you are somehow more powerful than anything you will encounter is also a falsehood you would be wise to avoid. No one is all-powerful. 

When a ritual is performed, the wheels start turning. All the in-between stuff starts shifting. The energy surrounding you and your situation begins to change. This doesn’t mean the change is in alignment with exactly what you want. This just means there is a shift. That shift could be in alignment with what you desire, it could be spirit setting up the lesson you need to learn, or it could be spirit taking the chance it has been waiting for to get it one step closer to one of its goals. You protect yourself and keep the control in your corner by knowing your energy, preparing your space, keeping your intention very clear, and then clearing your space and yourself when you are finished. This is how you help protect yourself. This is how you keep as much control over your energy as possible. Spirit is always present. Spirit is always influencing. If this idea frightens you or if you are not prepared to face that reality, then perhaps it might be in your best interest not to engage in ritual manifesting. 

I wanted to share those thoughts simply because people don’t seem to mention this aspect of ritual work. I had thought it was just understood that if you try to work with energy, those who reside in the energetic world will take notice and could participate in helping, hijacking, or harming in relation to whatever it is you are doing. When it came to my attention that this is not something that everyone realizes, I felt it important to write about it. I don’t feel you should fear ritual work, but I do think it is important to be well informed prior to engaging in something that could result in negative consequences. Learning the hard way with spirit can be very harsh and there is no guarantee you will come out of the experience feeling good about it.