#The research is incredible and I'm happy to draw for a beloved friend and good cause B*)

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

You should be a childrens' book illustrator! Your style would be so perfect for that I think! Really unique :D

While I don’t know any children’s literature writers, I *was* commissioned to do illustrations for a medical journal article!

[notyourmothersspellbook]

I have a loaded question for you, and I know you might have an answer and you might not. I just wanted your opinion, please. Is it possible that someone can be 'turned off,' that is, unable to contact spirits/ancestors/etc? Is it possible that a path like this just isnt meant for everyone? I've been trying to hone my craft for a couple years now, but I'm 27 and I fear I'm losing time. I'm scattered and inconsistent, but not enough to be blatantly denied by the spirits. Is it my fear? Thank you

This is an incredibly hard question, you were right. There’s a lot to say here, I think so there’s a “read more.”

Firstly, there’s no doubt that some people have an easier time feeling/hearing/contacting spirits and ancestors. Some seem to have an innate talent for it while others may have to work a bit harder to get that bit of contact. However, I do not believe that there are people who simply cannot accomplish it or are blocked or ‘turned off’ as you say. There’s nothing wrong with you and you aren’t closed off or not suited for your path (your talents may lie in other areas but that doesn’t mean that you should give up on what you’re attempting). 

Secondly, while 27 can feel too close to 30 for comfort, your craft is a life long project that will change and grow (and perhaps even seem absent at times) throughout your life. You’ve time and time to try and fail and research and change approaches and try again and succeed and fail again - the point here is that I’d hate for you to feel like this momentary slump is the death knell for your practice especially because, from your ask alone, I can tell that there’s a genuine desire to try and an honest love of your craft - never lose those. 

Thirdly, there are all sorts of things that can get in the way of our connections with our beloved dead. You mention fear and I do think that doubt and fear can block you in some ways - if you have laid out your offerings and called your dead to you and are going to practice automatic writing, but you are doubtful and fearful and you can’t get out of your own head and you refuse to allow any spirits to write through you then the whole experiment might seem like a failure. Similarly, I think that being too much in your head about it can mess you up just because you can be too busy interpreting and looking that you maybe aren’t being receptive. Another potential obstacle that doesn’t get talked about a lot is that if you’re determined to reach out to your ancestors for help with your craft, but your ancestors were all strictly religious and opposed to witchcraft then hearing no response should come as no surprise. We honor ancestors and dead relatives with offerings and places of importance in our homes and we ask them to aid us in our life, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they’ll want to interact with our practice or that they will or can help with it - if you feel ignored by the spirits that you’re reaching out to then it might be a good idea to try a different set. If your blood relatives have turned up nothing then perhaps call on the spirits of past witches or friends or others that might be more willing to come through. 

Finally, here is my advice: take a break, work some other magic, clear your head, and try again. When you try again there are some options and I think any of these should get you something. 

For calling on ancestors: put out pictures and items of those you hope to contact (or things that remind you of them) and set out offerings of food and drink that they might like - the dead also tend to like tobacco and the smoke of incense or cigars but that’s perhaps not universal. If you know where their graves are then go to the grave and sit with it, clean it up, leave something, ask permission, and take a bit of dirt from near their head and take it home with you to set out with their picture and offerings (add just a spot of your blood to the grave and to the offerings at home to add some strength). Honor them and feed them for a week or two and talk with them about wanting to hear from them, to make contact, to connect, to get help, etc. Don’t bother with looking for signs during this time or doing anything more than being open to your family members and respectful and loving. You should start to see signs of them in small ways - pictures falling off of walls, items missing or returned, etc. then you can try divination to speak with them (pendulum is easiest, scrying is useful but can take time and the ability to enter a trance state, tarot and automatic writing can be difficult to interpret). If you’re having trouble with one type of divination then try another, work on meditation, work on going into trance and channeling thoughts freely without interpreting or interrupting yourself (drink, use flying ointment, or smoke weed if you need to at first but don’t be reliant on substances to induce trance). You might also try to host a supper for the dead or a dumb supper to invite them fully into your home - make sure to open the doors and windows and take down any spirit traps or salt barriers you might have up if you want the dead in your house.

 For any spirits that are not relatives you can go to the cemetery and pick up some dirt like I explained above and call the person to you. You can walk the perimeter of a graveyard at night no less than nine and nine times while winding black thread or counting a rosary backwards and ask for spirits to make themselves known to you. You can go into the woods and ring a bell or clap three times and call out for a spirit to come to you in order to help with something specific, bury some pieces of your hair, and clap or ring again when finished and say that you’ll be waiting (be sure to remember where you buried your hair to dig up later if needed). You can go into the woods at night and draw a circle around yourself and lie or sit on the ground. Call spirits to you and ask them what you want to ask of them. Wait and let any fear help to guide you into a kind of meditation. This one takes time but you should see and hear signs of spirits as you wait within your circle. And if you’re in desperate need of help with something, you can go into the woods or to a crossroads or to a cemetery and bury a knot of your hair and place three drops of your blood on the spot where you’ve buried it and proclaim the terms of your deal.  

Lastly (for real this time), your practice does not need to involve spirits right now if that’s something that is proving difficult for you. You can still cast spells, draw in money and opportunities and friends and happiness all without calling on or involving spirits. You can still honor the passing seasons and work magic and do all of those things without drawing on the dead or on deities or entities - it’s okay for your practice to exist for a while without any spirit work and you can have a successful craft just focusing on things that you need at the moment and things that are still fulfilling for you without spirits right now.