How to Talk to Spirits: 7 Different Techniques | LoveToKnow (2024)

Candle Divination

Carromancy (candle divination) is a form of scrying with melted wax. The liquid wax is poured into a bowl of cold water and the various shapes the wax forms are interpreted. This technique is rooted in ancient divination arts and often credited to Celts, Druids, and Ancient Romans. When you follow a few easy steps, you can use this fun technique to communicate with spirits.

A few tips include:

• Select the candle color that represents your intention.
• Maintain your point-of-view when interpreting a response to your question. For example, if you ask about a lover and the wax forms a circle, this could symbolize a wedding band or coming full circle with karma met.
• You may also receive visions and images flashing through your mind that can help you to interpret the wax. For example, you may see a bell, flowers, or a gathering of people. Your intuition will tell you if this means a wedding or a funeral.
• If the wax forms an animal, one of your spirit animals has revealed itself to you. Next time, address your questions directly to your spirit animal guide and develop your own code through various candle shapes.

Lucid Dreams

Have you ever had a dream where you were aware you were dreaming? This is a lucid dream. You can learn to control what happens within the dream to make it another vehicle for communicating with spirits.

Two techniques used together can help you create lucid dreams. Whenever you wake up in the middle of the night, wait 30 minutes before going back to sleep. This technique is called Wake Back to Bed (WBTB). Before you dose off the second time, tell yourself that you'll be self-aware and that you're dreaming. This technique is Mnemonic Induction of Lucid Dreams (MILD).

Instructions

1. Establish a regular sleep pattern.
2. Invest in a comfortable mattress and bedding.
3. Sleep in the dark with a comfortable room temperature.
4. Use white noise, and mute your phone ringer.
5. Once you've trained yourself and can accomplish MILD and WBTB, you're ready to connect with your spirit guides in a lucid dream.
6. Invite your spiritual guide(s) to join you in the lucid dream.
7. Ask for their names and their purpose in your life.
8. Once you've established who they are and how they can help you, end your dream.
9. The next time you induce lucid dreaming, you should have some questions prepared to ask your guides.
10. Keep a sleep journal by your bed so immediately upon awaking you can write down your lucid dream while it is still fresh in your mind.
11. The sleep journal will help you develop a greater bridge for communication with your guides that can help you take the connection to another level that doesn't require the dream world.

Mirror Gazing

Mirror gazing is a form of scrying. There are many historical accounts of people seeing deceased loved ones through spontaneous appearances in mirrors. You can perform mirror gazing much the same way it was practiced in Ancient Greece with a Necromanteion chamber.

Dr. Raymond Moody, who coined the phrase Near Death Experience (NDE), came across this Ancient Greek scrying tool that allowed them to see into the spirit world and contact their deceased relatives. Dr. Moody built a modern version and dubbed it Psychomanteum. You can create your own type of Psychomanteum for mirror gazing and connecting with the spirit world.

Materials

• A room that can be completely darkened
• Any size mirror (full length is ideal)
• Candle or low wattage lamp (optional)
• Comfortable chair

Instructions

1. Cleanse the room by burning sage.
2. Place yourself and the room in a bubble or circle of protection.
3. Set a mirror angled so you can see it when sitting in the chair.
4. Position the mirror so it doesn't reflect you or the chair.
5. Turn out the lights so you are sitting in darkness.
6. You can turn on the lamp or light a candle, but don't place it where it'll reflect in the mirror.
7. Clear your mind and go into a meditative state.
8. Open your eyes and gaze into the mirror.
9. Remain quiet and continue to gaze into the mirror until you see your deceased loved one.
10. Greet your loved one and ask your question(s) of them.
11. Listen for a response. This may be an actual vocalization, or you may receive information telepathically.
12. At the end of the session, you should thank your loved one for visiting with you and say goodbye.
13. Close your circle of protection.

Burning of Herbs and Plants

The divination art of Botanomancy is the burning of tree branches and herbs. Specifically, the leaves of sage and fig trees were the favored plants, although any type can be used, depending on the individual. For example, you may prefer the traditional burning of brier or vervain. As long as you use low growing woody types of plants and herbs, you can have successful results.

Like other divination arts, Botanomancy has ancient roots that include Ancient Romans, Druids, and is even found in the Bible. It's believed that the ancient Druids used this form of spirit communication as part of their worship practices of tree spirits. The fire and ash were both divination tools, with pyromancy (divination of fire/flames) being a significant part of the divination. You can use this technique to communicate with the spirit world.

Materials

• Dried sage leaves (can use a mix of herbs if prefer)
• Dry twigs/branches or other woody plant twigs
• Fireproof burn bowl or fire pit
• Small knife
• Pen and notebook

Instructions

1. Use the knife to carve your question into a twig/branch.
2. Perform the divination outside in a bed of gravel or other non-combustible setting.
3. Select thin twigs and break to fit inside your burn bowl or larger branches in a fire pit.
4. Add dried herb leaves.
5. Ask your question of the spirits.
6. Use a match or lighter to ignite the twigs and dried leaves.
7. Watch the flame as the material burns and write down everything you notice about the flame, such as how it dances, flutters, sputters, and soon.
8. Use the guide for interpreting what the different flames mean.
9. Allow the fire to burn out and any coals to thoroughly cool.

Smoke Divination

When you perform a Botanomancy divination, you can also use the divination art of capnomancy (smoke divination) to interpret the smoke emitted by the burning of woody plants and herbs. This divination is used to observe the many nuances of the rising smoke.

You will need a pen and notebook to write down the various changes in the smoke so you can interpret the meaning and its significance to the flames and the ashes.

• Plumes of smoke that are thin and rise straight above the fire are positive responses to your question.
• Large billowing smoke plumes are a negative response to your question.
• If the wind drives the smoke downward, especially traveling along the ground, you need to make an immediate course correction to avoid a disaster.

Your intuition can guide you as you add this information to other types of divination for fire.

Incense Smoke Divination

Another ancient artform of communicating with spirits is through the use of incense smoke. Incense smoke has its own form of divination called libanomancy. This divination guides you in interpreting the messaging of spirits through incense smoke.

Materials

• Incense stick
• Incense holder
• Matches or lighter
• Pen and notebook

Instructions

1. Light the incense stick and allow it to burn for a few second then blow out the flame.
2. Place the incense stick into the holder.
3. Watch the smoke behavior and write down how the smoke moves.

Interpretations of spirit messages include:

• If the smoke drifts away from you, the answer is "no."
• Uneven smoke that is broken up is a response to your question that means "no."
• Matrixing effect of faces in the smoke encourage you to use your intuition to find answers.
• If the smoke moves toward you, then the response is "yes."
• Circling smoke, ribbons, or rings, are a "yes" with a cautionary note that results won't be what you expected, yet are positive.

Ember and Ashes Divination

You can use the divination art of Spodomancy (reading ashes and coals) to further interpret the meaning of your Botanomancy. Spodomancy is the art of reading the embers/coal left behind by the extinguished fire. This is yet another very ancient and common practice found in many world religions and ceremonial types of magic and folklore practices. Some cultures also read ash or soot residue.

Materials

• Area or bowl where you burned twigs/branches and herbs (can also be done for other burn materials)
• Pen and notebook

Instructions

You need to observe the type embers left behind. Interpret these in the light of your question. For example, if your question is about closing a deal on your house and an ember carries a meaning of death, then you'd interpret this to mean the deal won't go through.

• Oval shaped embers announce a birth.
• Oblong or rectangle embers signify death.
• Round embers represent coin/money or financial gain.
• Hollow embers mean a death.
• Heart shaped embers signify a lover.
• If any carved letters are still visible and don't make sense, you need to meditate on their meaning.
• You can also consider the position of any letters remaining and the word they formed. Whatever the power of that word, the remaining letters reveal it has diminished.

Choose a Technique to Talk With Spirits

These various techniques, along with séances, automatic writing, pendulums, and Ouija boards, are just a sampling of the many ways you can communicate with spirits. Try a few different techniques until you find the one you're most comfortable using.