Magic 201: Spirits and Attachment Styles
Reminder: magic is not a teach yourself skill set. The spiritual or astral planes are full of opportunities to get hurt, and you will need someone to help you avoid, navigate, and/or heal from your encounters.
I mentioned a few entries ago that a teacher is a relationship coach for new magicians, and it was not at all a joke. A magician with sufficient force is going to attract a lot of spiritual entities which are looking for some sort of (contractual) relationship, though it may be presented as something else. Most of the relationship styles those entities are interested in are as dysfunctional as any abusive relationship, though they will often propose those relationships in a seemingly beneficial or benign way.
Keep in mind that human thoughts, ideals, attitudes, and expectations are transparent to spiritual or astral entities. They know that, for instance, you long for romantic companionship, and they will use your expectations there to present something which you think means one thing, but the wording might mean something else entirely. Or they might know you want a parent/child relationship, and present themselves accordingly.
The problem, of course, is that your expectations will lead you to believe that they are sincere and will be limited or governed by your ideals, expectations, desires, etc. Because you’re not paying attention to the terms, and will tend to not pay attention after an agreement is reached, spiritual entities which are seeking relationships with you that aren’t in your court can be assumed to be after more than you think they are. There are quite a few benefits for spiritual and astral entities in relationships with magicians, and most of them are not readily apparent, in part because those entities will deliberately hide how and what they intend to get from the relationship.
All of this is to say that the magician’s understanding of the relationship style the spirit proposes is very important. A magician with a dysfunctional understanding of relationships is going to offer spiritual or astral entities an enormous opportunity to manipulate that magician. The spirits of a magician’s court are motivated to help the magician grow and elevate, which will curb their willingness to take advantage of a magician with a dysfunctional understanding of relationships. Entities that are not in a magician’s court have no such limitations.
A teacher functions as a relationship coach to warn new magicians of their potential vulnerabilities to spiritual or astral entities. A teacher also helps new magicians navigate the relationship with the spirits of their court, which may not be inclined to take advantage of a new magician, but are more than willing to apply sometimes serious consequences as a learning tool without necessarily explaining themselves to a new magician. It is assumed a new magician will talk to their teacher.
