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To: alt.magick.tyagi,alt.magick.goetia,alt.christnet.demonology,alt.paranormal.spells.hexes.magic,alt.pagan.magick From: Roberta DaviesSubject: Re: Spirit Character (was To Summon a Demon Helper) Date: Tue, 07 Aug 2001 11:33:08 +0100 nocTifer wrote: [lots of interesting stuff snipped for reasons of space] > do spirits always somehow approximate human characters (i.e. "former" sex, > etc.)? is it possible they can be alien single-sex beings, or ghosts of > some asexual or bisexual plant or animal? what about Slug Goddesses? what > really are the limitations for spirits? For what it's worth, here's my take on the subject. "Shades" are the ghosts or spirits of dead people. It is possible that they are automata, without any true consciousness; i.e. just hollow shells. If this is the case, then the longer they are dead the more they will dissipate and cease to have any form. I might be able to hold a reasonable conversation with the shade of my mother, dead only a few years; but I'd be lucky to get hold of any fragment of the shade of Shakespeare, for example. On the other hand, it is possible that shades retain some sort of consciousness, or that some do and some don't, depending on the person's individual life force and will. It is possible that non-human creatures leave shades when they die, or at least those few species that have a sense of self. I would think that some sense of self is necessary to maintain a ghostly self after death. "Spirits" are beings that have evolved to a higher spiritual level than humanity. Most are concerned with their own affairs, of which we know nothing. Some are concerned with humans and will help and guide those who seek their aid. Having evolved beyond physical bodies, they are strictly speaking sexless, but individual spirits may have distinct masculine or feminine qualities. My own guardian spirit, for instance, is somewhat masculine, and I have communicated with a very friendly and helpful spirit who was distinctly feminine in nature. "Elementals" are beings which are on a lower spiritual level than humanity. A few enlightened ones may seek help to evolve, and they seek humans as their guides, in the same way that some enlightened humans seek spirits. Fairies, leprechauns, wood spirits, and the like might fall into this category as well. Elementals are neither good nor evil, more like neutral forces of nature. "Demons" and "devils" are evil, at least in the sense that they seek destruction, often by subtle means. I hesitate to equate them with spirits, or call them spirits with a different sort of purpose, but this is possible. I would use the term "demon" to mean a lesser evil being, perhaps equivalent to a spirit, and "devil" to mean a greater evil being, perhaps equivalent to a god. Robbie
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