How does one exactly "test" spirits?

Hi. I have been wondering this for years and this is probably the reason why I keep failing at evocation/invocation… hence never really worked with a deity (but have channeled one in the past, just never had a pact with one or bonded with one).

I hear people test spirits by asking them questions and if the spirit answers it right, you would know if it is right because you have done your research on a spirit. Correct me if I’m wrong? So then, how would you know if you are talking to an imposter because wouldn’t an imposter spirit flatter you into thinking that you are right since you already have an idea of the deity you are invoking? Hope my question makes sense. Do imposter spirits even make sounds? What sort of visions do they give you VS an actual deity? What is the difference in the feeling?

How do you guys personally test these spirits? Thank you so much. I’m truly struggling with this. I tried reading books and if there are any books that talk about this specifically, please recommend. I am not sure what to look up with this specific question I have so this forum is my last resort. TY TY.

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Yes. If they overdo the flattery, or sometime any flattery at all, that is a HUGE red flag too, but not everybody is suspicious of flattery because they like hearing what they want to hear.

The decision to go with an imposter or parasite them isn’t always 100% being fooled, it’s not asking the question and being critical about it, “because if this is wrong I don’t want to be right”.

I wouldn’t ever do this. Spirits can read minds and give right answers. Parasites and lesser entities that are verbal can too. You might be able to use this if you ask questions you don’t know the answer to, and only it could find out, and then independentky verify it, but that’s a lot of work and nobody does this.

The search is sometimes hard to use, but over the 13 years of this forum, members have discussed and posted ideas and tutorials for verifying an entity. Forum Tutorials: Parasite Collection - #15 by Mulberry

Also, we post a lot about how to get rid of them - it’s a bit late, but another tell is they usually don’t leave when asked, they want your milkshake and will start to fight you to keep it. A being with no such agenda will depart without issue, usually on their own.

Personally, I do use the “show me your sigil” method (I think that’s in the linked thread) where you ask it to give you, in your minds eye, the sigil, and compare that “flash” or impression with the sigil you used to call them. I’ll dub this a “sigil-verify” for convenience.

If you didn’t call them, like with phishing emails, never follow that link! Lol. Banish and cleanse, call them back separately using the sigil in a clean space where most nasties are already gone. Then sigil-verify.

I don’t think sigil-verification is 100%, though some sweat by it, and in fact so far it’s been 100% for me, I can imagine hire it could fail.

The final line of defence, is nothing more than living though the experience and staying alert to the situation and energies.

You do need to keep up all the usual layers of protections to at least keep out the lesser astral crap and eliminate those as issues.

Then when in conversation, and you think it’s the real deal, you called it in a clean space it’s not a random, see if you get results. If you get the results you wanted, and you got through and all the other myriad trains magick goes sideways are not an issue, and you’re not getting clues of parasitism or just lesser earth bound being psychology, you’re in good shape to continue this path.

At this point, I highly recommend posting close attention to how the spirit feels to you.

I call this the “energy signature”. All beings have one, it’s undisguiseable, it can be mimicked but never perfectly, and is like fingerprints and faces for spirits.

And all humans are capable of recognizing this. It’s the same sense we have that tells us we’re being watched, or someone is in the room with us, or noticing how the ambiance changes when prime come and go from a room.

So take stock of the energy signature, and in an established relationship you can recognise the being by this. If an impostor usurps the connection later, you can use this to practice noticing how it’s different. Ask out for its sigil and it may give you one that’s different. I had one one day it was giving me a “personal” sigil just for me -it was in fact it’s real sigil and it wasn’t who it had said it was.

It’s ok to be nice to it to get it to be forthcoming. I reacted badly (with lots of fire) to a fae that just wanted to be friends and lovers, thinking it would be ok to pretend to be Samael my mentor for anti-parasitic workings. Not a sensible time to do that! I regret overreacting now. We can be stronger than we realize sometimes.

So in conclusion, know your baseline self, get sensitive to energy and recognizing energy signatures (humans have them too there’s a lot of opportunity to practice), maintain good spiritual hygiene, stay alert and discerning, and be ready with a good offence if you need to defend yourself.

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thanks this was a great answer. I’m trying to invoke a goetic deity to understand its energetic signature compared to a parasite or non-goetic deity (I have channeled a non-goetic deity before and know their energy signature), just not a goetic demon yet. TY

I heard tarot is good to in order to test but sigil verification sounds way more affective at least for my case as I still dont know the sigil by heart thankfully so I cant fool myself if the spirit shows me the real sigil

I’ll look through more in the forums too with the link you sent me!

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My personal method to avoid any sort of impostor is to:

  1. Set up mirror shields that detect Intention and block anything malicious or parasitic

  2. I recite a banishing incantation 3 times before and after I work to maximize their effect

  3. You can call a 3rd party spirit to help protect you from them

  4. Lay some sort of dagger or knife near you. This will help ward away evil spirits.

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I think you are describing how the Golden Dawn taught to question spirits. They would also use the mental imaging that Mulberry describes.