This is a common worry so I thought we could pool our tried and tested methods of analysing whether an entity that approaches us is real or in our heads - this is for occasions when you’ve either not used a summoning method that you trust absolutely, or you have done, but are still not sure you’re connecting with an entity as opposed to your own imagination.
I like the idea of innovating new techniques in magick so this might not be a thread traditionalists can relate to, but I hope we can formulate some solid new methods here?
My #1 method has been to request the entity go silent for say 48 hours - to ask them to refuse to communicate with me or make their presence felt in any way. In my experience some entities will be reluctant to provide positive proof, i.e., “if you’re real, send me A Sign!” but they WILL sometimes be willing to wthdraw so you can sense their absence.
If you’ve asked an entity to do this and you felt or heard or saw them agree, then try summoning them a few hours later, after maybe a meal or something to shift your energy directly away from that working.
If you can replicate their voice, mannerisms, and any other clairvoyant/sensed presence, then they’re probably in your mind, and (this is the useful bit) even if you’re certain they’ve appeared, then you have a contact who’s not going to be very helpful to you because they can’t understand your simple and polite request to make themselves scarce.
A more elaborate version would be to ask them to go for an unspecified time, deal a playing card face-down on your altar or somewhere private, and ask them to return in the number of days shown on the card.
Don’t peep - when your entity returns and says “Time’s up”, check it matches the card, so 3 Clubs = they’ve taken a 3 day break - anything different than that, possibly needs more examination.
That’s my main contribution so far, I hope other people here will be able to share some thoughts and methods?
Summary (updated)
So far, we have:
Send out a pulse of energy and use that to sense if the entity recoils.
If you’re bi-lingual, think in one language and ask the spirit to speak in another, to separate their voice from your internal dialogue.
Use a divination tool, such as shells and bones, to see if the answers the spirit gives through the physical medium are the same as what is heard. Repeat three times in a row.