Thread: Confused about an experience

I want a necromancer's opinion on a recent shamanic journey. As I nearly always practice from the shamanic perspective, this may color what I'm writing.

I entered the spirit world and found my guide as usual. After a short time I saw a shore with black water. I was approached by a entity that was somewhat skeletal and appeared dead in general. His eyes were huge, and he seemed afraid. I began a banishing and found that he moved back without quickly/easily. I stopped the banishing and just looked at him for a moment. I wondered what sort of entity he was, I was not sure. He then retreated slowly into water. This was also after a lengthy foot to crown chakra meditation.

My general question here is this. While in the astral, how am I to know if an enetity is the shade of a dead person, or just a wondering, perhaps dangerous spirit/demon? I had the feeling he may have been a shade, but I couldn't be certain, so I didn't want to do anything. Should I go with my gut in this kind of situation? I did not feel threatened by him in general, but I certainly want to be careful.

while in the astral, how am I to know if an enetity is the shade of a dead person, or just a wondering, perhaps dangerous spirit/demon? I had the feeling he may have been a shade, but I couldn't be certain, so I didn't want to do anything. Should I go with my gut in this kind of situation? I did not feel threatened by him in general, but I certainly want to be careful.

The tricky thing is that malevolent entities can masquerade really easily as a lesser entity or the shade of someone who has passed, and can catch you if you're not careful. Listening to your gut instinct is a good way, as it appears from what you've said that you've got a good sense of knowing what is and isn't friendly. A good tip I've found to work is to say hello, ask them their name three times, and then saying a measure of thanks to whatever divine power or sacred power you chose to work with (Specific deity or deities, the higher self, True Will). A friendly or nuetral entity usually has no problem giving you a name, a more malevolent entity will very often refuse. Saying the thank you to the sacred will also weed out out those trickier entities who will give you a false name in an attempt to try and trick you, because they often will wince or show extreme displeasure when the sacred of your choice is brought up. The same with saying the name three times, as trickier entities will get caught up in tricking you that their answer will change or deviate from what they just told you a second before.

Also, keeping a solid shield around your person helps too, and not letting it touch you is also a good tip to remember.

I hope this helps.