After 50 years of seeking (and finding), I've experienced many manifestations with varying degrees of empirical evidence, from that internal "what's this?" feeling to visible and audible presence and objects moved witnessed by others.
I think the answer to your question is that it depends on the type and particulars of the entity/form, the situation and the person(s) involved.
Invocation and summoning are obvious - they show up because you've requested or even made them come.
If they are human and operating freely, people we loved or spirits who are interested in our good will come.
Some manifestations are almost "automatic," forms that repeat or act from a limited range of activity, such as embedded trauma clusters (moaning ghosts, for example). There can but not always be some back and forth, as if our energy affects their responses. But it's not as if they are "living," independent entities.
Some actually malevolent entities exist, and they show up when they sense a vulnerability or opportunity to make mischief or worse. The infamous "feeding off bad energy/strong emotions" can keep them around. I don't subscribe at all to the belief that this is a prevalent thing among us, or that people are "attached to" often, or that some of the cultic beliefs of some money-focused "religions" on the subject are true.
At other times, we're the ones showing up, not them. They're doing their thing and somehow we enter their time/space. In such cases it's almost like we're the haunts, not them! Their response when the borders are thin and we mingle inadvertently depends on their, and our, reactions.
And poltergeists are different, because usually the presence is more temporal and tied to current or fairly recent human energies that take an independent motive and force.
And our own awareness, energy and skills are a big part of things. If we know what we're doing and open our psychic/occult doorways, passage is easier. I think we can sometimes overdo it with protections and such. (I say that with a house with wards and redirections and invocations in place to keep what I want out out! - again, my experience)
However if one is working for contact one does have to be sure that motives, perimeters and limits are set. It can be as easy as a "felt" prayer (Words alone are meaningless.) When working more heavily and focused rituals of invocation and purpose (for direct contact or "presence" for working more sophisticated magick), our protectives are a major part of the ritual. And those presences are part of the protection, too - multi-layered.
I don't know if this is helpful and it's just from my sense of things. Learning to dismiss the unwanted while welcoming the wanted is the key. We have a right to say who and what is in our space, physical, emotional, mental and spiritual.
After 50 years of seeking (and finding), I've experienced many manifestations with varying degrees of empirical evidence, from that internal "what's this?" feeling to visible and audible presence and objects moved witnessed by others.
I think the answer to your question is that it depends on the type and particulars of the entity/form, the situation and the person(s) involved.
Invocation and summoning are obvious - they show up because you've requested or even made them come.
If they are human and operating freely, people we loved or spirits who are interested in our good will come.
Some manifestations are almost "automatic," forms that repeat or act from a limited range of activity, such as embedded trauma clusters (moaning ghosts, for example). There can but not always be some back and forth, as if our energy affects their responses. But it's not as if they are "living," independent entities.
Some actually malevolent entities exist, and they show up when they sense a vulnerability or opportunity to make mischief or worse. The infamous "feeding off bad energy/strong emotions" can keep them around. I don't subscribe at all to the belief that this is a prevalent thing among us, or that people are "attached to" often, or that some of the cultic beliefs of some money-focused "religions" on the subject are true.
At other times, we're the ones showing up, not them. They're doing their thing and somehow we enter their time/space. In such cases it's almost like we're the haunts, not them! Their response when the borders are thin and we mingle inadvertently depends on their, and our, reactions.
And poltergeists are different, because usually the presence is more temporal and tied to current or fairly recent human energies that take an independent motive and force.
And our own awareness, energy and skills are a big part of things. If we know what we're doing and open our psychic/occult doorways, passage is easier. I think we can sometimes overdo it with protections and such. (I say that with a house with wards and redirections and invocations in place to keep what I want out out! - again, my experience)
However if one is working for contact one does have to be sure that motives, perimeters and limits are set. It can be as easy as a "felt" prayer (Words alone are meaningless.) When working more heavily and focused rituals of invocation and purpose (for direct contact or "presence" for working more sophisticated magick), our protectives are a major part of the ritual. And those presences are part of the protection, too - multi-layered.
I don't know if this is helpful and it's just from my sense of things. Learning to dismiss the unwanted while welcoming the wanted is the key. We have a right to say who and what is in our space, physical, emotional, mental and spiritual.