Little Book of SPIRIT COMMUNICATION
LLEWELLYN’S
Little Book of
SPIRIT COMMUNICATION
STERLING MOON
Sterling Moon (she/her) is a full-time tarot reader, psychic medium, folk magician, animal communicator, podcaster, and educator on the mystical and strange. She is the author of Talking to Spirits: A Modern Medium’s Practical Advice for Spirit Communication (Llewellyn, 2023) as well as several self-published works.
Sterling has been working with clients and teaching professionally since 2013. She started a school called the Sterling Moon Divination Academy in
©
Sterling Moon
2021, has been a teacher with Ritualcravt School since 2017, and offers workshops around the country. She hosts annual events for her school’s alumni at haunted locations in Colorado and around the United States. Sterling also spent almost twenty years as a professional advocate for victims and survivors of crime and holds a Master’s Degree in Advocacy and Political Leadership.
Llewellyn’s Little Book of Spirit Communication Copyright © 2025 Sterling Moon. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever, including internet usage, without written permission from Llewellyn Worldwide Ltd., except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner for the purpose of training artificial intelligence technologies or systems.
first edition
First Printing, 2025
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Cover design by Shira Atakpu
Interior art by Llewellyn Art Department
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ISBN: 978-0-7387-7927-0
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This book is dedicated to the ancestors of the traditions of spirit communication and those who seek to walk in—and beyond—their footsteps.
Contents
List of Exercises and Spirit Communication Steps xii
Acknowledgments xiii
Author’s Note xv
Introduction 1
Chapter 1: What Is a Spirit? 13
Chapter 2: History of Spirit Communication 43
Chapter 3: How Spirits Communicate and How We Hear Them 67
Chapter 4: Spirit Communication 101 87
Chapter 5: Tools and Experiments 115
Chapter 6: Hauntings 101 137
Chapter 7: Benefits and Risks of Spirit Communication 163
Conclusion 179
Bibliography 183
Exercises and Spirit Communication Steps
1. Exercise for Understanding Your Psychic Senses 76
2. Sample Spirit Communication Setup 93
3. Establishing Your Baseline 96
4. Getting to a Neutral State 100
5. Grounding and Protecting Techniques 101
6. How to Talk to Spirits 103
7. Closing Your Session 107
8. Release and Cleansing 109
9. Reconnecting with the Physical World 114
Acknowledgments
Nothing in this world—and maybe the next—is done completely alone. This book wouldn’t have been possible without support from the following lovely people.
Scott “LB” Bergman, my wonderful husband and best friend—thank you for accepting the increasingly eccentric vibe I bring to our lives and for always making space for my writing. I love you to the moon and back.
Townes Harris-Bergman, my favorite person—thank you for being open-minded and curious. I love you.
My mediumship clients—thank you for trusting me with this work. It’s an honor to sit with you.
My students—I learn so much alongside you all. Thank you for being part of our community and for pushing the limits of how we can live in partnership with the spirit world.
The team at Llewellyn—thank you to everyone I have had the privilege of working with. Sharing my writing has been an empowering experience with you all at my side. I extend additional gratitude to Amy Glaser. Thank you for being so encouraging and kind over the years, Amy. Your support opened my world in ways I didn’t know were possible.
Courtney Block—thank you for taking time out of your vacation to help me track down a potentially nonexistent Eleanor Sidgwick quote and for the invaluable research tips and resources you share so graciously.
acknowledgments
Author’s Note
Before we begin, I want to introduce myself as your author and share a bit about my own spirit communication journey.
In 2013, I started using the name Sterling Moon when I began reading tarot cards professionally, after eighteen years of working with the tarot as a hobby. I found that I was quite good at not just interpreting the cards but at delivering seemingly unrelated messages coming from somewhere else. I’d always had weird things happen
author’s note around me, but there had never been any consistency. In 2016, I was blessed with the birth of my son and, to put it bluntly, my mediumship and psychic gifts exploded like a melon dropped on pavement. Apparently, childbirth and other dramatic events can amplify latent spiritual gifts for some people. In my early days of figuring out what to do with these experiences—which included, to name just a few, things moving in the home, catching glimpses of spirits out in the world, and receiving messages that turned out to be accurate—I struggled to find helpful books and resources. I spent much of my limited free time as a new mother with a full-time career in a very different field exploring haunted spaces and trying to make sense of how I was receiving these messages. I also landed myself in a fair number of tricky situations. Situations I hope you will avoid through the steps laid out in this book!
Early in my spirit communication journey, I had no idea that what I was experiencing had history, theory, techniques, and, more importantly, was way more common than I thought. When I was a kid, my family was always staying in haunted spaces, taking pictures, and trying to capture electronic voice phenomena. Those were my earliest spirit communication exercises, and I had
so much fun reconnecting with those practices when I realized the presence of spirits was going to play a bigger role in my life. Not to mention, the gadgets and devices that are now available are really fun. Unfortunately, one of the things I also discovered is that the paranormal field isn’t always kind to those who practice spirit communication via mediumship. Digging into the history, some of which is shared in this book, helped me understand why and kindled a commitment within me to build bridges between mediums and those interested in paranormal exploration wherever possible.
I have also been blessed to connect with mentors skilled in traditional witchcraft and different folk magic traditions. These were the practices that taught me about home warding, spiritual hygiene, spirit conjuration, spirits of the earth, the nuances of negative and nefarious spirits, removal of attachments, and more effectively managing haunted spaces. However, I once again found that barriers existed between those working with these practices, those who identified as psychics or mediums, and those who consider themselves paranormal investigators. I’ve always found this to be counterproductive and a bit silly. I believe that we can expand our horizons significantly when we
author’s note
author’s note are willing to blend and braid techniques from different disciplines, including psychic development, classic mediumship techniques, magical and folkloric practices, and utilization of paranormal exploration tools and strategies. Last, it feels important to share that, in my own spirit communication work, the interconnection with processing grief and loss is rarely far from my mind. I experienced the death of important people in my life at a much earlier age than many of my peers and spent twenty years as an advocate for victims of crime and their surviving loved ones. I know some of you will also come to this book as survivors of grief and loss. I hope you especially will find some comfort within these pages. Spirit communication can bring us peace and assist with our healing process, but I will be the first to acknowledge that it can never fill the void left by the death of our loved ones. Unfortunately, some people try to do just that, and it can be a slippery slope. I know the task of living after the death of someone we love can feel insurmountable. I believe that spirit communication can give us hope that we will be reunited with our loved ones again. That hope can help us put one foot in front of the other until we find ourselves living fully once again.
Regardless of what led you to find this book in your hands, may you find helpful tips and a fascinating journey ahead of you. I hope you enjoy Llewellyn’s Little Book of Spirit Communication!
Sterling Moon
December 2024
author’s note
Introduction
The term spirit communication most likely brings up automatic preconceptions. You may picture a séance in a candlelit room where the bereaved are focused on communing with spirits of their deceased loved ones or a group of paranormal investigators with battery-powered gadgets lighting up to indicate answers from beyond. You may be someone who has had pleasant or profound experiences connecting with loved ones who have died. Perhaps your mind goes to Ouija board experiments with
disastrous consequences. All these experiences are valid, yet spirit communication is a term that casts a surprisingly wide net. Humans have crafted their lives around belief in spirits for centuries. Our ancestors’ conviction that evil spirits were responsible for a poor harvest, ancient practices of leaving offerings to the fairy folk for good luck, or a belief that one’s beloved grandmother checks in on them from time to time decades after her death are all connected to spirit communication. What lies beyond our physical reality is a subject that continues to fascinate and divide humanity. Llewellyn’s Little Book of Spirit Communication will give you a wellrounded introduction to the theories, traditions, controversies, and modern approaches surrounding this topic. You will also be presented with exercises, experiments, and safety considerations so you can explore spirit communication on your own.
Who This Book Is For
This book will benefit anyone who is interested in the spirit realm. If you find yourself with Llewellyn’s Little Book of Spirit Communication in your hands, trust that this book was written for you. That said, people interested in spirit
communication tend to fall into or gravitate toward one of the following categories:
Survivors of Grief and Loss. If you have found yourself here because you’ve lost someone you love, you may be hoping to find support in connecting with the person who has died or for help making sense of messages and signs you have received.
Natural Mediums. You are already sensitive to the presence of spirits and looking for information to support you in these experiences. You may not yet have the tools to feel comfortable calling yourself a medium, but you are able to understand that spirits are attempting to communicate with you, even if their messages and strategies don’t always make sense. You likely have tried to ignore their presence, but it doesn’t make the experiences go away.
Paranormal Seekers. You are interested in learning about paranormal phenomena and would like to learn how to communicate with spirits. You may be interested in paranormal investigation and haunted locations.You are interested in having spirit communication experiences using ghost hunting devices and experiments and would like to be able to validate those experiences through research.
Magical Explorers. Working with spirits is inevitable when practicing or studying magic and the occult. This
encompasses practices such as working with plant spirits as an animist, invoking spirits through ceremonial ritual or in folkloric healing practices, honoring one’s ancestors, celebrating the feast day of a folk saint, working with the planets as deities, and more.
Clearly, there are many ways to approach communicating with spirits. While everyone comes at their interactions with spirits from different perspectives, all will benefit from a similar baseline of information, which this book will provide. There will also be notes throughout with tips and suggestions that are meant to specifically meet the needs of those falling into these four categories.
A Bit About Terminology
At its core, spirit communication is simply connecting with something or someone who does not have a physical body. There are ways to communicate with spirits using only what our five primary senses can detect, often through the use of experiments and devices used for paranormal investigation. However, while this book will discuss paranormal investigative strategies and tools, the emphasis will be on spirit communication via mediumship techniques. Hopefully, with a well-rounded introduction to the possibilities
available to you, you will find your own style that incorporates what works best for you as an individual.
At times throughout this book, the term mediumship will be used interchangeably with spirit communication . People who practice mediumship are, not surprisingly, called mediums. In most circumstances, the word medium means “in-between,” “a halfway point,” or “the conduit by which something can occur.” All these meanings apply, as mediums serve as a facilitator and go-between for the living and the spirit realm.
There are three kinds of mediumship: mental, physical, and trance. These primarily refer to the way the medium’s gifts manifest. Although the primary terms that will be used throughout this book are spirit communication and mediumship, here’s a breakdown of what these terms mean.
Mental mediumship. This is the type of mediumship and spirit communication that most people experience and what is largely discussed throughout this book. Mental mediumship involves messages from spirits that come through the psychic or Clair senses, which are connected to inner images, sounds, sensations, and so on. This is discussed in chapter 3.
Physical mediumship. Physical mediumship is where messages from spirits manifest in the physical world.
Physical mediums often experience rapping or knocking as a response to questions, changes in temperature, and movement of items in their vicinity. Some physical mediums experience changes in their physical appearance while channeling, with those around them noting that their faces appear to change shape. At the height of the Spiritualist movement, some physical mediums even claimed to exude ectoplasm. Unfortunately, this often turned out to be trickery that involved swallowing and regurgitating substances such as cheesecloth and paper. This will be discussed in chapter 2, when we get into the history and the controversy that vexed—and was often brought on by—mediums who were creating fraudulent spiritual phenomena.
Trance mediumship. There is a range of trance that mediums can access to communicate with spirits. For example, a light trance allows mediums to hear the messages as they are conveyed but they are also aware and in control of their bodies and minds. Full trance mediums allow the spirits they are communicating with to take the wheel, so to speak. They may not remember the communication that takes place and some even require the presence of another person who can assist with the spirit communication and guide the medium out of the trance.
This book will also reference psychic abilities, which are the senses mediums use to access messages from spirits. As living humans, much of our ability to perceive and interact with the world around us is structured around our five primary senses—touch, sight, hearing, taste, and smell. However, there are times when we get information via our subtle senses. For example, many of us have had the experience of just knowing that we need to contact a loved one immediately only to find out that something momentous occurred in their lives. Others may have had the experience of having a dream that came true. Perhaps you’ve had the experience of hearing a disembodied voice in a reportedly haunted location that no one else could hear or you smelled a quick puff of perfume that came out of nowhere and disappeared almost as quickly. All of these can be indicative of psychic or Clair senses. It’s commonly said that all mediums are psychics, but not all psychics are mediums. We’ll talk about this more in chapter 3.
Why Practice Spirit Communication?
People have a variety of reasons for exploring spirit communication. For some, it boils down to sheer curiosity, thrill seeking, or the desire to have a paranormal or magical experience. When grief and loss are the catalyst for
others to seek out connection, there are often things left unsaid when someone dies. Those of us left behind can find comfort and closure through connection with our loved ones through spirit communication. Whether something we pursue on our own or with the help of an experienced and vetted medium, it can offer an opportunity to address what is or feels like unfinished business. Spirits themselves may be the driving force in pursuing a conversation. It is not uncommon for spirits who have something to say to reach out in the ways they can. This may be through sending songs or metaphoric messages via objects, images, or phrases that are found repeatedly that only make sense to the person receiving them. In other cases, spirits perpetuate classic haunted house phenomena, which can be a sign that they want to make their presence known to the living. While horror movies have done a good job of convincing many people that haunted spaces are filled with malintent, many times the spirits making themselves known are benign or even helpful. For example, the legendary Pink Palace of Louisville, Kentucky, is said to be home to the spirit of a man named Mr. George Avery, who appears to alert the living to danger. Mr. Avery is credited with alerting living residents to a house fire and even prompted a tenant to get out of a
warm bath moments before a brick was thrown through the window by burglars.1
Beyond communicating with spirits that are unique to a place or person, mediumship and spirit communication can connect us to deeper meaning and change how we lead our lives. Having faith that our existence doesn’t end at death, or at least curiosity in the possibility, can help us be brave and inspire us to take chances that we may not have pursued otherwise.
It’s commonly said that there are three big questions facing humanity:
• Where did we come from?
• Why are we here?
• Where are we going?
Although the world is filled with people who claim to have the answers, the truth is that no one knows for sure. The blessing within that mystery is that it gives us all the chance to determine what we believe in an authentic way. You certainly aren’t going to find answers to these existential questions within these pages. However, we are living in a time when more people are forging their own path as
1. If you ever have the chance to take a ghost tour with Louisville Historic Tours, you will hear the full story and more!
it relates to their spirituality. What is contained here is a concise overview of some of the weird and wonderful theories of what may exist outside the limited scope of our physical reality. Allow it to spark your sense of wonder and curiosity.
Interest in spirit communication is also inherently connected to these questions:
• What is a spirit?
• What is a soul?
• How is it possible that the spirit can survive the death of a physical body?
While these are, once again, unanswerable questions for those of us still on this mortal plane, when we take the leap of believing that there is something else out there, it can help bring more meaning to our daily lives. Belief in the survival of our spirits after death can lead us to question whether we are in this physical reality for a reason, and feeling that we are connected to something larger than ourselves can help us lead our lives with more meaning. Things get even more interesting when we consider the types of spirits that could exist beyond that of the human dead, the possibility of reincarnation, different dimensions, and more. Many people find that curiosity
about communicating with ghosts can lead to some other very interesting avenues of exploration—many of which we will touch on together through this book.
How to Use This Book
Llewellyn’s Little Book of Spirit Communication is meant to be your companion as you learn about the fundamentals of talking to spirits. You may find it helpful to have a journal handy as you work your way through this book. Make notes of the topics that light you up so you can continue to learn.You will also find it helpful to take notes on your spirit communication experiences as you practice the exercises in this book.
Most importantly, let this book inspire your curiosity. Attempting to connect with anyone or anything in the spiritual world must be approached with care, but there is also a lot of wonder and fun to be had in that process.
Chapter 1
What Is a Spirit?
We can’t talk about spirit communication without considering the possibilities falling under the umbrella of what a spirit could be. To do this, it’s important to unpack your worldview, belief system, and the limits to which you are willing to stretch your imagination.
The first question to ask yourself is this: What do you think a spirit is? You may find it helpful to use that question as a journal prompt or to give yourself ten minutes to think about your answer and the basis for how you got there.
You may find the initial answer that comes to your mind is closely linked with the spiritual beliefs you currently hold or those that you were raised with. For example, people raised in a monotheistic religion may find those teachings at odds with the existence of ghosts but feel connection with an ultimate divine creator and hold genuine fear and belief in demons. Others with a foundation in religions such as Buddhism or Hinduism may be more comfortable with the ideas of ghosts, reincarnation, and lives between lives. People who come from a pagan belief system may feel comfortable with nature-based spirits and the old gods, but scoff at the concept of saints and angels. Others may not be sure if our souls survive the death of our bodies but 100 percent believe in multiple dimensions, Bigfoot, and the existence of extraterrestrials. It’s important to not write any of these off because we don’t yet know what exists.
How Far Can You Stretch Your Imagination?
Generally, when most of us consider the spirit world, our minds turn first to spirits of the human dead—what we usually think of as ghosts. While none of us can know with 100 percent certainty what exists outside this physical reality, the possibilities get broader and much weirder than
1 that. Could it be that anything that lives and dies has a spirit that could be communicated with? That would include everything from our beloved furry family members, the mosquito you squashed for biting you, the trees that were bulldozed to make way for a new apartment building in your neighborhood, to the dried herbs that are used in your nighttime tea. The concept that everything has a spirit is the general principle behind something called animism. Animistic beliefs are found across the world and have existed throughout history. While some may consider the idea that everything has a spirit outdated or even primitive, it is the foundation of many folkloric stories and belief systems across the world.
Things get even stranger when we consider spirits of intelligent beings that have never been human. Horror movies and paranormal reality shows have done a good job of convincing many people that if a spirit isn’t that of a deceased person, it must be a demonic entity. However, there are parts of the world where belief in elves and fairies is alive and well, and we are living in a time when even governments are no longer denying the possibility of extraterrestrials. Interest in cryptids and the nonlinear nature of time is at an all-time high … and that just scratches the surface. While we won’t know what else is out there until
we end our journey on this earthly plane—and it’s possible that even then we may only get a glimpse—there are fascinating possibilities to consider. Let’s get into some of the more prevalent theories.
Types of Spirits
As we’ve already touched on, everything that lives and dies could theoretically have a spirit that survives the death of their living body. Let’s start with the concept that is closest to us all: spirits of the human dead. For simplicity’s sake, we’ll just call them human ghosts.
It’s impossible to believe in the existence of human ghosts without considering how the spirit survives the death of the human body. This can kick off even more existential questions:
• Why do some spirits stick around?
• Where do the others go?
Everyone will have their own ideas about what the answer may be. Here are some of the theories about the types of human ghosts walking among us.
Unaware They Died
In some cases, people may not be immediately aware they died. This can occur in instances of sudden or traumatic deaths, when the death comes as such a shock that the person needs time to come to terms with what has happened. Some spirits who died in a state of confusion, such as those suffering from dementia or those who died while intoxicated, may also need time to adapt to the death of their physical body.
Spirits who are unaware they have died may appear to be stuck in a loop, going about what used to be old routines in their living form. This could perhaps manifest as consistent paranormal activity that could be confused with something referred to as a residual haunting. This is discussed further in chapter 6.
It is widely believed that there are spirits who are available to help someone who has recently died to whatever comes next. However, that does not necessarily mean all spirits are going to adapt gracefully to their death. It is believed that most human ghosts come out of this fog on their own, accepting the help that is readily available when they are ready.
Intranquil Spirits
We never know how much time we have in these human bodies, and unfortunately, stories abound of people who share the regrets they have about things they wished they would have said and done before the end of their lives. Many tales involve spirits who struggle to let go of their human lives because they have messages that need to be delivered to the living, loose ends that need to be tied up before they can go on to whatever is next, and those who refuse to leave spaces they once called their own. In magical circles, these are often called intranquil spirits or the restless dead.
These types of human ghosts may cause disturbances for the living, but their intentions will vary. While some may resent the living and strive to make their lives uncomfortable, others may simply be trying to get the attention of those in their proximity. When trying to engage with what appears to be a restless spirit, a common predicament that people can find themselves in centers around the question of, “How can I help?” This can very quickly turn to determination to “cross over” the restless spirits. However, attempts to do so without a conversation about what
is keeping them connected to the realm of the living can often make things worse. Chapter 4 will present options for how to communicate with spirits. For now, consider that, when we encounter a spirit that asks for help, we should absolutely do what we can, within reason. However, the desire to help must coexist with other equally important considerations. Specifically, while the living have the right to be safe and have boundaries with human ghosts and other spirits, human ghosts may still be here for a reason and should be treated as sovereign beings.
Intranquil spirits, especially those connected to you or places you live or work, can be scary, obnoxious, and everything in between. Sometimes what seems scary is the proverbial cry for help from a being desperate to be acknowledged, heard, and seen. Other times, what seems scary is 100 percent intended to be just that. Later on, we will talk about how to set boundaries and, if it feels necessary, ways you can offer to help ease their restlessness. We will also discuss strategies for when a firm hand is needed, such as when spirits are not respecting boundaries or causing harm.
Types of Spirits
Categorization and labels help us make sense of the world around us but can be limiting when we are trying to wrap our minds around topics that are, at their core, unexplainable. That said, here are some of the generally accepted types of spirits you may encounter.
• Spirits of the human dead
• Spirits of anything that can live and die
• Malevolent beings that have never been human (i.e., demons)
• Earth-based or element-based spirits such as gnomes, sylphs, sprites, and djinn
• Cryptids
• Extraterrestrials
• Divine beings like gods, guides, saints, and angels
• Egregores and thoughtforms
Body, Mind & Spirit / Spirit Communication
rofessional medium Sterling Moon provides a well-rounded introduction to spirit communication in this concise primer. She reveals the history of spirit communication, the fundamentals of talking to spirits, and an overview of the three different kinds of mediumship: mental, physical, and trance. Sterling helps you connect with the nonphysical realm through exercises, sensory experiments, and more.
$14.99 US
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