Conjuring Spirits Versus Direct Magick

I find that Magick falls into two overall categories. Spirit work, and direct work. Direct work involves things like honey jars, talisman creation, and ritual work, while spirit evocation tends to rely on spirits to do the work. But which is better? In my personal opinion, there needs to be a balance of both. Some things, you can hit perfectly fine with direct work, but sometimes, a spirit just makes things easier. For instance, spirit work is more 'fire and forget', allowing the spirit to go about its task. But for some people, this isn't good enough, and they prefer the direct approach. For me personally, I prefer to do a little bit of both. For example, one of my favorite methods is to evoke a spirit, and create a talisman for it to bless. Send the spirit on its way, and then apply the talisman. Or create a powder, let the appropriate spirit charge it, send the spirit to do work, and use the powder as a sort of carrier for direct work with spirit influence. You're only limited by your creativity anyways, and with Magick, there's enough options that you are free to explore.

Another example of this is my obeah work. Obeah is largely spirit based, but we also use the spirits power to charge objects. A typical obi ritual for me involves evocation and communion, and then following the advice I'm given. If they say to make a talisman, then I make one. If they say they'll handle it, I step back.

Explore, experiment, and see what works best for you. Make your path personal.