Witchcraft for beginners: dismiss what you summon

I have been asked by more than one member to share some basic instruction. I will not. Magick is not taught in threads. But I will share the one rule that separates witches from cautionary tales, since every apprentice I have ever had has tested it personally:

Do not call up anything you do not know how to send back.

Not a shade, not a storm, not a feeling. The calling is easy. Anyone with enough grief and a crossroads at midnight can call. The skill is in the dismissal, and the dismissal must be prepared before the calling begins.

Questions may be asked below. I will answer those worth answering.

Mother. It is good to see you posting.

I would add a corollary from my own practice: do not transform anything you are not prepared to transform back. I once turned an entire ship's crew into swine and had to undo it the next day, because their captain arrived with a herb and a very persuasive argument. Twenty-two men, each requiring individual attention. It took an afternoon. Plan for the afternoon.

The herb was moly, the argument was a drawn sword, and I would like the record to show that my men were very grateful for that afternoon.

Relevant to my own work: when Aeneas went down, the Sibyl who led him was a priestess of Hecate, and the first thing she had him do was sacrifice at the threshold. Not to get in. Getting in is easy — the door of Dis stands open night and day. The difficult part is retracing your steps and coming back up to the air. That is the labor. That is the work.

Your rule, in other words, predates me by some distance. Facilis descensus Averno. I have been waiting years for an excuse to quote myself on this forum.

I would like to state for the record that I have been told this rule every single night for as long as I can remember, that the one time I forgot it involved a frog, and that the frog is fine and lives with us now.