13th June 2015
**Greetings, all**
As the title states, this book was written to record my observations pertaining to the mysterious spirit world, which I came into contact with a few days ago.
For the sake of protecting my identity, I will remain anonymous.
My encounter begins with finding a worn-out book in an old bookshop titled "A Beginner's Guide to Rituals."
I am a lover of mysticism and all things occult, which is why I purchased this book in the first place.
In the years I have been searching for genuine mysticism and proof of the existence of ghosts and other such mystical creatures, my efforts have always been fruitless.
That is, until I came across this book and indulged in it with my original naivety.
The book contains a model regarding the structure of rituals and a means to create a ritual yourself, including what items to use and the symbolism behind each and every item.
Towards the end of the book, there is an example ritual to help the readers get a better idea of what the rituals are supposed to look like.
The ritual was titled "Spirit World Connectivity."
According to the book, the purpose of this ritual was to enhance the connection between your physical self and your spiritual self.
The book contained a lengthy description of the spirit world, five pages long; however, it was quite vague. From what I understood, the spirit world is an all-encompassing realm that acts as a passage to a higher dimension.
The spirit world is divided into layers, the first layer being the mortal ocean. Unfortunately, the book didn't give a description or even a name for the remaining four.
The mortal ocean is described as a reflection of the mortal plane or the physical world. Although it is called a reflection, it isn't a carbon copy of the physical world; as the name describes, it is an infinitely vast ocean that contains the spirit of all living beings.
As I read through this book, I found every bit of it incredibly fascinating. When I spotted the ritual at the end, I couldn't contain my excitement.
This ritual requires one to use purified salt to outline a relatively large pentagram with simple wax candles at each point of the star.
According to the book, plain wax candles symbolize a guiding light, whereas the pentagram symbolizes connection. Together, they collectively act as an anchor and a means to return to the physical world upon sinking.
Essentially, the candles act as timers. When the last candle goes out, the ritual forces me back to the physical world.
When that is complete, you are also required to collect cacti thorns, exactly ten, a lotus, a marble that weighs 150-300 grams, black ink, and a small brush.
For the sake of saving time, I will be omitting the ritual process and go straight to the results.
Although I had no expectations for this ritual to prove real, as reality has always disappointed me, I was hoping it would be. When I completed the final step of the ritual and lit the candles, I found myself struggling to remain awake as waves of drowsiness washed over me.
When I awoke, I found myself in an ocean. The first thing I thought of doing when I came to was to hold my breath; however, when I saw my hands, which were transparent and colorless, I understood where I was.
The spirit world. The ritual was real.
After all my years of searching, I had finally found something genuine.
I suppressed my excitement as much as I could before taking a good look around.
During this time, I made certain observations regarding this place:
1. The water in this ocean seems to be far more viscous than regular water, though the texture seems the same. I came to this conclusion as it is far more difficult to maneuver here than it is in the ocean or in a pool.
2. I noticed people here, or according to the book, the spirits of people. Animals were included, but not plants, strangely enough. The book stated that the spirits of all living beings would be contained in the mortal ocean; yet despite plants being living beings, their spirits are nowhere to be seen.
3. All spirits are in the same position with their heads up, eyes shut, and all extremities pointing downwards as though they were just hanging there. Even four-legged animals would be in the same position despite their natural position being with their torsos parallel to the ground; they were instead in a similar position to humans.
4. There seems to be an absence of my sense of direction and balance. Strictly speaking, in the real world, if I were to tilt my body in any direction while keeping my feet firmly planted on the floor, I would get a reaction from my body telling me that I'm not balanced, and I would work to correct that. However, in the spirit world, even if I were to turn upside down, I would not be able to sense it. The only thing that allows me to tell which direction is upright is the spirit bodies that all seem to point in the same direction.
5. My sense of time also seems to have lost its function, as I can no longer tell how long I've been here. For example, when I travel in a certain direction towards a certain spirit body, it feels as though I've been traveling for a couple of seconds. But if I decide to move to another, it may feel like a couple of hours. I've yet to determine a pattern for this.
6. I don't know how long I've been here, but I'm starting to feel tired. Not so much muscle fatigue, but rather mental fatigue. I believe it's the result of my consciousness not being adapted to the environment. This should be the reason why the ritual required an anchor. If I were to remain here for too long, it might affect my mind in a negative fashion.
After an unknown period of time, I began to feel a tugging sensation. Each tug grew stronger than the last, and by the fifth, I had returned to my condo where I performed the ritual.
All five candles that I had lit were now extinguished. The lotus was rotting, and the marble shattered. The tugging sensation was most likely a candle going out one at a time.
Looking at the date, it was still the 13th of June, and the time was 19:53. I hadn't kept track of the time prior to the ritual, so I'm not sure how long has passed, but it definitely hasn't been more than an hour.
After returning, the first thing I thought of doing was to brag about it to my friends and fellow occultists. However, after a bit of contemplation, I decided against it. I wasn't aware if there were others around with knowledge and experience with the spirit world.
Perhaps there are even organizations that possess the ability to comfortably explore and understand the spirit world far beyond my own. Furthermore, these organizations may be malicious. Spreading knowledge, which I assume has been kept secret, would only draw unwanted attention to myself.
Either way, I am far too inexperienced and know too little to involve them in something potentially dangerous. So, for the time being, I have decided to keep quiet about my encounter.
Instead, I have decided to write a journal to record my observations and findings of the spirit world.