Spirit Speak: Knowing and Understanding Spirit Guides, Ancestors, Ghosts, Angels, and the Divine

TL;DR - Good info, but ostentatious execution.The book reminds me of the dry anthropology texts I read in college. It's not even that the concepts are difficult to grasp, so much as much of the writing is needlessly convoluted. Here's an example:"As was noted earlier, the starting values of the communications may be derived by the characteristics of the practitioner, but these can be greatly modified through the use of magick. The energetic structures that are external to the practitioner, which ceremony and ritual provide, can offer assistance that is comparable to some common tools that humans use. " (from p. 53)So, um, yeah... It's not ALL like that, but enough of it is to the point that some days, I just don't feel like reading it.Dominguez also offers a disheartening mixed message, purporting to teach the reader, while at the same time apparently harboring the opinion that not everyone has the innate capability to work with spirits. He just leaves me confused when, on page 20--not on the back cover, so people can save their money, if need be--he compares spirit work to musicianship, saying, "It is true in both spirit contact and music that if you do not have the ear for it, no amount of study will suffice." Wtf...

Whether the discarnate spirit is an ancestor, a divinity, an angel, or a wandering ghost, Spirit Speak is the single best guidebook currently available for people working with spirits, or aspiring to do so.I am a shamanic healer and teacher of shamanism in the Washington, DC area. Spirit Speak is comparable to a Roger Tory Peterson Guide to Spirits. Ivo Dominguez, Jr. has deep occult knowledge and excellent "sight". His erudition and his psychic abilities inform every page of Spirit Speak.This is challenging subject matter. Many people in our world either do not believe in or cannot sense spirits, and have no idea how to work with them appropriately. This book provides an logical framework for analyzing spirit activities and relationships of many different varieties. It is written in clear, concise language appropriate for educated people.The author is a Wiccan priest. He has given us a book free from religious bias, free from New Age delusions, and free from nonsensical fantasy, all three of which I have found to be widespread in other books on working with spirits. The author takes his cues from the beliefs of occultists, ideas which have percolated on the spiritual fringes of our society since the 19th century in some cases.As a person with an undergrad major in anthropology, the framework of spirit activities and relationships described in Spirit Speak works well cross-culturally. I have tested the information in Spirit Speak extensively in my shamanic healing practice: I have successfully worked with clients from all over the world as a Washington Witchdoctor, people from Africa, Asia, Europe, Oceania, the Caribbean......there's someone from everywhere in Washington, DC, and some of them found me when they needed a spirit worker to help them.I've been working with spirits actively since 1988, when I first learned shamanic journey, and have just admitted the fourth graduating class of students to my two year training program in November 2015. I am teaching people initiated into a wide variety of magical traditions, and none. I am teaching people who, in most cases, have completed college, and in many cases, have completed graduate or professional post-graduate programs. This book speaks easily to a highly educated audience. I just sent a copy to a friend who's a spirit worker and a retired physics professor at the university level. Spirit Speak makes sense to scientists as well as poets.Over the course of this book's existence, I have bought more than thirty copies as gifts for fellow spirit workers. Spirit Speak is the only required book in my shamanic training program. Brilliant and enlightening, I have based a successful shamanic practice on what I learned from this book, in conjunction with many years' training from the renowned shamanic teacher Sandra Ingerman. Highly recommended.

Spirit Speak is a very good exploration of theories concerning all manner of Spirits large and small to all in between. The chapter on Ghosts and Ancestors are worth the price of admission alone. I don't hold the same conclusions on several matters put forward in this book, but I respect each and every idea must be considered and properly experienced in experimentation. What this book will do is prepare the seeker to communicate or at least understand deeper truths about the communication with spirits. Spirit Speak belongs on the shelves and in the minds of all who wish to know more of spirits. I only wish I could give this a 4.75 rating to reflect our minor differences. Buy this book. Read it. Constemplate, meditate, and experiment!

A friend raved over this book, but should not be surprised at the author's intellectual approach as my friend is the same. Used to be, but am no longer. and so I put this book aside without really getting into it in depth. Am giving it 4 stars based on her recommendation. If you are into the analytical aspect of your spirituality, you will love this book as she does. If you are more for experience and intuition, don't bother.

Great book on the Spirits and the great inner cornucopia of vast varieties and one of the most incisive descriptions of the differences between talents and types of people, as well as the spiritual worlds they connect to. This was a surprisingly rich little book, and it helped me to understand myself and the way I relate to the world around me in a profound way. It's a no-nonsense type book--and THAT I consider very needful concerning spirit topics and practice. It's what I look for in books on magical topics.

It’s written in a very clunky way. Difficult to read. I couldn’t finish it. This is my least favorite book by this author.

The author, Ivo Dominguez Jr., is clearly a master of spirit communications. His breadth of knowledge exceeds that of anyone I have ever read or personally studied with. Altho my tradition is different that his, this did not impede my ability to comprehend the discourse or the supporting examples provided. Most of all, because his knowledge is at such a high level, he was able to clarify why I became frustrated when I narrowed my focus specifically to ancestor energy through mediumship. This book is truly a gift. I have been sharing it with everyone I know in my Spiritual community. We have been selecting one chapter for discussion every month for several months now. There is so much meaty information within, you would do yourself a disservice by not allowing time to digest between readings and/or discussions.