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Seven Steps to Spirit Writing: A Method of Spirit Communication for the Ungifted

For those of us who have never seen or heard a spirit, here's a simple method I use to connect with my loved ones in spirit and spirit guides on my own.

Bob Olson

Apr 21, 2023

105

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fountain pen on black lined paper — Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

If you’re the type who can’t predict tomorrow’s date with a calendar in your hand, have never had a dream visitation from a deceased loved one, or wouldn’t recognize a sign from spirit if it knocked you over, Spirit Writing might be for you. Like Automatic Writing but without the “automatic” part, Spirit Writing is a method of communicating with spirits through writing for those of us who don’t have the gift of mediumship.

I’m going to share with you how I began Spirit Writing myself, explain some of the lessons I learned along the way, and then I’ll teach you how to do this yourself in seven simple steps.

You might know that I began my spiritual journey about twenty-six years ago as a cynical skeptic. My father died in 1997, which motivated me to wonder where we go after death. I was a private investigator at the time, so my wife, Melissa, encouraged me to use my skills as a private eye to investigate life after death. I accepted the challenge, not realizing it would become the basis for my passion and career for the rest of my adult life.

Two years after my father’s passing, I stumbled upon a medium who presented me with compelling evidence that life after death exists and my deceased loved ones are alive in spirit. It was this reading of spirit communication that kicked my investigation of the afterlife into high gear.

Having met some gifted spiritual practitioners during my research, I realized I might be the most ungifted person in the world. I’m sure it didn’t help that my tendency was toward skepticism until I could prove to myself that something was legitimate. Nonetheless, I really wished I didn’t have to rely upon practitioners for my spiritual experiences.

I also believed strongly that no one should become dependent upon another person for his or her spiritual connection. This inspired my search for a method that I could use to link with spirit on my own—sans medium.

My Initial Experience with Spirit Writing

I initially thought I found the method I sought when I learned about a technique called Automatic Writing. In its most basic form, Automatic Writing involves sitting down with a pen and paper, or at your computer keyboard, and letting your hands and fingers begin writing messages from spirit automatically.

What I discovered, however, is that this technique is best used by those gifted few who are able to link with spirit so powerfully that spirit literally takes control of their hands and fingers and writes (or types) out these messages. As you might expect, I gave it a shot without any success. My hands and fingers didn’t even twitch.

Teachers of Automatic Writing insist that persistence is the key to success, so I continued trying it daily. Nothing happened. Then I read that it helps to meditate with some relaxing music first, so I tried that too. Again, nothing. When I learned that it could help to ask a question first and wait for an answer, I asked a question and waited. My hands remained motionless.

Readjusting My Approach Improved My Results

I was beginning to give up until a practitioner suggested that I begin writing whatever popped into my mind after typing out my question. This, the person suggested, would at least get my hands moving. I expressed my concern that I might be making it all up, but she encouraged me to do it anyway, even if the answer felt like it came from my imagination. She said there’s a connection between imagination and intuition.

I decided to try again. After typing out my question, I typed the first thought that surfaced in my mind. I immediately recognized a shift. This new approach got me to stop filtering my thoughts with skepticism and simply record them on the page.

Remarkably, an answer to my question appeared at the forefront of my mind the second I asked a question, so I typed out that answer. Then I typed out another question as if I were having a conversation with myself. Once again, an answer breezed into my awareness, so I typed it.

What I realized was that I was typing faster than I could process the information, meaning I was typing so fast that I didn’t have time to consciously judge the answers I was writing. Instead, I was purely having fun with it. I wasn’t worrying about typos, grammar, or punctuation. I typed as if I was in a race to type the most words in the least amount of time.

I’ll admit feeling a little disappointed that the voice I was hearing in my head was my own. I guess I had anticipated something else, maybe the deep, booming voice of God we often hear on television. This made me question if what I was writing was truly coming from spirit. Nevertheless, I continued until I had a couple pages written just to see how it all turned out.

When I was done, I read what I’d written. I was pleased to recognize that the answers didn’t read like anything I’d written before. In fact, the writing was too full of wisdom to be something I would ever write. Plus, it was slow and melodic in rhythm and tone, much like a hypnosis script. As you can see, my writing isn’t slow and melodic at all. This intrigued me, so I continued to practice this method for spirit communication two or three times a week.

Giving My Practice a New Name

I knew I wasn’t Automatic Writing because my fingers weren’t typing on their own. I was merely taking dictation based on the words that appeared in my mind. So I called what I was doing “Spirit Writing.”

I later learned that some people call this Inspired Writing, but I stuck with Spirit Writing because my intention for this practice was to connect with spirit guides for guidance. I later used it to connect with my deceased loved ones (see below), so again my name for this method of spirit communication resonated with me.

I should note that a few people still call this practice (as I’ve described it) Automatic Writing, which is their prerogative. Technically it’s not accurate, but there’s no harm in using that term. Nobody likes the grammar police, and using the proper name for this exercise certainly borders that annoyance. After all, it’s just a name to identify an exercise that may be quite useful to you, so who cares what we label it!

Some people might even call this channeling, which I’ve learned can irritate people known as channelers. As a writer, I think there’s an argument to be made that I often channel while I’m writing, which simply suggests that spirit is influencing what I write. Nonetheless, channelers seem to prefer the term Inspired Writing over channeling to distinguish what they do versus what I do. Just another reason I like the term Spirit Writing.

Evidence My Spirit Writing Was Real

One day, as I was working with a medium, I told her about my Spirit Writing. She told me that my deceased uncle showed up to her claiming to be the one who was coming through.

Interestingly, this uncle had never come through in a reading before and the medium knew nothing about him. I was skeptical as always, so I asked the medium for evidence that she was really in contact with my uncle.

“There’s something about my uncle that identifies him specifically, something you could never guess,” I told her. “If you can tell me what that is, I’ll know it’s him coming through in my Spirit Writing.”

Sure enough, the medium knew that my uncle had a tattoo on his foot. Voila! I was given the evidence I needed that indicated to me that my Spirit Writing was coming from spirit, not from my own mind.

At some point during my Spirit Writing practice, I became aware that a group of spirit guides took over for my uncle, because they referred to themselves in my writing as “we.” I was never given a name for them, so I simply referred to them as my guides when talking to people about my Spirit Writing.

Practice and a Whole Lot of Trust

For ungifted people like me, especially if you’ve spent most of your life as a skeptic, trusting that your Spirit Writing is really coming from spirit can be the most challenging part. Since our hands and fingers are not moving on their own, developing this trust may be more difficult than learning how to do it. I encourage you to let your guard down as I did when I began this exercise. Trust is related to our skepticism, which has proven to get in the way of many life-changing and growth-enhancing practices.

Spirit Writing takes practice and a whole lot of trust, but eventually you realize that there’s no way you could be writing this stuff. For me, I realized there was too much wisdom coming through in these writings to be coming from my mind. If I had this incredible insight inside of me, I wouldn’t need to be Spirit Writing in the first place.

Here are the seven simple steps for Spirit Writing that I promised.

Seven Simple Steps for Spirit Writing

1) Sit down with a pen and paper, or at your computer. You can also use a crayon, marker, or a piece of chalk if you want—whatever writing tool you enjoy most.

2) Begin with a prayer of intent and protection. Pray to Infinite Intelligence or your spirit guides that only “advanced, higher-energy beings who are in the light and love of God” come through in your Spirit Writing. (I personally don’t feel this is a necessary step for myself, but I know it gives some people peace of mind.)

3) Relax and/or meditate for ten or fifteen minutes. Listening to relaxing music (instrumental only) during this exercise can be helpful. What I like about using music to relax is that I use the same music all the time, so my mind knows that I’m going to be Spirit Writing the second I turn it on, which immediately sends me into the right state of mind. If you listen to your music with headphones (or earbuds), it also helps to block out distractions.

4) Think of a question that you’d like answered. It can be about a relationship, career, health, or finances—wherever you need some guidance in your life.

5) Type/write out your question. I prefer to prepare at least my first question ahead of time, yet I still type it out to get things started. My intention is that the answer to my question will come to me the second I finish typing out the question, and it always does.

6) Now begin typing the very first thoughts that come into your mind. Don’t hesitate. Don’t judge. Don’t consciously think about the answer you’re receiving. Just write or type as fast as you can to record the answer that popped into your thoughts.

I recommend that you not worry about typing mistakes, misspellings, or grammatical errors. Just keep writing. It doesn’t matter if you do this with your eyes open or closed (some people can type with their eyes closed). That’s a personal preference. Try it both ways and see what you prefer. Finally, don’t expect it to be someone else’s voice in your head. The thoughts are “inspired” by spirit, not spoken in the spirit’s voice.

7) If you’re having trouble when you try Spirit Writing for the first time, allow yourself to make up an answer. Write what you think a higher being might say to you if they were giving you advice on your question. You might be surprised to recognize that what you’re making up is actually inspired guidance from spirit. After all, that’s all inspiration is: our guides impressing upon us ideas and thoughts. Keep in mind that there’s a connection between intuition and imagination.

Connecting with Deceased Loved Ones

The first time I used Spirit Writing for communication with deceased loved ones was during a gathering of family and friends. I asked everyone to pair up with someone they didn’t know very well (or at all). The intention for the exercise was to connect with their partner’s deceased loved one. After sharing the seven steps above, I gave everyone ten minutes to write down whatever popped into their mind as a message from that spirit. The results were astonishing.

When the ten minutes had ended, I had each person read to their partner what they’d written. Within minutes, there were happy tears in a few people’s eyes. They were convinced their loved one in spirit had communicated.

I asked anyone if they wished to share with the group, and a few people explained how some of the messages were both accurate and meaningful. After this group exercise, I began using Spirit Writing myself to connect with deceased loved ones.

Further Tips to Assist You

a) Answers from spirit are always loving in nature. Spirit guides and loved ones in spirit never suggest anything hurtful, vengeful, or negative. This doesn’t mean you’ll always like the advice being given, but the advice will be for good, never bad. If you’re truly connecting with your deceased loved ones or spirit guides, the advice coming through will always be loving, virtuous, respectful, and caring.

b) Don’t ask spirit to make choices for you. Instead, ask for advice and guidance. For example, rather than ask if you should take the job that was offered to you, ask for advice on how to make the decision on your own. This means avoiding yes or no questions like, “Should I marry Ted?” Since we all have free will, spirit can only guide us toward the best choice, not tell us what choice to make.

c) Don’t test your guides or loved ones in spirit. Don’t ask questions to which you already know the answer to see if the spirits get it right. Spirit Writing is a sacred experience and should be treated as such. You need not accept the answers you get—that’s your decision—but always be respectful of the spirits who are guiding you.

d) You don’t need to know who is coming through in your Spirit Writing. It’s the advice and guidance that matters, not who is giving it. It could even be more than one spirit. The answers might be coming from your loved ones in spirit, your spirit guides or angels, or your soul (your whole self or higher self).

e) Practice your Spirit Writing for a set period (time). I prefer twenty minutes, but you might begin at ten or fifteen minutes. This is a good practice when you’re first getting started with Spirit Writing. If it fits your personality or you only have a limited amount of time to do it, set an alarm so that you aren’t looking at the clock or worrying about the time.

f) Think ahead to avoid interruptions. Ask people not to interrupt you for twenty minutes. Use the bathroom if necessary. Unplug the phone. Anticipate noises and potential interruptions that will disrupt your Spirit Writing and do your best to avoid them.

g) Practice your Spirit Writing at the same time each day. Not only will your mind be better prepared, but your loved ones in spirit and spirit guides will know that every day at ten o’clock is when you’ll be doing this.

h) After a Spirit Writing session, don’t read what you’ve written immediately. If you can, put your answers aside for a day or two before reading them. You might even have someone else read it to you so you can more easily recognize that it doesn’t sound like your voice or writing, provided you don’t mind another person reading your private messages. You’ll be amazed at how different your Spirit Writing reads in comparison to your normal voice and writing style.

i) Teaching this is better than doing it for others. Although you might be able to connect with your friend’s spirits after you get good at this, I believe it’s better to teach your friend how to do this on their own rather than have them rely upon you for all their spirit communication. In my opinion, the benefit of this practice is that it allows people to connect with their loved ones in spirit and spirit guides on their own. Leave the readings of other people to professional psychics and mediums.

Final Thoughts

In conclusion, practice makes perfect, as it does with so many new abilities. The key here is to keep doing this regularly for at least thirty days. If Spirit Writing isn’t for you after a month, then maybe it isn’t for you. However, I haven’t taught this to one person who hasn’t experienced thought-provoking, if not profound, results. Plus, your Spirit Writing will keep improving with practice.

I’ve been practicing Spirit Writing for about twenty-two years. While I continue to enjoy readings with psychics and mediums periodically, I use Spirit Writing to stay connected with my higher self (my whole self) routinely. It helps me to feel in tune with my spiritual essence, which enhances my intuition. It also assists me in making choices when I’m struggling. It’s been such a blessing to have Spirit Writing in my life that I wanted to share it with you.

Thank you for reading my article, and I wish you amazing insight and experiences with your new Spirit Writing practice. I’d love to hear from you in the comments section.

My warmest wishes,
Bob