Do spirits understand english?

[VariationOf]

From my practice, spirits (at least smaller local spirits I communicate with, but it feels it is the default) would prefer to communicate by using non-verbalizable thought concepts, because words of natural languages carry secondary and implied and personal meanings which distort what we want to convey to each other.
Partly it is a me problem (I can't abstract away from all those additional meanings w/o abstracting half the language itself), but partly it is a fundamental thing caused by how languages are developed.
(...and that's why I'm thinking of creating/channeling a conlang that is expressive enough for spirit communication.)

In practice currently I use my native language for spirit-talking, but with some archaic words reintroduced (to simplify expressing certain things) and I monitor/control what meanings of words I and the spirits use. Sometimes we shift into technical documentation English (that's my default English mode), though.

Also, the fact you use some language and not another may have meaning by itself.
Even discounting expressiveness, some spirits may appreciate your using languages of their time.

 

[thiago1v1s1]

Or is their original cultural country language more appropriate?

As i read a lot of English materials.
In fact everything related to magick i've ever read is in english, i do everything using Thespian english, even if my native language is Portuguese.

If i need to do an invocation, after proceeding with the regular ritualistics, i usually goes for:

"By the heavens,
under the divine name of _____ i summon thee, oh divine spirit _______.

Behold, as Whispers clogged in a shut mouth, my only desire directed to your grace is for assistance/guidance/material needs.

And i shall ask thee to fulfil thy task, but as the water in this chalice is the most pristine i have obtained ( i usually get distilled water from the lab), i shall ask thee to leave the ones whom my love groweths everyday, as the ones my blood has relations with, in the same manner as the water dwelling on this chalice.

Now, i ask thee to go, and i guarantee that thou efforth will be rewarded with a fine compensation in the name of spreading thy influence in the world by my words".

 

[Aibinuori]

This is exactly the distinction I was trying to make. If spoken language, symbols and ritual structure are all different ways of encoding information, then perhaps the more interesting question is what remains constant when those forms change.

If two traditions use different words, symbols and procedures but report comparable results, whatever remains invariant may tell us more about the mechanism than the surface form itself.

 

[Dyn Hysbys]

All I know is, my English ancestors do not respond to Welsh, and my Welsh ancestors are largely bilingual so respond to both English and Welsh.

This is partly a matter of respect, though, using the languages the Dead used in life.
Land spirits, I notice they respond more to ritual action and attitude rather than language.

Gods etc, not really my wheel house, though English and Welsh gets a response from our local saints and Madonna/black Madonnas