I think the idea of spirits as mental constructs comes from the existence of tulpa, egregores, and servitores.  The last two I liken to a sort of mental version of a golemn or homunculus while the first one is presumably a shard of the self that has been serperated and granted independence.  I think it's a lot more easier for certian occultists to say this spirit I'm summoning is simply something that was constructed through human thought patterns than admit in certian cases this probably isn't true.

I think there's a lot more than just two simple categories for spirits.  I liken it more to the complex spreadsheet that biologists have created to codify the various animals in the world.  Religions like Shintoism, Native American faiths, Roman Paganism, and Voodoo all sssm to indicate there is a plethora of spirits, many local to specific areas.  In addition, I am of the opinion that just like there are certain environments conducive to or harmful to certain animals, I am also a firm believer in the existence of spiritual environments having experienced such differences.  Overall my encounters have led me to adopt a sort of shamanistic animism.

I think the biggest distinction is not human vs. nonhuman but native vs. nonnative.  There are other worlds/dimensions/whatever you want to call them out there, and sometimes they bleed into each other.  Some entities/spirits (including myself) make it a habit of jumping between these different points.  I'm still working on how that works, although I'll release some of my findings and theories on it in a later post.

I don't think any single religion has accurately identified the cosmology of the universe.  Some have covered more of it than others but all religions on earth possess some misunderstandings are innacuriices.  I think you'd have to put various religions together as a whole and line them up along your findings within the occult before you could be 100% sure.

I think there's also a sort of heriaerchy within the spirit/entity realms of existence. Certian beings are more powerful than others and certian beings coexist with each other.  Kind of like biology but more Spirited Away and Totoro than regular science.  A lot of it is tied into nature and it's important to note that our cities and roads have their own unique vibrations and environments that overwrite and clash with some of the preexisting spiritual environments.

I definitely know that a lot of entities are extremely malicious and seek to prey upon and destroy various other creatures.  I'm fairly sure there's whole Hell dimensions chock full of such beings. The few times I almost crossed over to one were...not fun.

What all of this means I couldn't tell you.  I will say however that the one things that's always mystified me about occultists is that they never seem to set out to codify such spirits and the like.  The only ones I've heard attempting feats such as that were in the old school occult communities of the Renmaisance, Enlighentent, and the Middle Ages.

As for reincarnation and the human spirit...I really couldn't say.  The knowledge of that process seems to dissipate upon passing back into life which makes it hard for anybody to be certian.  I suspect though that purposeful Incarnation is also possible, similar to what is said to have happened with Jesus.  That process though seems to be linked very heavily to certian bloodlines.

Tulpa, n. "a being or object that is created in the imagination by visualization techniques such as in Tibetan mysticism (Dictionary.com)"

"A tulpa is an autonomous entity existing within the brain of a “host”. They are distinct from the host in that they possess their own personality, opinions, and actions, which are independent of the host’s, and are conscious entities in that they possess awareness of themselves and the world. A fully-formed tulpa is, or highly resembles to an indistinguishable point, an actual other sentient, sapient being coinhabiting with the host consciousness. (tulpa.io)

"A tulpa is an entity created in the mind, acting independently of, and parallel to your own consciousness. They are able to think, and have their own free will, emotions, and memories. In short, a tulpa is like a sentient person living in your head, separate from you. (tulpa.info)

"Tulpa is a concept in mysticism of a being or object which is created through sheer spiritual or mental discipline alone. Indian Buddhist texts call it an unreal, illusory, or mind-created apparition. The term comes from Tibetian "to build" or "to construct": Tibetan: སྤྲུལ་པ, Wylie: sprul-pa; Sanskrit: निर्मित nirmita निर्माण nirmāṇa. Tulpa is sometimes used synonymously to "magical emanation", "conjured thing", "phantom", and thoughtform. Some modern practitioners use the term to refer to a type of imaginary friend." (Wikipedia)



Egregore, n. "From French égrégore ‎(“spirit of a group”),[1] from the Ancient Greek substantive of ἐγρήγορος ‎(egrḗgoros, “wakeful”) meaning watcher, angel in the Book of Enoch; or an autonomous psychic entity composed of and influencing the thoughts of a group through people" (wiktionary)

"When a group of people pray and meditate collectively towards an objective, an Egregore of protection and blessing is sent forth, as a circle of Light that shields and safeguards the purpose of the prayers. Psychologically speaking, an Egregore is that "atmosphere” or "personality" that develops among groups independent of any of its members. It is the feeling or impression you get when walking into a neighborhood that “feels different” from the surrounding area, or when visiting a club or association that has been around for a long time. In an occult or magical context, an Egregore is a general imprint that encircles a group entity. It is the summary of the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual energies generated by two or more people vibrating together towards the same goal; being a sub-product of our personal and collective creative process as co-creators of our reality. An Egregore has developed to the point of attaining an independent existence as an entity itself or as an intentionally created entity, such as a servitor, that has grown in power well beyond its original design. To a non-religious practitioner of magic, an Egregore, and a god, or goddess, would be interchangeable terms. To a religious practitioner, an Egregore would be just below the level of a god or goddess. The vast majority of human beings both incarnated and disincarnated are, in one way or form, connected to an Egregore. (humanityhealing.net)

"An energized astral form produced consciously or unconsciously by human agency. In particular, (a) a strongly characterized form, usually an archetypal image, produced by the imaginative and emotional energies of a religious or magical group collectively, or (b) an astral shape of any kind, deliberately formulated by a magician to carry a specific force. …from a Greek word

meaning “watcher.” A thought-form created by will and visualization. A group egregore is the distinctive energy of a specific group of magicians who are working together, creating and building the same thought-form or energy-form. Any symbolic pattern that has served as a focus for human emotion and energy will build up an egregore of its own over time, and the more energy that is put into such a pattern, the more potent the egregore that will form around it. The gods and goddesses of every religion, past and present, are at the centers of vast egregore charged with specific kinds of power. This power is defined by, and contacted through, the traditional symbolism of the deity in question. An egregore is an angel, sometimes called watcher; in Hebrew the word is ir, and the concept appears in The Book of Enoch.... Thus, Irim, the city of the Nephilim is again linked with the Book of Enoch, since the Nephilim, according to that Book, were the sons of the Irim (the egregores.)....Although the Irim, the egregores, are angels on both sides of the camp - fallen angels as well as faithful ones." (beaconofmasoniclight.blogspot.com)



Servitor, n. "A Servitor is essentially a servant that you create in order to do your bidding. It is a creature created on the astral plane that performs a certain task which you require." (johnkreiter.com)





I am not terribly familiar with any of those three, so the above is not my opinion but the work written by others on the subject.



I would agree conditionally on the "native vs. nonnative" argument. Much of what I've seen indicates these entities adhere to a person, place, or a general ecosystem for a time, though there are plenty that at least appear not to. To elaborate on the "certain beings are more powerful than others" part of your post, I would liken it to dark meat vs. white meat, or potential energy vs. kinetic energy, rather than simply classing one being as "more powerful." Don't mistake what I'm saying, I too think that these "spirits" can accrue a certain amount of energy, in a particular type, that is more than that of another "spirit." But power is such a fickle and subjective thing. To elaborate, I'm saying that the potential/dark meat in the scenario is a being that has more energy stored up, but uses less of it, perhaps significantly so, and as such appears fat and lazy with its burden. On the other hand, the kinetic/white meat of the analogy are those beings that use energy more abundantly and frequently, making themselves appear greater because they exert more power.



As to why "occultists" have never seemed to codify spirits, that is because there are many different schools of thought on the matter, and those who have tried tend to have their own agenda and/or tainted perspective, such that they write a "Grimoire" full of "demons" and label every spirit they're aware of as a demon, or the equivalent for whatever region in which you live. There are some cults that think of all non-human presences as psychopomps, wardens of the afterlife whose only purpose is to intercept and guide the dead. In any event, such people mislabel things, and so instead of a catalog of all spirits, you get a book on demons, or a book on ghosts, or a book on the Yokai. To my credit though, I do have plans to begin such an endeavor later on. Just not at the present moment.



I have retained certain memories from previous lives, if you believe in that sort of thing. But the more I remember, the less I understand. All I can fathom about why I'm different now, and why I don't remember the details of reincarnation, is that it was not my choice, but a punishment forced on me by those that did the "restarting," if you will.