well I am going to try the ouija board tonight to summon my spirit guide among others.. I heard that is the most direct way to summon something and its not too rude as the spirit has the choice whether to show up or not. will keep you posted!
Who are you trying to summon? How long have you been working with that entity? Did said entity explain to you how to summon him or her? If you haven't followed the basics for a while, you're not going to succeed with your summoning spell. Or to clarify better - you'll succeed but you won't get who you want. Also some are more finicky than others and if you deviate from the traditional ways, they just aren't coming.
You said you're new so I would advise getting a few copies of different works to figure out which system of summoning you feel comfortable using. You can probably invoke early on - that just involves basically asking an entity to listen to you. A form of prayer. Summoning one before you takes a lot of practice and knowing what you're doing. Don't let this put you off though. It's worth it.
Yes you should still practice your basics first before trying to summon any kind of spirit. But while your doing basics you can learn more about your spirit guide and learn how to create spells.
Thanks for the info! I'm trying to summon either a dragon or wolf companion. My life hasn't really been a great one, so i've lost most of my faith in miracles and spiritual things. But now i'm trying to bring the old me back, and thought summoning a companion would help me out with my stress and depression (I'm 17 and still living with my parents so I can't get a dog. And the dog we have isn't really that comforting since it's not as intelligent as a dragon or wolf is).
I think summoning spells are not a good idea... I heard it's good for some, but bad for others... Be sure it's in a ritualistic way and you shall be fine...