Why does summoning a departed soul require repeated confirmation rather than merely completing a ritual?

Because the aim is to find this particular deceased person. Completing the invocation still requires confirming they have truly been found, rather than another being or no one at all. Dao Xuan and I specifically emphasized repeated confirmation instead of simply finishing the ritual.

In our religious experience, some who die suddenly may not know they have died or where to go. Summoning seeks their energy and brings it together so divine help with deliverance can follow. This also concerns whether funeral-hall and ceremony invocations actually reach the intended person, so confirmation before and after cannot be omitted.

Accidental deaths require particular care. I also remind ritual masters and Taoist priests to take this seriously. Repeating it many times does not justify following procedures without truly understanding the person's condition.

In a traffic-accident case I handled, we felt the ritual's energy could not reach the person fully, so we reviewed the summoning. Even at the accident site we sensed nothing, then discovered the energy was with the towed vehicle. We went to its location to help summon the soul. This experience reinforced the need to investigate when events differ from expectations, rather than finish only at the place originally assumed.

Another family's relative died far away in a remote, inaccessible area I could not visit. We first understood the individual circumstances and assisted accordingly, then arranged deliverance after summoning. Even after completing everything, we asked the deities whether it was satisfactorily resolved before considering that stage finished. Summoning and later deliverance each require their own confirmation; one completed procedure cannot replace the others.

The death location is usually an important clue, but not the only possible place. If the original scene is unknown, we can also assist as much as possible where the body was found. Knowing where the deceased is and asking a connected deity for help differs from sudden death with unknown whereabouts. Remote summoning cannot be described as equally easy every time.

The distant case did not mean family never needed to attend the location. Since I could not travel there, I first sought guidance and prepared materials, wrote out each step for asking and confirming, and had the family take them there to assist. Deliverance was performed separately after their return. Years later, I could not even recall whether the object was an obsidian sphere or gourd. One object therefore cannot be prescribed as a universal standard.