Spirit Guides
“The world is full of magical things, patiently waiting for our eyes to grow sharper.” – W.B. Yeats
You may have felt an energy around you at certain points in your life that seemed to be supporting, advising, or urging you as you walk along your path. This may be one of your spirit guides. Spirit Guides offer guidance and hold space for you along your journey as a spirit in a body.
The modern understanding of spirit guides originates from the early Theosophical view that they may be energies that are not always of human descent, which may originate from higher realms as light beings. Some people believe that they are chosen on the other side to provide assistance well before a person incarnates into a new lifetime. Some spiritualists are not in favor of the notion and use of spirit guides as they say it disempowers an individual.
A spirit guide is assigned for you in this lifetime to help you with a particular situation or support you overall. Spirit guides may also come and go throughout your life. During your childhood, you may have had an ‘imaginary friend’ that could have been your spirit guide communicating with you.
Spirit Guides may come with you from a previous incarnation or show up through a lifetime. They are there to support and enhance your life and always have your best interests in mind. Spirit guides are inspirational and life-affirming. If you ever feel negative energy or that you are constantly giving your power up to an outside source, they may not actually be your spirit guide.
Angels are considered a form of spirit guide. They also go by as ascended masters, ancestral guides, common teachers, animal spirits, or earth elementals. Some of the most unusual views of guides are that they may be time travelers or, ‘Chrononauts’ that appear and disappear at key points of a person’s life to intervene, especially in life or death situations. Dr. Bruce Goldberg, a hypnotherapist and author speaks in great detail about this possibility.
A spirit guide may be given a particular job to teach you, guide you around the astral plane, or ‘hold space’ for you as you journey along your life path. Above all, their presence is to bring joy, healing, inspiration, validation, and in certain cases, intervene when and where necessary.
Types of Spirit Guides
There are many views of the origins and existence of spirit guides but in the end, it is what you assign meaning to that is of most value. Sometimes a spirit simply chooses to present itself in a certain manner for you to understand and ‘translate’ the energy. You might also have a spirit guide who has never, in fact, incarnated but shows up to you in a particular form for you to understand it with greater clarity.
- Light Being Guides
- Light Beings are from multi-dimensional realities and are operating from a higher vibrational level. They may or may not have had lifetimes on earth, but may have paid their karmic debts, ended soul contracts and no longer need to incarnate. They may be assigned at birth to an individual or throughout one’s life according to their personal growth and developmental needs.
- Ascended Masters
- Ascended Masters are beings that have lived a life and have now moved to a higher spiritual plane. Some examples are Buddha, Krishna, and Jesus.
- Ancestral Guides
- An Ancestral Guide is one who has a kinship with you, such as a relative who has passed on. At some point, they reincarnated and were someone you loved or had some relationhip to. They could also be a member of your family lineage that you never met or a spirit that had a connection with you in a past life. Some people also view these guides as a ‘guardian angel’.
- Common Spirit or Teacher Guide
- Common Spirits or Teacher Guides are sometimes related to a meaningful archetype that you may be working within this lifetime and are here to help you learn. They may show up in dreams and meditation. They tend to stay only as long as they are needed and then move on when it is time.
- Gods and Goddesses
- Gods and Goddesses are considered high vibration, high density, beings from other realms that help us and may have come into contact with humanity or individuals at different periods of time.
- Animal Guides
- Animal Guides are spirits that have the essence of a particular animal. Many people have a deep love of animal spirits and are viewed as more of a companion than anything else. In Indigenous Shamanic practices, the Animal Totem that has deep meaning that aids in the spiritual development of the individual. An animal guide may also be the spirit of a pet that has passed on. They may also provide a way to reflect on the traits of the animal and how they apply to you.
- Earth Spirit/Elementals
- Earth Spirits and Elementals include fairies, mermaids, dragons, elves, and all manner of beings we think of as ‘mythical’ or ‘fantasy’ beings. They have a deep connection to the earth.
- Plants
- Plants may also be a form of a spirit guide and may offer insight and guidance when a person tunes into their energies or consumes them for the purposes of spiritual journeying.
How to Tap into Your Spirit Guides
There are many ways to connect to your spirit guides. Some examples are:
- Meditation
- Using divination tools like scrying or bibliomancy
- Communing with nature
- Dream Work
- Journal to find answers
- Visualization
- Looking for symbols and synchronicity
- Plant Medicine
A Psychic Perspective
As with any type of work with spirit, it is important to work from your own knowledge and come from your own place of power. Guides are not the main event and are not meant to take over your space, get in your head, be something you constantly get advice from or make decisions for you. It is questioned whether guides are truly from another dimension or whether they are something that resides within the individual. You may look at this for yourself and find your own answers.
Guides may enhance your learning and life experiences, offering support, guidance, comfort, and intervention during an individual’s life. Ask yourself why and for what purpose you want to connect with your guides. Are you looking for an external source to usurp your power or to avoid facing something? Guides are interesting to explore personally and during psychic readings and can be a source of inspiration and healing.
If you want to explore psychic tools, meditation, and psychic development, sign up for our Clairvoyant Meditation Free Open House to learn about course offerings or book a psychic reading or spiritual healing through The Psychic School.
