In the realm of spirituality and metaphysics, the concept of a spirit guide holds a profound significance. Many individuals believe that these ethereal beings exist to assist and support us throughout our journey on Earth. Spirit guides are believed to provide guidance, protection, and wisdom, acting as a bridge between the physical and spiritual realms.
Origin
Spirit guides are invisible spiritual beings who offer us guidance and assistance on our spiritual path. They may take many forms, animal spirits, ancestors or ascended masters are just a few examples. They provide us with assistance as we pursue self-improvement. Many cultures believe everyone has at least one spirit guide or guardian angel that offers advice and wisdom along the journey of becoming our best selves.
Spirit guides have long been revered, appearing throughout world religions, and pagan and new age practices. Spirit communication began gaining more attention during the 1990s as New Age followers attended holistic health conferences and divination workshops that promoted spirit communication. This helped to revive the belief that we could connect to the other side using automatic writing, dream states meditation, or other mind-body-spirit connections.
Belief in spirit guides was further reinforced by the writings of Emanuel Swedenborg, Franz Mesmer and other thinkers who claimed they could communicate with spirits while awake. They described a complex structure of heavens and hells which included levels with levels of spirit guides who interacted with humans directly, along with archetypes representing something else altogether as potential spiritual guides for each individual person.
Many people believe that spiritual guides come in the form of animals. Some use animal totems to identify these guides. A spirit animal could appear repeatedly in your life or the lives of those around you.
Other spirit guides may include your ancestors who have passed into the spiritual realm, and ascended masters, who have reached enlightenment themselves, and now share their experience as teachers or guides.
Ascended master is often synonymous with spiritual guru. These spiritual guides offer guidance from an elevated viewpoint. While some revered masters may offer teachings and healing abilities, others are known for their spiritual accomplishments and power.
Meaning
Spirit Guides are part of our higher selves that offer support, guidance, and protection in many forms. This may include animals and plant spirits, angels or even our ancestors can serve as guides. Spirit guides may come to us for short periods to assist with specific situations or remain with us throughout our lives, at a frequency much higher than humans do.
Some may assume their spiritual guides appear as animals or objects, but this is not always the case. More likely than not, your guide communicates through signs and symbols, such as repeating numbers or serendipitous encounters in nature. Alternatively, you could also have one who takes on human emotions such as love or compassion as their form of communication.
Spirit guides are often highly evolved souls who have lived multiple lifetimes on this planet, giving them years of life experience to draw upon when making difficult decisions. Their wisdom can come in handy in tough moments, as they reflect on their previous experience with similar situations. Furthermore, they understand our human emotions and offer advice to control them.
When connecting with your guides, it’s essential that you set clear intentions and create a sacred space. Something as simple as a comfortable chair in your bedroom can serve as the setting. Once connected, it can also help to give them names, either one that comes intuitively or one with personal significance for you. Take this step, in order to easily recognize when they interact with you.
When seeking guidance from your spirit guides, it’s best not to give specific timelines for events. Your spirit guides are there to support and assist you on your own personal journey, not give answers that might impede or limit free will and limit soul growth. So open up your heart to receive their advice, trusting that they have greater plans in mind for you than you ever could imagine!
Purpose
Spirit guides can assist with all of life’s obstacles and will provide invaluable wisdom as you embark on your path toward a brighter future. While it may involve hard work and patience, your spirit guides will always be with you along this journey of personal transformation, and will provide deep wisdom that paves the way to its success.
Every aspect of your life will have a specific guide with its own specific role and purpose, starting with your Master Guide who acts as leader of all of your team, but often reappears through different lifetimes. There may also be Healing Guides who aid with healing for emotional, mental, and physical ailments. They often appearing as ancient monks or Old-World shamans on Earth. You also likely have Wisdom or Scholar Guides who specialize in education philosophy learning. They may present themselves as historical figures you admire, or maybe someone close to home who are experts on these subjects.
Your spirit guides can also serve a useful function in helping you make decisions when necessary. They do this through intuition, which is usually felt as an intuitive sense in your gut or the center of your heart. Their guidance may take the form of repeated images, words, or numbers appearing frequently.
As you establish communication with your spirit guides, it is wise not to bombard them with queries regarding every detail of your life. They don’t want you becoming dependent upon them for advice. Their goal is simply to assist in leading you toward the path that guides you towards your highest good.
Relationships
Spirit guides often act with kindness, and their advice can often be subtle yet profound. Their support may come in various forms, whether by gently pushing us toward certain paths, or offering advice through dreams or synchronistic encounters. They may help us recognize signs that indicate their presence, such as feeling something in our gut or intuition.
Many people believe they have a spiritual guide who helps them through life’s challenges and lessons, be they animals, people, angels or non-human spirits. They are available at all times to offer assistance with the lessons and challenges presented to them. Those skilled at communicating with their guides might even see them.
Spirit guides may take various forms. Ancestors or ascended masters, human beings who have attained the pinnacle of spiritual development and influence in this realm, may provide invaluable insights into our human experience, spirituality and the purpose of life.
Spirit guides were once human or other physical beings themselves and thus can easily relate to human experience, providing compassionate, yet nonjudgmental assistance, when we seek their advice or seek their guidance. Furthermore, their communication can often be precise and articulate.
Once you have made contact with a spirit guide, it is vitally important that you work to foster that relationship. They care deeply for you and always have your best interests in mind. Practicing gratitude for their assistance, while relinquishing the desire for answers can strengthen this bond further. Involvement with them also makes receiving guidance easier, eventually feeling their energy as a comforting presence in our daily lives.
Spirit Guide Meditation
Spirit guide meditation can be an incredibly effective way to receive help from your spirit guides, offering invaluable high-vibrational advice that can put your life back on course and support you fully. They want a relationship with you. Therefore, it is crucial that you give them time and space to form this relationship, so they will always be there when life gets difficult.
Start by relaxing and breathing deeply, visualizing that each time you inhale, you are drawing into yourself a golden shimmering aura of power that surrounds every cell in your body. With each exhalation let go of all tension or negative thoughts that have been holding you back.
After taking several deep breaths, close your eyes and envision a peaceful scene, be it beach, forest, or desert. This can be any place that brings comfort and peace to you personally. Sit there comfortably before inviting your guides to join you, and they will come as lovingly and supportively as possible.
As you connect with your guides, you may experience feelings of inner peace and calmness. Some individuals also report experiencing physical sensations such as tingling in certain parts of their body or pressure in certain locations. Individual experiences will differ, so don’t expect a certain response.
After your conversation with your spirit guide is complete, it is time to return back into your body. Take a deep breath as you exhale, visualize a golden aura enveloping all of you once again before slowly opening your eyes. After your consciousness has returned to the material plane, write down what you learned during this encounter in a journal, as one way of keeping this information fresh in your memory.
When connecting with your guides, it’s essential that you be clear on your purpose and what help you need most. In your meditation sessions, ask them for assistance in making decisions and selecting a suitable path. They are bound by highest good and should always guide in this regard. If any doubt arises during these interactions, trust your gut instinct or intuition over any external authority.
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