Introduction to Spirit Guides

Last Updated: November 16th, 2023

Reading Time: 7 minutes

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Do Spirit Guides Exist? Are Spirit Guides Real?

Spirit guides seem to exist in many cultures around the world. Many cultures do believe that spirit guides are real. I believe they are real too, having had regular contact with mine for many years. Spirit guides can appear in dreams, day-dreams, meditations or just through entering your thoughts when you need answers to something.

Some people call spirit guides ‘Angels’ or ‘Guardian Angels’, while others believe their guides are Ancestors who’ve passed over and now protect and guide them from a different realm. Many indigenous cultures around the world believe in the existence of Animal Spirit Guides. I tend to see my guides as none of these, instead believing they are purely spiritual beings (perhaps someone else ancestors) who have chosen to work with and for me in this incarnation. In some senses they’re similar to angels, in others they’re similar to ancestral guides – just not my ancestors. These different types of Spirit Guides are discussed more in this post here.

Science, of course, doesn’t believe they exist because they’re not measurable or observable. Science would suggest that these guides are merely our ‘subconscious mind’ communicating with the conscious mind. But what is the subconscious? Where does it come from?

If you’ve ever struggled to find the answer to a problem you’ll probably know from experience that the best way to arrive at a solution is to quieten your mind and to stop focusing on the problem itself. Often the answer will come when you relax, and listen to your guide.

So, a spirit guide, regardless of where you feel like the origin is, can be a very helpful entity to help you through life.

You may feel that your spirit guide is a deceased family member who has come back to help you through troubles. They may be someone you’ve never met before, from an alternative culture. Common spirit guides seem to be Native American Indians for example. Still others feel that their spirit guides are aliens from another planet far far away.

What is their Purpose?

Spirit guides help you navigate your life. They understand your overall purpose here (possibly better than you do) and, provided you listen to them, they can help you achieve your goals by guiding you to make the right choices at the right time.

Spirit guides can sometimes arrange for ‘coincidental’ meetings to occur, or ensure that you’re in the right place at the right time. Since they live outside of our 3D realm, they can see how to put all the pieces together to make these sorts of things happen. But, you have to be open to them.

Sometimes their purpose is not to arrange things for us, or to hold our hand while we wander aimlessly around the world. For some people, their spirit guide’s job is to alter the way we see the world. To change our outward behaviour because our current way of thinking is not helpful to our growth.

Many of us believe that we have more than one spirit guide, each with fairly specific roles in our lives. If you have two for example, it may be one’s role to arrange these ‘chance’ meetings for you, while the other’s role is to prepare your approach to these meetings.

How Can Spirit Guides Help Me?

Clearly, on average, there is little point in asking your spirit guides what to wear in the morning – though I have heard stories of people suggesting that their spirit guides told them which socks to put on. But for the bigger decisions you can specifically ask for help.

On most occasions though, the key to allowing your guides to help you fulfill your purpose is simply to be open to their suggestions.

These suggestions may come in the form of feelings to be at a certain place at a certain time. They may come in the form of a desire to do a certain action.

It’s worth pointing out at this point though that your spirit guide will not ask you to do something that is completely against your morals and personality. You can not use your spirit guide as an excuse for bad behaviour.

If you feel your spirit guide is guiding you to do something immoral or harmful you can be quite certain in the knowledge that this is not your spirit guide speaking. YOU ALWAYS HAVE PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR DECISIONS.

To put the above into an earthly context, if you are learning to drive and your instructor tells you to drive the wrong way up the motorway, you as the driver of the vehicle have the ultimately responsibility to reject their instructions to avoid injury to yourself and other drivers.

The spirit guide’s role is to assist you into becoming a better you.

How Do I Contact Spirit Guides?

In my experience initially, you simply quieten your mind. Let go of the hustle and bustle of your daily life. Take some time for yourself, perhaps with some soft music in the background or perhaps simply with silence. Turn off your phone. Obtain some peace and quiet and allow the guides to come to you. They are already there, you just don’t know it yet.

You can ask for them to make themselves known. You can do this internally or verbally, although if you do it verbally you may get some strange looks if you’re not alone. Remember, many people don’t believe such beings exist at all.

Different guides will communicate with different people in alternative ways. Some people will hear clear voices, some will just have a sense that a guide is present. Others will get ideas in their heads about a certain situation or problem. Some will get inspiration that seems to come from nowhere. Still others might simply find that they begin writing and all sorts of messages and guidance comes through the pen or keyboard as they write.

Many people believe their spirit guides will speak to them through dreams. This is perhaps because the conscious mind is switched off as we sleep and the spirit guide can be heard over all the noise.

Indeed, many scientists have resolved complex scientific questions through dreams. For example, August Kekule had been struggling to determine the chemical structure of the aromatic compound Benzene. The chemical formula was known (that is, how many of each atom was present in the compound) but the structure could not be fathomed. Kekule attributed his figuring out of the structure to a dream. ( Article on Wikipedia ).

The key to all of this is to simply be open to it. You may call it ‘inspiration’ or ‘subconscious thought’ or you may believe it’s a spirit guide. The end result, if you’re open to it, should be an improvement in the way you live your life.

Free Will and Spirit Guides

It’s worth remembering that all humans have free will – this is a complex subject of philosophy and can be a daunting subject in itself ( how free is free for example ). But in general, your spirit guides will not interfere in your life.

With this in mind, again we must be open to their suggestions. A spirit guide cannot force you into an action – nor would they try. Some spiritual beings might try, and the trick is to discern which are trying to help and which are trying to harm.

So, if you’re struggling with a situation or decision, it’s best to ask your guides for help. By asking for help you’re allowing your guides to help you with the situation. Your free will has not been eroded because you’ve delegated that small portion to them for help. You’ve given them the power to influence an aspect of your life through permission.

Just quieten your mind and have a chat with them. You might not get the answers straight away. Indeed, you’ll rarely get the answers straight away. It seems like most people’s biggest problem – particularly in today’s western societies – is lack of patience and the spirit guide responsible for your personal growth is likely liaising with the others to ensure you grow your patience.

Always remember to thank your guides when you do get the answers you need. Gratitude is another personal trait that seems to be quite lacking in today’s society, but it goes a long way to making sure you get more help in the future!

How Do I Recognise Their Help?

This is a tricky question because just as different people feel different guides in different ways ( so many uses of the word different there! ) – the answers to your questions or requirements will come in different ways.

Sometimes, like Kekule, your answer will come to you in a dream while you sleep. Sometimes it might come as you daydream about something else. Dreams are a very common way that your spirit guides may initiate communication with you. For example, you may dream of your teeth falling out, or you might dream about dogs. Sometimes the dream may be more forthcoming as you may hear your name called in the dream. These are one of many types of dreams where your spirit guides might be trying to get you to listen to them.

At other times, rather than having specific dreams you’ll just get a really strong feeling that a certain pathway is the better one to take. Or you’ll get a strong overwhelming sense that a particular decision is a good one versus a bad one.

Some guides may manifest physical feelings for you, such as a feeling of excitement or even nervousness when you think of taking a particular direction. Nervousness isn’t a bad thing, it can indicate things are about to get really good for you. Other decisions may make you feel physically nauseous or short of breath for example. These are the ones to avoid.

And sometimes, spirit guides will just point things out through physical ‘coincidence’. For example, an advert on a road sign that gives you the answer you need. It might be a song on the radio instead or advice on a chat show that seems to fit your situation exactly. What guided you to have the radio on at that particular time? ( This can be especially valuable if you don’t normally listen to that show at that time ). Your spirit guides can even show you specific numbers, often known as Angel numbers to get your attention.

And sometimes, the answer just keeps coming into your head time and time again over multiple days, with multiple signs and you suddenly realise you can no longer ignore it as merely coincidence.

Summary

There are times when thoughts, feelings or answers will come into your head. If you’re in tune with your guides and yourself and you give yourself time and space to be quiet you will be guided through tough times and grow as a result. I firmly believe spirit guides are real and have helped me get answers to tricky questions many times in my life.

Your guides are there to help you – and to help you help others. Be calm, at peace and your answers will come. Practice recognising them as answers and you will be able to see them more clearly and easily. Be open to their advice, ask for their help but remember, the ultimate decision is always yours because you have the free will ( and therefore the responsibility ) to make it.