If you’re new to spiritual practices, you may wonder ‘what is a spirit guide?’ Find out more about these spiritual beings –
A spirit guide may appear in various forms. They are also known through other names like Angels, Ascended Masters, Spirit Animals, Ancestors, Goddesses, Elemental energies and more. In simple terms, these guides represent energies who connect with us to offer guidance in our lives. Our guides help us uncover the things we need to learn, so we can align with our higher selves. They could also help us heal our emotional wounds or cut cords in a karmic relationship. Mostly, our guides exist to lovingly support us through the highs and lows in life.
So really, what is a spirit guide? A spirit guide is your spiritual compass in life. A guide directs you to be on your own unique path. There are so many myths about spirit guides, but in the end, our connection with our guides will always be a completely personal experience. You may have more than one spirit guide and you may discover them when you call upon them. Some guides may help us with our professional endeavors while some may guide us in our personal relationships. Your guide could be a deceased ancestor, or they could be even come from another realm.
How to know if you are being guided?
Our guides are always communicating with us through various signs and synchronicity. They may assist us by appearing in our dreams, through angel numbers like 111 or 1234 and if you’re vibrating at their frequency, you might even sense them around you.
Types of Spirit Guides
There are numerous ways our guides appear in our lives. These are their most common archetypes –
1. Guardian Angels or Archangels
Guardian angels are our primary guides assigned to us when we start our life’s journey. These are meant to stay with us throughout our lives. Your guardian angel could also be an Archangel. Archangels are angels who are higher up in the hierarchy. They radiate at a higher frequency and may not be always accessible. There are seven primary Archangels – Archangel Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Saraqael, Remiel, Uriel and Raguel. Each Archangel assist us with a specific concern, for example – you can invite Archangel Michael to help you with cutting toxic relationship cords. Similarly, Archangel Gabriel helps us with our creative endeavors. One of the easiest ways to connect with the Archangels is by inviting them to connect with you.
2. Spirit Animals
Spirit animals are some of the most commonly found guides. The easiest way to determine if you have a spirit animal is to observe how frequently an animal appears in your life. You may see a particular animal constantly in your surroundings or in your dreams. Sometimes, you might simply feel connected to a certain animal without any reason. The spirit animals appear in our lives because they represent the attributes that we need to channel. They might also appear to provide you certain messages. For instance, owls represent spiritual wisdom while butterflies represent change and transformations.
3. Ascended Masters
These enlightened masters help us with becoming enlightened. In order to connect with the Ascended Masters, it is important to raise our vibrations. Some of the most well-known masters are – Gautama Buddha, Christ Jesus, Mother Mary, Confucius, Melchizedek, Babaji and Krishna. These transcendental beings have lived on Earth and serve as the ultimate teachers. The Ascended Masters help us with our soul evolution whenever we call upon them. They exist to guide all humans and aren’t bound to any specific group of people.
4. Elemental Energies
These guides communicate with us through nature including trees, waterfall and mountains. Elemental spirits reside in nature and are easier felt than seen. Fairies, gnomes, mountain giants are some of the earthly nature spirits. Water spirits include mermaids and water nymphs while phoenix, dragons and genies are part of the Fire spirits. Air elementals include beings like sylphs.
5. Deceased Loved Ones or Ancestors
A lot of times, our deceased loved ones take on the role of guiding us. One of their biggest purpose is to help us with DNA repair or heal generational wounds. Ancestral traumas are some of the hardest wounds to heal. However, our ancestors can help us in finding paths with the least resistance. Our ancestors are easier to connect with because they belong to the same lineage. The most common way our ancestors connect with us is through our dreams.
6. Gods and Goddesses
These are guides that come from various cultures and religions. Some of the most popular Gods that are worshiped are Horus, Hathor, Odin, Shiva, Zeus, Thor and Ra. The commonly known Goddesses include Isis, Pelé, Shekina, Freya, Quan Yin, Kali and Fortuna. The easiest ways to connect with them is by learning about their past. The more you connect with their stories, the easier it will be to connect to their energies.
How to connect with your guides?
In order to connect with a guide, it is vital to be open to the communication. This can be done by simply stating the intention that you would like to connect with them. Our guides are only meant to assist us; they can never take away our free will. In the end, you can choose whether you wish to act upon their guidance or not. We may not always receive communication in straightforward ways. This is why it is important to be mindful and trust our intuition.
These are some of the ways you can connect with your spirit guides –
1. Meditate – The simplest and most powerful way to connect with your guides is through meditation. When we become mindful and stay in the present, it is easier for our guides to reach us. You can also create a special place to meditate and choosing a specific time or day to work with them. Meditation can be the easiest and the hardest thing to do. You can start by meditating 5-10 minutes a day. Once you’re able to silence your mind, you can invite your guide to connect with you. Activities such as yoga, breath-work, listening to frequency music can also help balance an overactive mind.
2. Dream Journal – One of the best ways to connect with our guides is through asking them for signs through our dreams. You can also state the intention that you wish to remember the dreams. Once your brain registers the intention, you’ll be able to recall most of your dreams easily. When you wake up, you can write down what you saw. These signs won’t make sense right away but you can find if there’s something that appears in your dreams frequently.
3. Ask For Signs – You can simply ask your guides to give you signs. You can ask your guides to show you a feather or a certain symbol to confirm something for you. You might also come across angel numbers like 1234, 111, 222 which is another ways our guides communicate with us. If you have trouble trusting your intention, you can even ask your guides to bring you more clarity. Really, communicating with your guides is a two-way street; it is important for you to participate first.
4. Use Divination Tools – A lot of people like using methods of divination to connect with their guides. Tools such as Tarot, Automatic Writing or Scrying are wonderful ways to receive communication. These are also great ways to strengthen our psychic talents. Tarot and oracle cards can be easily interpreted. Automatic writing can be done by inviting your guides and writing without thinking too much. Scrying is the art of gazing into a crystal ball or mirror to receive a message. This method requires dedication and constant work on your part.
5. Raise Your Vibration – The most important way to connect with a guide is by raising our vibrations. Most of our guides operate at a higher frequency than what we are used to. Practicing gratitude is the easiest way to raise our vibration. You can do this by simply giving thanks for all that you have. Listening to music, dancing or engaging in any creative activities that connect you with your inner-child can also help. You can also try chakra healing by visualizing opening the chakras that you wish to work with.
Conclusion
You can use some or all of these methods to connect with your guides. However, it is necessary to trust your intuition. Like any other relationships, this will require our time and efforts. Try not to lose hope if things don’t make sense at first. Stay open-minded and just show up by creating a daily practice in the beginning. Also remember to express your gratitude whenever you receive any guidance from your guides. We all have at least one spirit guide to assist us in our spiritual journey. Once you learn how your guides operate, you will find it easier to connect with them without any tools.
