Spiritual guidance is everywhere, but getting it from your very own spiritual guide is an experience none other can match. Find out all about spirit guides and exactly how to connect with them.
It seems like everyone talks about spirit guides, but not everyone can tell you anything about yours. You’re in luck if you found this article, though, because you are about to find out everything you need to know about spirit guides with SpiritualBlossom. Find out exactly what a spirit guide is, what they do, and who can be one. Discover easy ways to get in contact with spirit guides, and exactly how to work with them. Read all the way to the end to find out why you might have discovered your spirit guide today.
What’s a Spirit Guide?
A lot of people believe in the existence of spirit guides, but what are they? Spirit guides are spirits that provide guidance to the living. Not everybody agrees on whether or not a spirit guide can be the spirit inside a living being, but for the sake of this article, we will say that they can. Spirit guides will guide you on spiritual matters. They will help you to grow emotionally and teach you how to combat your worst habits. They will emotionally support you when you are struggling with self-doubt. They will also support you when you're victorious and encourage you every step of the way.
Are spirit guides with us for our whole life? Not necessarily. Sometimes a spirit guide is in our life long-term, but sometimes a spirit guide comes to us just to teach us one lesson, and then departs from us. Some spirit guides don't teach. Instead, they protect us. Some people believe that their guardian spirits are spirit guides. Some people believe that their ancestors are guardian spirit guides, and other people have animal spirit guides that protect them. Read about protecting your spiritual energies here: Protecting Your Spiritual Energy
What Spirit Guides Do
Different spirit guides do different things. Some of them will teach you the things that you need to learn. Others will strengthen you, and others are just in your life to connect to you. Sometimes, your spirit guides do all of those things, and act as lifelong companions.
Teach
Some people believe that when we are born, we are set on a path to learn things. Some people even believe that we are born simply to learn, and once we learn everything we're supposed to, we pass away. No matter what you believe, you will have to agree that spirit guides teach wonderful things. Sometimes, they teach life skills. They also teach you how to connect with other people and have good relationships. Spirit guides can teach you to observe yourself, unlearn bad habits, and relearn good ones. Some people say that their spirit guides teach them on a soul level, and other people say they learn lessons from their spirit guides on a more mundane level. Have you ever tried to teach yourself about Tarot meanings? Give it a try here: A Quick Guide to Tarot Cards and their Meanings
Strengthen
As we learn, we grow. The more we grow as people, the stronger we become. Sometimes your spirit guides give you the courage to do things that you're afraid to do, and that's how they give you strength. Sometimes they lend you some of their strength when you need it. Other times, they guide you to the people, places, and resources that you need. For example, a spirit guide can take the form of a butterfly, and attract your attention to draw you to a person or place that can help give you answers that you're looking for. Read about the symbolism of butterflies here: What Does a Butterfly Symbolize?
Connect
Spirit guides can connect you to your spiritual self. You may have had this happen already. In times of doubt, you may have felt a comforting presence you could not identify that reminded you that not all was lost. Some people call this their inner voice, but other people believe when such things happen, a spirit guide is connecting with them. Spirit guides can also help to connect you to other spirits, and even your higher power. Some people believe that there are some beings that communicate with spirits and deities for people when people can't do it for themselves. The red cardinal is believed to be one creature that does this, and you can read more about them here: What is Red Cardinal Spiritual Meaning?
Who Can Be a Spirit Guide?
Spirit guides can be spiritual entities that don't have bodies, but people also act as spirit guides sometimes. Some people say that they have animal spirit guides. The most surprising spirit guide of all can turn out to be you!
Spirits
Sometimes, we don't know exactly how or why, but we feel a strong spirit presence guiding us or watching over us. Angels, ancestors, and other spirits communicate with us, teaching, and they also help us to get more in touch with our spiritual sides. They teach us to be calm when people try to instigate us. They teach us to be compassionate. They teach us to practice self-love when we're being attacked. They teach us to stop and disengage from the mundane and to look beneath the surface for deeper meaning. Sometimes, physically you can feel their presence, but quite often your psychic gifts allow you to communicate with them. Read about clairvoyant psychic gifts here: What is Clairvoyant Psychic Reading?
People
If you believe that there are spirits inside each of us, then a person can be a spirit guide. Some act as spiritual clergy, and others just act as teachers. However, you don't have to have a title or a job to guide people spiritually. One woman got a lesson and controlling her temper from her toddler. The child explained to her that she needed to calm down and mind her words. The woman could tell that this was not just a child speaking, but a powerful spiritual being. Anytime we learn something, we will have an opportunity to share that teaching with someone else and some people are happy to help. One Zodiac sign who loves to help people is Pisces, and you can read about that sign here: Pisces Zodiac Traits and Love Compatibility
Animals
Some people believe that animals act as spirit guides too. Living animals can be spirit guides, but also spirits of animals that have no bodies act as guides to people sometimes. Some people believe that we all have at least one spirit animal that guides us, teaches us, and helps us to learn its powers and abilities. Some people discover their spirit animal by accident, but other people do a lot of meditation and prayer to find out which animal or animals they share a spiritual connection with. Read about how to discover what your spirit animals are here: Which Animal is My Spirit Animal?
You
All of us will be called to aid other people spiritually. For some people, it becomes a way of life. It is a big job and a great honor to be called to guide people spiritually. Keep in mind however, just because you're called to guide someone doesn't mean that you have to accept. Not everybody is comfortable providing spiritual guidance, and if you don't feel ready that's okay. Throughout your life you will be presented with multiple opportunities to guide other people. So, if you feel like you need more time to prepare, take all the time you need. You will have plenty of chances to act as a guide. Some people believe that being a helper is part of their personal lifepath. You can find out what your own lifepath is here: What is Your Lifepath?
How to Contact Spirit Guides
If spirit guides are so important, what can we do to get in touch with them? Sometimes you don't have to do anything, because they come to you. You can meet your spirit guide by chance, or you can just be quiet and listen, because being open will attract them to you. If you are not content to wait, you can always do a meditation to try to contact your spirit guide.
Meditation
A simple spirit guide meditation that you can do anytime any day is just taking a moment to quiet your mind, and then focus on your spirit guide. Even if you don't know who your spirit guide is or what form it takes, you can still do this meditation. Find a quiet place without interruptions and sit comfortably. Relax your thoughts and open yourself to communication with your spirit guide. That's all it takes. Sometimes, you will get images immediately, and other times it might be a while.
If you have not established communication with your spirit guide yet, it might take your spirit guide some time to come to you. Be patient. They will come through, and they will be there for you when you need them. Sometimes they visit you in dreams, but other times they come to you through your psychic abilities. Sometimes, spirit guides take a physical form. Their guidance can come as advice from a well-meaning stranger and sometimes their advice comes to you through the words of a book. Other times you just suddenly feel inspiration and that's your spirit guide influencing you. Read about dream interpretations here: A-Z Dream Meanings Glossary
Meetings
Some people meet their animal spirit guide in nature. Go to a place that is peaceful, and where you can coexist with animals. You might walk a nature trail, or sit by a lake. Visualize yourself as a natural part of the ecosystem, the same way all plants and wildlife are. Just quietly coexist with all of the life forms in nature for a time. Then, once you feel an unbroken connection with all living things, start paying attention to the other creatures that are there. Venture into nature to do this often and pay attention to the creatures around you. Are there any animals that approach you more often than others? Are there any that you feel more drawn to than others? The more time you spend in nature, the more spirit animals you have a chance of meeting. One creature that might be your spirit animal is the deer, and you can read about their spiritual symbolism and meaning here: What is Deer Spiritual Meaning?
Being Open
Sometimes, you don't need to meditate or go someplace to try and meet a spirit guide. All you have to do is open yourself to them. Being receptive to communication with your spirit guides is crucial even if you don't do anything else. Keep your psychic awareness open and pay attention to any instincts or psychic messages you receive. If your awareness is closed, or if you don't believe in spirit guides, you will block them out and they will be unable to communicate with you. So, open yourself up mentally, emotionally, and spiritually to your spirit guides, so you can hear their voices. Any living organism could be your spirit guide, no matter how tiny it may seem. Read about animism, the belief that everything is alive here: Animism: Is Everything Alive?
How to Work with Spirit Guides
To work with spirit guides successfully requires the right mindset. Spirit guides are not tools. They are living entities, and to “work” successfully with them, you have to build a relationship. Long-term spirit guides become like family. They know you, love you, and they're a regular part of your life. Your relationship will gradually build over time, and you will just naturally understand what they're telling you. There is no instruction manual to building this relationship, because each person has a different relationship with their spirit guide than any other person has. Follow your heart, your instincts, and your spirit guide’s lead.
Understand that they are not servants. They might help you, but they do so of their own free will. When you want their help, ask them for it respectfully and have no expectations. They will answer in their own way and help on their own terms. Some spirit guides accept gifts of thanks, and others don't want them. Your spirit guide will let you know what they prefer.
Working with short-term spirit guides is different. Sometimes they walk in and out of your life at a single moment, and you never see them again. Short-term spirit guides require the same thing that your long-term spirit guides require. You should listen, and react accordingly. If your spirit guide tries to move you out of harm's way, don't resist. If your spirit guide teaches you a lesson that you don't like, thank them, and then meditate on the lesson. You will be working with spirit guides for your whole life, thankfully. Time will show you the best ways to do this.
We might walk our spiritual paths ourselves, but we never walk alone. We have many different companions on our paths, and some of these are spirit guides. Our spirit guides are everywhere, and they can be other people, spirits, or animals. The way to meet them is to be open to guidance and meditation can help. Working with them can be something as simple as paying attention to teachings you don’t like and accepting that growth is difficult sometimes. One day, you will probably even act as a spirit guide for someone else. May your path be filled with spirit guides, and may you know them the moment you meet them. So Be It.
Human spirit guides can be anywhere, and you can meet them when you least expect them. Your spirit guide might be a call away at SpiritualBlossom. So get a reading started to meet them today: Online Psychic Readings
About the Author: Lady Saoirse has studied magic and lore for most of her life but started walking her own Magical Path after being spiritually reborn in the desert. Today she is a High Priestess for The Temple of the Goddess, she is a psychic advisor and spiritual counselor, she shares her gifts as a Psychic and Content Writer for Mysticsense and SpiritualBlossom, and she writes for The Green Egg Magazine and PaganPages.Org emag.
