Whether we know them as our guardian angels, gatekeepers, totems or spirit guides, it is evident that humans throughout the ages have called upon these otherworldly beings to ask for guidance and assistance with our earthly lives. To better understand the ways that spirit guide readings can help us, it is important for us to investigate the basic meaning of the term “spirit guide” and to learn about the origins of spirit guide readings. A thorough background in the subject of spirit guide readings will allow you to fully enjoy the benefits that can be gained from your own personal reading.

According to the dictionary a “spirit guide is an entity which provides spiritual guidance through channelling or a medium”. In New Age A to Z, by Gari Gold, a spirit guide is a “highly evolved sprit who has spent many incarnations on the earth and has grown in spirituality and purity.”

Dr. Doreen Virtue, arguably one of the world’s pre-eminent experts on angels, states in her interview with The Spirit Guide magazine that angels, “…in Eastern cultures…are called bodhisattvas, ancestors or deities. In the West, we sometimes call them our spirit guides. The word angel means ‘messenger of God…’”

No matter which definition we use, it is clear that when our spirit guides are called upon for assistance they hasten to provide guidance, protection and direction in our lives.

Over the centuries man’s spirit guides have been contacted with the help of mediums and readers, using varying methods of contact. In ancient times, man turned to priests, priestesses, shamans and other holy or gifted people to contact the spirits and request their help.

From the Native American belief that all of nature contained spirits-from tree to frog, to the Egyptian belief in gods and goddesses, to Roman belief in muses and a entire strata of gods/goddesses, to the Catholic’s church assorted saints and guardian angels, man has beseeched the spirits and gods to help in his present path.

Modern day spirit guide readings became popular during the 1800s in the United States. Wikipedia and Encarta credit the Fox sisters of New York as the first modern mediums. Over the ensuing decades true believers have helped to create the modern spiritualistic movement and eventually formed the National Spiritualist Association of Churches in the United States and in the UK the Spiritualists’ National Union . These organisations have helped to bring about training and greater understanding of those gifted with the ability to perform spirit guide readings.

Many spirit guide readers classify the various spirits that surround us into distinctive categories or types. One commonly held belief is that any and all of our spirit guides are benevolent. Simply this means that the spirits are here to guide us, not to make our decisions or to live our lives. It also means that our true spirit guides are all positive forces for good in our lives. The following are a few of the common types that may be contacted during a reading:

• Ancestral Guide: These are our own ascendants that have an earthly connection to us. They could be from our lifetimes or an unknown relative from a century-or more-ago.
• Spirit Guide or Gatekeeper/Doorkeeper: These are our special guides which may or may not have had an earthly connection to us. Most often these guides have been chosen for our lives by the divine. They surround us at all times and can help to bring specialised guides into our lives when needed. Some experts believe that our Gatekeepers also serve to keep any malevolent or evils beings at bay. In many religions and belief systems, these spirits may also be considered our Guardian Angels.
• Teacher Guide: These spirits most often come to us to assist us with a specific task or situation. They stick around and help us until our situation is resolved, then they move on to help others.

Since spirit guide readings beginnings in the 1840s, asking the spirits for assistance has gone from faddish, to ridiculed, and now thankfully, mainstream. In recent years there have been dozens of truly gifted psychics, mediums and channelers who have worked hard to hone their skills to assist us in contacting our guides and seeking the spirit worlds help to make it through our very trying times.

Now that you are armed with a brief history and overview of spirit guide readings, it may be helpful for you to be prepared for your reading and to get an idea as to what you may expect.

During your spirit guide reading, the reader will act as a conduit between your guide(s)/angel(s) and yourself. Though the exact style will vary from reader to reader, the basic experience is usually the same. In order to fully capitalise on the reading, and hopefully gain wisdom or to commence healing, it is very helpful for you to have a list of specific questions or situations that you need assistance with. These questions could centre on your family or your loves, or possibly they could concern your earthly or spiritual path. Most readers agree that the more specific your questions to your spirit guide are, the more you will benefit from the reading.

Depending upon the reader and his/her individual methods of hearing messages from the spirit realm-we all are unique beings and all are given unique talents and gifts-your spirit guide may use actual words, or they may convey symbolism to communicate the messages to the reader. Many times the ideas and thoughts that the reader senses may seem nonsensical, but they won’t to you. Sometimes spirit guide readings can be full of symbolism that is specific only to you, after all, these are your very own guides and they will know things about you that no one else could.

Listen carefully to the metaphors that your spirit guide tells you. These messages many times reinforce the things we already know subconsciously, but are afraid or unwilling to recognise with our conscious thoughts. Keep in mind, our spirit guides only want to help us; their entire purpose is to offer assistance to us throughout our lifetimes. Many times during a reading we find that our spirit guides have been trying to contact us, but we were not ready to fully hear the message. A spirit guide reading can help us to uncover the truth and face our correct spiritual path.

Most people come away from their spirit guide reading feeling happy, empowered and blessed to have such a wonderful beings surrounding us. If contacted by our ancestors, we learn and know that there is a realm after this world, and that it is full of happiness and light for those that have passed over.

The year my mother passed, was a horrific year in both my professional and my personal life. Seeking guidance, I was privileged to have a spirit guide reading by a gifted reader. During my hour reading, the medium spoke with both her spirit guides and my own. I immediately felt at peace when I found that I had so many positive energies surrounding me and helping me down my path.

When I began the reading I was hoping (against hope) that I could find a way to fix my marriage. After losing my mother, my job (best one ever) and with my marriage unravelling, I was lost and in desperate need of guidance.

The first spirit to come through to my reader was my teacher guide. My personal angel is a male energy who initially expressed dismay with me. He admonished me for drowning myself in 21st century technology and surrounding myself with “noise and chaos” (his words). At that time I was subconsciously making sure that I never had peace in my life, I was using noise to drown out the pain. Insistently he urged my reader to impress upon me that I needed to find quiet, and that in that quiet my spirit guide would pass messages to me directly. I did not want to think or feel back then, but once I followed my spirit guides advice, I found myself better able to handle stress and to find solutions in the peace of my mind.

My teacher guide also made sure that I knew that he was sympathetic to my current plight. He sadly relayed that I was only in the beginning of my difficult period. At that point in my life, the last thing I wanted to hear was that my nightmare year was the beginning. But after the reading ended and I had time to reflect, I realised that knowing I had to be strong, somehow brought me peace. Happily, he stressed that this too would pass and he taught me that difficult times in our lives are just opportunities for us to grow and learn the lessons we need to continue on our spiritual path.

After my teacher stepped away, I was blessed to be visited by my mother. Though mom and I were not as close as we should have been, she expressed her great love for me, and for my father. At first I did not get the references my reader was making, but when my reader asked if I knew a “Big Fred,” the reader was startled to find that “Big Fred” was a family title for my dad (my brother is “little Fred”). Mom was telling me to seek help from my dad, she told me that even in another realm she knew what was happening to me and that I would be better off without my husband. She was right on both counts. I went against my nature and reached out to my father and with his help I weathered the divorce with minimal emotional pain.

My spirit guide reading was more than I could dream of, it not only helped to heal the pain of losing my mother, and it gave me hope and comfort that all would be well.

I was blessed to find a reader that was incredibly gifted and professionally trained. It truly is important to research your reader and make sure that they are professionally trained and truly talented in bridging the spirit realm to find your personal guide(s).

With open hearts and open minds, spirit guide readings are a wonderful way to connect with the past, while forging a new positive future.

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