What is a Spirit Guide

Many people believe they have spirit guides. Some refer to theirs as angels or guardians. Regardless, if you believe you have one, a spirit guide is there simply to guide, not as an entity that you need to give yourself over to. If a spirit guide has a negative influence on your behavior, then chances are good that it's not a spirit guide at all, but something else entirely. These are some of the more commonly found types of spirit guides:

Ascended Masters:

These are guides often found by people who do energy work, such as Reiki. A ascended master who appears as a spirit guide is often a being that led a physical life and has moved on to a higher spiritual plane -- for example, Buddha, Krishna, even Jesus. Ascended masters usually work with collective groups of souls -- in other words, if you've got an ascended master hanging around you, you're not the only one he or she is helping. Their primary focus is that of helping all of humanity. It's not uncommon for an ascended master to have access to Akashic records. Also referred to as Master Teacher guides.

Ancestral Guides:

An ancestral guide is one who can claim some sort of kinship with you, such as your dear Aunt Tillie who died when you were ten. It may also appear in the form of a long-dead ancestor. In some schools of thought, these entities are seen as reincarnated guides, because they are the spirits of someone who loved us during their physical lifetime, or who had some sort of blood connection to our family. Some people, depending on their religious upbringing, may see these types of guides as guardian angels.

Common Spirit Guide, or Teacher Guide:

A typical spirit guide is archetypical, symbolic or representative of something else. For example, you may find your guide appears in the form of a warrior, a storyteller, or a wise woman, and they have appeared to you for a purpose. Typically, that purpose is to teach you and guide you along a particular path. They may also introduce you to other archetypes along your journey, and help out with problem solving, based upon your needs. They are known to provide insight by way of dreams or meditation, and may only hang around as long as you need them, then move on.

Animal Guides:

Although many people claim to have animals as spirit guides, often these entities are more companions than anything else. It's not uncommon for a deceased pet to linger around, keeping you company through the grieving process. In some spiritual traditions, such as various Native American or shamanic paths, a person may have an animal totem, which provides teaching and/or protection.

Is Your Spirit Guide Really There To Help?:

Every once in a while, someone will manage to contact what they think is a spirit guide - perhaps by way of a Ouija board or other method of divination -- and the next thing you know, things are getting weird. If any of the following scenarios seem familiar, then chances are that what you've connected to is not a spirit guide at all.

How to know your spirit guide isn't really there to help:

• You're the only person the spirit has EVER contacted, and you're really super special, which is why they're sharing their message with you and not two hundred other people.
• Your guide talks about magical doorways, secret portals to other worlds, or gates that you somehow managed to open, and nobody else ever has.
• The spirit doesn’t mind you bragging about it to friends, but gets grumpy whenever anyone questions its existence or purpose. Not only that, it encourages you to isolate yourself from friends who think the spirit guide may well be full of poo.
• The spirit claims to be hanging around in order to protect you from some other spirit that you've never encountered. Weird stuff happens, and your spirit guide is handily there at all the right times to help you out.
• Your spirit guide claims to be from another planet or world that is as yet undiscovered by scientists.
• The spirit claims that it needs your help -- and only yours -- to help it do things like write, talk, etc., and basically wants you to become its instrument of operation. In exchange for this voluntary form of possession, the spirit will impart you with all kinds of nifty new wisdom, that only you will be privy to.
• The spirit seems to have no real purpose other than to share information with you, but the information you're receiving is of no real use, other than to make you believe you are way more enlightened than everyone else.
• The spirit informs you that people who love you and care about you are secretly plotting against you, and that the only one who truly understands you is the spirit itself.
• All the information you're being given by the spirit goes against common sense, logic, laws of science and physics, and basic human decency… and yet it all makes sense to you now, because you're the only one special enough for the spirit to talk to.