Making contact with spirit guides with the help of sangoma wisdom

Although the sangoma is the expert in dealing with cosmic, terrestrial, and water spirits, we can all communicate with our ancestors by praying to them and soliciting their help. If we don’t "talk" to them, they may not talk to us.  A good vehicle for communicating is an altar decorated with photos or objects of our loved ones that may be in spirit and are able to help. Creativity is appreciated from the other side and there are no rules to adhere to. We may have seen them in dreams of "felt" them or know intuitively they are there to assist. Free will is the cosmic law so we must ask to receive. Gratitude is the ultimate form of prayer and any way we show this especially in ritual will reinforce their desire to help. By allowing them to help us both we and they are empowered. Spirit guides can do service from the other side which may assist their karma. If we do seek their guidance, they can advise us in dreams and in other ways. Since most of us are unable to reach ecstatic states and open ourselves up to the spirit world,  we may to seek out someone, such as a sangoma, who has developed this kind of expertise. Spirits guides cannot communicate with us in the usual way because they are in the Cosmic Field. The spirit world has its own modus operandi, which may be confusing.  We need to discover the way in which we get our individual messages and to recognize the signals that come from this realm.

         Each one of us has our particular avenue of communication that we should nurture. We may be clairvoyant, audient or sentient. Messages may come with a buzzing in the ear or a tingling up the spine. If we are good dreamers and remember our dreams we may not hear voices or have day time visions.  If we have none of these we may feel bodily sensations that tell us what feels right and what feels wrong. If we get a gut feeling that something is amiss, more than likely it is and we should take heed. If we experience goose bumps it may be that a profound inner truth has just been revealed or acknowledged. Some of us just have a deep internal sense of “knowing.”  Nature lovers will see signs in nature that may come as metaphors carried by the wind or a bird or by the glow of a sunset.  "Power" animals may also present themselves in and outside of dreams. I believe the ancestors guide these animals to us when we need help. 

         Recognition that our ancestors are attempting to communicate with us and understanding what it is they are trying to say is not easy.  However, if we are patient, have good recall, and allow the correspondence to unfold in its own time, we will gain clarity about what the spirit world is trying to tell us. We should not expect to get clear instructions dictated or presented in an orderly fashion. Nevertheless the directions are there. All we need to do is decipher the cosmic narrative which can help us with vital non local information.