UNCONVENTIONAL FORMS OF SPIRITUAL PRACTICE

 SPIRIT GUIDES

SPIRIT GUIDES 

Spirit guides are not subject to time or space as are we. 
They are always around but not always to be known,
always within call but not always to be heard,
always present but not always to be sensed,
always holding us but not always to be felt.

 

The Ancestors cannot save but only alert, advise and warn and only according to your openness and willingness. They cannot change or deter you from your own insistency no matter to what it’s due. Only you can change!

 

In my sangoma practice readings the "bones" often say to folks who come for guidance that their spiritual practice is lacking. Many of them have profound ways of going inwards; meditation, Tai Chi, prayer, journaling etc. However, when it comes to connecting with their ancestors or guides they are found wanting. 

Why wouldn't this also be a way of downloading information from the spirit world? 

I remember my sangoma mentor telling me; "The trouble with Westerners is that they have forgotten that they have guides to help them. When they pay them no attention they turn away and then they become like papers blowing in the wind, unsupported in life."

The terms ancestors and spirit guides can be used interchangeably.

Many of our guides were our ancestors in past lives. Others may be appointed to help us with our spiritual trajectory both in and outside of dreams.

 

We are not just influences but also recipients of influences from distant places and distant times.

 

Artists, musicians and others have their muses. Some call this “narrator” their alter ego when in actual fact “s/he” might be a guide. Guides, ancestors and "muses" can connect to us from the other side of the veil between worlds. They can help us by scripting our dreams and even downloading information in awake time. Free will allows us to choose whether to see or not and to listen or not. Our guides can help us with our choices.

The choices are yours and there are consequences to your choices. 
Consequences are neither reward nor punishment; they simply are consequences, often not immediate but always inescapable…

Southern African tradition believes there are also non-human spirits - both good and bad. These include; Terrestrial, Cosmic and Water Spirits that can also be of assistance to us Talking Beings. The Water Spirit is key in sangoma initiation. Terrestrial spirits may include the Still, Growing and Wild Beings all of which are animated by the breath of the Supreme Being and have their own individual vibration and consciousness. They are all there to assist us. For instance sacred stones or metals and crystals in talismans, plants to help us heal and power animals to strengthen us. 

Most of the guides we will encounter are in the Astral realms where they are reconciling with their karma. We all have guides - many who may have loved us in past lives, and would like to help us now. According to sangoma wisdom we also have “foreign” guides – not from our past lives that can also be assigned to help us. The African guide who helps me in my divination practice was a sangoma in her past life. She is a “foreign” guide unknown to me in previous lifetimes.

The Astral is where we go to reconcile with our karma. Once in the Astral, spirits loose their free will and now can only operate through the free will of another living being on the earth plane. In this way they can complete work they never completed in their lifetime and do service to improve their karmic profile for the next incarnation. By allowing them to help us, we lift them up. 

Perfected souls exist in the Causal realms. They retain free will, can operate independently and do not have to reincarnate unless they choose to for a special mission. Some of us have guides in these realms as well. A few also may have angelic visitations.

When we fail to engage with them at all they move away and we become spiritually unprotected. They may, however, occasionaly  show up in life threatening, emergency situations. An ongoing connection is required for any relationship to be sound just like it is in real time. They cannot be taken for granted.

 

“In every person there is something precious which is in no-one else. And so, we should honor each for what is hidden within them for what only they have.” Talmud

 

Once in the Astral, spirits undergo a reconciliation process with a spiritual tribunal. Following this they become well aware of what their own core strengths were and whether they realized them or not. Of course when they reincarnate again this direct knowledge is incompletely retained.

 Our guides may have gone down the wrong road and do not want us to make the karmic mistakes that they may have made. They are  there to help guide us to our God given destiny within the bounds of spiritual laws especially free will. Our guides have access to our Book of Life and also know what our talents are, and what our life's purpose should be. However, they cannot tell us who we are - we have to find that out for ourselves. 

 

Spiritual laws are operative whether or not we understand them or can explain them or whether or not we even know about them or believe in them.

 

Because of the cosmic law of free will we must ask to receive and we must ask very specifically. Our guides live in the present moment and for them free will is also in that present moment. They are dwelling in a non-time-space reality bound by the law off free will. They live in the present moment and for them free will is also in the present moment. Hence they require us to maintain, sustain and repeat our requests. They want to know know how committed or fickle we are. Will we changed our minds? Hence it is best to keep affirming the requests we make to them. 

Our guides are there to help us with our karma but require us to be in integrity or they will move away. The way this is more powerfully done is through a Container for our prayers and solicitations. Essentially a container is a ritual which has more traction than a simple request since it requires more intention and attention to detail. The "Field" responds with vigor to our intentions depending also on our will, passion and courage. 

 

“The sages who have died are present in this world to a greater extent than when they were alive.” The Zohar

 

We are watching from endless space
We are waiting in timeless order
Chant your way across the Veil 
Spiral into existence those spirits that are needed.

 

Nurturing a Connection with One’s Spirit Guides with the Help of an Altar. 

An altar is a powerful “container” and can also be a sacred space to connect us with our guides. Here, we can also ask to receive – as well as give thanks when we do receive. Lay down a white cloth that is new, or special and attractive on any surface. Embellish the altar with their photos or mementos which hold their energy such as a walking stick, their favorite book, a ring, a cup etc. If you do not have a photo write down the name. If you have a guide but no name, allocate an object such as a crystal on his/her behalf. If you have an image from a dream, sketch, draw or paint it. 

Dedicate a dream journal or a recording device for their messages and take it to bed with you. Your smart phone can be used as well. Make offerings, light a candle or incense, bring gifts from time to time – a feather, an attractive pebble picked up on a hike. Always have them in mind.

Gratitude and love are how we help them.

It is best not putting any “skeletons from the family closet” on your altar unless resolution with them has been perfectly made and even then, you may not want that energy around you. 

 

The Ancestors cannot help you with anything you have not freely, willingly and deliberately given up.

 

To connect with our spirit guides for help in a particular line of  work one can create a sacred space in which to ask to receive. Open it formally by drumming, rattling, or lighting a candle or incense. Requests will be more easily received and acted upon if made for the greater good rather than for ourselves. If it is for ourselves, it should also be in order to help the greater good. 

You should wish for yourself not what you want but that what you want is for your good and that of others too.

For those doing healing or spiritual work, if feasible, it is best to have a dedicated sacred space to invoke one’s guides. Open the space to invite them in and formally close it giving thanks when the work is complete. 

 

The ancients would ask of you to perform good deeds, speak good words and think good thoughts in their memory.
They would want you to be a repository of their instructions, or other wisdom teachers, and their righteous and loving ways.

 

Celebrate their birthdays and honor the days of their death by lighting a candle or even making a meal and placing a token plate of food and drink out for them while you eat. Your imagination should know no bounds and even though you may not get feedback you can be sure they are around. We empower them when we allow them to do service on our behalf through our free will, now that they have none of their own in the Astral. 

If all this is new to you, have a party for your guides, “prepare a table for them.” Welcome them into your life and to their altar. Introduce them to your dream container.

 

If you have many guides and are greatly beloved you will have many dissuaders and be greatly envied.

 

We may also be visited or opposed by dysfunctional spirits – tricksters – from lesser vibrations. They are envious of those who have a high vibration and their “light” is a reproach to them. We need to be aware that they can not only interfere with us but also masquerade as guides

 

Lesser vibrations which emanate, from narrow mind are often viewed as needing to sort out and work through their own calling. Beware of those on either side of the veil who would make you their resolution, much less their absolution.

 

In order to connect with our guides, it helps to raise our vibration. This requires a dedicated spiritual practice which can help open the higher chakras especially the sixth or Third Eye - the gateway to downloads from the Field in dreams or in awake time. Love is the catalyst that allows our guides to cross the veil between the worlds and opening our hearts will enable them to come through the veil more easily.