What's the deal with Astral Guides/Spirit Guides?

[Pharoah]

I can't seem to reconcile this concept with my belief system.  I have always been of the belief that there is no higher sentient power.  This does not include the power of the universe as a whole, I mean that I believe that each individual is their own god, so to speak.  There are no outside forces that can make choices for you (fate) or punish or reward your bad or good behavior, respectively (karma). 

I kind of believe that everything a person experiences and is comes from within them. I mean I'm not saying people can't be influenced/inspired by outside forces, but I just don't believe in any decision-making power above one's own self. 

So what's the deal with astral/spirit guides?  Who are these people/entities?  Who elects them into power?  How do they know what is right for you?  The only way I can accept this concept as holding any ounce of validity is by assuming that a spirit guide is a part of your own (higher?) self.  I can totally see that working.  The mind just creates another "being" for you to interact with in order to make the concept of interacting with a consciousness separate from the one you are currently using, easier on your mind.  So technically it's a fragment of your own consciousness, made to look like another entity in order to ease the experience, since it is how we interact with people in the physical (it's familiar).

But as far as spirit/astral guides being another entity entirely separate from yourself that tries to teach you things and tell you how stuff goes... I just can't accept it.  I would be like "Excuse me... just exactly WHO the hell are you?"

[Ident]

Have you ever had so much going on that you've heaved a huge sigh of relief when someone has said, "Hey, buddy, do you need a hand?"?

Think of them as beings who see your need and feel like lending a hand.

[Pauli2]

ask them

[Pharoah]

Have you ever had so much going on that you've heaved a huge sigh of relief when someone has said, "Hey, buddy, do you need a hand?"?

Think of them as beings who see your need and feel like lending a hand.

Ok so they're not like some graduate of the Night School for Spirit Guides appointed to your case like a social worker?  Ok, I like that a lot better....

ask them

I will, if I am ever given the opportunity to meet one.

I especially don't like how author John Magnus makes it sound like they can control you.  He says that they will set up obstacles and try to teach you sneaky lessons, and that they have the power to send you back to the physical or otherwise interfere with your astral activities.  Which is like... no.

[Pauli2]

I especially don't like how author John Magnus makes it sound like they can control you.  He says that they will set up obstacles and try to teach you sneaky lessons, and that they have the power to send you back to the physical or otherwise interfere with your astral activities.  Which is like... no.

That's what guides do. That's what they did to Monroe, too. And to Moen.

One special case when I was controlled by Guides/Helpers is described in one of my retrievals, where I suddenly was made to push a wall.

But you are not without control yourself. But too what extend can be debated.

[Jilt]

I believe we're physical extensions of Source Energy/God/All That Is and that our higher self is the larger part of us that we have access to when we're when we're in a non-resistant state (meditation, OOBEs, bliss).

I think guides are individuated aspects of this higher self or part of our soul group that we spring from and in my experience have distinct personalities (two intuitives have independently come up with the history and name of mine that I knew from a past life and his 'bio' was been given to me in written form while in an OOBE).

In addition to our life-long guide(s), we may attract through the law of attraction specialized guides to help us with whatever we are choosing to focus on at the time.  Some people see these as ascended masters, angels, animal totems but many believe it's the same nonphysical energy that is translated by our consciousness in forms our particular culture is comfortable with. It's a wonderful resource to have and since we have free will, something we can access if we ask for it.

If you're not comfortable with having a 'social worker' as you call it, they'll take more of a backseat and just nudge you when you need it in case you are getting on the wrong track (this happens with me when I'm OOB or border state between waking and sleep when I get a quick audible or visual message that is loud and vivid but always positive and affectionate).

[Stookie_]

I've always figured that if they are there, they are there. I've never really tried meeting a guide or calling one, the few instances I've had I didn't gain anything I didn't already know. I've worked for years on developing and relying on my intuition, and if they are there, they probably communicate to me through that. I trust my intuition more so than other beings. It doesn't steer me wrong.

Good book on thinking and intuition: http://www.amazon.com/Intuitive-Thinking-Spiritual-Path-Anthroposophy/dp/088010385X

Free PDF of it: http://www.steinerbooks.org/research/archive/intuitive_thinking/intuitive_thinking.pdf

[Summerlander]

I trust my intuition more so than other beings.

And for that you're a man of honour!

"Though one man conquer a thousand times a thousand men in battle, he who conquers himself is the greatest warrior"

-Dhammapada

I think I'll have that one as my siggy...

Here's another one for those of you who feel the need to call upon a guy:

"He who wants nothing challenges Jupiter who wants nothing himself..."

[CFTraveler]

I can't seem to reconcile this concept with my belief system.  I have always been of the belief that there is no higher sentient power.  This does not include the power of the universe as a whole, I mean that I believe that each individual is their own god, so to speak.  There are no outside forces that can make choices for you (fate) or punish or reward your bad or good behavior, respectively (karma). 

I kind of believe that everything a person experiences and is comes from within them. I mean I'm not saying people can't be influenced/inspired by outside forces, but I just don't believe in any decision-making power above one's own self. 

So what's the deal with astral/spirit guides?  Who are these people/entities?  Who elects them into power?  How do they know what is right for you?  The only way I can accept this concept as holding any ounce of validity is by assuming that a spirit guide is a part of your own (higher?) self.  I can totally see that working.  The mind just creates another "being" for you to interact with in order to make the concept of interacting with a consciousness separate from the one you are currently using, easier on your mind.  So technically it's a fragment of your own consciousness, made to look like another entity in order to ease the experience, since it is how we interact with people in the physical (it's familiar).

But as far as spirit/astral guides being another entity entirely separate from yourself that tries to teach you things and tell you how stuff goes... I just can't accept it.  I would be like "Excuse me... just exactly WHO the hell are you?"

I know that there are more theories than you can shake a stick at, but why do they have to be external to yourself?
I do agree that they are experienced as external, sometimes, but still, depending on your worldview in general, they don't have to be external, except for a physical being that happens to be at the right place at the right time.  And who's to say...... you know.

[Jilt]

Yes, there's a school of thought that we're projecting it all even in our waking state so who's to say what's external or internal. I'm noticing more bleed throughs from other dimensions and uncanny instant manifestations in my waking life so it's not out of the question.

Perhaps it's just part of the physical game to have contrast and 'others' to play with because when you think about it the alternative would be pretty boring.

[Athymari]

So what's the deal with astral/spirit guides?  Who are these people/entities?  Who elects them into power?  How do they know what is right for you?  The only way I can accept this concept as holding any ounce of validity is by assuming that a spirit guide is a part of your own (higher?) self.  I can totally see that working.  The mind just creates another "being" for you to interact with in order to make the concept of interacting with a consciousness separate from the one you are currently using, easier on your mind.  So technically it's a fragment of your own consciousness, made to look like another entity in order to ease the experience, since it is how we interact with people in the physical (it's familiar).

But as far as spirit/astral guides being another entity entirely separate from yourself that tries to teach you things and tell you how stuff goes... I just can't accept it.  I would be like "Excuse me... just exactly WHO the hell are you?"

Whos says that they are in a position of power? All because they understand something we dont doesnt not give them power over us. Guides can be human, animal or 'other', like just light.

As far as I have understood it, they exist on the same 'dimension' for lack of a better word that your souls do. They see us wanting to understand their world and the world we already exist ing, but dont know it, so they decide to help us.

Many, they say, have known our souls from before we were ever born as humans. They know for us longer then we have known ourselves.

I understand the 'who the hell are you' but to me that is just ignorance that someone knows something that we dont and real unfriendly. I think they first steps is to accept that we  are 'not alone' and that there is more to existance then our own physical world.

So many people speak of them I can not belive its just someones imagination.

[Pharoah]

Good theories, I think.  And thanks for all the responses. 

My "who the hell are you" attitude stems from the fact that many authors that I read make guides sound like people who have power over you, which I don't like.  If an astral passer by happens to see that I look lonely and in need of a road sign, that's fine.  I just don't like the idea of being controlled by them, i.e. made to perform tests, sent back to the physical, have my astral experience tampered with, etc, like some of the stories I've heard.

If astral guides are in fact just helpful people, that's great.  I love helpful people.  Just a few weeks ago when I was moving, and old jovial man saw that I was having trouble navigating the complex I was planning to move to and he came out of his house to guide me to the right apartment I was looking for.  I was so overjoyed by this strangers willingness to guide me, I actually had a physical feeling of lightness in my chest.  But if a spirit/astral guide intends to 'interfere' in an annoying way or interrupt me or in any other way take control of me, then I'm like "who the hell are you?"  I would probably command them away at that point, but again, according to my readings, they don't seem much like people who would heed such a command.

[Athymari]

I would think it best to treat them like anyone else. If someone came up to you in the street and started interfering.. if you said something similar you could well get a right hook. Best to be pleasant and ask them to leave first.

[Pharoah]

If a stranger came up to me in the street and interfered with me, then punched me when I told them to go away... well now come on that's just not right.  Of course I am inclined to be more trusting of strangers in the astral because there is no motive for crime there.  But the principle wouldn't be very different.  I welcome a helping hand.  I do not welcome interference or control.  If I feel interfered with, I feel like I have the right to command someone away, and it should not be assumed that such command would be rude by any means.  I am a very polite lady!

[Everlasting]

In my experience they are there to answer questions you might have.

[Pharoah]

ask them

In my experience they are there to answer questions you might have.

Well then, my work appears to be cut out for me!

[Summerlander]

In my experience they are there to answer questions you might have.

No apparently sentient being in the non-physical realms has ever answered any questions for me.

[Jilt]

I had a series of unusually long OOBEs this AM of almost an hour. A person with a nice energy around her named Laura kept showing up and claimed she was a guide. I think I was in F3 because she and the environment didn't shapeshift and I had no trouble retaining lucidity.

I asked her if she had any advice about future activities and she said she wasn't allowed to tell me the future but after I pressed her she said it would be related to food. Since I have a background in film production I wondered if it would be a food-related TV show and then I found myself with a director and producer I used to work with and they had a script called "Real People, Real Food" and we start talking about pre-production issues.

While I have no plans to get back into production (unless it's a documentary on altered states) it was an interesting thought-provoking session and one where I got an intelligent response where usually dream characters don't have very thoughtful answers.

So long story short, ask away and upon waking if the answer seems valid, write it down or ponder it further. If it's negative or nonsensical, disregard.

[Tee1234]

I had a series of unusually long OOBEs this AM of almost an hour. A person with a nice energy around her named Laura kept showing up and claimed she was a guide. I think I was in F3 because she and the environment didn't shapeshift and I had no trouble retaining lucidity.

I asked her if she had any advice about future activities and she said she wasn't allowed to tell me the future but after I pressed her she said it would be related to food. Since I have a background in film production I wondered if it would be a food-related TV show and then I found myself with a director and producer I used to work with and they had a script called "Real People, Real Food" and we start talking about pre-production issues.

While I have no plans to get back into production (unless it's a documentary on altered states) it was an interesting thought-provoking session and one where I got an intelligent response where usually dream characters don't have very thoughtful answers.

So long story short, ask away and upon waking if the answer seems valid, write it down or ponder it further. If it's negative or nonsensical, disregard.

Wow jilt, thats crazy. Very similar to an experience I had. The part about her saying shes not aloud to tell you the future is very similar to an experience I had one time.

During an Obe I started talking to this old lady with gray hair. I started asking her questions like, -who are you, are u a ghost, Are u having an obe like me, etc..- She told me that shes always there.

I asked her what exactly is an obe and who started it and how do we have the ability to do it...
-and she told me she learned it from the Sumerians but they said that shes not supposed to talk about it.

So after I had that experience I was tryn to look up all the information I could about the Sumerians and astral projection/obe(how it related), but found nothing I can really confirm. I couldnt really find any information that the two even went hand in hand.

..pretty neat though thx for sharin.

[Summerlander]

They may say we're Sarah, we're Tom, willy, Alice but they never really give you any guidance in regards to the metaphysical realm. If what they've said is of any use in waking life, then it is as useful as intuition or coming up with a good idea out of the blue, which, in all fairness, could be all we're doing here when we apparently get info from so-called guides. We could be talking to ourselves. After all, we've got two brain hemispheres that have proved to be quite capable of functioning independently from one another.

[Wi11iam]

  In my experience they are there to answer questions you might have.


What typs of questions to you ask guides, Everylasting?

They may say we're Sarah, we're Tom, willy, Alice but they never really give you any guidance in regards to the metaphysical realm. If what they've said is of any use in waking life, then it is as useful as intuition or coming up with a good idea out of the blue, which, in all fairness, could be all we're doing here when we apparently get info from so-called guides. We could be talking to ourselves. After all, we've got two brain hemispheres that have proved to be quite capable of functioning independently from one another.

Well, there is a line of thought which suggests that we could be all the same 'being' and that although we think are separate and individual, that this individual state is an illusion and also creates an illusion.

So, 'we could be talking to ourselves' is a good way to identify others. – as aspects of ourselves, none of which 'know' much while experiencing the illusion of separation, and all of its nuances, but when they understand that they are aspects and reintegrate those aspects, then...

It is possible that these 'guides' know this fact, but cannot 'say' because they are aware of the 'individuals' beliefs and that those beliefs are the barrier.
Or that they do not themselves know, and their agenda is to utilise the individual's beliefs in order to add to their 'territory'.

Maybe the way 'around' those 'territories' is to see through them, with the intent of uncovering the possible illusion and discovering what it is that the illusion was shielding?

[Summerlander]

Well, there is a line of thought which suggests that we could be all the same 'being' and that although we think are separate and individual, that this individual state is an illusion and also creates an illusion.

Heard of that and it is a very sound theory in my opinion.

In regards to "guides"...

If anyone is helpful in the metaphysical realm, then it could be that they are just helpful individuals and not necessarily have the 'job' of being guides. I have seemingly helped loads of characters during my OOB travels as some of them seem to know less than me or seem to be completely lost. I offer them help to get home or to a better place. Does that make me a "spirit guide" too?

Here's an excerpt from my journal:

"...and felt like I was nailed to the bed. Mild vibrations ensued. They were pulsating and hissing in my head. This kept me alert. I thought briefly that I could potentially have an OOBE. With this thought, I found myself hovering above an empty bed in a room that looked nothing like mine. Things were crystal clear, too! No blindness experienced. I felt like I had a body and looked at my hands as I descended to the floor. My left was still forming like 'molecules' coming together and gradually building its shape. The right hand had a luminous outline and it consisted of the index finger, the middle and the thumb. I thought "that's not right" and then the hand morphed into a natural shape. I thought at the time that this was very much akin to what can happen when one looks at their own hands in a lucid dream.

I touched the bed and furniture. It felt solid and real. As I walked out of that room through an opening, I found a sitting room on the other side of the wall. I felt as though that strange house resembled my former one in Portugal before I moved to England. I started to touch furniture. I saw see-through cupboards with crystal wine glasses inside. I walked out of that room onto a long hallway with many doors. There was a chest of drawers against a wall with a mirror above it and some flowers. I touched the mirror, and it felt solid. Then I imagined my fingers going right through it, and it happened. The feeling was refreshing and my hand felt subtle and free as it went right through it. Then my arm, and I dove straight in as I was curious as to what I would find on the other side. Inside the mirror I found a circular 'platform' with a weeping little girl sitting in the middle.

It felt like me and her were inside a bubble, and a mist surrounded us, going from the edge of the platform all the way to the top. There was a sense of feeling trapped. The girl reminded me of my daughter and I felt paternal towards her. I asked her what was wrong and she said: "I can't get out...the witch put me here". I told her I'd help her and picked her up. Just as I wished, she was as light as a feather. Then, with her wrapped around me, I started running towards that mist. I ran for a while and then felt being slowed down as the mist started to feel dense, like a heavy fog. I couldn't see anything but grey and white and I could hear the girl telling me "I don't like it". I felt like there was nowhere to go so I said to her "shall we go back" and she approved. I found myself back in the middle of the platform. I thought "how about if we go up?" and I started flying with her. She seemed impressed and before we knew it we were out of that 'bubble' in darkness.

I continued to go up and found myself in what looked like a canteen and a chubby dinner lady was mopping the floor. I could see chairs on top of tables. The lady looked at the little girl and said "oh my dear... come here", The girl let go of me and ran to her and they embraced. As they did so, they started to fade away from my vision along with everything else and I heard a sweet 'girly' thought in my head saying "I'll be ok, now...thank you..." - I woke up confused as to what it all meant and my partner was telling me to get ready because it was 8am and my son needed to get ready for school. I felt as though I helped someone (and maybe I did), as absurd as my experience sounds."

Hmmm...perhaps I was someone's temporary "spirit guide"...

[Wi11iam]

If anyone is helpful in the metaphysical realm, then it could be that they are just helpful individuals and not necessarily have the 'job' of being guides. I have seemingly helped loads of characters during my OOB travels as some of them seem to know less than me or seem to be completely lost. I offer them help to get home or to a better place. Does that make me a "spirit guide" too?


I guess if you are guiding and are a 'spirit' in that realm, then yes.
"doing' is like unto 'a job' and yes there will be those who will not see it as 'a job' but then they might not ask themselves 'why' they chose to do what they do.
Note I said "ask themselves'" rather than ask a guild/helper.

Hmmm...perhaps I was someone's temporary "spirit guide"...

Why?

[Wi11iam]

btw – I have read your story from your journal.  I thank you for sharing it.  It is wonderful!  I have been thinking about it since and can see 'why?' it happened for you.
 

[Summerlander]

Thanks! I never really asked myself why I have "helped" these characters. I guess I just do because I'd like someone to help me if I was lost. Also, there's a good chance that these characters are real sentient beings so I might as well be polite. I wouldn't like it if someone said to me that I'm only a figment of their imagination.