Part 1: How do we identify Spirit Guides?

Kirk: Greetings, Alana.

Alana: Greetings, Kirk.

Kirk: Let’s begin with your definition of a spirit guide.

Alana: There are many different types of spirit guides. Essentially, there are helpers in the nonphysical realms that wish to be supportive and helpful to the people they serve. They desire to act as messengers of love. They are delighted to be present so that they may support every person they guide.

Kirk: Are angels spirit guides?

Alana: Yes, angels can respond as spirit guides. There are “guardian angels” who look over a specific person. There are also many different types of spiritual beings in spirit who can impart wonderful wisdom and have the capability to guide.

Kirk: How about departed loved ones, or even members of our ancestral family? Can they act as guides?

Alana: Yes, many departed loved ones remain linked and keep a connection present as they overlook those loved ones who they wish to support.

Kirk: Do spirit guides tend to have an agenda; something they want for the person they are guiding?

Alana: They wish to be supportive of the individual’s life plan. This is their only agenda. They wish to do so without interfering—to be supportive of the person’s highest and best good. A spirit guide does not impose its agenda on another. Their only aim is to be supportive.

Kirk: But aren’t there energies on the other side who are not as evolved; that do have an agenda other than a person’s highest and best good?

Alana: I do not call these energies spirit guides. I call them nonphysical entities. These entities may or may not be effective guides from the realm of spirit. The term “spirit guide” is a combination of “spirit” and “guide.” There are also beings in the nonphysical whose sole purpose is not to guide. Instead, they choose to resonate with their own vibration. They may wish to be helpful or they may seek to impose their own agenda. Again, the only agenda of a true spirit guide is to serve the highest and best good of all people.

Kirk: How do we tell the difference between spirit guides who are aligned with our highest and best good versus a nonphysical entity that desires to impose their own agenda on us?

Alana: Spirit guides will feel like love—true love. When you feel an impression from their nature, you will feel comforted. You will feel loved, you will feel a welcoming in your spirit, and you will feel your full nature reflected back to you. You may feel much lighter, or like you are becoming more in tune and aware of your life. A spirit guide knows how to align with your unique vibration and subtly give you a welcoming and nurturing feeling. The more you can raise your vibration to reflect your authentic self, the more you will be able to sense their alignment with you.

Kirk: As we raise our vibration, we can more easily connect and communicate with loving and wise energies in the spirit realms. The more we raise our frequency, the less we’ll have to deal with any entities who have their own aims in mind. Energies with their own agendas are much denser in vibration than spirit guides. As we raise our frequency, we literally vibrate out of the spectrum of awareness of many nonphysical entities and become invisible to them.

Alana, is it correct that a true spirit guide is not hierarchical in the sense that they have no need to tell you what to think or do?

Alana: Yes, that is the way Alana would describe it. I am sure you could interview several people who describe their spirit guide experiences as guides who boss them around or even tell them what to do. Of course, this is simply their interpretation of the information they feel they have received. My sense is they are most likely connecting to an aspect of themselves, an inner part that is taking on the role of a spirit guide.

Kirk: By “inner part,” are you referring to their subconscious?

Alana: Yes, perhaps a part of his or her own subconscious nature or perhaps what Alana would describe as a collective part. We create inner parts through the experiences we encounter in our accumulated lives. These parts have an intention to help us in some way. However, they are much more inclined to direct us through their judgments. Inner parts have stored collective memory within them. This memory is what becomes their focus–determines how they respond and desire to communicate. One way you can tell the difference between an inner part and a spirit guide is that inner parts often have an agenda. They often try to steer their host away from conflict and pain even though at times these contrasts provide opportunities to learn and grow.

We also can connect our higher self, who understands our life’s higher intentions and will often feel like a spirit guide. Our higher self is an aspect of our nature that is fully aligned with love and true spiritual guidance. Our higher self knows how to align with spiritual guidance and allow it to be merged with our conscious awareness.

Kirk: As we connect with our spirit guides, will we also learn to sense our higher self?

Alana: Yes.

Kirk: Wonderful. Alana, please clarify how we can better learn to discern the difference between a nonphysical entity, our inner parts, our higher self, and our spirit guides.

Alana: As you learn to discern, confusion will gradually lead to certainty. Sometimes you may have an intuition to do something and it will feel like it is coming from your guides. This is a good time to connect with your heart and discern where the information you are receiving is coming from. You may wish to stop and feel the information, and then ask some clarifying questions: Is the information coming from the essence within your soul? Do you feel that you are being nurtured along to make your own decisions? Or does it feel like someone is trying to make the decision for you?

Kirk: The communication from an authentic spirit guide will feel very much aligned with our hearts. It will feel more like it is coming from our inner world, rather than an external source.

Alana: Yes. The key is learning to discern.

Kirk: This is an important topic to cover, Alana. In our next lesson, let’s focus more on how to discern the different aspects we might encounter, especially our higher self and spirit guides.

Is there something our readers might do between this lesson and next to gather a stronger intention for connecting with their spirit guides?

Alana: Why, yes! I invite everyone to begin imagining what it might be like to sense and feel the presence of your guardian angel! This would be a wonderful way to open the door to this exquisite realm of experience. Just allow your imagination to engage. Play with this idea: What is my present moment felt sense—right now in this very moment–of my guardian angel? Relax…and continue to become more able to trust what you receive.

Kirk: I like that exercise, Alana. We look forward to our next lesson, where we will learn more about how to discern the various energies we may encounter as we intend to connect with our higher self and spirit guides.

To view the next post in this series, click > Part 2: What are other ways we can identify Spirit Guides?

Part 1: How do we identify Spirit Guides?

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