Communicating with Your Spirits and Spirit Guides

Hoodoo Spirit Work

Developing and Maintaining a Relationship With Your Spirit Guides

By Savina Thompson | Submitted On March 27, 2009

Throughout each day, humans are bombarded with literally millions of bits of information, most intended to advertise or persuade. Our senses are so congested with input that most of us fail to notice the other, less imposing messages sent by our guides, loved ones on the other side and God.

At birth, each of us is assigned a set of spirit guides, some of whom stay with us throughout our lives here on earth and some who help us with various trials, taking leave when we've mastered our lesson. Our guides are highly evolved beings whose sole purpose is to act as teacher, protector and advisor as we make our way through our physical incarnation. They help guide us toward positive decisions, warn us of impending danger and reassure us when we feel lost and alone. Although most people are unaware of their spirit guides' presence in their lives, no one is without them.

Developing and maintaining a strong relationship with your guides can be one of the most rewarding experiences of your life. Not only will you see that your decisions become easier to make as your guides "point" you in the right direction (although they will never make a decision for you or tell you what you "have to" do), but you will also feel less alone as you begin to understand that your journey here is one of joint effort. While it's normal to feel lost and lonely at times, much like a boat adrift at sea, your guides will help you to see that you are never truly alone. Your every choice, your every emotion is seen by your guides - and you are accepted, mistakes and all.

Over time, the lessons, messages and warnings given by your guides will help you to develop an awareness that nothing is random. Life seems less difficult when we realize that it is made up of a series of lessons and tests. Like a multiple choice exam in grade school, each of our life choices offers an opportunity to grow and expand in perception, whereby ascending the ladder toward spiritual evolution.

For those concerned about being watched while you're in the shower or making love, don't fret. Guides are aware that, although we are on a spiritual journey, we are in a physical body while we are here on earth. They aren't voyeurs and they aren't judgmental or critical of our actions or choices; they simply help us to make better ones.

Developing a Relationship with Your Guides

The first step in developing a relationship with your guides is to get your conscious brain to believe they exist. Sounds easy, huh? Not so...

While you may truly have an interest in communicating with your guides, every single person inherently has an inner skeptic telling them that only "special" people or "psychics" have guides. While skepticism is a good and healthy way to prevent yourself from being taken in by charlatans and thieves, it can block the lines of communication. Consider this: You are window shopping at the local outdoor plaza on a beautifully sunny day when you get a tug from your guides telling you to go in the other direction NOW. You look ahead of you and see that the sidewalk is clear. None of your physical senses (eyesight, hearing, touch) is giving you any indication that danger lay ahead, so you proceed forward, ignoring the intuitive "tug." A few moments later, a passing car's brakes fail, sending it careening onto the sidewalk, narrowly missing you and sending you to the ground. While it may sound dramatic, this is a true account and one that we would all do well to remember. If the conscious brain does not believe that guides exist, it will dismiss any messages received as paranoia, often to our detriment.

Step 1: Belief Will Get You There.

1. To get the conscious mind to believe in something, it needs proof, which our guides are more than happy to provide. Start by sitting alone in a quiet room where you will be undisturbed by others in the household. Get yourself into a very quiet, peaceful state of mind. It is not necessary to meditate, just get yourself relaxed.

Begin speaking out loud to your guides. You may feel silly at first, but continue anyway. Introduce yourself (yes, they already know you - this is just for your benefit), talk to them about things going on in your life and then ask them for a sign that you can't deny. It's important to literally say the words, "Please give me a sign that I can't deny so that I can get my conscious mind to believe." They understand this, believe me. They won't be offended or think you're testing them. They know that our path here includes a brain that often forgets that it's part of a spiritual universe. DO NOT tell your guides what sign to give you - let them come up with the sign. You can give them a vague idea, such as, "Please give me a sign involving Dr. Seuss's 'Cat In The Hat,'" or "Please give me sign with a butterfly," but never say something like "Please have a butterfly fly into my house" or "Please show me someone with a 'Cat In The Hat' tattoo." They will more than likely give you the specific sign you ask for, but it could take a very long time. Generally, if you ask for a sign that you can't deny, your guides will give it to you within a few weeks, most often when you least expect it. Here are some of the types of signs that would be reasonable to expect:

If you asked for a sign with a butterfly, you might find that a billboard with a flock of butterflies on it will be posted very close to your house. Or, you may get a postcard in the mail from a long lost friend and on the front is - you guessed it - a butterfly. Alternatively, you might get a physical butterfly that flitters around you in your garden for a few moments (anything uncharacteristic of a particular animal or insect is often used as a means of communication).

Assuming you asked for a sign that you can't deny, but didn't narrow it down to a particular category, you may hear from a friend you'd been thinking of recently but whom you hadn't spoken to in 10 years. Or, your eyes may be suddenly and inexplicably drawn to a passing bus, which just happens to have a big ad on the side that says, "Even when you feel alone, you're not." These are the types of signs that are typical of guides. They may sound vague now, but when you experience them, it's as if someone is grabbing your face and turning it toward the sign - it feels very different than if you just happened to see the ad, etc. on your own. There is an internal knowing that your guides will give you to let you know that that sign was addressed just to you.

Step 2: Learning The Language.

An essential component of communication is language. Without language, we'd be unable to understand each other's thoughts, feelings and beliefs. This stands true of our relationship with our guides as well; in order to understand the messages they're trying to convey, you must first learn to speak their language.

Spiritual beings speak without words. They use the environment and your senses as tools to convey messages. For example, the "gut feeling" you have not to turn down a particular street or not to trust a particular person, despite appearances, are communications from your guides. How many times have you heard friends or family say, "I had a feeling that I shouldn't have gone there" or "I just knew I shouldn't have trusted her, but I did anyway." This is why it's so important for our conscious mind to believe in the existence of our guides: If we don't believe they exist, then we tend to ignore the warnings that they give us, letting our conscious mind tell us that we're being silly or unfair. Paying attention to our guides' gentle "tugs" is the most effective way to strengthen the lines of communication.

In my classes, there's invariably the one student who believes that he/she doesn't have guides because, no matter how hard he/she tries, she can't seem to establish contact. While the face may change, the issue seems to remain the same: unrealistic expectations. Because we're housed in a body, we believe that our communication with others takes place in a very physical way - through the mouth, the vocal chords and the ears. The truth is that communication includes very subtle cues that are most often acknowledged on a subconscious level.

Exercise 1:

The next time you're faced with a decision, large or small, stop for a minute, take a deep breath, relax and just let go of your worry and doubt for a minute. Ask your guides what would be in your highest good and then pay attention to the very gentle pull you get toward one choice or the other. The more you work with your guides, the stronger the pull you'll feel. Over time you'll begin to recognize the difference between your own opinions and fears and the guidance they offer.

Intuitive feelings aren't the only way that guides communicate. They also use your environment to get across messages. For example, when you're feeling alone and depressed about a situation, your eyes may be drawn in a particular direction, as if someone is calling your attention there. There may be a billboard or a street sign that gives you just the gentle push you need to get you going again. This brings to mind an occasion recently when I was sitting at a bus stop after my last reading, which was a particularly trying one emotionally. I'd been recently ill and was feeling less than effective at communicating to my clients the messages I was getting for them from my guides. I was depressed, feeling that I hadn't really helped my client and was worried that I wasn't really helping any of my clients. As I sat on the bench, I felt the familiar tug to my left and felt my guides telling me to stand up and look around a corner. As I did, I saw a billboard with the words JUST FEAR written in giant letters. From where I had been sitting at the bus stop, the sign was obscured by a building. I smiled, realizing that it was in fact my fear of failing the clients I had come to know and love that was hindering my progress. My fear had no basis in reality, but was just a trial for me to overcome. The flu had left me feeling tired and weak, which is why I felt ineffective. Once I recognized it for what it was, I was able to face it and move on with confidence. This is just one way that guides both literally and figuratively send signs to help us on our way.

Exercise 2:

The next time you're out and about town, ask your guides a question in your mind and then continue with your business. Keep in mind that, while guides will answer genuine questions, they won't give you lottery numbers or fulfill requests that would take away the free will of another person (ex: "Guides, will you pleeeeeaaaassseee make John love me").

It's All In The Details

When you first start communicating with your guides, it's important that your conscious mind sees the contact as real. The best way to accomplish this is to talk out loud, as you would to a friend or family member. Your guides can hear you when you speak to them in your mind, but it's important for you to connect and believe. I speak to my guides constantly in my mind and, when I'm alone, I speak to them out loud. Even though I've been communicating with them since I was little, I still talk to them out loud at times because of the fact that I know they're there and for me, it often is the same as talking to a good friend or family member.

Keep in mind that, as with any relations, the first steps you take are often wobbly, but over time, messages will become clearer and, eventually, your conversations with your guides will be more like interactions and less like code-breaking sessions.

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