Discover your guides
Have you ever felt like someone or something was looking out for you? According to many spiritual traditions, all of us have one or more spiritual guides who live in the astral world and who help us throughout our lives.
Amber Wilson attends a workshop with Stacey Demarco and Jade-Sky – two of Australia’s best-known spiritualists – and discovers how we can connect with those who guide us through life’s challenges.
What are spirit guides?
Spirit guides are believed to be mystical beings who stay with us during our lives as a type of spiritual helper. These can be our loved ones who’ve died, our ancestors, mystical beings such as saints, goddesses, gods, people who we’ve known from other lifetimes, or even people we’ve never known. Spirit guides may have never had a human incarnation, but are instead a type of energy being. Or, they may be people who have paid their karmic debts and are so spiritually advanced they don’t need to incarnate anymore. Psychics and mediums claim they can connect with these guides to gain important spiritual information – perhaps answers to problems, messages from beyond, or what lies before us in the future. Psychics and mediums believe that even if you don’t contact your guides directly, they often impart help and information through dreams, signs and symbols that your unconscious mind can pick up on.
The concept of spirit guides is most commonly used in traditions such as the spiritualist churches, and by mediums and psychics. Dating back, Native Americans, the Chinese and the Egyptians all believed in spirit guides – ancestors, saints or enlightened people who had died but accompanied living humans during their journey through life.
From when I was a young girl, I’d always been fascinated by the concept of spirit guides, and felt I would love to know who they are and what they’d like to tell me, so I keenly arrive at Stacey Demarco and Jade-Sky’s spirit guides workshop. Stacey is a well-known Sydney witch who specialises in guiding people through their problems using techniques from the nature-loving tradition of Wicca. Jade-Sky is a well-known Brisbane psychic who helps connect people with their deceased loved ones. The two have teamed up to create their “With No Excuses” training program, which teaches people across Australia a range of skills including meeting their soulmates, becoming financially abundant and developing psychic skills.
“You may have known your main guide in a previous life, they may have been your mother, brother, sister or friend,” the girls say in their spirit guides workbook.
“Your spirit guides love you very much and would never harm you or do anything that isn’t in your best interest. They are the greatest best friends you could ever have.”
How many guides do I have?
Stacey says we may have a number of guides – in fact, she says most of us have about five, but they may come and go at different times of our lives.
“We have an inner band of guides – master guides and gatekeeper guides,” she says. Apparently, the master guide stays with us from birth to death. We make an agreement with this entity before we’re born that we’ll work together with them on what our souls need to experience and achieve. By contrast, your gatekeeper guide acts as a protector.
“Gatekeeper keeps out psychic junk,” Jade-Sky says. That is, this gatekeeper keeps out unwanted thoughts, negativity and unwanted mental ‘pollution’.
“Imagine the biggest, most powerful protector you can. It can be an animal,” she says. Jade-Sky says the trick to ‘activating’ your gatekeeper guide, is to visualise a strong, powerful protector who can keep you safe in the spiritual world.
Stacey and Jade-Sky say as well as this inner band of guides, we also have an ‘outer band’. Our outer band guides include deities, gods and goddesses, passed loved ones, healer and creative muses. These guides can come and go throughout our lifetimes. Sometimes this transition is less than easy on the mind and body.
“When a new guide comes in, you can feel tired, worn and grumpy,” Stacey says.
The girls also offer a disclaimer – lower entities are not spirit guides and they are easily distinguishable. Lower entities won’t tell you what to do, or conversely, falsely stroke your ego. They say anyone who claims to be speaking to entities in their head, especially those with negative messages, could have psychological problems and it’s worth getting them help.
Connecting with your guides
So you think you’d like to meet your guides? Techniques range from very simple meditation strategies, to more complex ‘astral travelling’ – visiting other realms and worlds. It’s believed your spirit guides don’t live on the Earthly plane, but are rather on the astral plane – a world only accessible through the mind or soul. You might also try programming your dreams – this involves setting an intention before you go to bed at night that you will meet and visit with your guides.
Another technique is to close your eyes and sit down with a pen and paper. Start moving the pen around the paper until words start to form. Regardless of how you get in contact with them, Stacey says to notice what it is you do when you’re connecting with them – does your spine start tingling? Do the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end? Do you get a little shaky, itchy, or feel a cool breeze? Note whatever it is that happens to you, so you’ll recognise it when they’re trying to get in contact with you.
In today’s workshop, we sit in a circle with our eyes lightly closed and a pen in our hands. We go into a deep meditation, and Stacey asks us a series of questions aimed directly at our guides. Without thinking rationally, I start writing on my piece of paper. My guide tells me, during this exercise, that they’re not my main guide, but are here to help me through some career and finance issues. They also tell me I need to buy property! It’s something I obviously need to think about deeply – it’s a message from beyond!
Questions to consider
Stacey and Jade-Sky say it’s worth knowing what you’re going to ask your guides before you try to contact them. Perhaps aim to find out a little bit about them – ask if they’re male or female, if they’re your main guide, if they’re around often and ask them to show they’re ‘of the light’.
You may want to ask them if you’re on the right spiritual path, if they’ve got any special messages for you, if you’ve known each other in past lives and perhaps ask if they can describe their physical appearance.
Animal guides
One of the best parts of attending the spirit guides workshops is that we’re introduced to the concept of animal guides – also known as ‘totems’ in several traditions.
“A totem animal is an animal helper in spirit who will be your friend and help to guide you,” the girls say. “A totem animal does not only have to be an animal from the land – it can be from the sea, the sky, or even a reptile or insect.”
The girls say that you may have noticed a particular animal is attracted to you. Perhaps you often see owls, lizards or magpies in your life? Have a think about the animals you love and work out what it is that attracts you so much. Also take notice of animals that repulse or repel you. These may be your ‘shadow’ totem and indicate an aspect of yourself you need to work on.
Today, we’re introduced to a range of animals – a possum, kookaburra, blue-tongue lizard, bearded dragon, shingleback lizard, olive python, carpet python, green tree frog, and saltwater crocodile. Some of the women in the course are instantly charmed by some of the animals – and some are frightened or revolted. The girls say it’s important to notice your reaction to the animals you encounter in your life and pay attention to that animal’s attributes, as they will hold a key message for you.
“Your totem is a representation of you and the themes in your life. We can take on their attributes – draw on their strength,” says Stacey, whose totem is a rabbit.
“Do you notice an animal that keeps hassling you?” Jade-Sky asks. “Work out the energy of that animal, and find out what you need to work on.” NH
