Who is your guide?

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 23 Sep 2004, and now archived in the Forum Library.

mehndigirl	23 Sep 2004
I'm wondering who or what inspires or guides other readers. Is it a totem animal? Angels? A goddess? Or maybe something internal? I am inspired by gods and goddesses, fairies, and others. To me these are imaginary or fictional characters that show individual elements of the energy that embodies All. These are the tools I need to help me focus and understand. This is deep and personal to me. I hope it doesn't sound spiritless (is that a word?) I could explain it better face to face. I'm not so good with the cold, hard keyboard. Who is your guide? How do you see he/she/it? What does he/she/it do for you and how do you show appreciation? mehndigirl

Mesara	23 Sep 2004
I always think of the Goddess, usually the Crone. I imagine that she is lending me an unseen hand in the use of my intuition, and that she is presiding over the falling of the cards as you will. Although I think of the Goddess and the Tarot as two separate entities, I find that I read better when I am open to both influences.

Apollonia	23 Sep 2004
Hi, Mehndigirl! Prior to doing a reading, I ask the Goddess Fortuna and the Angels of the Tarot to assist me. I honor them with prayer and the lighting of candles and incense, and after each reading, I thank them. (I have a more formal invocation that I use when I call on Fortuna, but I just sort of chat with the angels.) I also lovingly and respectfully ask those parts of myself that do not enjoy the readings and feel they have nothing to contribute to move off of my body, to go elsewhere and enjoy themselves until the readings are completed, and then to return to me.

Eco74	24 Sep 2004
Sadly, I don't know since we've never been formally introduced. ;) I'm sure there are lots of them though, nudging me and guiding me through both the use of cards and through other things in my life. Sometimes they can't decide which of them is to take care of something and then it gets really interesting. :D

Diana	24 Sep 2004
My "guide" is the energy force-field that is the cement of our universe. But I don't use that word. It's not really a guide. And I certainly don't invoke it in order to use it. I just tap into it. No incense, no candles and no mantras. No spread-cloths either. Just a little quantum leap into space and time. It's quick and easy. Sometimes it requires a deep breath in and a deep breath out before connecting but often not. Like when I want to cook a meal, I don't invoke the Cooking Gods. I just follow certain laws that allow me to cook a good meal (for instance, 20 minutes for white rice - the more unhealthy kind, 50 for brown rice - the healthy kind). When I do readings, I just follow certain laws (tarot laws, not cooking laws) plus I use an enormous dollop of common sense, plus what some people call intuition, but what I just call tapping into the the web of energy that I, as a being made of energy, cannot cut myself off from, even if I tried for a thousand million billion years. (And then there are the tarot gods that I argue with daily on their mountain, but that is another story. They are pesky little creatures indeed but it is great fun arguing with them. :D :D :D Only kidding guys. Only kidding. Or am I? :confused: )

Leleii	24 Sep 2004
I agree with Diana. When I do a reading or lay the cards out I am communicating with my higher self. When I get a good reading, its flows, I am actually having a conversation with the cards. The cards are a go between with my higher self. It is hard to put this into words. I always invoke the white light of protection to surround me and the cards and the querant (if there is one) before I lay out the cards. It is hard to put this in words, but I think the tarot is a go-between between self and spirit. It is a way to tap into your higher self. Sometimes I talk (with the cards) with my spirit guide or my angels. It is a form of communication between self and spirit. I already told my spirit guides and angels that I can't handle direct communication with them. So we communicate with the tarot or in dreams. We are both happy with this arrangement and it works for me.

Moonbow*	24 Sep 2004
I tap into the Universal Life Force and ask that I be used as a channel for the reading. This is actually part of my reiki training and now I find it's within me, and can be used for many many things. Sometimes I do this with a ritual of meditation, incense, music ... but more often than not I just connect to reiki and go for it. But reiki is always there for me when and if I need or want it. I have been told that I have a Spirit Guide but I guess I am not quite ready for him/her because I question too much. I feel that my guide is there though. Some of my best guides have been my friends. I have a few that have given me more than they realise.

Gyda	24 Sep 2004
I don't have a guide, never have. When I need help the Disir ( female ancestors, the mothers of my line) are who I turn to. When I want to honour them I usually light their candle and pour wine in the blessing bowl accompanied by a prayer of thanks. I usually just rely on intuition, and common sense though.

lark	24 Sep 2004
I have four guides. They come to me usually in dream form or meditation when I am making my way from one spiritual palateu to another. I have learned that my angels are with me at all times, but my Spirit Guides come in when I need them. At crucial moments in my life. Entwi Damala- A very tall black man. Sometimes he's dressed as a shaman, but most times he's in a very nice suit. My strongest teacher. Tells it like it is. Told me in no uncertain terms when it was time for me to get out and do public readings. Charlie- Charlie is an insecure, shy teenage boy. At least that is how he appeared to me at first. He showed up when my kids were in there teens and I could relate to him. Lately he has been the most active and has been coming in prophetic dreams, but now he shows himself as a confident young man. He always boosts my confidence when I am down. Tina and ?(Barbara)- The Twins Tina showed herself in full body form one day when I was backing out of the driveway. She was standing at the garage door. Barbara is another story. She would never tell me her name. I knew she was there, they would appear together all the time, but she was very silent and let Tina do all the talking. They are little girls about 7 or 8 years old. I was doing a reading for another medium and he said to me in the middle of the reading "Do you know you have twin guides named Tina and Barbara?" I almost fell out of my chair! It was such a conformation of there presence. He then proceeded to give me a reading with Barbara doing most of the talking. It was amazing. He also tolds me what Entwi Damala means: He Who Greets With Fire I wish I could confirm that, but it was interesting anyway. So there are some of my Spirit Guide adventures. I hope I don't sound like a nut. I believe as you move through life different ones come in and others go out. All in accordance to your spiritual growth and needs. Like Diana I don't call on Guides when I do readings. I don't feel for me that is what there roll is. I instruct my Subconsious Mind to follow my Higher Self in spite of what my Mind says. This sends me into that universal web of energy. I love to light beautiful candles and use pretty spread cloths but it isn't nesessary for me to connect. It's all within me, not the material trappings around me. Well I've rambled on long enough... Blessings everyone.

ros	24 Sep 2004
Have no ideas about my guides??? When I do my readings, I try my best to find a truth within my knowledge and intuition. I guess energy within myself.

jmd	25 Sep 2004
It may be that, irrespective as to our personal beliefs about guidance, it is there, and perhaps there in a way which may even be contrary to our current beliefs. As an analogy (again a cooking one), I may say that I don't turn any heat on to boil water in order to cook rice, I rather simply put the rice into cold water, put it in the machine, and press a button, and out hot it later emerges! This does not mean that some form of heating is not applied (though of course, one may indeed cook rice by the cold-water method, but that wasn't the point). It may be that, for example, there is a combination of a personal angelic presence which assists in times we are more receptive to this assistance, and when our own faculties of imagination, inspiration and intuition are more broadly perceptive to their respective spheres. Each of us, however, inevitably also seeks to understand what is going on in terms of our overall 'Weltensicht' ('world view'). Having said this, my personal view is more along the lines that one is able to be receptive to subtle and spiritual impulses in the situation at hand. Being more receptive, we are often able to present these in imaginative ways narrated in a manner which may be meaningfully understood by the recipient of our reading (the querent).

Alta	25 Sep 2004
Many good comments here, and mostly I agree with just allowing something that is always there to guide me. However, I also consciously invoke Thoth, holder of the 'third eye' to help me. I ask him questions while I read, sometimes he even answers.

tinkerbell	25 Sep 2004
wow, what an interesting thread! lark, your comments sent a shiver down my spine- how incredible to have so many guides and all so different. i would love to be blessed with meeting my own guides but it is only the begin of my intuitive journey and i have a lot of work to do! maybe i'll never be lucky enough to meet them but i believe we all have them and they look out for us regardless! love and light, wendy x

Cerulean	25 Sep 2004
There was a writer who suggested that guidance can come where you normally find inspiration--let's say you listen to songs and the phrases at key times dance in your memory and you do something inspirational, life-changing because of it. Or perhaps a postcard or picture can change your outlook---or it could be the smile of person passing by at the right moment. I don't think I have a personified, named higher guide, but sometimes I do have a Celestial Librarian who plops a keyword or concept into my brain and I find websites, library books or bookstore resources singing a fresh song into my ear. A lot of times the website, library book or bookstore there was always available, I just hadn't woke up to it. Lately, on bicycle rides and walks and the few kayaking bouts I take, the appearance of butterflies, damselfly and dragonflies, and birds have been rather beautiful moments and treasures. These nature signals are usually fortunate to signal a change in attitude for me. On a side note: I adored all the references to cooking rice. I was taught on an old-fashioned gas stove with an iron pot how to measure the water, rice, and be able to cook it without lifting the cover---believe it or not, the amount of water splashing over the rim was a form of 'cooking divination' to let me know that I could turn the fire down--and you DON'T lift the lid. It wasn't any esoteric ritual, the folks were just trying to break down the steps for a nine-year-old's brain how to contribute to the family meal and do it how they were taught. Of course we were one of the last ones to use the rice cookers that were so perfectly easy--and I as a kid was grateful to the lesser godling 'Hitachi' that I plugged into a socket every day. Delighted to read and chat! Cerulean

rosyelf	26 Sep 2004
I love this thread ! Where else on the Web could someone write of such things and not be laughed out of town(as it were ) ? No, lark, I don't think you're a nut. How lovely that you've got these guides, and that they feel so PRESENT to you. I'm intrigued ,especially by the black man. Are you black yourself ? Did he tell you his name, or do you just "know." ? I'm not interrogating you or making fun in any way, but asking out of respectful curiosity. Maybe you'd like to pm me ? Who are MY guides ? Not just in Tarot, in life ? The cat (domestic and wild, large or small) is my totem-has always been there, one way or another. Various "ancestors," by which I mean 1) biological ancestors and 2)anyone who, though not biologically connected to me, has a powerful presence in my life. Some of these I sense collectively-have no picture of them in my mind's eye, or in dreams, but I know they are around. One ancestor, Alice, is a great-aunt of whom I have a very clear picture. Met her once when I was 5 and she was an old lady with a bent spine. Without saying or doing anything blindingly extraordinary, she radiated...something. She was a natural psychic, though I only found that out later. She helps me a lot-in dreams, around the place. So I've never found it odd when other people talk about guides, guardians, etc. I rather believe we all have them. :)

Little Baron	26 Sep 2004
So far, the only ones that have come through by voice and in dreams, are Melanie and Warren; both seperate. I havn't heard from them in a week or so and they havn't told me much about themselves. Melanie sounds very caring but Warren (or Ian - didn't hear him so well and he didn't repeat) seems a bit arrogant and just shouts. I have told him to stop it which is why he probably hasn't been back yet. I think he is a little bit of a nutter. Neither of these 'spirits' or 'guides' are used when I read the cards though; but they do often send signals to me in other ways so that I know which direction to go in. Yaboot

tmgrl2	26 Sep 2004
Somewhat like Diana, I believe I am "guided" by all that ever was, is now, and is yet to be.....what Diana called " the web of energy"....that connets all that is. I believe that through mindfulness as I go about my daily activities I receive what I need...it often speaks in that little voice inside, the one I really need to hear. Then, through meditation work on a more formal level, I believe I become more adept at "going to that place" where I am more open to what is coming to me. This type of "opening up" to "incoming" information occurs when I choose to do a reading with the Tarot, or when I just "read" someone's intent or "read" a situation. When I am in a sad or difficult period of time, there is often the image of a little blond girl in a farm dress that comes to me. Sometimes, I focus on her and listen to what she "says" to me. terri

bleudiamond	26 Sep 2004
hmm...i have 3 "guides" 1. myself - guiding my intuitions and knowledge 2. felines......bringing me wisdom through mischief and persistance 3. the guardian that i call peagus

lark	26 Sep 2004
Quote: Originally posted by rosyelf I love this thread ! Where else on the Web could someone write of such things and not be laughed out of town(as it were ) ? No, lark, I don't think you're a nut. How lovely that you've got these guides, and that they feel so PRESENT to you. I'm intrigued ,especially by the black man. Are you black yourself ? Did he tell you his name, or do you just "know." ? I'm not interrogating you or making fun in any way, but asking out of respectful curiosity. Maybe you'd like to pm me ? Well, rosyelf, thank you for not thinking I'm a nut. No I am not black, I am a middle age white woman with green eyes and long blonde hair. Which made it kind of amusing to me that I would have a very, very tall black African man as a guide. He came to me first in a dream. At the beginning of what I now understand was my psychic opening. He was very tall and walked slowly and with purpose...I don't know how else to say that... He was dressed in yellow, orange and red robes. He was holding a staff, it wasn't a walking stick because it was tall. Taller than him. And it had things tied to it. Feathers, shells, plants, little brown leather bags of ...I don't know what. He told me his name in the dream. Funny thing is I remembered it and I am terrible with names. And it's such an odd name. Entwi Damala I felt it was an african dialect but....which one? When the other psychic told me his name ment 'He Who Greets With Fire.' It made sense to me because the way he was dressed made me think of a flame. I do not know why he is my guide.. Maybe I'll ask him. :) But I am very grateful for him and he has told me and shown me many wise and wonderful things. Oh and Cerulean I just love that you have a Celestial Librarian as one of your guides!

rosyelf	27 Sep 2004
Thank you, lark, for that. And, Cerulean, I love the image of the Celestial Librarian. When I have been prompted by that (person ?), I then tend to get the reference, quote, name of artist, whatever, cropping up all over the place ! Who was it who said, "When the time is right, the teacher appears" ? I believe that.

tmgrl2	27 Sep 2004
Another way cool thread here at AT! I, too, love the Celestian Librarian! I think sometimes that I don't "tune in" to "see" someone ...maybe in my meditations, more will come forward now. The little girl has always been around me though...I did some past life regression work years ago with my friend in Florida. Supposedly, I was born and died as a child on a farm, then was born into my current life. Somehow, I feel as though that little girl in her farm dress is the quite wise child in me that I sometimes ignore or have left behind. Thanks everyone... terri

mingbop	27 Sep 2004
sometimes ask my granny who had "the sight" and taught me tarot--sometimes the querent has spirits who come and dig me int he ribs and say tell her this tell her that !

sarahbellum	27 Sep 2004
I also love the Celestial Librarian. She sounds like the Egyptian goddess Seshat, the "Mistress of the House of Books." I have always felt a strong link to her, given that my house is sort of overrun with books. I'm convinced they breed at night. (Yet I still feel the need to buy more.) I tend to picture/experience my guide differently at different times. Sometimes it's the Net of Indra, which I picture as a glorious (conscious and aware) webbing of sparkling cobwebby strands linking small shining jewels, with every living thing being one of the jewels. At other times I have a clear sense of a benevolent, dark-haired woman grinning at me. Other times, weird as this may sound, I sense/see the Holy Spirit in the guise of an elaborately carved rock. I envy those of you who have clearer pictures and even names. I agree--what a great thread this is! It is SO hard to talk to people about these things. Isn't that strange? We are all bombarded with discussions about money and sex and politics all the time, but if you try to talk with someone about your idiosyncratic spiritual life, and it's like you just announced you eat raw frogs or something. Why is it more tasteful to talk about the details of the latest sex scandal than about one's soul?

Sillanza	27 Sep 2004
Unlike Lark, I've never been lucky enough to actually see an embodiment of my spirit guides, but I have one that sometimes comes to me in dreams. She encourages me, which is nice. I've never been aware of her presence, neither do I feel it necessary, when I read tarot. When it comes to tarot, I begin as I always have. I center myself with a few cleansing breaths and think about myself as a channel for truth, and ask to tap into that tiny piece of the eternal universe, the divine spark within myself, to receive the truth that the cards may show me. I can usually feel, sometimes see, the brow chakra opening, and when that happens, I know I am ready. This is a sensation I always experienced, even before I knew what a brow chakra was! Sometimes I light candles as a focus for meditation, sometimes I hold certain stones but not always. And the end of the reading, I thank God, and the universe for the insight I've received. I also agree with Sarahbellum (cool screen name!). If I ever want to get my mother off the phone, all I have to do is tell her about my latest reading, prophetic dream, or vision! It's as if acknowledging that these things can and do happen is equivalent to abdicating your sense of reality.

acolyte	05 Oct 2004
this is very interesting.I have not found my guides yet but i must admit i have also not made much of an effort too anyhow.But when it comes to reading i usually relax take a breathe, open up my third eye and tap into the universe.Usually when i am doing a reading for someone online I tap into their energy and put it into the hand that i am using to pick the cards (is that some form of theft?)I know it works as the cards i pick out are usually not mine,i usually can tell the cards that come when i pick for myself which i don't do much.Anyway oce when i was in deep deep meditation two beings male and female showed up and talked to me but that was way way back and i am not sure if those werre my guides,angels,fragments of my higher self or figments of my imagination.so at the moment the universe is my guide till further notice.

Phoenix Rising	08 Oct 2004
Personally I used to think we have guides, and all of the new age movement really pushed it too. But to give our power to something outside of ourselves is giving our power away. So I have dismissed them, whether or not they are there are not, i want to rely on my self, my own inner guidance. some may see them standing behind their right shoulder, but you'll probably seeing a aspect of yourself from a past life too, they'll never go away, as it is all contained in our DNA. So give yourself some credit and know that you're just as special and powerful as some guide, if not more.

acolyte	14 Oct 2004
true true i do agree with you because our guides walk us through it but do niot walk for us.That we do on our own

Nevada	14 Oct 2004
I believe we have guides, and I agree with Phoenix Rising that our higher selves guide us if we listen. We come from Spirit and when we reconnect fully with our spirits we're able to return home and leave the realm of matter. So many people have become immersed in matter that this is difficult for them to see or believe right now. They don't allow their spiritual selves to guide them. But there are also beings, angels, devas, fae, call them what you will, as well as people who've gone ahead, who are all available to us if we ask them to be. I do think sometimes we need their help, because we're in this physically immersed state, the world of matter has become home and we fear to step beyond what we know. We feel safe and in control in our tight little world, our womb of physicality. I know I'm guided, and I'm aware of having been in contact with people who've passed, as well as with a higher self, but with others as well, who are very different from humans. It's a fleeting thing so far in my experience. More an invitation than an actual introduction to that world. But there is a whole other reality occupying the same space as our material world, that most people are unaware of only because they haven't ventured there. We're told that it's lunacy or superstition. Nevada

The Who is your guide? thread was originally posted on 23 Sep 2004 in the Using Tarot Cards board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Using Tarot Cards, or read more archived threads.