What Is a Spirit Guide?

Many people believe they have spirit guides. Some refer to theirs as angels or guardians. Regardless, if you believe you have one, a spirit guide is there simply to guide, not as an entity that you need to give yourself over to. If a spirit guide has a negative influence on your behavior, then chances are good that it’s not a spirit guide at all, but something else entirely.

These are some of the more commonly found types of spirit guides:

1. Ascended Masters:

These are guides often found by people who do energy work, such as Reiki. An ascended master who appears as a spirit guide is often a being that led a physical life and has moved on to a higher spiritual plane — for example, Buddha, Krishna, even Jesus. Ascended masters usually work with collective groups of souls — in other words, if you’ve got an ascended master hanging around you, you’re not the only one he or she is helping. Their primary focus is that of helping all of humanity. It’s not uncommon for an ascended master to have access to Akashic records.

Also referred to as Master Teacher guides.

2. Ancestral Guides:

An ancestral guide is one who can claim some sort of kinship with you, such as your dear Aunt Tillie who died when you were ten. It may also appear in the form of a long-dead ancestor. In some schools of thought, these entities are seen as reincarnated guides, because they are the spirits of someone who loved us during their physical lifetime, or who had some sort of blood connection to our family.

Some people, depending on their religious upbringing, may see these types of guides as guardian angels.

3. Common Spirit Guide, or Teacher Guide:

A typical spirit guide is archetypical, symbolic or representative of something else. For example, you may find your guide appears in the form of a warrior, a storyteller, or a wise woman, and they have appeared to you for a purpose. Typically, that purpose is to teach you and guide you along a particular path. They may also introduce you to other archetypes along your journey, and help out with problem solving, based upon your needs. They are known to provide insight by way of dreams or meditation, and may only hang around as long as you need them, then move on.

4. Animal Guides:

Although many people claim to have animals as spirit guides, often these entities are more companions than anything else. It’s not uncommon for a deceased pet to linger around, keeping you company through the grieving process. In some spiritual traditions, such as various Native American or shamanic paths, a person may have an animal totem, which provides teaching and/or protection.

Author: Patti Wigington, Paganism/Wicca Expert

Article published on About.com

Intent Is Everything

Intent is important but is an often misused word. Intent and intentions are not the same thing. The road to hell is paved with good intentions after all. Intentions are about what you mean to do; intent is more focused. Intent is what you have when you’ve followed “to know” to its logical conclusion. When all your research is complete and your Will, your Divine True Will is completely clear.

A clear intent is important in any working. If there are muddy areas, parts that are not well thought out and planned for or darker motivations that perhaps you haven’t been entirely honest with yourself about, your working will become a mess of confusion. Personally, it means nothing to me if you have those darker motivations, a balanced person will acknowledge and work with them after all. Just know that if you’re ashamed of them or try to repress them, they’ll have power over you. Your spell workings are yours and yours alone, you do not need anyone else’s approval or good opinion (unless you are initiated into a Traditional Wiccan coven which will make a difference, although, you should be talking to your High Priestess and High Priest before you cast any spells). Be completely and brutally honest with yourself before you begin anything.

Someone once said to me “If your intent is pure then that’s the best you can do”. It struck me then as incredibly naive and terribly fluffy. What we were talking about was dealing with spirits of another culture and the strongest person present was adamant that they had to conform to her personal rules of conduct. Pure intent or not, this was going to end badly without some serious understanding of what those spirits considered to be good and bad manners, forms of address and making an effort to know how they operated in the world. But unfortunately, this type of thinking still seems to prevail. Many of the lighter Wiccan 101 books suggest and some even state this silly idea. If your intent is pure that’s fine, but it is not justification for plain arrogance or laziness. It is not the best you can do, it is a beginning. Do your homework. Do some research. Find out what is required and what you need to know before you begin.

Debbie Dawson, The Common Sense Spell Book

 

Be Careful What You Wish For Because You Just Might Get It.

When you decide you want to cast a spell you need to know what your purpose is. “Oh,” I hear you say. “That’s easy, I want more money, or a job, or the perfect lover.”

Easy is it? Really? So how much money are you wanting? Where do you want it to come from? Are you prepared to pay it back later on? Do you need it or just want it? Have you tried all the mundane channels first?

What seems straight-forward and simple on the surface is usually very different in reality. A successful spell needs to be specific. All points covered. All true motivations for the spell uncovered. And there’s the rub. How often do you know what your true, deep down motivations really are?

To Know of the Four Pillars of Magic is extremely important at this stage of your spell planning. There are many questions that you need to be sure you can answer truthfully.

What is my desired outcome? Exactly what is it that you are casting this spell for? Be specific, you need to be able to clearly visualise the end result. Half-baked, spur of the moment spells have a tendency to turn out differently from what you hoped or expected. Be realistic too, don’t go aiming for something that is ridiculously impossible. You will never sprout physical wings and fly to the moon, but you can travel there in pathworkings.

How will my desired outcome happen? Again, be specific. If you’re wanting money, will that come from a pay rise? Will it come from a gambling win? Will it come from a favourite wealthy old aunt who unexpectedly dies for no apparent reason? All of these things need to be considered, planned for and taken into account. Just like electricity or water, the magic takes the path of least resistance, so the path must be clear and ready for it. A disclaimer tacked on the end of it isn’t going to make up for a lack of research and forethought. How much do you want? Do you have any unpaid bills that you’ve forgotten about that may turn up just after you get your money?

How will I know if my spell is successful? Some results are clear and obvious, but others are not. When you are considering how you want your outcome to occur, it pays to also set a clear indication of success or failure. With a money spell, receiving money from a pay rise or gambling win is a clear result, but what about something like protection or cleansing? How will you know?

What are my true motivations for this? Deep down, where we tend to hide stuff even from ourselves, are you sure of the real reasons behind wanting or feeling you need this outcome? Are you sure that there isn’t some selfish, childish, whiny little voice saying “I want” or perhaps you’re wanting revenge for a slight against you? I’m not saying this needs to stop you from doing the spell but you need to know your true motivations before starting.

If this goes ahead, what are the long-term implications or consequences? The smallest stone thrown into a pond creates ripples that extend outwards from the initial point of impact. You need to consider, very carefully, how achieving your outcome will affect your life and the lives of those around you.

I cast a spell in a moment of anger. I wanted my (then) husband to understand the value of money. He was the stay-at-home parent who seemed to go through all the money I earned faster than I earned it. What I hadn’t considered was that the only way for him to learn the value of money was to have to be responsible for it all himself. It shouldn’t have come as a surprise to me when I left him 3 weeks later, but it was. He had to learn it after that— he didn’t have me to pay for everything. It was a foolish spell, cast without thought for the implications. I’m not blaming my marriage breakup on it, that had been coming for a while, but I believe that it gave me the final push to go.

Think of the butterfly effect— the theory that a butterfly flapping its wings can create a tropical storm half a world away. Will your spell have that same effect? It sounds like a bit of an exaggeration, but you never know how big the snowball will get when you start it down the hill.

The intention here amongst my mixed metaphors isn’t to frighten you away from casting spells. My intention is for you to be sure that this spell is what you want and that you’re prepared for any consequences before you begin. Too many times I’ve heard stories from those who’ve made a huge magical mistake. There was the lady who performed a love spell. She’d fallen madly in love with a chap who didn’t know she existed. She did a love spell to make him love her and the immediate result was that they were married. Unfortunately, it took 13 years of physical, mental and verbal abuse before she was finally able to tear herself away from him. This kind of thing is one of the many reasons people will tell you to be careful of love spells. Many spells from books or the internet will have some kind of disclaimer on the end. Something like “should my spell cause harm to any, let it dissipate without effect”. Or worse still, “in no way will this spell reverse, or place upon me any curse!”
I find these disclaimers tacked on like an afterthought to be a waste of time. They set you up for failure. If you have done your homework and been specific in all the aforementioned areas there is no need for them. They create the doubt or disbelief that will cause failure.

If your spell is able to reverse or curse you, then again, you haven’t done the work. It’s your own fault and the price you pay for a half-baked planning session. Saying these words will not have any effect on the ‘Powers that Be’ who decide such things (be it natural laws of cause and effect or a Karmic Court).

Debbie Dawson, The Common Sense Spell Book

Other Ways to Enhance Energy Practice

Try creating increasingly more complicated shapes with the energy. Stars. Cubes. Spirals.

Remember, even when using divine or earth energy, personal energy is still used to help steady and direct it. It’s important that we maintain energy and health. Treat your body as well as you would treat any tool that is sacred and spiritual.

Beyond just sensing and shaping energy, feel and hear it. Understanding and being aware of the energy around will give us information that we can use. Keep track of when you feel a change or shift in the energy around you and what happen before during or after. Eventually, you may find a pattern.

 
Ashlyn Hawthorne, Wiccan Basics: Solitary Suburban Pagan Guide

PRACTICE WITH ENERGY

After a few attempts at drawing and grounding energy, we have a better idea of the similarities and differences, as well as how we interact with each type of energy. Now, we need to practice shaping and moving it.

Start by pulling personal energy into your dominant hand. Then hold your hands palms facing each other, about three inches apart. Send the energy from the dominant hand and receiving it with the non-dominant hand. Allow it to flow back into your center creating a loop of energy. Trying varying the distance between your hands. Try to decrease the energy to a trickle. Try to dial it up a little more than you have before if you feel confident controlling it.

Center and stabilize the energy.

Try the same exercises sending the energy with your non-dominant hand and receiving it with you dominant one.

After a few sessions of sending and receiving, it’s time to try shaping and molding the energy.

Pull personal energy into your dominant hand, holding it palm facing non-dominant hand. Instead of receiving it this time, use your hands to shape the energy into a ball. Expand it or contract it. Spin it. Toss it from hand to hand. When you’re done, allow the energy to be absorbed, centered and stabilized. Next time, try creating a square or other simple shape with the energy. Then try it with the other two types of energy.

Once you feel confident, try various combinations of energies. Pull earth energy and allow it to pool with your personal energy before sending it into your hand. When done with the exercises, do the same but with divine energy. Pull both earth and divine energy and have them both flow into your hand to work, bypassing your personal energy as much as possible. Finally, pull both divine and earth energy and let it mingle with your personal energy before practicing.

 
Ashlyn Hawthorne, Wiccan Basics: Solitary Suburban Pagan Guide

DIVINE ENERGY

We connect to divine energy in a very similar way to how we call on earth energy. Begin with centering and anchoring to the earth. Once stable, focus on the top of your head and feel the energy there, sort of like sunlight shining down on your head. Open yourself to it. Often, you will feel it flow down your neck and spine. Repeat the exercises with your dominant and non-dominant hand.

After you’ve finished, you’ll need to ground the energy the same way you did with the earth energy.

As before, note how it feels in comparison to the energies you’ve already worked with.

Ashlyn Hawthorne, Wiccan Basics: Solitary Suburban Pagan Guide

 

EARTH ENERGY

Start by centering and grounding, the same way as with personal energy. (We won’t be calling on personal energy directly in this exercise, but we will use it to ground, and we’ll also call on slightly to help direct the earth energy.)

Once you feel strongly anchored in the earth, see the connection thicken and strengthen a bit more. Feel the energy of the earth. Invite it to move up your anchor and into your body. Feel its movement as you draw it into your dominant hand and repeat the same exercise as you performed with personal energy. Then move the earth power to your non-dominant hand.

Note how the earth energy feels. How it’s the same and how it’s different from the personal energy in order to add it to your journal later.

When you’re done, send the energy back down through your body, along your anchor and ground it into the earth.
Don’t try to hold on to the earth energy. It can make you feel light-headed, ill or out of sorts. Return your attention to your center, calming your own energy. Then release your anchor and allow your consciousness to return to normal.

Ashlyn Hawthorne, Wiccan Basics: Solitary Suburban Pagan Guide

Personal Energy

When connecting with personal energy, we have to understand where, exactly, our own power comes from. We have to start by asking ourselves where we feel energy and emotion in times of intensity. Most feel it somewhere in the center of our body. The chest, the solar plexus, or the stomach.

Once we locate our personal energy center, we have to center ourselves. Start by concentrating on that spot and focus on keeping your awareness there. Breathe in and out, practicing extending the time when we can hold our concentration.

Next, we have to ground ourselves, anchoring our mental and emotional ‘bodies’ in place. Some people imagine tree roots connecting them to the earth beneath them, others see a line of energy. Choose whatever image feels sturdy and substantial to you. Once feeling anchored and secure, go back to your energy center and make sure your focus there is still strong.

Now, see that energy seeping/flowing/stretching/weaving itself out from the center and making its way to your dominant arm. Feel the warmth/tingle/movement as it expands. Allow it to pool in your dominant hand. Stretch out your fingers to expand it. Curl them back to condense. After getting comfortable with it for a few minutes, focus again on your center and pull the energy back until it has all returned to your energy center.

Repeat the same steps, but let the energy move into your non-dominant side. This may or may not be more difficult. It may feel different. Make a mental note of it while you’re experiencing it and write it in your journal later. Pull the energy back. Once with this exercise, your energy center may feel larger or more active. Focus on calming it back to the way it felt when you first connected with it. You may need to ground some of the energy along roots, releasing it into the earth.

Once you feel centered and stable, disconnect from the earth, allow your consciousness to release its focus on your energy center and return to normal awareness.

Ashlyn Hawthorne, Wiccan Basics: Solitary Suburban Pagan Guide

ENERGY

 

We have to have strong focus in order to work with the energies around us. We need strong mental skills to sense, draw, shape, and direct energy.

We have to have strong focus in order to work with the energies around us. We need strong mental skills to sense, draw, shape, and direct energy.

There are multiple types of energy around us all the time, but it’s easiest to look at the ones we use the most as falling into three categories:

Personal energy-energy that comes from within us.

Divine energy—energy that comes from the deities or other parts of the spirit world.

Earth energy-energy that we can draw from the aspects of nature around us, both in the ground beneath our feet and in objects drawn from nature like flowers, stones or wood.

Ashlyn Hawthorne, Wiccan Basics: Solitary Suburban Pagan Guide

Wiccan Adoration

One does not read about the Wicca.
One does not study about the Craft of the Wise.
The knowledge I will teach is not idle.
You can only learn this knowledge if you use it — if you put it to work.
This study is only for those who have a willingness to learn
Each of you has expressed a desire to learn.
Each of you has shown talent at being magickal — at making things happen.
If you are to learn the Craft, you must swear that you will work all your
Magick in Perfect Love.
Work negative magick and you are not one of us.
You must work at growing positive, even if it requires change.
Each of you has shown that you are capable of making changes in the self, in
order that your Magick be more positive.
Each of you has learned that change allows you to be happier.
To learn the Craft of Wicca, you must make changes.
Each of you has done this, and it is joyous and beautiful of you, and it is
this happiness we share.
At this level of your training, you must maintain secrecy.
If your friends, your family, your lovers were truly ready for this
knowledge, they would be here — now.
But if they are not; that is proof that they are not yet ready.
Speak no Magick to those who know less than you, unless you are prepared to
tell all of us that you are a teacher of the Craft.
A true teacher does not teach teh Craft until s/he has completed the
training.
If those we are with are in positive Craft Traditions, we can speak to our
peers and to those more wise than ourselves.
Each of you has your own timing.
You learn at your own rate.
Should you leave this study, there is no sorrow, only joy at the love we
have shared.
Each of you has shown the ability to work together to raise good, positive
energy.
Each of you knows how to help and to share.
Each of you will learn to trust each other.
You must have with me Perfect Trust.
If you do not trust me as your Mentor, I cannot teach you.
And I give you Perfect Trust.
If you swear to trust me, it is because I swear that I trust you.
You have not arrived here by chance.
You have displayed a desire to learn.
You have displayed a talent at Magick.
This Magick is to heal, to help; it only works in Perfect Love.
You are here because you have shown us that you are learning to work in
Perfect Love.
It is the only way to happiness; and you are here because you are growing in
happiness.
You are learning to unlock joy.
Each of you is capable of becoming a teacher — to learn the Craft of Wicca
and to share that knowledge.
Each of you must grow into becoming a teacher.
Each of you has taken the Path of being willing to learn, the Path of
wanting to learn.
Each of you is growing.
Each of you is creative.
Each of you is special to the Magick of the Universe.
Each of you perceives the Magick of the Universe as a balance of Yin and
Yang, of masculine and feminine, of God and Goddess.
Each of you recognizes the feminine and masculine within the self.
Each of you has been told this knowledge is only for those who seek to
become of the Wicca.
Each of you is here because it is felt by the Wise, by the Wicca, that you
are capable of knowing stronger Magick than you have thus far conceived of.
By being here, now, you have demonstrated a desire to take this Path.
You have already begun.
You are here because you have shown love to the World.
Because you, also, are Wise.
The Wicca means the Wise: The Wise Ones.
We meet together to talk as wise people and celebrate our happiness.
All of us, even your teachers, are pursuing wisdom and we all follow the
Laws.
To complete this study, to follow this Path into Initiation means you will
be ready to celebrate the Wisdom you have attained, to celebrate in ritual
the knowledge that you are Magick;
To share with us wine and happiness, words of beauty and laughter…
By the time you complete this course of study you will be a Priest/ess of
Lothlorien and an Initiated Child of the God and the Goddess.

Norse Rede of Honor
From the book “The Rites of Odin” by Ed Fitch

 

1. In all that you do, consider its benefit or harm upon yourself, your children and your people.

2. All that which you do will return to you, sooner or later, for good or for ill. Thus strive always to do good to others, or at least strive always to be just.

3. Be honest with yourself, and with others. “This above all; to thine own self be true.”

4. Humankind, and especially your own family and folk, has the spark of divinity within it. Protect and nurture that spark.

5. Give your word sparingly, and adhere to it like iron.

6. In the world, your first trust and responsibility should be to your own people. Yet, be kind and proper to others whenever possible.

7. What you have, HOLD!

8. Pass on to others only those words which you have personally verified.

9. Be honest with others, and let them know that you expect honesty in return, always.

10. The fury of the moment plays folly with the truth; to keep one’s head is a virtue.

11. Know which battles should be fought, and which battles should be avoided. Also, know when to break off a conflict. There are times when the minions of chaos are simply too strong or when fate is absolutely unavoidable.

12. When you gain power, use it carefully and use it well.

13. Courage and honor endure forever. Their echoes remain when the mountains have crumbled to dust.

14. Pledge friendship and your services to those who are worthy. Strengthen others of your people and they will strengthen you.

15. Love and care for your family always, and have the fierceness of a wolf in their protection.

16. Honor yourself, have pride in yourself, do your best and forgive yourself when you must.

17. Try always to be above reproach in the eyes of the world.

18. Those of our people should always endure to settle any differences among themselves quietly and peaceably.

19. The laws of the land should be obeyed whenever possible and reason, for in the main they have been chosen with wisdom.

20. Have pride in yourself, your family and your folk. They are your promise for the future.

21. Do not neglect your mate and children.

22. Every one of our people should work according to the best that s/he can do, no matter how small or how great. We are all in this world together, thus we must always help each other along.

23. One advances individually and collectively only by living in harmony with the natural order of the world.

24. The seeking of wisdom is a high virtue. Love of truth, honor, courage and loyalty are the hallmarks of the noble soul.

25. Be prepared for whatever the future brings.

26. Life with all its joys, struggles and ambiguities is to be embraced and lived to the fullest!