Spirit Guides - Are They Really There?

 I remember back in 1985, when I sat in a Psychic Development Circle on a night when we were going to meet our 'spirit guide'. The concept of the meditation was that we were going to a clearing in the woods where a person (Our Spirit Guide) was going to appear, then bring the sun down to us to prove its service to us. 

I was fairly new to the Spirit Guide idea at the time. I had been surrounded by spirit entities all my life. Real experiences. Entities that had appeared to me; has wandered through dreams with me. There was also the old man ... the Merlin/Odin/Thoth look-a-like. None of these had ever discussed the concept of spirit guides. They'd telepathically shown me many other things; made predictions which had come true. But not one of them had said 'I am your spirit guide'. So to that point I'd never needed a spirit guide, so I'd never had one. To this day I've still not had one ... but I will get to that point, as I am getting ahead of myself. 

Anyway, there was about 30 of us sitting in this development circle. The relaxation music was played, and my mentor described the journey in a guided meditation. 

I came out of the meditation with nothing. Not a sausage. No guide. No nothing. How was I going to narrate that to my mentor when it came my time to speak of my journey? I was about 11 or 12th in the group, so by the time we'd listened to the first related journeys we learnt of the Native American guides; the Egyptian Guide with the fantastic crystals; the Chinese Mandarin and a few other of the most 'popular' looking guides. By the time it came my turn to talk, I had invented a 'guide' ... a poorly dressed Nordic warrior with a big sword. My mentor had just looked at me with a knowing smile. She hadn't believed me. I then sat listening to all the accounts of fabulous guides. 

Then it came to the end of the evening, and we all stayed behind for a drink and a social chat. Here was the most interesting point of the evening. It turned out there was approximately 30 people in the circle. Out of that 30 people, it turned out there was over half that had made up their guide to save face! They'd had wonderful meditations but had not met anyone on the journey. So, like me, to avoid embarrassment, they'd described the first thing that had come to their head. Their spirit guides had been a figment of their imagination! 

How many people in the New Age Movement have done the same? It therefore begs the question, 'spirit guides are they really there?'

According to the traditional literature appertaining to Spirit Guides, each and every one of us is supposed to have twelve main guides. That's a lot of spirit guides. The world population is currently 7.125 billion. That means there are 7.125 million x 12 guides out there. Probable or myth? The problem I have, is that I never take anything on face value and I always question everything I see and I'm told. Spirit guides have never sat right with me.

Why do we need intermediary assistants when our Authentic Selves (Our Spirit) is connected to the universal consciousness, is a part of the universal hologram, so has all things within itself? Why go to a second party for guidance and direction? Our Authentic Self knows ourselves better than anything else?

Do people really communicate with a separate entity or entities which come to them as spirit guides? Or is it an aspect of their own multiple selves that communicates with them? I've been asking this question for the best part of 30 years, still awaiting the arrival of one of my twelve guides! Yet, I am able to comprehensively communicate with the other side, and provide incredible validatory evidence again, and again, and again without the intervention of a guide. I always find myself communicating directly with the discarnate soul or inter-dimensional entity. There is never a guide 'telling me to say this' or 'telling me to say that'. Not once. Not ever. So in my experience there are no spirit guides. Yet so many people relate tales to the outside world about their connections with spirit guides. How many of these connections are truly separate entities?

Ok, so I have a large group of deceased family members and close friends who converse with me from time to time. In recent times, my old mentor Paula Paradaema and my old medium friend Peter Patrick have caused havoc on Australian TV's Psychic TV when they have overshadowed me on live TV and forced me to chaotically give out my messages. But that's not guides at work! I've had clients deceased family members ushering in other deceased members but that still isn't spirit guides. No spirit has yet to say to me, ever, 'I'm your spirit guide'. I've literally made thousands and thousands of validated connections to the spirit world, but in none of them has there been a spirit guide. 

Yet, I witness numerous mediums and psychics who talk about their spirit guides and preach to the masses about the existence of spirit guides. It all goes back to the early days of the New Age Movement and the fashion accessories everyone is supposed to wear! Before the advent of the New Age Movement, the old style mediums didn't have spirit guides ... so why have spirit guides suddenly become an accepted part of spiritual development?

Anyone who comes to me for Spiritual Development will not be taught about how to connect with Spirit Guides. With nearly 45 years of communicating with spiritual entities, I can honestly say that spirit guides are not necessary. In my development groups I show people how to communicate with spirit directly themselves. 

I don't dismiss the possibility that family members and friends are helpers and lend a helping hand to make our connection with their world easier ... I just completely disagree with the spirit guide dogma that is circulating around the psychic world. It is nonsense that the original Person A began writing about as a requirement, and then like lemmings the psychic world populace have followed Person A like lemmings - accepting without question the need for spirit guides. Then using the figment of their right brain imagination, aspects of themselves have become spirit guides. It is a misleading concept and one I've taken with a pinch of salt for over 30 years. My spiritual work has never suffered for the lack of my 'twelve spirit' guides - in fact I am ever so grateful for not having any guides. I am responsible for everything I receive. I am also in total control of the information I am given ... I can decide what to filter and what not to filter.

So, in my opinion are spirit guides really there? No, I don't believe they are. And what I am concerned about it is the naivety that the inexperienced spiritual warriors accept anything that attaches itself to them and offers guidance. The Astral Plane is littered with thousands of lower entities who are only too willing to link with earth bound souls ... and use them as a 'drive through KFC' ... as an energy source. By establishing a need and a dependence on them, the earth bound soul will become reliant on this lower entity. An entity which can manifest an image of anything the inexperienced spiritual warrior wants it to be. To the unwary and the ignorant, this can take place, It takes experience to be aware of this, and to constantly test the links that are made on a mind level. 

The topic of spirit guides in truth opens up a huge can of worms ... the possibilities of what is really going on is endless. I say that people need to wise up and not be as naive as they are being. Each and every connection made with the spirit world, is first established on the Astral Plane, which is filled with so much junk and bullshit - that it is really very hard to distinguish what is real and what is fantasy. It takes decades to perfect the means of determining truth from illusion. Therefore it is scary to think of all the misguided mediums and psychics out there who believe they have guides ... when in truth they are dealing with figments of their imagination. These thought form identities can be used as servitors by not only the person who created them, but also by cunning ex-humans and non-humans who lurk on the astral plane. It is important to realise this can take place. Spirit guides may well not be what they appear to be. It's a bit like being a young child, who's never heard of murderers or rapists, who goes out into the park and then makes friends with the first person who greets them in the park. That person can say anything to the gullible child. The child is none the wiser. The person could be a rapist or a murderer who has dark designs on that child ... the principle of spirit guides is just the same! There are entities out there which will pray on the minds of the hapless and naive spiritual travellers. It is a scary reality which is going on out there  - Matthew James

Insights Into 'The Other Side'

PART ONE of an Insightful Account Of The Spirit World written by Matthew James

A conversation with a client earlier this evening inspired me for this particular post. During the sitting, my client asked me to describe just where her late Father was residing 'on the other side'. Her Father had only recently made the transition from the Earth Plane ... and luckily I'd made a contact complete with personal information which was the validation I required to have the connection confirmed. Telepathically, I had posed the question to my client's Father and the other relations who were in attendance during the reading. 

What I received back as clear mental images as well as strong emotional insights ... was almost identical to what my own late Father had described to me; as well as a multitude of other 'departed' souls who were only eager to let me know they'd survived the transition during numerous sittings in the recent past. There appears to be a general consensus on their side of life, at this time, to really impress this imagery as much as they can.

Firstly, I get the recurrent impression, that they firmly believe it is US NOT THEM who have died. This is a regular insight from 'our dearly departed'. This impression has been shared previously on A Light In The Darkness. They remind me that we are the ones who are suffering with monetary woes, starvation, fears, addictions, murders, rapes and other atrocities. Once they have cleared themselves of the strong need to 'remain earthbound' ... they are able to venture into dimensions which are indescribable to human awareness. Dimensions which are clearly for expanded consciousness and not 'dead humans'. The strong impression is that remaining earthbound is undertaken by souls who are unable to shake off their concerns for those they were once associated to on the earth; or from their associations with the earth ... through fear, reprisal and other human emotions. Eventually even these ties fade and most move on.

Secondly, I must shatter the myth that the spirit world comprises beings of bright lights and fluffy clouds!! We merely see those who have left this world as light, because their forms exist outside of our light frequency range. We see only white light ... but there is much more beyond it. 

The biggest single revelation that is shared with me ... is that the departed souls have A PHYSICAL FORM. It is similar to the need on the physical earth to wear a form. Except their form vibrates much faster than ours and exists outside our light frequency range. Initially the departed will posses a physical form that matches that of their recent excursion on Earth. They will still succumb to the bodily needs of their earthly form ... food, drink etc etc. Plus experience the physical ailments they were blighted with on Earth. But gradually those needs will feed as they increase the vibration of their consciousness and move their awareness away from the earth plane vibrations.

I have not been able to determine what their primary energy source is other than solar energy. But I sense it is something much more and nobody is prepared to tell me! I know not if they have internal organs like we do but I would imagine that reality of internal organs will fade as they move away from our dimension. I know their forms do become interchangeable and they can shape shift. This explains why they are able to represent themselves at any point in their physical lives to those on the earth plane.

Thirdly, so many have conceded to me that they observe activity on the earth plane. They may be invisible to us on the earth ... but they do see and hear and feel everything we do. Their heart centres are very much in open mode, so they will feel what we feel. I was informed they see everything perfectly much like we do when we look through our eyes. The major difference being they do not have a physical body as a reference point ... thus they will not see arms and legs and bodies in their vision. They will merely witness the surroundings as an observer. 

Their entry point onto the earth plane appears to be something similar to what we describe as portals or wormholes. I sense we may be seeing entry points when we capture true orb activity. 

The revelation that is us on earth who are dead is the biggest reverberation in my mind ... it suggests we are all deceived on earth. That certain information is withheld from us ... our true nature! The possibility we are in REVIEW MODE at this point in our evolution doesn't bear thinking about. Some outside force appears to be tampering with a natural universal process by preventing our realisation that this is death ... thus when we 'die' and journey to the next 'hall' which should be the hall of reincarnation ... we are somehow being deceived to come back to the hall of review ... instead of venturing out into 'true life'. Interestingly, I deduce that most mediumship connections come from 'the halls of reincarnation'. I also recall so many insights and connections that have come from 'beyond the spirit world' ... inexplicable connections that are nothing like anything I had experienced before. Downloads of information which are of a similar nature to the content of this post, but are being placed in my consciousness from elsewhere...>>>to be continued>>>...

Matthew James 25th September 2012

Understanding Spirituality

 Spirituality has evolved from all the ancient religions, cults and practices. It represents an interfaith appeal, with its emphasis on an individual’s spiritual growth. A difference does exist between spirituality and religion. Religion focuses on an organized set of written beliefs, stories, guidelines and rituals and is practiced by a group of people. Religion requires participation in a certain set of rules, for example, praying at specific times of the day, celebrating specific holidays or worshiping only the God of that religion.

The Foundation for Holistic Spirituality has defined spirituality as the natural human connection with the wonder and energy of nature, cosmos and all existence, and the instinct to explore and understand its meaning.

An integral part of spirituality is the idea that everyone can connect with and become one with the energy in the universe and all of its mysteries. This experience can happen to anyone, regardless of nationality or whether or not they are religious or an atheist. Gaining a sense of true spirituality can take place at any time in life. It deeply affects lives and allows for the development of an even stronger sense that one’s life matters and that it is worth living.

There is no set way to practice spirituality. It is a personal choice. Some people choose to congregate among themselves to share their common beliefs and to strive for a higher consciousness. New age style congregations might practice spiritual and/or physical healing. Others find their spiritual side by meditating, doing yoga, praying or just going outdoors and experiencing nature’s bounty. Others still, may awaken their spirituality through a self-help or life-empowerment program.

Many psychics and healers base their work on spirituality, which is particularly comforting to them and to the people they assist. Spirituality opens the door to the realization that psychic phenomenon and an afterlife exist. Take this further, and the door opens to the belief in after-death communication and that there is a spirit world comprised of spirit guides, animal guides, angels, archangels and departed souls. Even though not of the physical realm, we are all connected to that part of the universe.

Spirituality must be shared in a loving and comforting way. It does not seek to convert others to its way of thought. It is open to anyone who takes the time to discover it on his own terms and at his own pace. We all revolve with the universe, the universe does not revolve around us. Spirituality allows the freedom of belief about what your connection to the universe is.

Simply stated, spirituality teaches us that we are all one with each other. We are all connected together by a common thread, which is the universe....<<<Read More>>>...

Spirituality

 Spirituality is a philosophy and personalized system of principles and beliefs. It is universal, yet is customizable. The American Academy of Family Physicians states, spirituality is the way you find meaning, hope, comfort and inner peace in your life. Many people find spirituality through religion. Some find it through music, art or a connection with nature. Others find it in their values and principles.

Spirituality has evolved from all the ancient religions, cults and practices. It represents an interfaith appeal, with its emphasis on an individual’s spiritual growth. A difference does exist between spirituality and religion. Religion focuses on an organized set of written beliefs, stories, guidelines and rituals and is practiced by a group of people. Religion requires participation in a certain set of rules, for example, praying at specific times of the day, celebrating specific holidays or worshiping only the God of that religion.

The Foundation for Holistic Spirituality has defined spirituality as the natural human connection with the wonder and energy of nature, cosmos and all existence, and the instinct to explore and understand its meaning.

An integral part of spirituality is the idea that everyone can connect with and become one with the energy in the universe and all of its mysteries. This experience can happen to anyone, regardless of nationality or whether or not they are religious or an atheist. Gaining a sense of true spirituality can take place at any time in life. It deeply affects lives and allows for the development of an even stronger sense that one’s life matters and that it is worth living.

There is no set way to practice spirituality. It is a personal choice. Some people choose to congregate among themselves to share their common beliefs and to strive for a higher consciousness. New age style congregations might practice spiritual and/or physical healing. Others find their spiritual side by meditating, doing yoga, praying or just going outdoors and experiencing nature’s bounty. Others still, may awaken their spirituality through a self-help or life-empowerment program....<<<Read More>>>...

Your Twin Flame: A Magical Alchemy to Guide You Through Life

 The alchemical phenomenon of Your Twin Flame is a deeply uplifting revelation on the path. Having an understanding of it, and crucially the right internal alignment, is going to be essential to your happiness and fulfillment in life. In the 'Open hand Approach', your Twin Flame is your divine compliment, that can manifest all around you through signs and synchronicity, accompanying you on your journey, and guiding you to the right circumstances you need to have in order to evolve and grow. Let’s explore…

To understand the Twin Flame phenomenon, let’s begin by reminding ourselves of the purpose of the soul. From the Openhand perspective, it is to undergo plentiful incarnations in order that it may fully align and integrate itself as a unique expression of The One. When the soul comes into being, it notionally sub-divides into a polarity: one aspect continues to reside at the source; the other comes into incarnation. The Twin Flame that resides at the source, may be considered the ‘homing beacon’ that activates the other part of the soul that is incarnate, brings them awake, and initiates the journey of Ascension back to the source (an inner journey)....<<<Read More>>>

This is the Path of a True Spiritual Warrior

[Waking Times]: A man can only attain knowledge with the help of those who possess it. This must be understood from the very beginning. One must learn from him who knows – G.I. Gurdjieff

‘Spirituality’ as a trendy lifestyle, is a display, always has been, always will be. It’s a control mechanism. At its core we find power hungry gurus, just like in any big business. They want control of your mind, your finances and your energetic system. No country or culture of the world is free from this deception.

The recent wave of this deception is evident in new-age circles, so-called conscious communities, self-help platforms, bloggers publishing spells on getting rich or finding love, online courses in initiation in some shamanic tradition, often involving strange incantations and even stranger rituals, energy healing techniques channelled by special outer space beings, light workers and so on.

Countless books are published every year filled with new methods and secrets of life. Anyone it seems who has the ability to write a sentence or two is entitled to preach. And millions unconsciously consume this junk with the belief it will teach them all they need to know.

‘If you start out with junk data, you end up with junk wisdom’ – John Anthony West.

Guides part 1

Often portrayed as the 'necessary' new age fashion accessories, these guys are just about the most exaggerated and most fantasied aspect of 'psychic mediumship' and 'spiritual development'.

These 'essential' aspects of the contrived industry have somehow eluded me in all of my 30+ year history of mediumship and clairvoyance. Yet I've had no problem whatsoever making connections with the other worlds.

And its not because 'they have just been around me and I've not been aware of them'. The fact has been I've never had an illusory third party to use as an excuse; or have to rely on to establish connections with 'the other side'. It's always been ME that's done these things. It's always been me that has talked directly to 'the guests at my table' so to speak. I've never bought into the 'illusion' of guides. 

The thought that each and every one of us has at least 12 guides around us at any one time. That is according to popular new age myth, is very disturbing to say the least. There are 7.4 billion people on the planet. Multiply that by a factor of at least 12 and that is apparently how many spiritual guides there are around us. Get real. 

Guides are, in my opinion, a figment of an over active imagination. Created by those who invented the new age movement to be a divide and rule constraint. I've never had a guide and never needed a guide. I work perfectly fine the way I do without ever needing a third party assistance. I've sat in development circles to meet with my guides. I was the only one in the groups who didn't have tales of wonderful beings coming to visit me. I was sad at first. I felt left out. I felt neglected and ignored. Then I realised what it was all about. Now I am so glad to be the black sheep in this respect. I can take full responsibility for my actions and reactions in a spiritual sense . You only need the concept of guides when you cannot fully accept it is yourself and you are alone in your universe. Guides are like comfort food, and a normality that you must have one if you are in the psychic industry. In the last three decades I have come across countless people who have admitted to making up their guide malarkey because they didn't want to be the oddball in the group. Seriously! ---  Matthew James

Are you really spiritual or are you just fooling yourself?

S.O.T.T: Even the most peaceful, composed, and "spiritually correct" person in the world can be completely out of alignment with themselves, even more than someone who isn't into spirituality at all. How come? Well... because of our tendency to be dishonest with ourselves. I say this from experience: no amount of sophisticated spiritual jargon has been able to aid my evolution more than an honest look at my raw, vulnerable self.

P.S. I don't mean to say that all spiritual people fool themselves. These are simply traps that I have noticed are common in the spiritual community, and which I myself have fallen for on occasion.

HERE ARE 8 WAYS SPIRITUAL PEOPLE CAN FOOL THEMSELVES:

Abilities of Shamans

According to Christina Pratt in The Encyclopedia of Shamanism, a shaman is a practitioner who has gained mastery of:

1. Altered states of consciousness, possessing the ability to enter alternated states at will; controlling themselves while moving in and out of those states.

2. Mediating between the needs of the spirit world and those of the physical world in a way that can be understood and used by the community.

Serving the needs of the community that cannot be met by practitioners of other disciplines, such as physicians, psychiatrists, priests, and leaders.

A shaman is therefore a specific type of healer who uses an alternate state of consciousness to enter the invisible world, which is made up of all unseen aspects of the world that affect us, including the spiritual, emotional, mental, mythical, archetypal, and dream worlds.

There are three categories of contemporary shamans, including those who:

1. Come from an unbroken shamanic tradition and continue to practice in that tradition, usually in their native culture.

2. Come from a shamanic tradition, but serve to bridge between that tradition and the modern Western world, often by adding ceremonies and rituals that were not necessary in their indigenous culture.

3. Are called by Spirit to serve the needs of their community as shamans, though they may be long separated culturally from their original shamanic roots.

10 Common Habits Of Spiritually Conscious People

While no two people are alike, many people who are pursuing a spiritual path end up adopting similar habits and behaviours. The spiritually-minded tend to do things differently than the rest of the world, and their actions and lifestyle end up reflecting their new level of awareness. When it comes to habits, being able to relate to others on a level like this is important. It allows us to see that we are not alone on our journey, and that we aren’t so “weird” after all. It takes a lot of courage to be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you someone else, so it can be comforting and reassuring to know that there are millions of others out there who can relate to you. Don’t be afraid to allow your actions to be an extension of your free spirit...read more>>>...

Spiritual Life – Are You Living It?

The truth is that spiritual life suits for everyone. Everyone has the same amount of positive energy in them, because we all share the same energy with the universe.

We are all one. Some of us just have bigger shields to protect their holiness, some of us have forgotten. And some of us sense the positive energy, but are afraid to use it or don’t know how. Even though I’ve said that modern age is full of roughness, egoism and materialism, I wasn’t completely serious. I wanted to “provoke” you, encourage you to challenge your idealism. There is still lots of love around our globe and the world is in a breaking point, where people start to wake up again into the spiritual life.(Spiritualism Today)

Has Spirituality Become Another Ego Identity?

Spirituality in the West has been severely distorted; being a marketplace of trinkets, self-help gurus, healers, a huge variety of spiritual practices, substances and so on.

Somehow this culture has taken something very pure and simple and turned it in to something commercial, something competitive and into that which it is not. Our western mind is moulded into wanting to attain something and some people on the spiritual path have spent their entire lives trying to attain, only to be as stuck and bound as they ever were.

It’s this very desire to attain something, this wanting to reach a ‘higher state of consciousness’, which is what keeps people bound and seeking. By definition, to be a seeker, you have not yet sought, and therefore those who are always seeking do not find ... read more>>>...

What Is Awakening?

(Zen Gardener) Since ancient times the term awakening has been used as a kind of metaphor that points to the transformation of human consciousness. There are parables in the New Testament that speak of the importance of being awake, of not falling back to sleep. The word Buddha comes from the Sanskrit word Budh, meaning, “to be awake.” So Buddha is not a name and ultimately not a person, but a state of consciousness. All this implies that humans are potentially capable of living in a state of consciousness compared to which normal wakefulness is like sleeping or dreaming. This is why some spiritual teachings use terms like “shared hallucination” or “universal hypnotism” to describe normal human existence. Pick up any history book, and I suggest you begin with studying the 20th century, and you will find that a large part of the history of our species has all the characteristics we would normally associate with a nightmare or an insane hallucination.

The nature of spiritual awakening is frequently misunderstood. The adoption of spiritual beliefs, seeing visions of God or celestial beings, the ability to channel, to heal, to foretell the future, or other paranormal powers – all such phenomena are of value and are not to be dismissed, but none of them is in itself indicative of spiritual awakening in a person who experiences them. They may occur in a person who has not awakened spiritually and they may or may not accompany the awakened state...read more>>>...

A Word on 'Spirituality'

Spirituality is NOT about gaining recognition and adoration from fellow members of the human race. Human titles is not what the spiritual path is all about. For most, the genuine spiritual traveller, gains not recognition or acknowledgement from the human world. Those that do, who are genuine in their passage, will merely nervously shrug the mortal accolades off their chests and carry on their way. 

Those that carry the titles, who have egos inflamed by the adoration, are not about the spirituality, they are all about being controlled by the separate selfish self. Those who require recognition and acknowledgement from fellow human kind are not walking the path of the spirit. They wander the roadway of the damned. Their souls are generally sold.

Spirituality IS all about being in service of the higher realms. It is all about acknowledging the paths of those who have been before. Of forgiving the original travellers into this realm, who created the karmic tides we now attempt to ride and understand. Spirituality is about embracing all the other aspects of the one consciousness. It is about acknowledging we are all equal. It is not about divide and rule. Or segregation. Or being judgmental. It is about being at one with self. 

When the spirit is in harmony it is at one with the universe and the unmanifest planes. When a spirit sees distinctions and divisions around itself, that soul is under the control of the separate selfish self. That is not spirituality.  - Matthew James

Spiritualising the Planet

DAILY OM: We are one with the cosmos whether we realize it or not. Realizing it, though, quickens our spiritual energy and allows us access to higher realms. In those higher realms lies the awareness that we are more than just finite physical beings living one life in one place at one point in time. Connecting with this awareness is to awaken to the truth and take a step forward, and upward, on our soul’s journey. This upward movement is known as ascension because the more we remember who we are and embody that truth, the higher our energy vibrates; we ascend up the scale from the gross physical plane to the subtle spiritual plane. As we ascend, we gain consciousness of the more subtle aspects of our being, with the ultimate outcome being a complete identification with the light body, an experience of unification with the cosmos.

As you look around you, you will see that many people are not even interested in these ideas. Others are open and paying attention. Still others have devoted their lives to deepening their understanding of the truth...read more>>>...

Spirit Guides - Are They Really There?

I remember back in 1985, when I sat in a Psychic Development Circle on a night when we were going to meet our 'spirit guide'. The concept of the meditation was that we were going to a clearing in the woods where a person (Our Spirit Guide) was going to appear, then bring the sun down to us to prove its service to us. 

I was fairly new to the Spirit Guide idea at the time. I had been surrounded by spirit entities all my life. Real experiences. Entities that had appeared to me; has wandered through dreams with me. There was also the old man ... the Merlin/Odin/Thoth look-a-like. None of these had ever discussed the concept of spirit guides. They'd telepathically shown me many other things; made predictions which had come true. But not one of them had said 'I am your spirit guide'. So to that point I'd never needed a spirit guide, so I'd never had one. To this day I've still not had one ... but I will get to that point, as I am getting ahead of myself. 

Anyway, there was about 30 of us sitting in this development circle. The relaxation music was played, and my mentor described the journey in a guided meditation. 

I came out of the meditation with nothing. Not a sausage. No guide. No nothing. How was I going to narrate that to my mentor when it came my time to speak of my journey? I was about 11 or 12th in the group, so by the time we'd listened to the first related journeys we learnt of the Native American guides; the Egyptian Guide with the fantastic crystals; the Chinese Mandarin and a few other of the most 'popular' looking guides. By the time it came my turn to talk, I had invented a 'guide' ... a poorly dressed Nordic warrior with a big sword. My mentor had just looked at me with a knowing smile. She hadn't believed me. I then sat listening to all the accounts of fabulous guides. 

Then it came to the end of the evening, and we all stayed behind for a drink and a social chat. Here was the most interesting point of the evening. It turned out there was approximately 30 people in the circle. Out of that 30 people, it turned out there was over half that had made up their guide to save face! They'd had wonderful meditations but had not met anyone on the journey. So, like me, to avoid embarrassment, they'd described the first thing that had come to their head. Their spirit guides had been a figment of their imagination! 

How many people in the New Age Movement have done the same? It therefore begs the question, 'spirit guides are they really there?'

According to the traditional literature appertaining to Spirit Guides, each and every one of us is supposed to have twelve main guides. That's a lot of spirit guides. The world population is currently 7.125 billion. That means there are 7.125 million x 12 guides out there. Probable or myth? The problem I have, is that I never take anything on face value and I always question everything I see and I'm told. Spirit guides have never sat right with me.

Why do we need intermediary assistants when our Authentic Selves (Our Spirit) is connected to the universal consciousness, is a part of the universal hologram, so has all things within itself? Why go to a second party for guidance and direction? Our Authentic Self knows ourselves better than anything else?

Do people really communicate with a separate entity or entities which come to them as spirit guides? Or is it an aspect of their own multiple selves that communicates with them? I've been asking this question for the best part of 30 years, still awaiting the arrival of one of my twelve guides! Yet, I am able to comprehensively communicate with the other side, and provide incredible validatory evidence again, and again, and again without the intervention of a guide. I always find myself communicating directly with the discarnate soul or inter-dimensional entity. There is never a guide 'telling me to say this' or 'telling me to say that'. Not once. Not ever. So in my experience there are no spirit guides. Yet so many people relate tales to the outside world about their connections with spirit guides. How many of these connections are truly separate entities?

Ok, so I have a large group of deceased family members and close friends who converse with me from time to time. In recent times, my old mentor Paula Paradaema and my old medium friend Peter Patrick have caused havoc on Australian TV's Psychic TV when they have overshadowed me on live TV and forced me to chaotically give out my messages. But that's not guides at work! I've had clients deceased family members ushering in other deceased members but that still isn't spirit guides. No spirit has yet to say to me, ever, 'I'm your spirit guide'. I've literally made thousands and thousands of validated connections to the spirit world, but in none of them has there been a spirit guide. 

Yet, I witness numerous mediums and psychics who talk about their spirit guides and preach to the masses about the existence of spirit guides. It all goes back to the early days of the New Age Movement and the fashion accessories everyone is supposed to wear! Before the advent of the New Age Movement, the old style mediums didn't have spirit guides ... so why have spirit guides suddenly become an accepted part of spiritual development?

Anyone who comes to me for Spiritual Development will not be taught about how to connect with Spirit Guides. With nearly 45 years of communicating with spiritual entities, I can honestly say that spirit guides are not necessary. In my development groups I show people how to communicate with spirit directly themselves. 

I don't dismiss the possibility that family members and friends are helpers and lend a helping hand to make our connection with their world easier ... I just completely disagree with the spirit guide dogma that is circulating around the psychic world. It is nonsense that the original Person A began writing about as a requirement, and then like lemmings the psychic world populace have followed Person A like lemmings - accepting without question the need for spirit guides. Then using the figment of their right brain imagination, aspects of themselves have become spirit guides. It is a misleading concept and one I've taken with a pinch of salt for over 30 years. My spiritual work has never suffered for the lack of my 'twelve spirit' guides - in fact I am ever so grateful for not having any guides. I am responsible for everything I receive. I am also in total control of the information I am given ... I can decide what to filter and what not to filter.

So, in my opinion are spirit guides really there? No, I don't believe they are. And what I am concerned about it is the naivety that the inexperienced spiritual warriors accept anything that attaches itself to them and offers guidance. The Astral Plane is littered with thousands of lower entities who are only too willing to link with earth bound souls ... and use them as a 'drive through KFC' ... as an energy source. By establishing a need and a dependence on them, the earth bound soul will become reliant on this lower entity. An entity which can manifest an image of anything the inexperienced spiritual warrior wants it to be. To the unwary and the ignorant, this can take place, It takes experience to be aware of this, and to constantly test the links that are made on a mind level. 

The topic of spirit guides in truth opens up a huge can of worms ... the possibilities of what is really going on is endless. I say that people need to wise up and not be as naive as they are being. Each and every connection made with the spirit world, is first established on the Astral Plane, which is filled with so much junk and bullshit - that it is really very hard to distinguish what is real and what is fantasy. It takes decades to perfect the means of determining truth from illusion. Therefore it is scary to think of all the misguided mediums and psychics out there who believe they have guides ... when in truth they are dealing with figments of their imagination. These thought form identities can be used as servitors by not only the person who created them, but also by cunning ex-humans and non-humans who lurk on the astral plane. It is important to realise this can take place. Spirit guides may well not be what they appear to be. It's a bit like being a young child, who's never heard of murderers or rapists, who goes out into the park and then makes friends with the first person who greets them in the park. That person can say anything to the gullible child. The child is none the wiser. The person could be a rapist or a murderer who has dark designs on that child ... the principle of spirit guides is just the same! There are entities out there which will pray on the minds of the hapless and naive spiritual travellers. It is a scary reality which is going on out there  - Matthew James 

True Mediumship Part 2

You are NOT exhibiting mediumship when you describe the person you are connecting with in the spirit world. That is clairvoyant/clairsentient ability. No matter how accurately descriptive you are of that person it still isn't mediumship.

This is one of the big misconceptions in the psychic industry at this time. Spiritual teachers, make sure you point this fact out to your students.

When the person on the other side commences conversaiton with you via clairaudience this is the first steps to it becoming a mediumship connection.

Once you know who it is that is communicating with you and why (They do not come through for mundane reasons such as being there or just saying hello) ... then it starts to become a mediumship connection.

Mediumship is a clear two way connection between you and the person on the other side. Any connections between you and a intermediary (Guide, supposed angelic or ascended source) is NOT mediumship.

The industry is blighted with mis-understood definitions.

Only 5% of all assumed mediumship connections are actually mediumship - FACT.

Satsang: The Power of Spiritual Presence

New Dawn Magazine: Enlightened people are like spiritual dynamos: they have a very strong presence which touches the people they come into contact with, transmitting something of their enlightenment to them. Even people who aren’t at all “spiritual” usually feel a sense of well-being in their presence, and so feel attracted to them without knowing why. And for people who have made some spiritual progress already, the effect can be extremely powerful. Contact with an enlightened person may enable them to make the final “jump” to permanent enlightenment themselves. This is one of the reasons why many spiritual traditions place so much emphasis on the role of a guru. The guru is so important not just because of the advice and guidance he can give you, but because he can transmit his spiritual power to you, giving you a taste of enlightenment and speeding up your spiritual development. (In Sanskrit, this is called satsang, literally “good company.”...read more>>>...

A Word on 'Awen'

Freewebs: Awen is considered to be the spirit of Nature; or the spirit of inspiration and creativity  The three strokes represent three shafts of light which signify earth, sea and air; body, mind and spirit; love, wisdom and truth. In truth they represent three separate parts that all work in together.

This sign ought to remind us of the three foundations of Awen;

To understand truth
To love truth
To maintain truth.

Awen is the wisdom, truth and most of all the inspiration, Awen is Nature, the universal power behind life, yet it is never born and shall never die. Awen is a force or energy forged from an indivisible source that is the power behind the physical and non-physical or spirit forms Existence, and distinction between the natural and the super-natural becomes meaningless, as both are the personification of Awen Every link which is a part of nature, be it a man, animal, plant or elemental force, each holds its own little piece and together make up the whole chain which is Awen. Awen is the spirit of Druid itself, it is knowing, sensing and feeling it in your essence and true being, it is the freedom to accept ones nature...read more>>>...

The Pursuit of Conscious Wholeness

Daily OM: Striking the right balance between our physical and spiritual aspects is one of the most challenging aspects of existence. We are dual beings by nature, spiritual entities bound to earth by physical bodies. In our lifetimes, we are charged with the duty of nurturing and tending both with equal devotion and love. Yet while both aspects of the self are deserving of honor and respect, there is a tendency for people who are more spiritually focused to ignore, avoid, or dismiss their bodies. Similarly, many individuals are entirely ensconced in the carnal realm and pay no attention to the needs of the soul. In both cases, an adjustment is in order. We are whole only to the degree that we embrace both sides of our beings.

If the soul is the inward manifestation of our consciousness, the body is the living, breathing expression of that consciousness. The physical self provides the home in which the spiritual self takes root and flourishes. Just as we must tend to the seed of the soul to ensure that it grows strong, so, too, must we care for the protective shell that is the body to make certain it is capable of playing its role in our development. Though there will no doubt be times in our lives when we feel more comfortable focusing on the spiritual self or the physical self, denying the fundamental importance of one or the other can lead to ill health, emotional distress, and a sense of incompleteness. Both facets of the human experience play a vital role in our well-being...read more>>>...