Qabalah: Discover Powerful Tools to Explore Practical Magic and the Tree of Life (Hay House Basics) - David Wells 2017

Spirit guides on the Tree of Life
Symbolism and The Tree of Life

We all need a little help from time to time and there are many teachers out there, and not all are Earthbound. When you feel a little lost and are wondering which direction to go in, you might like to contact your spirit guides.

Spirit guides

There are several realms of spirit guides and they act in different ways, but with all guides, remember to ask for their help; they cannot act directly unless you ask. You will have plenty of opportunities to commune with them in the next few chapters.

Spiritual guidance can sometimes be a little difficult to spot, but it gets easier with time, and easier still when you receive that guidance in meditation and through the workings of the Tree of Life.

Earthly guides: Malkuth

Having said that, not all guides are that hard to spot. The first realm of guides is very easy in fact: they are your family and friends. Found right in front of you in Malkuth, yoo-hoo, there they are, helping guide you, and in particular helping guide you with choices you make on Earth, in the physical world.

These guides are more than capable of advising you on important matters from their soul rather than their personality. You will find people usually do that when it’s truly important stuff. Don’t forget to ask, though, as they will ask you. Of course they will have shared past lives with you, of course they are likely to have signed up to help you, and you to help them — they are all spiritual beings, just like you, spiritual beings having a human experience.

This brings to mind a very obvious observation: you are and have been a spirit guide, not always incarnate, but also working on an astral level.

Lifetime guide: Yesod

Next on the list is your lifetime guide. Notice the singular here — there’s only one of them and they were with you at the moment you were born and will be with you when you shake off this mortal coil. They are usually someone with a past-life interest who knows you very well indeed. They know the true you, the inner workings of your soul, why you have incarnated and the lessons you want to get from this journey.

So, your lifetime guide has an overall picture. Like all guides, they can’t directly influence you, but they can put suggestions and ideas to you, and, as they often work through Yesod, these can come in images projected from Hod, where the Akashic Records, the past-life library, and the book containing your soul’s journey are housed. It’s whether or not you want to take these suggestions, or even notice them, that’s the challenge.

Sometimes people see their grandma or another person who has crossed over as a guide. This won’t be a lifetime guide, unless they crossed before you were born perhaps, but a personality guide, who helps with personal stuff. If they are around, they too will reside in Yesod, as it’s the home of the astral worlds.

Doorkeeper: Yesod

Your doorkeeper is also to be found in Yesod. Doorkeepers are protectors. In particular, they stand in front of you to keep your crown chakra safe during spiritual travels, making sure you close down between your meditations and your Earthly return. By that I simply mean they won’t let any negative energy affect you as long as you keep yourself under some sort of control. They don’t work very well if you are under the influence of drugs or alcohol, which isn’t any judgement on those who use them to excess, it’s just telling it how it is.

These massive beings are often scary in appearance. They present themselves as warriors. They can be either male or female, but being fierce in appearance is part of the deal. When I first met mine it was quite a shock!

Teacher guides: Hod and Netzach

Teacher guides move in and out of your life. They may stay with you for a month or a decade, but their influence is very strong and they have definite ideas about getting you to see your potential. They will also have expertise to pass on to you, should you choose to listen.

It’s clear from the Sephiroth involved with these teacher guides that more intellectual pursuits will be overseen by the guides from Hod and more artistic ones by those from Netzach.

Either way, these teacher guides are there to help open up a true calling within, and they are very much of the moment, that’s to say they are teachers for right now and will stay with you until you have learned all that you can, or perhaps all that you have chosen to remember. They will help with the great unravelling of your true calling.

Soul guides: Tiphareth

Next up the ladder are soul guides. These guides sometimes present themselves in costume to let you know what sort of energy they bring, and you won’t have to struggle to decipher it, as they are reminding you of a higher vibration that’s already set within you. They may not have a past-life link and they really aren’t interested in personality issues of any sort. They look after many souls and usually move in when you’re on a path to higher spiritual awareness, but not exclusively.

That leads me to answer that question: ’How do I contact my spirit guide?’ If it’s your soul guide you’re after, and it usually is, you do it by raising your vibration through the work that you do. Then one day you’ll get a glimpse of your guide, the next day a little bit more, and so on. They will respond to the effort you put into living from a sense of your higher spiritual principles.

Masters: Geburah and Chesed

I used to have a real problem with the hierarchy of guide this and Master that. It seemed that the spiritual worlds were run like some major company, with supervisors, managers, managing directors and of course the chief executive at the top of it all. And that corporate world was something I saw as Earthly and not something I enjoyed much on Earth either.

But without structure, there would be chaos; without defined roles, how would we know whom to turn to and why? And maybe, just maybe, the reason we have such structures here on Earth is another confirmation of ’as above, so below’.

Communicating with your guides

So, how do you ask your guides for help? Well, you ask your guides for help. It’s not rocket science!

In fact, the secret to becoming more aware of your guides is communication. Even if you feel a bit silly asking for help from someone you can’t see or hear, it’s the start of getting the support you want.

By asking for help, you give permission for your guides to put ideas and thoughts into your head or to put people in front of you who will show you the way.

But this comes with a warning: if you ask for help and constantly ignore it, your guides will withdraw until it seems you’re more likely to listen. You will be told three times and then they will step back, so it’s up to you whether you action what you feel, no matter where it comes from, or not. Yes, that’s feel. If you’re expecting your guides to pop up through the floor and say, ’This way, please,’ you may be sorely disappointed.

Or you may not. Some people do claim to see their guides physically every day. That hasn’t been my experience, though. For most of us, they communicate through a feeling, a sensation that they are around. For me, that suggests that I stop and wait for any impressions to come to me. I do of course meditate specifically to meet my guides and to ask questions of them as well. I’ll show you a very simple way of doing this, but first, which guide do you need?

The right guide for the right job

To recap, here are the guides and what they can help you with:

· Earthly guides/Malkuth: Friends and family, used for advice on Earthly matters.

· Lifetime guide/Yesod: A supportive guide with a link to the past and to the plan!

· Doorkeeper/Yesod: A protector who is always there defending your energy.

· Teachers/Hod and Netzach: For when you’re learning new skills and remembering old skills. They move in and out.

· Soul/Tiphareth: For life’s bigger questions. When you’re ready, they are there.

· Masters/Geburah and Chesed: Highly evolved, these guides are waiting for you to pursue a spiritual path.

So much help is available and if you know what level your question is aimed at (and you do already), you will know which guide to ask.

Exercise: Asking your guides

How do you ask? Well, you can simply ask, as I mentioned earlier, either out loud or in your head, and know that you have been heard. If, however, you want to take the time to build stronger relationships with your guides then I would suggest you take some time out to meditate and raise yourself up to their level.

Here’s a very simple visualization to help you establish contact. You have contact already? Even if you know who some of your guides are, maybe there are new ones waiting?

Switch off your phone and remove any distractions.

Light a candle, set your intention for doing the meditation and give thanks for the protection and guidance of the light.

· Relax, relax and close your eyes.

· Let all the tension go from your body. You can either clench each muscle, from the feet up, and let it go or you can just feel yourself sinking into the chair or the floor.

· Relax. Deep breathing can help — perhaps counting your breaths in rounds of 10…

· Now imagine you’re in a forest. Build it around you and let it truly be there. You can touch the plants, smell the air and hear the noise of the forest around you…

· Ahead of you, you will see a path. Take it, it’s a familiar and safe path for you to follow.

· An animal may dart out or fly around you. This is your animal guide, a guide that represents a facet of you. What is it? What does it mean?

· Walk along the path until you come to a clearing, a well-tended lawn with flowers planted around its border, all in the brightest colours you can imagine.

· In this clearing is a bench. It’s a simple bench, but too inviting to ignore. Take a seat.

· Feel the peace of your surroundings, the calmness. Feel the sacredness of this moment.

· Within your meditation, imagine closing your eyes and asking your guide to give you a message, a feeling, an impression, perhaps an image of who they are.

· Take your time. Go with whatever you see, hear or feel.

· When you’re ready, imagine opening your eyes and looking around the clearing, feeling happy at the contact you have made.

· When you feel the moment is right, prepare to leave. Before you do, say thank you to your guide. Always be respectful in these realms, always say thank you.

· Walk through the clearing and back along your path. Your animal guide may be there to show you back through the forest to where your journey began. Follow them.

· As you walk through the forest, say farewell and thank you to your animal and then carry on through the forest.

· Now let it fade away, let it fade, and bring your consciousness back into the here and now.

Write down your experience and remember, you will meet your guide again. If you didn’t meet anyone, don’t worry, they are there! Some people worry that if they don’t see a guide, they don’t have one. That’s never, ever true.

If your guide gave you a gift, it may manifest here on Earth. Look out for it!