What are Spirit Guides and how can they help young adults who survived?
If you're new to a spiritual-leaning community here on tumblr, on tiktok or on whichever platform, you've probably came across the term spirit guides. However this term is often being used openly without first discussing what is a spirit guide? how to access this being, and why should I?
Another point which is often dismissed or not adressed is the connection between spirit guides and having a religion or religious practice you grew up with. While these two are not contradicting, you can have a religious practice and have your spirit guide(s), we should first put things into order.
♡ 𝒮𝑜, 𝒜𝓃𝒹𝓇𝑜𝓂𝑒𝒹𝒶, 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒾𝓈 𝒶 𝒮𝓅𝒾𝓇𝒾𝓉 𝒢𝓊𝒾𝒹𝑒?
Simply put, a spirit guide is your guide often not clothed in human flesh&bone form. So, this is not your good and trusted aunt, your neighbourhood friend, or your old music teacher. It is more a spiritual being present with you at times, watching over your shoulder, guiding your head and hand and heart in different matters.
♡ 𝐼𝓉 𝓈𝑜𝓊𝓃𝒹𝓈 𝓁𝒾𝓀𝑒 𝒶 𝑔𝑜𝒹 𝓉𝑜 𝓂𝑒... 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝐼 (𝒶𝓁𝓇𝑒𝒶𝒹𝓎 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝑜𝓃𝑒/ 𝒹𝑜𝓃'𝓉 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝑜𝓃𝑒/ 𝒹𝑜𝓃'𝓉 𝓀𝓃𝑜𝓌 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓉𝑜 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝓀 𝒶𝒷𝑜𝓊𝓉 𝒾𝓉)
Ok! let's go first through the option of you already having a god If- that is, if you follow a monotheist religion like islam, christianity etc. Or deities/ deity - if you follow a polytheist religion like buddhism. So, yes, essentially a spiritual guide is as spiritual as a deity. However, keep in mind that while deities and gods normally have their own story or myth, which is collective, that guide usually has no story but the story of how you meet them, when, why, and what they tell and who you. This story is not collective, but private and individual. this is important for your healing journey if you choose to connect to your spirit guide(s)!
If you don't follow a god or a pantheon of deities - then I would also like to add that deities and spirit guides are different in that spirit guides serve more as a guiding hand than as specific gods/ deities with specific rituals and mantras or prayers. The connection between you and your spirit guide is individual and isn't confined to a set of rules which is being followed collectively. This is also important.
While I would not advise everyone to try and connect to their spirit guides, as I believe some people don't necessarily need this connection, I do strongly believe that adults who were deeply scarred or hurt as children can benefit a lot from this connection.
♡ 𝐻𝑜𝓌 𝓉𝑜 𝒸𝑜𝓃𝓃𝑒𝒸𝓉 𝓉𝑜 𝓂𝓎 𝓈𝓅𝒾𝓇𝒾𝓉 𝑔𝓊𝒾𝒹𝑒𝓈?
The best method to first get to know them is to listen to a spirit guides meditation. There are some free ones on youtube. These meditation can be quite long but the time (ca. 30 mins.) is necessary for that initial contact. From my experience, after a while you can connect on a more leisurely level, so it's not like each and every time you will need to go through these full on meditations, as amazing as they are, they could be quite demanding on your schedule.
So start with guided meditation and later on, establish your fast-connection with your own rituals.
𝐻𝑜𝓌 𝓉𝑜 𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓎 𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝑜𝓊𝒸𝒽 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓂𝓎 𝒮𝓅𝒾𝓇𝒾𝓉 𝒢𝓊𝒾𝒹𝑒𝓈?
I will divide this into basically 3 stages of your relationship with your spirit guide(s).
First stage - You are just becoming acquainted with their presence.
At this stage I find it quite beneficial to keep going back to the first spiirit guide meditation you've listened to. Do this at least 3/4 times. but make sure you're taking at least one week break between each meditation. That is simply because I believe overdoing it can overwhelm you and make you dependent on the meditation. Giving it a week at a time (or more!) to sink in can prove more effective in the long term
Second stage - You are acquainted with at least one spirit guide.
At this stage you could remember the presence, image and feel of at least one being that you've met with as your spirit guide. You might be called to think about this being at random (or not so random!) moments throughout your day and or/night. At this stage you need to foster your relationship. There are different ways but I often like to work with a certain crystal to strengthen the relationship.
There are a few crystals that could fit here and its best to go to a crystal place and get the vibe for yourself. This could be very personal. However if you're looking for a more specific guidance then I believe clear quartz is a good one.
There are also a few ways to go about this stage, you could make a small plate as an altar for your crystal, you could carry it in a pouch in your bag and you could put it under your pillow.
Another thing I would reccomend at this stage is having a sort of a mantra to connect you to the presence of your spirit guides.
"I am protected by my spirit guides and they watch over me and bless me at all times"
When you have time, you can opt for different guided meditations, and thy do not have to be 30 min. long, they could be much shorter.
Third stage - You established a stronger connection and belief in your spirit guides
This stage is quite open. It depends on what you did at the previous stage and what has worked for you. You can add more crystals, you can make your altar more detailed and add a mirror, candles etc. and you could just get more in touch with their calming and protective energy through your daily routine, workouts, meals prep, really any moment can be used to feel this presence and heal through it.