Spirit Guides in Tarot & Beyond--Your Thoughts and Experiences?

[Misterei]

I've been listening to a guided meditation series about connecting with spirit guides.

While I normally do well with guided meditations and visualizations--on this one I got nothing. I've never particularly felt that I had spirit guides but I wanted to see if I could find any with this meditation series. The facilitator's premise is that the spirit guides are OUTSIDE us--not our higher self or soul or whatever [inside us].

She maintains that we have guides which stay with us throughout life.

 

I definitely have a sense of "angels" or helpful spirits which come to me in times of distress. But I don't sense any lasting relationship with them per se. I suppose I see them more as cosmic "crisis counselors" who assist humans in difficulty and then move on to their next assignment. LOL I have a sense of myself fulfilling this role for other people at times, too.

 

I do have a sense of an angel who came to me in 2018 and now is with me always--but I've not experienced this Being as a guide. A companion, or friend who just doesn't happen to be human. But not some sort of wise all-knowing guide. 

 

I certainly have a sense of receiving divine guidance--but I can't say it comes from "spirit guides". More like a direct conduit to Divine Wisdom which I can open via meditation and raising my perception to higher dimensions. I have a sense of Planetary beings who offer guidance and wisdom--but they do so to all humans. They aren't my personal spirit guides. Likewise various other higher dimensional Beings which might guide me--but I mostly feel these are aspects of my own consciousness which exist on higher planes--not OUTSIDE myself. 

 

Also, if archangels like Raphael, Michael, etc. are out there in the cosmos assisting millions of humans who call on them--how can they be "personal" spirit guides for any one person???

 

Do YOU have spirit guides?

What is YOUR experience with either having or not having them?

Edited December 31, 2025 by Misterei

[Mi-Shell]

Hi Misterei! Well, In my Siberian culture we do call our Guardians Miahanits. My Ada's (dad"s) family were all shamans, 7 generations back and my Mom's family had quite a few shamans/ shuvanis etc in the family. 

So I have Clan Guardians from both of my parent's Clans as well as personal Miahanits, that all help me and Keep me safe and also guide me, when it comes to helping my patients and clients. then of course, there are my Ancestor Guardians. It is a thing of blood- line and inheritance. 

I can always access them and receive signs in every day life and of course in shamanic thetha trance journeys . 

 

This is a little tiny bit of what I teach my students:

When you wish to find a guide/ guardian, start with an Ancestor or a favourite Animal of your's. 

Learn EVERYTHING about them, good and bad, what or whom they eat, what their prefrences were.....

THIS will establish an emotional connection and eventualy through that sensetize you to open up for maybe receiving a  message or image.....

Important however in this is, to learn to shut out your ego - THAT thing will be reluctant to give up the driver's seat in your brain!

Learn about trance......

Blessings to you!

M.

 

Tarot however is avisual / analytical thing - that prompts you to access - - often the "wrong side of your brain" - your analytical mind and good old Ego is in charge there. ... 🙂

 

 

[JoyousGirl]

5 hours ago, Misterei said:

I mostly feel these are aspects of my own consciousness which exist on higher planes--not OUTSIDE myself. 

I would say there's elements of that - some inner guidance that rises above the ego self, but you might also consider that you're moving between that guidance and the something outside yourself. Saying that, while something is "outside" our self it doesn't mean it's not a part of us if everything is from the one source. I'm not sure if that just confuses the issue but the following might expand in some way on that. 

 

5 hours ago, Misterei said:

Also, if archangels like Raphael, Michael, etc. are out there in the cosmos assisting millions of humans who call on them--how can they be "personal" spirit guides for any one person???

I wouldn't say they're personal, I'd say that they're well known and so that's why they're referred to. The restrictions of Church doctrine might have something to do with that. It's OK to have Angels that are mentioned in the Bible, but not your own guides. So what I think happens there is that we call on the well known Angel, who sort of has a "specialty" area (indicated in the name, e.g. Michael as protector whose name means "Like God" sort of thing.) But the Guide allocated to us with that specialty - or who can help with the issue we're dealing with because they've had experience with that in an incarnation or through spirit training on the other side - comes through. So it's what the name represents, rather than an individual (in my opinion).   Our guides have probably been incarnated previously and have skills and experiences to use from other lives as well as training. They'll move in and out of 'jobs' with us as we come through our own experiences and learn the lesson or are fulfilled in some other way. Some stay all the time.

 

5 hours ago, Misterei said:

 

Do YOU have spirit guides?

What is YOUR experience with either having or not having them?

 

Yes I have spirit guides.

My experience is that I don't engage with my spirit guides as often as I should. I have a place set up where I go for a walk and spend time with them in meditation. It's a sort of sitting/healing room and I've designed it with lush furnishings etc and equipment for the work we do together. The more you sit with them without asking anything the better you'll connect. You'll get to know their presence eventually. But just sit with them for a while. Then after a while ask for a sign - it could be a tickling nose or itchy palm or anything - maybe bizarre but don't discount what you're getting. Keep sitting and when it's the same thing all the time you'll know they're there. Then you can start asking questions. Get the connection right first though. It can take a long time. Years even.

Edited December 31, 2025 by JoyousGirl
close bracket!

[Tanga]

7 hours ago, Misterei said:

 

1) I definitely have a sense of "angels" or helpful spirits which come to me in times of distress. But I don't sense any lasting relationship with them per se. I suppose I see them more as cosmic "crisis counselors" who assist humans in difficulty and then move on to their next assignment. LOL I have a sense of myself fulfilling this role for other people at times, too.

 

2) Also, if archangels like Raphael, Michael, etc. are out there in the cosmos assisting millions of humans who call on them--how can they be "personal" spirit guides for any one person???

 

3) Do YOU have spirit guides?

What is YOUR experience with either having or not having them?

 

1) An Angel  ("messenger of God" or "messenger of the Source") - takes numerous forms. Including people like you 🙃.

 

2) Who knows?  They are demi-deities and thus by definition unfathomable - apparently.  How can "God" guide every single person on the planet personally? etc.

 

3) Yes.

The have come to me gradually over the years, along my "spiritual journeying".

This is the order of my experiences:

N.B.  I have no strong cultural "roots" of guides as my father's traditions had been overwritten by Christianity. They

are known somewhat - but my father was a "modern educated man" - if you get my drift.

Mother had un underlying Roman-Catholic upbringing (which she disagreed with).

 

First, many years ago (all young, curious and enthusiastic) - I went to see a lady who "drew your spirit guide".

She drew a Native American for me - which I thought was odd as I have an underlying belief that guides etc, should have some link to ones DNA/history etc. (don't know where I got this belief from) - so I stuffed the pencil drawing away and forgot about it.  Until years later, when I was having an acupuncture treatment and the therapist burned moxa (mugwort. Which is hallucinogenic) on my acupuncture needles. My vision was this - I was in a smoke lodge and a Native American man was shaking a rattle and directing me to cross the river (of my fears).  

I didn't tell the acupuncturist until the next session - because well - it was just weird and at first I wondered if I'd fallen asleep. I had not.

She was amazed. She'd never had an experience of any client reporting this before. (I wonder why. Moxa is a hallucinogen after all...).

 

Then - in my 1st year at The College of Psychic Studies whilst learning "Psychic Awareness". We did an exercise once, where there was a tray of sand presented to us as a group - and each person closed their eyes allowed themselves to draw something in the sand (almost like automatic writing).  I drew a symbol.  When I looked at it - all I could think was - it was the sigil of an Angel. I decided it was my guardian Angel - and she was my companion from then on. 2nd guide.

 

Next - I learned Reiki 1&2 and Seikhem. During my Reiki initiation I found I had a companion. A white wolf - & sometime white Arctic fox (dual forms).  Hence the 3rd guide. This one was specifically for past lives, past blue prints and anything really scary - and cold. (I had an experience of the ghost patterns of the house I was in too, at the time. I've never been sensitive to ghosts except for this one time.).

At my Seikhem initiation - I had a second visitor (4th guide). His name and background came to me immediatly - and at the time this was also pretty weird - because he is Mongolian.  Much later though - I discovered I have 1% Russian DNA, so that - is in there somewhere.

 

Finally (how funny I have 5 guides. Have I invited five specifically on an unconscious level?  I am Wiccan - and Wiccan like the five components of Earth, Air, Fire, Water, and Spirit).

The last one appeared when I was meditating on my own at home. I have a set meditation sanctuary that I go to in my imagination - complete with landscapes.  I met them there.

 

Here - I also found my "astral steed".   Don't know if other people have this  - I've not specifically read about it anywhere. But - I have a gigantic Lammergeier (a bearded vulture) - that I ride on the astral plane 🤣🤣🤣.  

I don't fly about myself much. Riding is more fun.

Fancy that!

 

Thing about my guides - sometimes I pay zero attention to them for Aeons - and it's like they don't exist.

Then... there they are again.  🤷‍♀️

 

For each guide - I now have a small Talisman that I can pop in my pocket etc. - if it so takes my fancy.

And otherwise, they all fit in a tiny little heart shaped bowl on my Altar.

My Altar has 4 sections:  1 corner is for the Ancestors. The main area is for daily practices. The other corner is

for the guides. And the last bit - which is empty half-the-time - is for spellwork as, and when, it arises.

 

 

 

Edited 21 hours ago by Tanga

[Misterei]

9 hours ago, Mi-Shell said:

Hi Misterei! Well, In my Siberian culture we do call our Guardians Miahanits. My Ada's (dad"s) family were all shamans, 7 generations back and my Mom's family had quite a few shamans/ shuvanis etc in the family. 

So I have Clan Guardians from both of my parent's Clans as well as personal Miahanits, that all help me and Keep me safe and also guide me, when it comes to helping my patients and clients. then of course, there are my Ancestor Guardians. It is a thing of blood- line and inheritance. 

I can always access them and receive signs in every day life and of course in shamanic thetha trance journeys . 

Thank you for sharing. I *wish* I was grounded in a culture with clear teachings about this. My maternal grandmother was very religious Greek Orthodox and used to bless cars before going on a long trip and various other types of things. I still keep evil eye beads around the house--so this was the main teaching from my heritage. But no sense of spiritual lineage in my family or culture. *sigh*

9 hours ago, Mi-Shell said:

Learn about trance......

It's interesting your comments about animals. I once fell into a deep trance and became like a cat. The man i was with saw this. Spooky. Yet a lovely experience to share. Do I have a sense of a cat as a spirit guide? Protector? I don't know.

9 hours ago, Mi-Shell said:

Tarot however is avisual / analytical thing - that prompts you to access - - often the "wrong side of your brain" - your analytical mind and good old Ego is in charge there. ... 🙂

Depends how we read, n'cest pas?

Tarot can be a story-telling practice where the creative intuitive mind is fully engaged. I look for Signs in flights of birds or in repeating numbers in a Tarot spread. The direction birds fly, the direction Court cards look. It's all the same to me. Except I like cards a lot };>

 

Edited 17 hours ago by Misterei

[Misterei]

6 hours ago, JoyousGirl said:

... The restrictions of Church doctrine might have something to do with that. It's OK to have Angels that are mentioned in the Bible, but not your own guides. So what I think happens there is that we call on the well known Angel, who sort of has a "specialty" area (indicated in the name, e.g. Michael as protector whose name means "Like God" sort of thing.) But the Guide allocated to us with that specialty - or who can help with the issue we're dealing with because they've had experience with that in an incarnation or through spirit training on the other side - comes through. So it's what the name represents, rather than an individual (in my opinion).   Our guides have probably been incarnated previously and have skills and experiences to use from other lives as well as training. They'll move in and out of 'jobs' with us as we come through our own experiences and learn the lesson or are fulfilled in some other way. Some stay all the time.

This is a great way to look at it. Thanks! LOL I'm a numbers gal--so when the math doesn't add up, I get confused [1 anrchangel + millions of people praying for guidance = impossible]. Yet the idea of smaller "personal" angels "expressing" Michael [or whichever archangel] makes sense. 

6 hours ago, JoyousGirl said:

Yes I have spirit guides.

... I go for a walk and spend time with them in meditation.

.... Then after a while ask for a sign - it could be a tickling nose or itchy palm or anything - maybe bizarre but don't discount what you're getting. Keep sitting and when it's the same thing all the time you'll know they're there. Then you can start asking questions. Get the connection right first though. It can take a long time. Years even.

I often recite mantra [Shiva for example] and sometimes I ask for a sign about some decision that's on my mind. I nearly always get a sign. But I never had the sense it was from a Spirit Guide. I've been chanting and praying for Shiva [or whoever] to teach me their wisdom. Then I ask for a sign to know if I'm on the right track. The sign comes. I've never asked from whom? That's an interesting question. Who's invisible hand caused events to fall out in just such a way that it makes a clear sign? 

Perhaps this invisible hand belongs to the Spirit Guide.

 

From a devotional practice, I would say Shiva caused it. He's a God--piece of cake for him. Yet I perceive it as a 2-way street. If Shiva gives me a sign--it's only because I have embodied his consciousness enough to perceive some tiny fraction of the immense choreography of the Universe--the sign is a small glimpse of some larger Cosmic Dance.

Edited 17 hours ago by Misterei

[Misterei]

4 hours ago, Tanga said:

1) An Angel  ("messenger of God" or "messenger of the Source") - takes numerous forms. Including people like you 🙃.

Indeed. Sometimes people I know or have met as humans appear to me as angels [in times of anguish or distress]. 

4 hours ago, Tanga said:

.... Until years later, when I was having an acupuncture treatment and the therapist burned moxa (mugwort. Which is hallucinogenic) on my acupuncture needles. My vision was this - I was in a smoke lodge and a Native American man was shaking a rattle and directing me to cross the river (of my fears).  

Moxa is magic 💫

I had a psychic experience during shirodhara [ayurveda treatment where they pour a continuous stream of warm oil on your forehead right in front of ajna chakra.] I saw many of my past lives and deaths. So, relating to your experience--how do you know this is a spirit guide rather than seeing yourself in a past life? To me it seems possible the medium lady drew this image based on seeing your past life [i.e. something within you vs. a guide separate, distinct, and outside you]. But i am somewhat playing devil's advocate so forgive me. It's entirely possible it is a spirit guide.

4 hours ago, Tanga said:

... it was the sigil of an Angel. I decided it was my guardian Angel - and she was my companion from then on. 2nd guide.

Interesting that we both experienced an angel who came to us and stayed.

 

4 hours ago, Tanga said:

... how funny I have 5 guides. Have I invited five specifically on an unconscious level?  I am Wiccan - and Wiccan like the five components of Earth, Air, Fire, Water, and Spirit).

Ah! Great symmetry there. I love this idea even if I've not experienced it.

4 hours ago, Tanga said:

Here - I also found my "astral steed".   Don't know if other people have this  - I've not specifically read about it anywhere. But - I have a gigantic Lammergeier (a bearded vulture) - that I ride on the astral plane 🤣🤣🤣.  

OMG! I totally get this. My cat Ragnar [RIP] used to sit on me while I was meditating. I would push him off so i could focus on the meditation but he would come back. So I gave up and meditated with him sitting on me. I then had astral travel visions where I was riding him flying along together through the cosmos. Sometimes doing battle. Fierce fun. Sometimes just flying together exploring. This doesn't happen with my cat Zoe. She doesn't appear in my meditations. Of course this doesn't happen at all now that he's gone--so I suppose it's different than your situation.

I will keep a lookout for a wiccan on a bearded vulture when I'm out and about 😉

[Raggydoll]

Yes I have spirit guides. I think everyone does, but most people are not aware of them and are not actively communicating with them.

 

First, some cultural context:

I was born and raised a Norse heathen, so angels are not part of my cultural vocabulary. We have other concepts for various types of spirit guides, but I will stick to just saying 'spirit guides' as to make it easier for everyone to follow along. 

 

Ancestral worship is a very big thing here. However, it is not just regular people that can be seen as ancestors. Certain Norse deities are tied to specific bloodlines from the various Scandinavian countries. They are considered the founders of those bloodlines and those people. Therefore, such deities can sometimes be venerated as ancestors and they can also act as ancestral spirit guides. Here, bloodlines do matter. In my beliefs, these deities would not be spirit guides for non-native Scandinavian people. I have personally never had a guide that was of another culture, all of my guides are tied to culture, bloodline and/or place. 

 

I have a main guide that has been with me since birth. She is a very old ancestor and is tied to my maternal bloodline. I became more aware of her 10-15 years ago. She took the initiative and started showing up whenever I was in an altered state of mind. I have always have a knack for entering trance or an altered state of mind. It has come naturally to me, and I had a lot of out-of-body experiences in my childhood. (Plus a near-death experience as well). I have never had to be in a full trance to communicate with ancestors, a lightly altered state of mind does the trick. That is when I am able to ask questions and have them answered, be shown visions or even work magic with ancestors. I also do trance work, but not specifically for spirit guide communication. 

 

I have multiple guides that I work with, and some would best be classified as 'more than human spirits'. I also have spirit guides in the shape of animals (who can shape shift and are not truly animals at their core), plus some 'regular' animal guides (aka guides that actually are/were animals). 

 

I have not found that it has been hard to meet my spirit guides. It has not required guided meditations, human teachers or magical/psychedelic tools. I think that to some extent, the process will depend on your beliefs and your culture. However, to get to know and work with them has taken many years. And I have allowed them to guide me through that process. 

 

6 hours ago, Tanga said:

Here - I also found my "astral steed".   Don't know if other people have this  - I've not specifically read about it anywhere. But - I have a gigantic Lammergeier (a bearded vulture) - that I ride on the astral plane 🤣🤣🤣.  

I don't fly about myself much. Riding is more fun.

Yes. I will either shape shift or hitch a ride with a guide. During journey work I can turn into a bird form, so I can fly or swim to different places. I think it is common to either shape shift or hitch a ride during astral/journey work. 

 

[Chariot]

I certainly believe in guidance from 'out there,' although I have no idea if these are guides, or what they might be.  I can't conjure them up at will. BUT when they do approach me, and give me the kind of strong 'hunch' I know is right—even if it makes no sense at the time—you can believe I pay attention!  

I remember one instance, where I was walking down a calm street in my old home town (I was there on a brief visit), when suddenly I knew I had to cross the street and walk along the other side.  I remember feeling a bit miffed, as there was a place on the side I'd already chosen that I'd planned to walk past.  But I crossed the street anyway. After a couple of blocks, I looked across the street, and there was a person walking in the opposite direction whom I'd not seen in nearly 30 years, and would DEFINITELY not have wanted to run into at random!  If I had stayed on the side I'd been on originally, we would  have met face to face.  I was a bit shaken, but so glad that guidance had been there.  (Not a dangerous situation at all, I hasten to add, but would have been a very upsetting one for both of us.) 

There have been many other instances of this kind of thing in my life.  The urge to do whatever the guidance suggests is so strong I don't argue with it ...just do it.  And it always pays off.

I hasten to add, these guidances are not 'logical.'  They are sometimes so illogical that they seem amusing.  But I follow them. And I'm always glad I did. These spirits—or whatever they are—obviously know things I don't.  And they are trying to help me.

Edited 9 hours ago by Chariot

[Tanga]

9 hours ago, Misterei said:

 

1) I had a psychic experience during shirodhara [ayurveda treatment where they pour a continuous stream of warm oil on your forehead right in front of ajna chakra.] I saw many of my past lives and deaths. So, relating to your experience--how do you know this is a spirit guide rather than seeing yourself in a past life? To me it seems possible the medium lady drew this image based on seeing your past life [i.e. something within you vs. a guide separate, distinct, and outside you]. But i am somewhat playing devil's advocate so forgive me. It's entirely possible it is a spirit guide.

 

2) I will keep a lookout for a wiccan on a bearded vulture when I'm out and about 😉

 

1) Hmmmm. How do you know when YOU KNOW?

And - I had one instance where I realised that I have a past life in Native America. But... the tribe was not Sioux (which is the tribe my guide belongs to). I was Pueblo.

Still - I could have more than one turn around Native American soil...

But - I feel that I KNOW.

Get my drift?

(Devil's advocate is a fun game that I play too. Lol.  To the annoyance of my neighbours recently 😉)

 

2) Surely your magickal cat steed could return? 🙃

[Tanga]

7 hours ago, Raggydoll said:

 

1) Certain Norse deities are tied to specific bloodlines from the various Scandinavian countries. They are considered the founders of those bloodlines and those people. Therefore, such deities can sometimes be venerated as ancestors and they can also act as ancestral spirit guides. Here, bloodlines do matter. In my beliefs, these deities would not be spirit guides for non-native Scandinavian people. I have personally never had a guide that was of another culture, all of my guides are tied to culture, bloodline and/or place. 

 

2) I have not found that it has been hard to meet my spirit guides... the process will depend on your beliefs and your culture. However, to get to know and work with them has taken many years. And I have allowed them to guide me through that process. 

 

3) Yes. I will either shape shift or hitch a ride with a guide. During journey work I can turn into a bird form, so I can fly or swim to different places. I think it is common to either shape shift or hitch a ride during astral/journey work. 

 

 

1) Oh dear. Well that would come as a disappointment to a giant myriad of pagans world-wide 🙃🙃🙃.

(thinking of a number of Asartru enthusiasts that I know here in London).

Belief and Faith - is indeed everything.

(Some could even read this expression as "you can't follow my religion unless you are Native" ... just a thought).

2 of my guides are immediately native to my current incarnation or more immediate back roots. The wolf and The panther.

Well... could be 3 if you count the Angel.

 

2) Yes. Alot depends on what you believe and what your "programming" is.

 

3) I have never thought of shifting.  Hmmmmmmm.... food for thought.

Edited 6 hours ago by Tanga

[Raggydoll]

22 minutes ago, Tanga said:

1) Oh dear. Well that would come as a disappointment to a giant myriad of pagans world-wide 🙃🙃🙃.

(thinking of a number of Asartru enthusiasts that I know here in London).

Belief and Faith - is indeed everything.

😄 I don’t think my personal beliefs have any bearing on their paths. To each their own! And I consider there to be a difference between having a deity as your ancestral spirit guide vs working with a deity. It’s the former I was talking about. If someone is not your ancestor, then they wouldn’t be your ancestral guide, that sort of thing. But again, these are just my personal beliefs, I respect that others feel differently 🙂

[Tanga]

21 hours ago, Mi-Shell said:

 

This is a little tiny bit of what I teach my students:

When you wish to find a guide/ guardian, start with an Ancestor or a favourite Animal of your's. 

Learn EVERYTHING about them, good and bad, what or whom they eat, what their prefrences were.....

THIS will establish an emotional connection and eventualy through that sensetize you to open up for maybe receiving a  message or image.....

 

 

 

Yes 🙂.  An excellent approach.

I am well versed in cats and dogs - and many variants of their wilder counterparts.   

For that matter... quite a few more other creatures too...  it could go on 🤯😄🥳.... LOL.

(Zoology was almost my career).

 

 

34 minutes ago, Raggydoll said:

😄 I don’t think my personal beliefs have any bearing on their paths. To each their own! And I consider there to be a difference between having a deity as your ancestral spirit guide vs working with a deity. It’s the former I was talking about. If someone is not your ancestor, then they wouldn’t be your ancestral guide, that sort of thing. But again, these are just my personal beliefs, I respect that others feel differently 🙂

 

Yes.  🐣🦩

And - personally - having such a scattered DNA map myself - I now know, that I have a number of ancestors I know zero about, coming from places that I would not have thought of (and, that are not recounted about in any form, in my current maternal/paternal cultures).

Edited 6 hours ago by Tanga