As I talked about in last week’s post, I was taught that the term “guide” applies specifically to a being who is connected to and works with an individual human in a mutual path of spiritual growth and development. This being might collaborate with the human to bring messages to others, but the being works directly with that individual. There are other types of beings who communicate with a broader range of humans, and some people might consider them to be guides as well, but these beings aren’t connected to an individual; rather, they speak to a number of different humans to convey their messages.
There are three types of beings who most commonly act as guides: Spirit guides, light beings, and beings of light.
The spirit guide is probably the type of being most familiar to humans. A spirit guide is a soul who has usually lived multiple lifetimes as an incarnate human, and has either reached the end of their incarnation cycle, meaning they are able to progress in their spiritual growth without needing to incarnate again, or has chosen to suspend that cycle to assist other humans. A spirit guide may choose to work with a human with whom they had a connection in the human’s current lifetime or a previous lifetime.
Spirit guides aren’t ghosts! A ghost is the energetic remnant of a human who has died and whose soul hasn’t yet crossed over into what my guide Shiva refers to as “the Between.” Ghosts are often stuck to the location in which they died, or another location that had a strong meaning for the person. A ghost might speak to and even give advice to humans, but they aren’t guides, have low energetic vibrations, and may cause harm.
Because spirit guides have lived human lifetimes, they may act like they did in life, or like they’re still human—because essentially, they are. This means they may speak casually, use slang, and even joke around with you, though never in a cruel way. A spirit guide, like any other guide, will never intentionally say something hurtful or give you suggestions that might cause harm.
Another type of being that might work with humans is a light being. Just as humans are a species, so to speak, so are light beings; while each of them is different in personality, knowledge, and interests, there are commonalities among them as well. When someone speaks of communicating with a collective of beings, often the beings in the collective may be light beings. Collectives, however, don’t act as guides, but rather convey messages to benefit humanity as a whole.
In general, light beings don’t live incarnate lifetimes unless they choose to do so to further their spiritual growth or simply to “see what it’s like.” Because light beings have not lived as incarnate humans, they may seem odd or alien to us. They don’t think or behave like humans for the most part. But as with incarnation, the way they act is a choice, and some will choose to act more human for the comfort of the human with whom they’re working.
Light beings have a higher energetic vibration than spirit guides, and dwell closer to the Ultimate Source of Creation than spirit guides do. Keep in mind, though, that “dwell” and “close are figurative terms. Since all of these beings are comprised of pure energy, they don’t literally live anywhere. However, it is true that the higher the vibration, the closer the being—whether human or not—is to Source.
The third type of being that most commonly acts as a guide is a being of light. The term “being of light” is more of a category than an identification; unlike humans or light beings, who are individuals but part of overall species, each being of light may be said to be a species unto themself. However, all beings of light share the commonality of existing in a state of pure energy that humans may perceive as light, and beings of light work with light and energy, so humans use the term to designate the work and existential state rather than the beings themselves.
To put it more simply, saying a being is a “being of light” is like saying a human is a “being of flesh and bone.” It’s a description, not the term for the species itself.
Beings of light have the highest energetic vibration of the beings who are most likely to act as guides and are the closest to the ultimate Source. They have access to a vast range of wisdom, knowledge, and perspectives, and have chosen to share these things with humans as part of their own spiritual growth as well as to aid humans in ours. They might be said to exist in a different plane or dimension from humans, but are easily able to cross into our realm to work with us.
Beings of light rarely incarnate, though like light beings, they may choose to do so in order to experience incarnation and to better understand humans. Even if they’ve had this experience, though, beings of light often come across as particularly alien or odd to humans because of the intense differences in how they perceive the Universe and in their experiences of existence.
While a being of light, like other guides, may choose to act and speak in a certain way for the comfort of the human with whom they’re working, they’re less likely to do so. A human who is connected with a being of light is likely to have reached a point in their own spiritual evolution at which they can accept the differences and discomfort more easily, so the being of light will often choose to maintain these differences to push the human’s comfort zone. This isn’t done with the intention of making the human uncomfortable, but rather to help them continue to grow and to not stay stagnant within the limits of their comfort.
Discomfort isn’t automatically a sign that you aren’t speaking with a true guide. However, there are entities who might trick a human into believing they’re a guide when they aren’t, whether for malevolent purposes, to cause trouble, or for other reasons. I refer to those with benevolent intentions, such as guides, as “beings” and use “entities” to describe those with malevolent or non-benevolent intentions.
While these entities can be pretty good at tricking humans, there are some signs that might indicate they aren’t who they’re pretending to be. If a “guide” tells you to do something that might harm yourself or others, they aren’t a genuine guide. Guides will never advise you to do something harmful.
Guides also won’t stroke your ego or lead you to believe you’re better than other humans. They will try to help build your confidence, but in ways that focus on you, not on comparing you to other people. On a similar note, guides won’t insult you or put you down. My guides sometimes tease me, but they do so in a friendly way and only because they know I feel cared for when they do it.
And a guide will never act against your will. For genuine guides, as well as other benevolent beings who work with humans, free will overrules everything. Everyone has a choice, and guides and other benevolent beings will not take away a human’s choice. They will advise a certain course of action, and might get a little firm about that advice, but ultimately they leave it up to us what to do, whether to act, and even whether to work with our guides. If a “guide” doesn’t respect your free will and ask your consent, they are likely to be a non-benevolent entity and not a genuine guide.
There are precautions you can take when connecting and working with your guides to help ensure that you’re only working with benevolent beings. I’ll discuss those more in a future post. But know that your guides are with you, and to the best of their ability–while still observing your free will–they will help ensure that entities don’t interfere with you.