Channeling Spirit Guides

Glendower: "I can call spirits from the vasty deep."
Hotspur: "Why, so can I, or so can any man;
But will they come when you do call for them?"
- Henry IV, Part I

Like that character from Moliere who was delighted to learn that he'd
been speaking prose all along and never knew it, each and every one of
us is channeling all the time; and the only difference between
"professional" psychics and mediums and the rest of us is that the
psychics are aware of what they're doing - they make a special
point of (call special attention to) a completely natural process that
everybody already knows how to do. Everyone has spirit guides who talk
to them constantly; however, most people don't listen to these
messages, any more than they listen to what other people, such as their
parents, spouse, or children, are trying to tell them. When a thought
or feeling prompted by a spirit guide pops up in their consciousness,
they just pass over it or reject it. In this essay we will discuss
thought forms, spirit guides, and other beings which can be channeled,
together with a simple technique for consciously channeling them.
In order to get an idea of what spirits are, it is first necessary to
get a handle on what we are. Contrary to popular opinion, we are not
solid, abiding objects that have individual self-existence. Although
it certainly appears that the world is "real" and consists of
solid, discrete objects, in fact our world is more like a movie screen,
hooked up to other people's movie screens, on which we're all
projecting what we're feeling inside outwards as symbols - solid
objects in a physical world.
To ask Heidegger's question, "Why are there things rather than
nothing?" is like asking, "Why can't soccer players use their
hands? Why did God so construct the universe that soccer players
can't use their hands?" In the same way, our perception of the
universe as a world of solid, discrete objects is a wholly man-made
restriction on our senses. Plants and animals don't perceive the
world in this fashion, and neither, for that matter, do infants and
lunatics. They still use their "hands" (their feelings rather than
their minds) to play the game of perception. As a result, they don't
"play soccer" very well, but they still have the free use of their
hands -their intuition - which most people have learned to repress.
The belief that we are discrete entities in a world of solid objects
is just that - a belief - that makes the world of concepts, of
thinking, possible.
Admittedly, the belief that we are discrete, abiding entities in a
world of solid objects certainly seems to be true most of the time we
are awake - it's a pretty convincing belief. But that's only
because we have the door tightly shut on any evidence that contradicts
this belief. That door is called "fear of going crazy or of being
thought crazy." Keeping our sanity is equivalent to screening out
lots of information about ourselves and the world around us which would
be available if we could just loosen up a bit and drop the pretense
that we exist as solid objects.
In fact, our existence is multidimensional. We not only exist in an
infinite number of past and future lives, but we are also infinitely
ramified in all the probable realities which branch off from this
present lifetime. Every time we make a decision - big or little -
we create a probable reality in which that decision was made, and
another or other probable realities in which that decision wasn't
made. For example, that person whom you wistfully smiled at from afar
once but never spoke to nor saw again, is your spouse in another
probable reality in which you did go over and strike up a conversation.
Thus, not only does the totality of who "we" are encompass infinite
lifetimes in other worlds and realities, it also encompasses infinite
probable realities within this present lifetime as well as all those
others. Not only that, but within the confines of a single probable
reality of a single lifetime, which is all we normally pay attention to
or consider to be "ourselves", we are still multiple personalities.
That is to say, we are not the same person from moment to moment, but
in fact shift from one to another subpersonalities or thought forms in
response to this or that changing stimulus. The only difference
between an Eve, Sybil, or Truddi and the rest of us is that their slips
are showing: they're acting out the multiple personality role
openly, whereas the rest of us are marching around with our dress
uniforms - our fear of going crazy - buttoned down tight.
Most of what we consider to be "ourselves" - that is, the
thoughts, feelings and perceptions which occupy our conscious minds
most of the time we are awake; our sense that there is a continuing
"us" there - is just a collection of habits and predilections
learned from our parents and society. Each of our habitual thoughts,
moods, beliefs, etc. is a thought form - a learned behavior which is
a being in its own right.* Most of what we think we think, believe, or
perceive is actually just what our parents and society think, believe,
or perceive; and these thoughts, beliefs, and perceptions have an
awareness, a sense of selfhood, and a will to live all their own. We
create them with our decisions and we breathe the breath of life into
them with our attention.
Basically, every time we think a thought we are channeling a thought
form. However, this is an unskillful way of channeling because it's
mindless. Thought forms grab our attention and say, "Think this!
Think that! Think the other! In response to this, do that! Remember
this! Desire that! Blah blah blah!" all day long every day.
Thought forms are our automatic pilot - although we ourselves create
them, we are subject to their control thereafter. We go along and just
think whatever our thought forms want us to think. It rarely occurs to
us to stop and ask, "Why? Why am I thinking this thought? Is
entertaining this thought going to benefit me? From whence does this
thought arise? At what point in my life did I first begin entertaining
this thought? When did I make it a part of my inventory of habitual
thoughts? Etc."
To ask these sorts of questions (and pay attention to the answers) is
called Active Imagination, and it is a more functional form of
channeling thought forms than is normal thinking. In Active
Imagination we interact with our thought forms, whereas in normal
thinking we just snap to and salute whenever a thought form barks a
command at us. Active Imagination is facilitated by automatic writing
(which we shall learn how to do presently); i.e. automatic writing is a
refinement of the technique of Active Imagination, but it's by no
means the only way to do it. Thoughtful, introspective people are
doing Active Imagination all the time without calling it that or giving
any special attention to it; but, in fact, Active Imagination is a
wholly different form of channeling thought forms than is normal
thinking.
So thought forms - habitual patterns of thought picked up from our
parents and society - account for most of what we consider "our"
thoughts and feelings; and spirits - both good and evil - account
for most of what's left. The chief difference between thought forms
and spirits is that thought forms are within us, created by us, a part
of us; whereas spirits are outside of us. When we channel (e.g. by
automatic writing) we run across a whole menagerie of entities - both
thought forms and different kinds of spirits - so it's helpful to
know the differences between these various kinds of beings.
There are lots of different kinds of spirits in the world. We are
spirits, for that matter. Some spirits are entirely useless to humans
- we cannot even communicate with such entities. Others are nasty
little things which are best avoided altogether. And still others can
be quite helpful to humans, for a multitude of purposes.
The use of nature spirits, such as water spirits, to wash away our
self-importance and help us tune in to our true feelings of joy and
peace with the world, will be described in a later essay.
There are also spirits which oversee particular human activities such
as agriculture, art, construction, cooking, healing, mathematics,
mining, etc. etc. Every human endeavor has a cadre of spirits proper
to it, which guides individual practitioners and also helps humanity as
a whole expand its knowledge of the various arts, crafts, and sciences.
A competent, inspired professional in any field is constantly
receiving inspiration and new ideas from the spirits who oversee his or
her field. However, as is the case also with thought forms, most
people believe that any inspiration they receive in this fashion is
"their" idea, when in fact it's being passed to them by spirits.
To be a competent professional in any field is to be a clear channel
for the spirits who oversee that field.
Finally, we come to personal spirit guides - what some people call
angels. These are spirits who are assigned to individual human
beings, who tend them as wards. Everybody has at least one personal
spirit guide at any one time, but most people have several or lots of
them, which may come and go in the course of a lifetime.
Although both thought forms and spirit guides can be channeled in the
same ways (as can other spirits: Jesus and Mary, Krishna, nature
spirits, demons, recently deceased people, etc.), thought forms and
spirit guides are completely different kinds of entities. Thought
forms are created by us: they stand in the same relation to us that we
stand to God. Guides, on the other hand, are a bit above us in the
sense of being wiser, possessing broader viewpoints and more loving
hearts, but they aren't that far above us.
Many spirit guides have had human incarnations. Sometimes deceased
friends, relatives, ancestors, or even aborted fetuses become one's
spirit guides; and one of my own guides has told me that there are
lives / realities in which I am her spirit guide. I presume that
similar relationships between people and their guides obtain for
everyone.
Up until recently in human history (last few thousand years) magical
knowledge - the practical application of intuition - was handed
down from generation to generation, as agricultural or mathematical
knowledge is. However, because of the nature of the times, most of
that knowledge was lost as skilled practitioners died off without
leaving heirs. In the interim, the White Brotherhood, the "guild"
of spirit guides, came in to fill the gap - to steer humanity in more
or less the right direction during its sleep-walking
(rationalist-materialist) phase.
There's a great network spread out across the world now, a linking up
of groups of spirits and human channels, sending out filaments of light
around the earth to love it and heal it. To learn to consciously
channel your spirit guides is to join this fraternity of light. As
long as there is light, no evil can overcome the earth.
Now we will describe how to channel spirit guides by automatic writing.
But it must be pointed out that automatic writing is just a way of
making channeling deliberate or special, of endowing it with an aura of
mystery. By distinguishing the process of channeling in this way it is
easier to understand and learn - to learn in the sense of separating
it out of normal thinking and feeling, and to understand when "our"
thoughts and feelings indeed arise within ourselves, and when they are
being passed to us by a spirit. Channeling can be done via normal
thinking and feeling; in trance; in dreams; and by automatic writing.
Automatic writing, albeit not as clear as trance channeling (more
admixture of the person channeling in the final product), has the
advantage of providing a written record of a spirit's messages -
something which is often useful for future reference. A lot of things
spirits say to us make more sense in retrospect.
I've personally taught some hundred people to channel their spirit
guides, and of that number only half a dozen or so have blocked so
badly that they couldn't do it. But nobody needs a teacher to learn
something as easy and basic as channeling. The only function my
presence as a teacher serves is to prop up my students' faith, to put
their noses down to it: I have a rather overbearing personality that
expects and assumes that people will channel successfully - which
doesn't offer my students much margin for doubt or failure. But this
is just a didactic device - I'm convinced that anyone who wants to
channel can channel, with no need for a teacher.
It's best to tackle automatic writing when you have some pressing
personal question to ask, or when you are moved by a burning curiosity
to communicate with your spirit guides. Idle curiosity may not have
enough oomph behind it to forge a clear communications link. The
reason some people block conscious channeling (or reject the idea
altogether) is that they don't want to face up to the fact that they
are not solid, continuing, individual beings, but rather are a flux of
thought forms (images, opinions, beliefs, and expectations learned from
parents and society) being urged this way and that by spirit forces.
In other words, to open to channel means to lay aside a lot of common
assumptions about the nature of personal existence; and some people
find this frightening. If you find yourself blocking, just set the
project aside until you have a dire need to question your guides -
that need will be sufficient motivation to break the block. Like
everything else in life, channeling comes more easily to some people
than to others; but anyone can do it if they just keep plugging away at
it.
Choose a time when you are relaxed, alert, calm, and will not be
interrupted. If you are into astrology, you can use a lunar planetary
hour; however this is merely a help, not a necessity. Lie down or sit,
as you prefer, with a pen and notebook in hand (although channeling can
also be done on a typewriter or word processor). Writing down both
your questions and the replies as they come in the form of a dialogue,
ask your guides to please talk to you. For example, you might start
this way:
Me: "My spirit guides, could you please come and talk to me? I am
really trying to be open right now, and I want to hear what you have to
say to me. I have this problem that I need an answer to; won't you
please come and talk to me about it. Etc. etc."
This is just an example - you should ask your guides to talk to you
using your own words and sentiments. Keep writing, keep on coaxing
them, until you begin to feel an answer forming in your mind, and then
write it down. The trick to making this work is to not stop writing.
That's the purpose of the writing - to focus your attention on the
act of writing, like when you're taking notes in a classroom, so that
there's less room for doubt, hesitation, fear, etc. Keep on writing,
even if you're just writing the same plea over and over again. Do
make it heartfelt - not just done mechanically - and eventually
you'll start getting an answer. It really is so simple and
straightforward you won't believe it - "Look, ma, I'm
channeling!"
. Note that when a person channels for the first time, the answers
tend to come out sort of inchoate and constipated. Don't worry -
just push it right on out and don't worry about whether it makes
sense or not. Usually in automatic writing a few words or phrases
spring into your mind at a time, a little faster than you can write
them down, though sometimes you might get whole blocks or paragraphs at
once. You might also see memory pictures pop up before your mind's
eye, or get flashes of dream-like scenes as you write. Record all of
this because it's all relevant. Something might not make sense at
the moment, but it will eventually if you keep a written record of it.
If nothing comes to mind in response to your entreaties; or if all
that comes to mind is gibberish; then you are blocking. Your conscious
mind might say, "This isn't working. I'm not doing it right."
or "There must be some trick to this!" in its effort to subvert
the process. Don't fall for that ploy! Keep trying, keep on
writing, even if all you get is gibberish. Only trust can open you
enough to write automatically; otherwise you tangle yourself with
doubt. Doubt is the enemy of all magic, and it can completely tear
down automatic writing at the outset. Faith is the key to success
here, as elsewhere, and a strong curiosity is a valuable asset as well.
Bear in mind that your spirit guides will be thrilled to open this
channel of communication with you, and they will do everything they
can, from their side, to assist you. . If you find yourself blocking,
try switching to your non-dominant hand. Keep on writing, and at some
moment your conscious mind will relax its grip and you'll start
writing automatically. Then, simply write down what your spirit guides
tell you, asking any questions you like along the way.
Ask your guides what their names are, and if they have specific
messages for you. Some people "see" their spirit guides in their
mind's eye; though I've never seen my guides in this manner, I
have met them in dreams. In automatic writing (as opposed to trance
channeling) there is a lot of medium thrown in with the message. One
of my spirit guides is also channeled by several other people, and
while you can tell that it's the same entity coming through, she
sounds different through each of us. For one thing, she speaks in
English to those whose native language is English, and in Spanish to
those of Spanish tongue. Beyond that, her diction, outlook, interests,
etc. mirror those of the person channeling her. What is invariant from
channel to channel is her feeling - the sense of her presence - and
the tenor and direction of her thinking. But her relationships with
her various channels are as diverse as the channels are.
It's difficult to generalize about spirit guides - each is
different, as people are different. They will speak to us in a manner
we are capable of understanding: they address us according to where we
are coming from, in terms we are capable of receiving. If there's
something we just don't want to hear, it's easy enough to block it,
just as we tend to block out what we don't want to hear from other
people. Sometimes my own guides have had to wait until I was in a
particularly relaxed or unguarded frame of mind to sock something to me
that I didn't want to hear. And at times I've remonstrated, "Why
didn't you tell me this before?"; to which their usual rejoinder
is, "We were telling you all along, but you refused to listen!"
Once you've got the technique of automatic writing down pat, you can
use it to channel any spirits, not just your personal guides. This
means nature spirits, recently deceased people, even Jesus, Mary,
Krishna, Buddha, saints, etc. God can't be channeled this way,
however, because God doesn't "talk". If you get a message
purporting to come from God, it's some wise-guy spirit putting you
on. Automatic writing can also be used as part of Active Imagination
(a technique devised by Carl Jung for conversing with your own thought
forms - see my book Thought Forms for details).
You may wonder how you can tell if you're channeling evil spirits.
All I can say is that all of the evil spirits which I've run across
in my channeling made no bones about who they were or what they were up
to. Evil spirits seek willing accomplices - they need a decision on
your part to commit evil, they can't trick you against your will.
However, they can come up with some pretty tempting offers sometimes.
I would say, though, that if the messages you are channeling are full
of fulsome praise at how marvelous you are, and pity at how
misunderstood you are, and how much you have to suffer, then probably
you're channeling demons. Real spirit guides will buck you up when
you are feeling low; but they'll also kick you in the butt if you
indulge in self-pity. Their actual goal is to get you to a place where
you have your own true feelings working, so that you don't need them
anymore.
Okay, now you're a professional, dyed-in-the-wool spirit channel,
ready to hang out your shingle and charge for readings. Now what?
Generally speaking, spirit guides are useless for calling horse races,
lottery numbers, or even for predicting the outcome of specific events.
If prediction is what you want, it's better to use horary astrology,
tarot, etc. than to ask of your guides. My experience is that spirit
guides can predict the outcome of certain events when they volunteer
the information; but they can't or won't predict outcomes merely at
our behest. This is because spirit guides look at things very
differently from us; they're on another wavelength, and the things
which are of crucial importance to us are not of consequence to them.
Spirits don't give a hang about what we call the "future", and
they regard our obsession with it as an odd peculiarity of our species,
scarcely worthy of serious notice. On the other hand, things that
spirits believe should be simple for us (such as dropping lifelong
habits, addictions, fears, etc. as a simple act of will) in fact
present insuperable difficulties which spirits can't really
appreciate. Even spirits who have had human incarnations tend to
forget what it's like down here. Things just aren't as simple as
they try to make them seem, because they don't have to deal with
doubt, fear, inertia, temptation, taxes, etc.
Nor are spirit guides capable of pulling our chestnuts out of the fire
for us, saving our skins, or changing the outward circumstances of our
lives. There are spirits which can assist us with the concrete
problems of our lives to some extent, but spirit guides are basically
advisors, not employees.
Spirit guides can't live our lives for us; they can't feel our
feelings for us, can't absorb or deflect our pain for us, can't
resolve our problems for us, and can't find our happiness for us.
All they can do is show us how to take responsibility for doing these
things ourselves.

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