The question is often asked, "What are Spirit Guides?"
These are entities that are known by many names, Spirit Guides, Guides, Helpers or Spirit Helpers, Angels and Guardian Angels. They are all of these things. I have heard them called "controls" or "spirit controls". I do NOT like these names as they do not in any way try to control you. These names are usually used by phoney "mediums" or phoney "psychics" who are trying to bilk some innocent sucker out of their money.
No, they will not make your decisions for you. They feel that this is your life and that you must live in it. They will offer their opinions and advice if you ask for it, but they will NOT tell you what to do. It is your life and you must decide how to live it.
So what are they and where do they come from?
Well, they are souls or spirits that have lived many lifetimes and have gained much wisdom. They are there to help and assist you and are your friends, in fact they are the best friends that you have. They do truly love you and would NEVER do anything to harm you in any way. And even though you may not consciously know it at this time, you already know them. You picked them to help you before you were born and they agreed to be your helpers.
Now what is the difference between an angel and a Spirit Guide? Well, in the Judeao-Christian concept an angel is a spirit that has never lived a human life, rather acts as a messenger or worker of the Divine. Spirit Guides have lived many lifetimes and by doing so have gained much wisdom. And guess what? They often act as messengers or workers of the Divine. Percentage-wise, there are very few angels that have not lived physical lives.
Say that you were going to start a business and were going to hire a business advisor to help you run that business and had interviewed two applicants for the job. Both had MBA (Master of Business Administration) degrees, but one of them was fresh out of school and had no experience. The other had worked for other successful businesses and had owned his or her own successful business but just didn't want the headaches of owning his/her own business. Both candidates were willing to work for the same pay. Which would you want working for you? One who had only studied business or one who had studied business and had "gotten their hands dirty" working in business? In a sense, human life is a business, because you have the physical body, you are the Chairman of the Board of that business and your Spirit Guides are members of that board. They all have their "MBA's" and are your "business advisors." They will advise you and tell you their opinions, but you have to make all of the decisions.
So, are Spirit Guides angels? Yes, and they are angels that are very experienced with physical life.
I have talked about what they are, now where did they come from? Well, obviously since I am in a human incarnation right now, my understanding is limited, but as I understand it, it went something like this. In the beginning, there was the Creator. And He/She was alone. So He/She took minute sparks of Him/Herself and said to them, "You are now new souls. I give you free choice. Right now you have two choices. One, you can return to Me now and become one with Me again, or you can go out, learn and grow up and become like me until you can once more become one with me." And many of them did return to the Creator at that time, others decided to go out, learn and grow. Some of those divine sparks are now your Spirit Guides. Jesus and Moses were two of those sparks as were Buddha and Muhammad. And (are you ready for this?) so were you and I.
For a good book that describes life between lives (where these entities come from) try Michael Newton's Journey of Souls. Dr. Newton was using regression hypnosis with patients when he accidently regressed a patient to a time before birth. Since then he has made an ongoing study of the subject and regressed many in this fashion. His book includes case studies.
Author Link: Michael Newton
Spirit Guides are not the same thing as Animal spirit guides or animal totems. For a good book about them try Ted Andrews' Animal Speak. From his Native American background Ted describes hundreds of different animal guides or totems. He describes their significance and even tells you how to find your own animal totem.
Title Link: "Animal Speak"
