The Guides section of the Priestess Path touched on who and what can be guides as we walk our spiritual journeys. We also explored previous previous experiences where an ally has come to guide us to a message or action that was for our individual highest good.
Guides can take any form, from animals to plants, people (living and passed) to otherworldly beings. Personally, I do believe in these "other" forms as I have been told that I have a phoenix and a gryphon as guides. I also believe that my mum, who has passed, and an ancestor are among them. My mum and an ancestor were among the guides I met during the Cauldron of Wisdom 2 conference run by Emily.
Guides can also be stable or temporary. This means that there may be some who stay with you throughout the entirety of your life and are always accessible, while others come along when you need them and once you've understood their message and taken appropriate action, they leave.
Guides can appear in many places from dreams, visions, meditations and even in day-to-day life. They can appear when we are looking for some assistance but even when we are not. The trick to connecting and hearing the message(s) they bring is to be open to the entire experience.
In the class part of this section, Emily led us in a meditation to meeting at least one guide. I started out on a cobbled path in a field of wildflowers that was bordered by a forest. It was midday but there was a gentle breeze coaxing at my hair. As I walked forwards, rocks appeared at the side of the path that eventually led up to a deep ravine with a rockface to one side of it. The rock was a silvery grey and emanated a gentle humming energy as I paused at the rockface. In the rockface, a doorway appeared, opening to a space within and stairs leading down. I felt a soft glow emanating from whatever was at the bottom of the stairs. As I entered the space at the bottom of the stairs, I realised it was a cavern that was filled with purples and greens, despite a yellow light that pulsated outwards from deep within the cavern. As I turned my attention to other things within the cavern, I noticed an energy that felt like my mum enter my awareness, followed by a female Gypsy ancestor of the Romani tradition. With them was a phoenix and a firedrake (like a dragon but with 2 legs and 2 wings - dragons have 4 legs and 2 wings). I felt like I was being told to sit with the uncertainty and not-knowing within my life, which is very difficult for me.
This was a very powerful meditation for me because I haven't really noticed an energy that felt like my mum around me before, despite the fact that I do believe she is among my guides. What was interesting about this is that a week later, during the Cauldron of Wisdom 2 conference, I connected with my mum again only she was much clearer and I saw her face.
In the second meeting of this section, Emily again led us for a meditation to meet more guides, if they were willing to show themselves. For this meditation, I started standing on a path that led off into the distance to a place that I knew was my own personal sacred safe place - the same place I visited in my Finding My Inner Sacred Space post. I wandered along the path until I came to a light wooden gate that had an ouroboros carved into it. I had the key to this gate in my pocket so I went ahead and unlocked it so that I could move into the space. I couldn't see from the other side of the gate that there was a stone wall boundary around this space. I confidently moved towards the centre where a soft vine hammock was hanging from the branches of an ancient tree. As I relaxed on the hammock, I felt the fear of certain test results sitting heavily in my stomach.
As part of the meditiation, I said, "I do not know. Please show me." to my guides. This led to a feeling that not only was I being suspended by the hammock, but also like I was in a womb-like place where I was being prepared for a new beginning of some form. This feeling reminded me of the Suspension card in the Enchanted Forest tarot deck that takes the place of the Hanged Man. I felt like I was always supported, even when I feel that I am not.
I also felt that my mum was near and she said, "You've got this, daughter mine." This was a really special moment for me as it was the third time in the space of three weeks that I had connected with her on my own.
I've also had some encounters with the Owl again. But this time, I felt that the Owl was saying to me that I can look back on the past with perspective while being fully in the present and looking towards the unknown future with little to no fear.
I am working on this fear that is sitting heavily within me, and as I write this at my desk, I have a few meaningful items nearby. Two of these items are cards from the Witch Casket Divine Wisdom deck (in the above photo) and they both feel particularly relevant to my current situation although I received them months ago. Fighting darkness with light to me is about banishing the fears by loving myself regardless of what the test results are, that the results do not define who I am as a person or as a Witch.
Emily mentioned some other things to take into consideration when it comes to connecting with guides: whether or not it's "easy" to open the self up to access the information that is being offered, the setting of the meeting, different kinds of meditation. She posed the question: How do you think you'll access these guides in the future? My answer to this is to be open and welcoming for any guidance they can offer me and be grateful for the messages they bring.
Emily also mentioned carrying or using a symbol, stone or talisman to connect with a guide, or even multiple guides. I have a hand-made owl figurine that I have used previously to bring in Owl energy during a spell. I have plenty of photographs of my mum in my home so she is always nearby and watching me. I do also wear an amethyst pendant that has the Norse/Icelandic sigil Vegvisir engraved on it; I wear it so that I will always find my way even if the path is not known to me.
I hope this inspires you to connect with your own guides, whoever and whatever they may be, because you may be surprised as to what insights they can bring.
Peace and love to all!!
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