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Goodbye Jesus

Do You Believe In Spirit Guides?


thebatman

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Something I've been pondering lately.

 

Looking back at my life, I can pinpoint times where I felt a certain "tug" or "voice" pulling me in a certain direction. Almost like a conscience but external and guiding.

 

When I was a christian, I would feel this tug pulling me away from church. I would just dismiss it as "the devil". Looking back I would have saved myself much grief just listening to that little voice.

 

Whenever I'm about to do something really stupid or self-destructive, I can feel the tug pushing and pulling at me. The times when I have ignored it are times I regret. There have been times when I feel it's hot warning telling me I'm going in the wrong direction and need to turn around. 

 

 

Now this is not to say that I believe in it. I'm aware that it's probably just bias or some kind of psychological quirk. But does anyone believe in this? Perhaps they are benevolent beings, assigned to guide us dumb apes towards happiness and peace. But it's probably all in my head though. 

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Yes I do believe in them. I have experienced them in both shamanic journeying and my partner and I have both had glimps of them in our house without own eyes.

 

I believe in them more than I did in an unseen god when I was a xtian.

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Now this is not to say that I believe in it. I'm aware that it's probably just bias or some kind of psychological quirk. But does anyone believe in this? Perhaps they are benevolent beings, assigned to guide us dumb apes towards happiness and peace. But it's probably all in my head though. 

 

I'm kind of asking myself this very question right now.  I have experienced some weird things in my life which took me by surprise.  I often got a very strong impression that someone invisible had "appeared" to save me from disaster or just to help me.

 

I used to think it was Jesus, but after I realized that he does not exist, I thought these experiences would stop, but they continue to happen, so I have to wonder what it's all about, and who are they.

 

So yes I believe there are spirit guides, but I wonder if they are not just a higher aspect of myself, because they seem to be, at the same time, separate from me and part of me!

 

Weird.

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I have not experienced anything like the Spirit Guides being discussed here, but I am open to the possibility that there is more to our reality than what we have thus far identified.  I am aware that stuff happens and there doesn’t seem to be a rational explanation for it. The universe is still basically an enigma and we have only begun to scratch the surface of what may exist.

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I have had an experience or two.. similar.. that I can't explain

 

One time when I was in a situation that was dangerous (but I didn't know it at the time) I 'heard' a voice telling me to 'get out now' -  that was a mental voice... almost, I mean it wasn't really audible, but it seemed to come from outside of me. It wasn't the voice in my head that I experience as self-talk though.

 

...So I grabbed my daughter and left.

 

I found out later I had been a short time away from a very dangerous situation. weird.

 

So I can't totally dismiss the idea.. I do get upset when people take this phenomenon and make up all sorts of nonsense around it. (spend some time with totally woowoo new-agers and you'll know what I mean). Entire modern mythologies have been written on this subject and I think most of it is conjecture and fantasy. But - it isn't an unknown phenomenon in history... so?

 

I don't know if it was some bizarre projected intuition I had... or something outside of myself. How do you test that? For now I guess I'll just stay neutral on this issue. The experience is real, I know that... interpretation though?

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Whenever I'm about to do something really stupid or self-destructive, I can feel the tug pushing and pulling at me. The times when I have ignored it are times I regret. There have been times when I feel it's hot warning telling me I'm going in the wrong direction and need to turn around. 

 

Now this is not to say that I believe in it. I'm aware that it's probably just bias or some kind of psychological quirk.

 

In some cultures, they might say that our ancestors are spirit guides, who guide us from the great beyond.

 

I'm not so sure, though perhaps it contains a grain of truth.

 

I think you are on the right track when you say that it is psychological, though I would not call it a quirk.

 

Whenever you are considering the behaviour of a living thing, consider whether there may be an evolutionary explanation.  I'm not a scientist, but I'm going to have a crack at the whip.

 

Our ancestors survived in part because they were able to analyse situations, recognise danger, and stay away from it.  Sometimes this would be a rational process.  But it would also be advantageous to have a brain that could make the danger assessment subconsciously and instruct our concious mind to stay away from perceived danger.  If a brain could do these things, and therefore keep away from danger, and therefore keep the body alive long enough to reach sexual maturity and have children, that aversion to danger and unconscious survival instinct would be passed on to the next generation.

 

So, you should not be surprised that your brain creates urges to stay away from danger.  In fact, you should expect it!  That's why your ancestors survived long enough to bring you into existence, and they pass on that gift to you!

 

For me, it is a beautiful thing to be able to attribute our sense of awareness to our own biology, and not to supernatural spirit guides.

 

But - and perhaps you will appreciate this - if the instinct for survival was passed on to genetically us by our ancestors - you might say that your ancestors are guiding you after all.

 

smile.png

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"But - and perhaps you will appreciate this - if the instinct for survival was passed on to genetically us by our ancestors - you might say that your ancestors are guiding you after all."

 

That's a really cool thought

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Whenever I'm about to do something really stupid or self-destructive, I can feel the tug pushing and pulling at me. The times when I have ignored it are times I regret. There have been times when I feel it's hot warning telling me I'm going in the wrong direction and need to turn around. 

 

Now this is not to say that I believe in it. I'm aware that it's probably just bias or some kind of psychological quirk.

 

In some cultures, they might say that our ancestors are spirit guides, who guide us from the great beyond.

 

I'm not so sure, though perhaps it contains a grain of truth.

 

I think you are on the right track when you say that it is psychological, though I would not call it a quirk.

 

Whenever you are considering the behaviour of a living thing, consider whether there may be an evolutionary explanation.  I'm not a scientist, but I'm going to have a crack at the whip.

 

Our ancestors survived in part because they were able to analyse situations, recognise danger, and stay away from it.  Sometimes this would be a rational process.  But it would also be advantageous to have a brain that could make the danger assessment subconsciously and instruct our concious mind to stay away from perceived danger.  If a brain could do these things, and therefore keep away from danger, and therefore keep the body alive long enough to reach sexual maturity and have children, that aversion to danger and unconscious survival instinct would be passed on to the next generation.

 

So, you should not be surprised that your brain creates urges to stay away from danger.  In fact, you should expect it!  That's why your ancestors survived long enough to bring you into existence, and they pass on that gift to you!

 

For me, it is a beautiful thing to be able to attribute our sense of awareness to our own biology, and not to supernatural spirit guides.

 

But - and perhaps you will appreciate this - if the instinct for survival was passed on to genetically us by our ancestors - you might say that your ancestors are guiding you after all.

 

smile.png

 

 

 

Honestly I'm sure you're right. One thing I've noticed is that people tend to "see" things that they already believe in. For example, people report having "demonic" experiences or seeing spirits. But the more I think about it the more I think it's just all in our heads. For example people with schizophrenia often see and hear things that don't exist. Are they peaking into the spirit world? No. Their brain is just conjuring up images and sounds that aren't there in the real world. 

 

Likewise if people look for something hard enough, they will see it. I remember when I was a Christian people would tell me about "answered prayers", and they would hinge their entire life and faith on these moments of pure chance. One time a guy told me he was praying to find his lost car keys, and he found them. Things like this are what religious people base their entire beliefs on. Just small, insignificant moments of chance or mere coincidence. 

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Yes, though I usually experience them as power animals/animal totems.

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That's a really cool thought

 

Thanks.  I thought so too. Haha! :)

 

 

 

One time a guy told me he was praying to find his lost car keys, and he found them. Things like this are what religious people base their entire beliefs on. Just small, insignificant moments of chance or mere coincidence. 

 

Yes.  I wrote about post about coincidence, which you may like.

 

http://www.ex-christian.net/topic/54856-coincidence-and-christian-supersition/

 

A good reply to such a person may be to ask if he has ever prayed to find an item and not found it.  Then consider all those occasions of answered and unanswered prayer together.  And then say, across your whole life, has praying helped you find things overall much faster, or is it about as fast as you might expect anyway, sometimes getting lucky, sometimes getting unlucky.

 

 

Honestly I'm sure you're right.

 

Glad to help, though I give full credit to Prof. Richard Dawkins.  I'm reading the Selfish Gene, and through it he is teaching me to consider behaviour from an evolutionary perspective.  I highly recommend the book, if you have not yet read it.

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From time to time I have thought there is something like this.  Both benevolent and malevolent invisible beings. I admit it is very subjective and it is based on personal experience only. Atmosphere - I know somethings not right sometimes when I am in places. "Bad Vibes" or whatever you want to call it. Also good vibes as well. Maybe some kinds of beings that are attached to a specific place and we can sense their presence.

 

I was just thinking - In Vajrayana Buddhism, when there is an empowerment (initiation) ceremony, the entire sangha (the participants) walk clockwise around the facility before it is to take place and chant a purification mantra before the ceremony.  I think there is good purpose to that. I think it is a very old magical practice to draw a circle around a space and make it sacred.  Its also drawing a mental boundary in the minds of all the participants between the sacred space and the profane or the "contaminated" world. It seems that way, anyway.  It is a highly effective technique, at least for me.

 

I was working in an office for 7 years where the atmosphere was just not right. One of the people there seemed to have a hostile attitude toward me from the beginning, but I think there was also something else, something attached to the land I am pretty sure. I was never able to clear it although I consulted a practitioner of Wicca and got a charm. Maybe she wasn't so good! Not sure, but nothing worked.

 

Outlaw talks about power animal totems.  I actually had an experience like that as well, many years ago. It was a very special encounter and makes me wonder about these entities being able to take on an animal form.

 

Maybe everything IS "all in your head." There have been whole philosophical schools that subscribed to this in the east.

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I believe these are manifestations of our minds. But let me clarify that does not mean it is "all just in our heads". No, the forms these take are symbolic, but they are from our deep ground unconscious from which archetypal forms arise to the conscious, waking mind. We are in our nature connected to everything in the subtle nature of reality. Our subconscious minds are always attuned to that, but obscured by the distractions of our normal conscious minds. The less we are distracted, the more what the subconscious 'sees' is allowed to make itself known. Our intuition becomes sharper, keener, and more present. As it picks up on the subtle in the world around us it manifests symbolically to us, a guide, some totem animal, etc. But these are forms that our our subconscious minds manifest for us to communicate that subtle-level awareness.

 

We normally perceive the world in terms of subject/object duality, so they are manifest as the 'other' to us. In meditation you will encounter such guides, these gurus, whose role is ultimately to lead you to find the inner Guru, your true Self. This is where the guides, the dualistic expressions of the subtle level, become simply you in active, call it omniscient awareness of the world, see it through your own eyes.

 

All in your head, is only somewhat right. The manifest forms themselves are.

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When I said "all in your head" I did not mean that I was a materialist and these things come from the brain of the individual alone. I should have clarified that.

 

The real spirit guide is the guru which shows you the nature of your true self. That's right, but I was hesitant to use such language until you did, Antler.  Statements like this are so often misunderstood.

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I wasn't actually referencing your comment in that. Others brought that up and I thought it would be good to acknowledge the truth of it, but to expand the understanding of it more.

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Honestly I'm sure you're right. One thing I've noticed is that people tend to "see" things that they already believe in. For example, people report having "demonic" experiences or seeing spirits. But the more I think about it the more I think it's just all in our heads. For example people with schizophrenia often see and hear things that don't exist. Are they peaking into the spirit world? No. Their brain is just conjuring up images and sounds that aren't there in the real world

 

The real world?  I think you mean the material world.  Reality is much more than what we perceive in the material world.

 

I think Materialism is the saddest philosophy that man has ever concocted.

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I think Materialism is the saddest philosophy that man has ever concocted.

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I just read this this morning that in contrast to Plato who saw physics was nothing more than a "likely story" but that the truth resided beyond physics or in metaphysics that, "Democritus [an atomist, or materialist], on the other hand, put his faith in 'atoms and the void,' since nothing else, he felt, had any existence - a notion so obnoxious to Plato that he expressed the strongest desire that all the works of Democritus be burned on the spot".

 

Yes, you're not alone in your opinion! Your right up there alongside Plato in that view.

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I wasn't actually referencing your comment in that. Others brought that up and I thought it would be good to acknowledge the truth of it, but to expand the understanding of it more.

Maybe you weren't but I sort of feel like you just shut me down.

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I think Materialism is the saddest philosophy that man has ever concocted.

Oh, I dunno. I thought about making money my god since I'm losing faith in my gods anyway...

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I think Materialism is the saddest philosophy that man has ever concocted.

Oh, I dunno. I thought about making money my god since I'm losing faith in my gods anyway...

 

 

 

That of course is not materialism in the philosophic sense.
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I wasn't actually referencing your comment in that. Others brought that up and I thought it would be good to acknowledge the truth of it, but to expand the understanding of it more.

Maybe you weren't but I sort of feel like you just shut me down.

 

 

 

I'm not sure why. Sorry you feel this way.
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In Traditional witchcraft places, especially the land, has 'spirits'... genus locii   learning to tune into and live in harmony with these is essential for the trad witch. i wouldn't say they are actually anthropomorphic though.

 

Circles are important to.. they are a focus, a way of delineating the everyday from the metaphysical. They create 'sacred space', and are used in paganism and ceremonial magick for a variety of intentions. Cleansing and protection are two. I still use them for intentional meditation - a sort of mental environment.

 

I'm very sensitive to 'vibes'... some places are better than others. I don't know why or how but sometimes there is a gut sense that something isn't quite right.. or conversely that something is very much in alignment. I don't now if that is something that could be measured (high EMF affects people negatively) or something science hasn't yet been able to define or detect. Like Antlerman says we experience things that are more in the realm of mental constructs, than physical ones sometimes. Interpretation is the problem though. Maybe what one person interprets as a spirit guide/totem another will interpret as a projection of his higher self, or an archetype the subconscious is using to communicate a complicated truth... the inner world is far more misunderstood than the outer I think.

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I honestly can't get my head around this spirit stuff.

 

Can I ask - do people believe in this stuff as an abstraction or a metaphor, or do they believe these things actually literally exist?

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I honestly can't get my head around this spirit stuff.

 

Can I ask - do people believe in this stuff as an abstraction or a metaphor, or do they believe these things actually literally exist?

They are symbolic of something that transcends them. Therefore they do not "literally" exist. Is a rose as an expression of love, love itself? Or is love expressed in the rose? Is it the rose, or what is beyond the rose you embrace? Perhaps both in the experience of love, but the rose fades while love remains.

 

Does this help?

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I honestly can't get my head around this spirit stuff.

 

Can I ask - do people believe in this stuff as an abstraction or a metaphor, or do they believe these things actually literally exist?

 

Its more a question of experience than one of belief.  Something real is going on and the "spirit" word is used to categorize or identify something that is literally real. That is my take on it.

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Different people see it differently

 

Yes, I know people who take it literally, some allegorically and metaphorically. it's interpretation of some sort of phenomena. Now whether that phenomena is in the mind or part of an outer reality... who knows. I'm more on the lines of it being more like Antlerman says... though it's very difficult to express in words the outward sensed manifestation of something that is actually singular and inner.

 

Shamanic thought is interesting in this.. like Carlos Casteneda's Don Juan. The again Jane Roberts Seth has a different take.. and buddhism has it's interpretation.. and trad witches have theirs. Wiccans, though most don't know it, are actually taking the Golden Dawn approach.

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