Those that protect us. Spirit Guides and/or Guardian Angels

[Isobel Bellamy]

Now, when I say guardian angel, I know many will automatically come up with the image of a being all in white with wings and (possibly) a harp.

To clear this up from the start, I mean it in a purly non-religious specific way, I don't confine the idea to exist souly in one religion's ideaology. Therefore I want no comments like
"that's a *insert religion* idea, quit stealing them"
"that's a *insert religion* idea, *insert religion* is wrong and so they don't exist"

both types of comments are offencive, if you've got a problem, say it in a constructive and meaningful argument for one way or another, they'll be appreciated far more if you show intelligence in your arguments.

*~*~*~*~*

This is a quite common belief I've found, many people I know have felt a comforting presence when they were/are afraid or sad, others have had a very near accident and swear something made them avoid it, and believe it was the doing of guardian angel

Others (and the same people) also belive they have someone guiding them through life, helping them in life and generally aiding them; spirit guides.

And again, others belive they are one in the same and are just around to help out.

There are many, many sources of information on this topic, and they are as varied as they are abundent. I'd like to know your opinions, experiences and general thinking on spirit guides and guardian angels, have you spoken with a higher being? Do you believe a family member or friend is still looking out for you?
I'll post up mine on here in the future, but right know let's hear some other stories biggrin  

[DieiNoctis]

Well, I'm not sure if it's just multipul personality disorder or "gaurdians" or just my overactive immagination, but I'd happily admit to having any of the three. Yeah, I have them. Two of 'em. Not reall "gaurdians", more of just people who decided to chill out with me for awhile.  

[lurichan]

Ahh. This is an interesting topic. ^_^

Well there are always the souls of the departed who linger around people they care about, and do subtle things to influence their lives and to attempt to make them better. Usually this is most apparent with widows. My grandma D. still has her husband keeping an eye on her, making sure she doesn't get into too much trouble. Family relations do sometimes periodically "check in" on me, though I'm not usually aware of it. For some reason my great grandma really liked me, so she keeps a watch on me from time to time.

Then there are the fae. If they have taken a shine to you (for whatever reason that might be) they do try to make things easier for you... or at least safer. Sometimes doing something that might irritate the snot out of you like hidding your keys might really be to keep you from a dangerous situation that might really be life threatening. They also do tend to do a lot just to have "luck" be with you when you have found yourself in their favor.

Then of course their are the angels themselves.. but in my personal view of things they have the most restricted ability to help mortals since they are generally not allowed to meddle in the affairs of humans. Usually people mistake spirits of the dead for angels more than actually encountering one.

I'm sure there are more forces than just those three, but those are the ones that come to my mind when the topic is brought up generally. ^_^  

[Isobel Bellamy]

Ahh, multiple personalities, very interesting subject as far as I'm concerned, some strange theories I've heard as well. (note that it's quite easy to diagnose it because each seperate personality resides on a different brain wavelength - that's it simply, I studied it in psychology but i've kinda forgotten it sweatdrop ) anyway, I've had it suggested to me that it's two or more souls/spirits etc in one body, or even a wandering spirit wanting a body again, which is interesting to say the least (supernatural explanations for the scientist's realm is always fun to me biggrin )

mm, departed souls, another source of protection from beyond, though for some reason when some people are given contact or beive they have they always ask for answers to things that they'll never be able to answer.....I'm clairaudient (I hear ghosts/spirits/the like, not see them) whenever someone finds this out I'm immedeately bombarded with things like:
"can you ask my grandma if I should marry this person?"
"does ganddad think I should do this/that?"
"am I making the right choice, can you ask my mum if I'm making the right decision?"

Though, my answer is invariably that I can't commune with the dead like that, go to a proper medium, not me, and that just because someone has passed on does not mean that they are now imbuned with celestial knowlege and an all-encompassing wisdom, they can't tell you what to do, decide for yourself.

oh...gods...fey... well, it's definately preferable for them to take interest in you instead of a dislike to you. What they are I'm not certain myself, but I've had encounters...lets say.. not to mention a friend thought it would be a good idea to do fairy magic...heh...bad move let's just say...

lol, the angels get all the credit I think it's all the hype.... Again, it's certainly...... interesting that people with departed relatives believe they immedeately beome angels...it's certainly uncomfortable when a kiddie asks about her angel mum...I didn't really have the heart to explain...she was so cute..... sweatdrop

mm, there's definately more out there, I've not personally experienced any but there have been glimpses (not to mention a few, frankly, scary as s**t encounters with a less than amicable ******** thing...not a pleasent experience I'll tell you - and it sure as heck wasn't any kind of ghost/spirit/angel or whatever else I've felt...waaaay too powerful). Though of course if something is out there, I'm guessing it knows how to keep its self quiet and secretly lead us on a merry path to gods-knows-where....  

[lurichan]

The reason I don't believe that angels do half as much as they are credited with is because angels aren't humans, nor the souls of human beings. Angels were created by god to do his work for him, and to praise him. They are genderless beings with no free will that were created (most think before humans) to cator to god's whims. There are different kinds of angels with different purposes and "jobs" if you will, but there really aren't many that are actually designated to do anything on the behalf of human beings. There might be messangers, but "guardian angels" usually aren't angels at all, but something else.... I would say usually someone departed watching over someone generally.

You don't want me to get on the topic of Multiple personalities... razz

Lucky or sadly depending on how you look at it, I don't communicate with the spirits of the dead. I don't hear things, the best I get are just vauge impressions on things, and that's sporadic at best. Sometimes I can "Feel" that something should be done, but I just can't put my finger on what.

I do feel bad for the dead spirits that linger not out of personal attachments, but because they can't move on yet. I used to watch a lot of ghost shows when I was younger, and a lot of the time I would really feel sorry for the souls of those who just couldn't accept the fact they were dead and tried to continue to live their lives like nothing had happened, or where trapped because of unresolved issues. I used to wish I could find a way to resolve things for those souls so that they could move on and no longer be trapped and fettered to those spots.

(sees myself drifting off topic again)

I think one of the best sources for the belief of dead relatives watching over us would be eastern cultures like in China and Japan. ^_^ There are monuments to their dead ancestors and they do ask for help and guidance at those monuments in times of trouble.  

[Isobel Bellamy]

angels..complicated topic, I'm not too sure myself because I haven't had much contact with the angellic hoardes, but guardian angels, yes, and I've always found they're slightly different for sure, just never really been able to pin it down.

I'm not too sure who has the better deal, people who are oblivious to spirits and the like or those who can commune with them, it's not fun either way and it's certainly not easy to go from one to the other very quickly (I had a brief absence of and activity on that front for a week or so once....it didn't sit well with me....very, very lonely if you're used to it). I mainly specialise in the helpers (spirit guides, guardian angels, and randoms things that will talk to me) but I'm by no means an expert - too young and inexperienced sweatdrop

hm, the souls that can't move on...well, there's usually a reason why, the whole "unfinished buisness" is mainly a hollywood/tv thing - but not untrue, the most common reason is fear of the beyond, but other reasons as well, also, mainly with the child ghosts, they just don't understand what's happened and so it's a bit hard for them to move on. But, there;s always a reason for things I've found, so some are hanging about for some reason that we don't know I'm certain.

mm, I know about those shrines, I'd like to go a see a few for myself, see if I can have a chat with someone xd though, I don't personaly enjoy cemetaries or places where people are mourned because there's just far too much collected misery (not because of ghoasties and spirits, they don't really like cemetaries I've found, it's too 'dead' for their liking I think).  

[lurichan]

*nods* Not too many spirits are actually attached enough to their bodies to actually want to be in a cemetary. (unless they were narcassistic lol ) Although there is an general lingering impression in cemetaries, it isn't the full spirit of the departed. Just enough to leave a slightly "off" feeling, but not enough to really talk to.

I don't think it's really either having it "better", it's just a matter of what you're accustomed to. If you're used to being able to communicate with the dead even in a limited manner, having that cut off from you is of course going to make you uneasy because it's different from what you're used to. On the other hand the people who don't really have the ability to communicate or sense the dead at all really don't have any idea that they are missing out on anything and would most likely freek out if they suddenly found themselves able to communicate with spirits with no prior warning or experiences.

*Nods* Unfinished business is a bit of a hollywood propigated idea, but most of what hollywood really fixates on has at least a partial seed of truth in it. *sniffles* Poor little children ghosts that don't understand what happened to them, that is really sad. Small children really don't have a grasp on death to begin with, so yeah... I could see why they wouldn't understand and wouldn't be able to move on without perhaps a bit of help.  

[Isobel Bellamy]

I just stay the hell away from cemetaries, just not my thing (slight nightmare when I have to go to a funeral....).


Mmm, it wasn't so much being cut of from talking to the dead as talking to my guides (best way to describe them, they hang around with me whatever they are, I'm not particularly keen to go into them in more detail though I'm afraid), I've got quite a strong bond with them and having them cut off from me was...disconcerting at the very least. I don't want to repeat it in any way shape or form ever again because it was just so, hm, frightning is too strong a word, but there was a definatly sense of loneliness and yes, fear. One of my friends that knows about my freakyfulness was actually amazed about the way I felt without them, for some reason she'd gotten it into her head that I disliked them and thought I'd love not being able to hear them.

I've also found that those without much experience with this are fearful, other friends who have tried a ouija board were completely scared out of their minds....though ouija boards are a pretty dumb-a** way to try communicating with anything....whether they work or not (scaeptical as I haven't tried one at all, and I'm not too keen to either) is up to debate - they may just be people's subconscious working them, it's definately a possibility to me - but if it's real mthen you're bacisally putting up a "free party with dumb-asses" to the beyond...not a very good thing to do at all....
But most of what I've heard from ouija board users when they hadn't experienced anything 'supernatural' before was that it was damn scary.

Hollywood...irks me at best....I tend to stay away from anything it produces unless it's meant to be a load of bull-crap. Anything that says "based on a true story" you'd have to pay me and drag me into watch....I'm not asking for anything absolutely true, just less complete shite....  

[lurichan]

The cemetary really doesn't bother me anymore. It used to when I was younger, but now that I don't really fear the dead anymore it's just a peaceful place with a tinge of sadness to it really.

Ouija boards...*shakes my head* Odd as it sounds my mom warned me about how dangerous those things are. She pretty much described it as putting up a sign on the street that you have having a party and never knowing who was going to show up. The one time someone had one at a birthday party I kept intentionally moving it to keep anything bad from happening. -_-*

Hollywood is in the business of making money. They will take anything minorly intersting and turn it into sensationalistic garbage just in order to garner some cash. -_-* That's one of the reasons I always try to re-examine anything I learned via movies or TV before even taking it into real consideration.  

[Leith]

3 out of 4 Americans beleive in Angels of one kind or another. Now, wether that's the biblical defention, or justpowerful ethereal begings, I don't know. I know that everyone is entitled to hteir opinions on the matter, as it's just as possible I am insane. It's also possible they've just never encountered one or felt it. But here's my experience, take from it what you will.

Being Shamanic, I beleive in multiple planes, much like the current Multiverse theory. There are upper and lower planes. These aren't Heaven and Hell, justdifferent levels of energy. Earth is a fairly low-energy plane. Objects are solid, shapes defined, ect. On higher planes, the physical is much less important. And there are those 'angelic' or 'astral' beings that move lower, I don't know why, maybe they feal obligated to help, or just want to...

But that's whatI beleive some of these 'guardian angels' are. True, some are probably hallucinations or smoke or random chance. But some stories and accounts are just too coincidental for science or random chance to explain. And they don't justhang around whenever there's trouble. There are spiritual beings around us everyday, we just don't bother to feal or notice them. Som people can. Some are born able to do it, others after years of training. Maybe someday I'll be able to.

Maybe I'm just crazy, but that's my experience.
 

[Isobel Bellamy]

Leith

3 out of 4 Americans beleive in Angels of one kind or another. Now, wether that's the biblical defention, or justpowerful ethereal begings, I don't know. I know that everyone is entitled to hteir opinions on the matter, as it's just as possible I am insane. It's also possible they've just never encountered one or felt it. But here's my experience, take from it what you will.

Being Shamanic, I beleive in multiple planes, much like the current Multiverse theory. There are upper and lower planes. These aren't Heaven and Hell, justdifferent levels of energy. Earth is a fairly low-energy plane. Objects are solid, shapes defined, ect. On higher planes, the physical is much less important. And there are those 'angelic' or 'astral' beings that move lower, I don't know why, maybe they feal obligated to help, or just want to...

But that's whatI beleive some of these 'guardian angels' are. True, some are probably hallucinations or smoke or random chance. But some stories and accounts are just too coincidental for science or random chance to explain. And they don't justhang around whenever there's trouble. There are spiritual beings around us everyday, we just don't bother to feal or notice them. Som people can. Some are born able to do it, others after years of training. Maybe someday I'll be able to.

Maybe I'm just crazy, but that's my experience.

Don't worry, I understand perfectly well about that and it's something I believe myself 3nodding
That statistic includes people that don't connect angels with any religion, I'm sure. I'd certainly like to see some statistics on what my countrymen and women think of angels because we seem to be very sceptical as a whole.  

[Isobel Bellamy]

lurichan

The cemetary really doesn't bother me anymore. It used to when I was younger, but now that I don't really fear the dead anymore it's just a peaceful place with a tinge of sadness to it really.

Ouija boards...*shakes my head* Odd as it sounds my mom warned me about how dangerous those things are. She pretty much described it as putting up a sign on the street that you have having a party and never knowing who was going to show up. The one time someone had one at a birthday party I kept intentionally moving it to keep anything bad from happening. -_-*

Hollywood is in the business of making money. They will take anything minorly intersting and turn it into sensationalistic garbage just in order to garner some cash. -_-* That's one of the reasons I always try to re-examine anything I learned via movies or TV before even taking it into real consideration.

Graveyards...don't scare me as such, and I certainly don't fear the dead because I've had too much way bigger stuff than just the odd dead person to scare me in my life sweatdrop it's just that...tehre's something about them that makes me aprehencive about them, possibly because I'm very sensitive to other's emotions (damnit..)

I'm curious as to ouija boards, I'll admit it...but whether or not I'll actually use one is a different matter...my family have had a history of 'demons' attacking us *my dad apparently became possesed by a demon in a prayer meeting, whatever it was was prayed out of him and ever since he's been able to speak in tounges. Apparently it was something that's in my father's father's family, and seeing as I take after my dad a lot I'm very cautious about anything supernatural. I've no desire to have anything like that happen to me* a ouija board seems like an open invitation for whatever the thing is....  

[rykin666]

i fully agree wit DieiNoctis, i do believe in 'guardians' tho, but as for the overactive imagination, i have the same problem. When i 'see' or 'sense' spirits wandering around me, i cant decide if i actually see them or if they're just my imagination. Eg. I see things when im in the dark things that are pretty friggin creapy, now is it my imagination or is it ghosts or spirits haunting.  

[Krys_Night]

I've always sorta known that people in my family who have passed away are watching over me. Actually I saw one of them when I was on the phone with my firend and I had an out of boddy experience. It weirded me out, but at least i know that I am not alone, no matter where I go.  

[Ndoki]

Well I have never seen one so I don't believe in them yet, but if I were to ever see (or experience with my other senses as well) then I probably would... I have had some otherworldly things happen to me before, but nothing that seemed like it was 'guarding' me.