GUIDES

What is a guide? Is it a person you engage to show you the way from your home to the local shops or to your friend’s house in another part of the country? Is it even a person you ask to accompany you to a professional’s office in the city near you that you have not visited before? I think not. Where you know perfectly well how to reach a certain place, you just drive there or take public transport; if it is a place in a town many miles away from you, you buy a map or use an electronic guidance system, or you ask the person who lives there how to find the house after you have reached their town using the map. If it is a place in your own city that you have never before visited, you ask the people in the office concerned how to get there – yes?

I hope the foregoing makes sense to you, as it should, for we all have to take such steps from time to time. The occasions when we need a guide in our physical life are when for instance, we are visiting a country or a district, or a mountain where ignorance of the terrain could lead us into danger or even to the loss of our life; or a ship’s Master will need a “guide,” called a “Pilot” when reaching port where it is vital to know the exact location of a navigable channel. Alternatively, we also need guides when we need detailed information about a place we are visiting for the first time, such as a museum, the Pyramids, a National Park, an historic monument, or a natural wonder like an underground cave system. For most of us, our lives are such that we very rarely need to employ a guide. In Spiritualism however, it seems to be different! To hear the number of times some mediums say, “I must ask my guides,” one could be forgiven for thinking that the gift of mediumship robs the possessor of their basic intelligence!

What do Spiritualists mean when they speak of guides? Thereby hangs a problem. The use of the word “guide” has become so imprecise and all-encompassing it is in danger of becoming totally meaningless. It is our own fault that such confusion has arisen. We have all become very lazy in our use of the English language and try to make a single word or expression cover a multitude of situations. Let us examine the role of the “guide” in mediumship. As I understand it, the original use of the word in Modern Spiritualism was reserved for the one individual from the spiritual world who, from the moment of our birth and probably earlier, has assumed responsibility to guide and guard us on our Earthly journey; our Guardian Angel if you like and one who in my early days as a Lyceumist, was referred to as our Guardian. Everyone possesses such a benevolent and loving guardian whose job it is to help us when challenges in our life become too much or we have great difficulty in reaching a very important decision that may well affect others. It is not his or her job to live our lives for us and never can he undermine our own free will. When we have need of such guidance, circumstances will have transpired that will make us peculiarly receptive to telepathic suggestion. Thoughts will appear in our mind as though by magic and suddenly we will know what to do. Most of us will be completely unaware the suggestion came from another mind and will think we thought it up ourselves. Such guidance only happens I believe when we are in extremis, otherwise our Guardian would be undermining our free will.

In my humble opinion, the word Guide in Spiritualism, should refer only to our Guardian. Let us examine what happens with those relatively few people who possess the gift of mediumship. Their gift enables them, when it is properly developed, to communicate with those in the spiritual world who are anxious to speak with or reach people still on Earth who are related to them or were friends of theirs when they lived on Earth. In some instances the medium also acts as a channel, if you like, for those in spirit who have the knowledge and ability to teach on subjects of a spiritual and philosophical nature. One must not forget either, those who act as channels for the healing energies that are focussed by Healers in spirit. Depending upon the gift or gifts the medium possesses, there will be an individual in spirit whose job it is to act as a kind of liaison between the medium and those in the spiritual world who wish to communicate, for one of several different purposes. In recent years, such individuals have also become known as guides, whereas the word “Helper” is in my opinion a more accurate description of their role. The “Helper” is the technocrat if you like. He or she is knowledgeable about how mediumship works from both sides, here and in the spiritual world. Their job is to help people communicate more effectively and as such they assist the medium to become a clearer channel for the Spirit, in whatever type of mediumship they possess, and they also help those in spirit who are unaccustomed to the complex business of communication with the world incarnate. It is not their role to act as a problem solver for difficulties in the medium’s personal life or to suggest ways in which others may change their thoughts or behaviour to overcome particular problems. The Helper may be able to contact loved ones in spirit of such individuals who may be able to suggest ways of dealing with the problem, much as they may have done when they were on earth.

I hope these thoughts help to clarify what has become a needlessly complicated area of mediumship. I would urge mediums to use the word “guide” very sparingly and to those who consult mediums, would suggest being very wary of mediums who refer to their guides on every possible occasion.