Recently, a friend of mine asked me a few questions about working with Spirit. I have received similar questions from other friends and readers, so in this post, I’m going to share my friend’s questions, along with my take on the topics.

I’m curious about the types of messages you receive from spirits and angels and how they might benefit people; much angst and anxiety comes from fearing the unknown, and since the guides aren’t fortune tellers and aren’t able (or willing, for some reason) to share specific details about what’s coming in an individual’s life or for humanity at large, in what ways do you feel people derive comfort from communicating with them (either directly or through a channeler)? Is it simply the idea that there are benevolent forces at work? Or are there other benefits?

I want to start by explaining that I don’t often get messages unless I ask directly. I have either set that arrangement up with my guides or have learned to shield enough that I receive messages only when I request them.

My guides have made it clear that they can’t help me, even with advice, in most situations (life-and-death situations are an exception) unless I specifically request help, and I believe this is the way all guides and angels are. Other spirits can sometimes get through and give messages without permission, particularly if someone’s energy is chaotic or without boundaries. (I have experienced such messages a couple of times, and those encounters were unsettling.)

It is certainly correct to say that our guides aren’t fortune-tellers. A big factor in this is that all humans have free will, so we can make any decision in any moment that our guides simply cannot predict. Some large-scale events in people’s lives and in humanity in general are very likely to occur, and our guides can see these events as more probable than others, but even major events can be “changed” (that is, the likelihood of them occurring in exactly a certain way can be decreased).

In my experience, and based on conversations I’ve had with other intuitives, psychics, and oracle readers, we humans get the most benefit when we ask about the present and very near future—how we can improve ourselves now, what steps we can take to get the outcome we desire in a particular situation, and the like. For example, if I ask my guides what the likely outcome will be over the next six months if I partner with a certain person on a particular venture, I will get more helpful information than if I ask to know, generally speaking, what my life will be like in six months. After my guides have replied, I may ask for clarification. For example, I may ask what is the likely outcome if I take steps X, Y, and Z for that partnership, and then I may ask what is the likely outcome if I choose not to engage in that partnership. In such a situation, I can compare the merits of each option, given what my guides tell me is most likely to occur. (Of course, there may be a third options that I haven’t even considered, and my guides may not mention it, because I didn’t ask about it specifically. This is why I have moved to most commonly asking what I most need to do or know about a specific issue for my highest good.)

One very important thing to remember that our guides typically choose to answer the questions we ask but that if we keep asking the same question phrased in different ways, or if we keep asking for more and more details, never getting any closer to making a decision … they will eventually stop answering. At a certain point, we have to go out and do—and learn from the doing—instead of trying to get all the answers so we don’t make a mistake. Think of a person who asks your advice and then, after you’ve willingly given it, keeps asking for more and more, because they don’t want to think up anything for themselves or they hope that if they keep asking, you’ll give an answer more to their liking. You stop answering eventually, don’t you? Our guides are pretty darn good at simply cutting us off in such situations—they are great at “tough love.” Plus, “mistakes” are our best teachers, and in Spirit’s view, there is no such thing as mistakes, only experiences.

When you ask questions of Spirit, you’re basically asking for advice from someone who knows a bit more about the situation than you do, just like if you were asking a human mentor—it’s just that our guides have more information available than most humans do.

I think we receive a sense of comfort from talking to Spirit, particularly if we’re considering mediumship (and thus getting information from loved ones who have crossed over), but largely, I think we receive a sense of empowerment and guidance from such interaction more than we receive a sense of comfort—at least in my experience.

When it comes to getting information from loved ones who have passed over … how does that work if loved ones’ souls can also [be] reincarnated into other human forms after they leave this realm? And how does it work with ghosts, for example? Can a soul be a ghost that haunts a place, a new incarnation, and somewhere “else” such that they can provide information through mediums all at the same time? If not, why would some souls become ghosts while others reincarnate?

Also, is it true that time is not linear?

These are all sorts of questions that I think are fun to consider (and even to ask my guides about), though they have no easy answers.

As I understand it, there is an oversoul that stays perpetually in “the other realm” (however you want to conceive of that), so even when we are incarnated, part of the soul (higher self, if you like) is “up there,” with access to the greater wisdom. This is how we can get wisdom from our higher selves/oversoul and how we can also hear from loved ones who have reincarnated: part of the soul is always non-embodied.

However, most souls do not reincarnate during the lifetimes of those they’ve left behind. In some Eastern traditions, it is thought that the soul jumps almost immediately from one body to a new one, but from what I understand of what I’ve read and been told by other people, souls steeped in other cultures may not reincarnate for decades, or even centuries, after departing this plane. Part of this time is used by the soul to evaluate all that was learned in the incarnation, and part to “decompress” and heal from traumas in the physical plane.

Part of the time between lives is also used to plan the next incarnation. This planning may include discussing with other souls the relationships and lessons to be learned together in the upcoming life.[1] This planning is usually done with those who will be the most important people in our upcoming lives, though we have many souls in our soul groups—quite a few more than the “soul mate” that is often conceived of in the West—whom we will likely encounter in passing. (For more about reincarnation and pre-life planning, see my Recommended Reading list.)

As for ghosts, I think most ghosts are actually energetic remnants, kind of like recordings, rather than souls left behind. Some of them can interact with us on this plane, but those are few and far between, and I still think they are likely only remnants of souls. There’s something called soul retrieval, which says (if I understand the concept correctly) that particularly traumatic events in any life can cause your soul to split apart. In my mind, I envision hauntings as being parts of souls that are left behind after the rest of a soul has moved on. (I have never/rarely interacted with a “left-behind” spirit, however, so my thoughts on the topic are mostly conjecture based on what I’ve learned from reading books and watching some TV shows and documentaries about such things.)

Most spirits who speak through mediums are those who have crossed over, I believe. At least it has been my experience that this is the case, and these crossed-over spirits are typically more helpful than earthbound spirits when consulted for advice. (I have occasionally been given messages from those who have crossed over when I or my client really needs such contact, but mediumship is certainly not my specialty.)

At least one of my colleagues believes that time is not linear, that we are actually existing simultaneously throughout time, so there’s not really such a thing as present and past incarnations—all are happening at the same time. When I’ve read and heard about such explanations, the closest I can come to understanding it is to think of the oversoul as playing 20 video games at once, but I’m not sure how accurate that picture is.

***

So, that’s my take on Spirit Work, reincarnation, and ghosts.

If you are an intuitive, empath, channel, medium, or otherwise work with Spirit, what’s your take on these questions? Have I gotten close to your conceptions, or am I way off? I (and my readers, I’m sure) would love to know!

If you don’t regularly work with Spirit, or if you’re relatively new to it, what questions do you have?

***

Note

[1] I often refer to these as soul contracts, though “agreements” is really a better term, as we are not bound to act in a certain way, nor are we punished or penalized for not following a contract. In fact, we often do soul-level work in our sleep and can “renegotiate” terms of our soul agreements based on changes that have occurred—such as learning a life lesson sooner than we had expected in our original planning sessions.

 

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