Dear Julia:

I would like to know if while trying to contact my spirit guide, an unwanted sprit may come through. I am learning to meditate and would like to know who my spirit guide is, but I am afraid of opening to a bad or dark spirit. How can I contact my guide without exposing myself to unwanted spirits? Is there a way to keep them away? Can I decide who I want to contact and who I don't? Is there any danger of being contacted by a spirit that is up to no good? Please help me with these fears. They are holding me back when I try to meditate and open up to my guides.
- C.

Dear C:

Thanks for this great question. It's important to understand the role fear will play in spiritual exploration. I advise anyone who is seriously afraid of attracting negative entities to prepare themselves further before they attempt spirit communication. Often, fear is simply a sign that one is not yet ready to move forward. Like the heightened alert we feel when walking down a dark alley, fear is designed to protect us and prevent us from getting in over our heads. If we ignore that fear and push forward anyway, we will most likely manifest experiences that match the low vibration of fear, and thus end up even more afraid than we were to begin with.

The combination of your desire and fear tells me that you're being called to conquer your fears so you can develop further on your spiritual path. There are "prerequisites" to achieving conscious spirit communication, and a key one is courage/faith. Those who are brave will experience the greatest adventures of all kinds: physical, romantic, mystical, etc.

To develop the faith and high vibration you need to begin conscious spirit communication, you have only to regularly meditate. This will naturally help you to purify your heart and mind and align with higher truths. If you meditate on love, forgiveness, etc., face your own inner demons and heal the splinters in your own soul, your vibration will rise. The power of courage/faith and honor is at the root of legends such as The Sword in the Stone, the Holy Grail, etc. She who is brave and pure of heart and mind will have the power to succeed where others fail. She will be granted the keys to the kingdom: access to higher worlds and mystical knowledge. Inner purity is essential: even those who are in established communication with their guides can end up attracting negative entities if they succumb to temptations of the ego and thus lower their vibration.

It is quite common for folks who are just awakening to spirit communication/higher spiritual awareness to have some frightening experiences with nasty entities. A very wise old teacher once explained to me that there are "gatekeepers" between our normal conscious reality and subtler worlds. As we first begin exploring psychically, we may encounter "demons" or other scary entities. This is sort of a test. If we run away screaming and vow to never do THAT again, fear has won. If, however, we demonstrate that our desire for spiritual understanding is greater than our fear, the gatekeeper vanishes, and the gate swings open. The only thing to fear truly is fear itself.

It's helpful to remember that we are all already in communication with our spirit guides anyway - most people are just communicating at a less than conscious level. Guides will give us impulses to go certain places at certain times or talk to certain people. They'll give us warning feelings and also bright new ideas for solving problems or fulfilling our dreams. They come to us in dreams as strangely familiar strangers. We may have long dream conversations with them, but most of the time be unable to remember what was discussed. (This is an archetypical spirit guide dream).

To get through your initial nervousness, you might first reach out for your OWN gatekeeper. This is a guide that will control the sort of entity that is allowed to come through to you; it will only allow loving, positive entities in. You can establish a sign, symbol or other form of identification as sort of a "password" for your gatekeeper. If you take the time to set up a strong relationship with such a guide, you won't have to test the other spirits that come through unless something happens that makes you uneasy.

Watch for entities that demand worship or obedience from you; seem to be boastful or egoistic in any way; insist that you consult them regularly (promote dependency on them for guidance); flatter you with suggestions that you're more "special" than the rest of the human race; make you feel afraid, insecure or anxious. True spirit guides will be comforting, uplifting, loving, supportive, empowering and positive. If you don't feel wonderful during or after communication with a guide, something is up.

You can also just make a deal with Spirit: when you are "ready" for conscious communication, then it will be impossible for any entities that are not of love and light to come through to you. Visualize your energy as built to only allow through positive vibrations. I am constantly working with Spirit here, so I have affirmed that the only energies that are allowed into my home (and aura) are those of love and light. Whether I am working with Spirit in readings or answering the front door, I believe that only positive energies may enter. (It's interesting to see who declines to come in and waits on the doorstep!)

This brings us to the importance of your conscious intention when opening to communication with your guides. If your intention is very high and clear, you will naturally hit the mark you're aiming for. Folks who have negative experiences are those who fail to prepare/purify themselves, those who open up indiscriminately, those who are open to everything and everyone, or those who are perhaps even looking for a thrill. (Think of teenage girls at a slumber party with a Ouija board!) So long as you have prepared yourself by raising your vibration, purifying your heart and mind and developing faith/courage, you have only to affirm a high, clear intention to ensure positive experiences.

You can begin to prepare yourself now by meditating regularly. To boost your faith/courage and establish those positive expectations, I recommend that you read uplifting spiritual books and spend time with spiritual people. This is a great thing to do right before you meditate, for it will raise your vibration. You can also raise it by making a list of things you're grateful for, or thinking of someone you love with all your heart. As you're meditating, visualize yourself full of white light, radiating divine love. This is considered a ritual for "protection," but as I see it, it just raises your vibration above that of lower entities. It's like turning on a bright light; shadows around you just disappear. Say some sort of prayer/affirmation for what you desire. You might try something like, "I am full of the white light of Divine Love. Divine light enfolds me in peace, love, wisdom and well-being. I am blessed to be guided by teachers of great love and wisdom. I know them by their energy, and enjoy perfect understanding of their valuable guidance."

When you feel ready, reach out mentally and ask for a guardian angel or gatekeeper guide to come to you. Visualize the guide before you, or listen/feel for a presence. You can draw what you see in your mind, or try writing down the messages/impressions that come to you. You will know you have a true guide by the expansive, exhilarating feeling you have bubbling up from within you. Assume that connecting with your spirit guides will be entirely wonderful and easy, and if you're properly prepared, it will be!

- Julia