**On Edit: Here’s an update my thoughts on this subject.
I apologize if I caused any confusion with my initial post, I have edited it a little.
When I re-read this post after posting, I felt that I may have confused some key points. Keep in mind that these opinions are only mine, and yours may be different. Also, I am human and still learning every day. 
The main points of my post:
a) Upon reflection I do not think power animals are the same as guardian angels, although they may share some similar functions.
b) I saw my power animal and the guide that Slade saw for me as the same guide (I think they may be different aspects of the same guide, for example power animal may help me connect with lower chakras, the guide may help with accessing my higher chakras, but that is a different post I hope to write…). I think that power animals and spirit guides share similar functions.
c) My religious baggage caused me to not to be able to accept the existence of anything associated with mainstream religion, including the existence of “angels”, in my own belief system for a long time. While I have now done some work with Archangel Micheal, I’m still considering how angels and guardian angels fit into and work with my personal existing cosmology,
d) I think that because of who we are as individuals, the culture we are raised in, our religious beliefs and world views, we may each view the intuitive world slightly differently, and that is a beautiful thing,
e) I don’t think our spirit guides, and other teachers, care as much about the names that we call them, as much as that we DO call them to assist us.
Anyways, hopefully this has brought clarity and not more confusion. I would at least hope it would create some good discussion, to help you clarify how you see your own intuitive world.
Kara
Hello dear readers,
Welcome back! It is nice to be back with you here again. I’ve missed being here with you at “Conduit of Joy”.
Look for new posts to appear here every two weeks. I will also be answering some of your short questions, for free, with my feature “Answers from the Universe” at least once every two months.
I am still available for readings on a limited schedule, and I’m particularly excited about doing past-life readings lately, as those have been particularly illuminating. Email me at conduitofjoy@hotmail.com, and we’ll see what’s cooking for you.
Sending blessings and fun to you for your continued readership! Kara
Earlier on in my intuitive life, I learned alot about intuition and guides from reading the blogs of other intuitives. I was particularly fascinated (and continue to be) about how other intuitives connect with their own angels and personal spirit guides.
But reading about angels and personal spirit guides that appeared in human form kind of stymied me. I had learned to access the spirit world in the shamanic tradition, where my guides appear as animals. In the shamanic tradition, the main personal guide appears as an animal and is known as a power animal. I was very familiar with my own personal power animal, and my other animal guides, after working with them for years, but I wondered how they would look to other intuitives that had learned a different method.
My curiousity got the better of me, and I sought out a reading from another intuitive to specifically tell me what my main personal spirit guide looked like (the venerable Slade Roberson at Shift Your Spirits.). He gave me the name of my guide, described as a male person, and my guide’s “physical” characteristics and what his function for me was. He also described where my guide was usually located in relation to the position of my body.
I was pleased but also confused. The way my personal spirit guide was described physically was certainly not the personal guide that I was familiar with. Could it be that I had another main guide? Was I wrong about my own personal spirit guide?
Seeking to get to the bottom of my confusion, I did a reading for myself to communicate with both these guides. When I invited both guides in by their different names, I could see them individually, one in animal form, one in human form. When I asked if they were the same guide, they both nodded and then I saw them slowly super-impose over each other, confirming for me visually that they were in fact the same personal spirit guide. It was then that the lightbulb went on for me.
Since then, my guide has been identified by a different name and form, but the “personality” characteristics and purpose of my guide have been described consistently. This indicates to me that whatever name my personal guide or guardian angel is given, is probably mostly irrelevant.
The important thing is that the essence of my personal spirit guide is perceived by other intuitives in the same way.
What did I take from this experience?
I believe that all intuitives are dialed into their own unique channel to the Divine. I find that very exciting, as it is the ultimate in individuality. Since each of us humans is wired differently, depending on the cultural and religious beliefs we were raised in, we each respond differently to different types of teachers. We can only “hear” a message when it is delivered in way that we are individually wired to receive it, and understand it.
For instance, because of my religious baggage, years ago when I was starting to open to intuitive experiences, at that time, I doubt that if I would have contacted my personal spirit guide if I thought that personal guide was associated in any way with what I associated with organized religion. Because of my past, words that were used in organized religion, triggered specific emotional responses in me that would have shut down the intuitive part of me.
However, since I had always been close to animals and nature accessing the spirit world in animal form, was easy for me. As I have continued to learn about the spiritual realm, I have realized not to judge quickly, and no longer write something off immediately just because I don’t resonate with the label applied to it. I have learned not to make up my mind about something until I fully understand what it is about.
I have come to embrace concepts I would have previously rejected, such as “angels” and other entities, that in the past I would have rejected, or judged as being negative and bad. I try to stay open to spiritual messages, and to be aware if certain words trigger me, so I don’t miss the meaning of the message.
We need many different spiritual teachers in this world to deliver the universal messages in many different ways since we are all different. It is the message – that we all have personal guides that are available to help us if we ask – that is the most important.
Care to share any experiences of your own personal guides in the comments?
** The beautiful spirit guide image on this post is attributed to its creator Clarita Zarate and can be found at http://gg.tigweb.org/clarita/31177/ **.
