One of the first times you may encounter a sense of failure on your Spiritual path will be the time that someone asks you whether you know your Spirit Guide, and you admit that you do not. You are made to feel somehow inferior, as if a failure on your part to know your Guide is in some way indicative of a carelessness towards them - as if you do not realise their importance, or, worse still, are not spiritually developed enough to have been rewarded with their presence ! For every one of you who believes they dont know their Guide, there is a very frustrated evolved soul jumping up and down waiting to be noticed ! The truth is, we all have Guides, its just that some of us are not yet tuned into them sufficiently to be aware of their presence.  

So how do you meet your Guide ? Well, typically, my experience of meeting Brian, my Guide, was not terribly esoteric. I was staying overnight in an old coaching inn in the Cotswolds with my husband, who is not only terrified of the Spirit World, but also becomes very unnerved by my contact with them at times (he really did marry the wrong woman!). When we arrived in the room I gave it my customary "scan", and all appeared well, so we went down for a late dinner. Returning to our room that night all was well, so we went to bed for the night and were both soon sleeping soundly. At around 2am, I awoke, realising I was not alone. At the door of the room stood a massive man - thick black beard and lots of straggly black hair, wearing rough clothes, and big black boots. He reminded me of an old fashioned pirate. Realising he was in Spirit, I watched as he crossed the room, and sat on my edge of the bed. He grunted, and leaned forward to remove his boots - by this time I could smell him - a greasy, wet dog kind of smell - and to my horror laid down on the bed - literally on top of me ! It was the most bizarre thing ever - I could feel the weight of a large fully grown man, smell his weird smell, and hear him breathing. I was rigid - the last thing I could do was to wake my husband, as believe me we would have been checking out at 2am !  

I was squeaking in my mind ..... get off .... get off .... and bellowing to my guides, who for some reason didnt show (of which more later). eventually, with one last Get The **** Off !!!! He disappeared. I then tried to settle back into an uneasy sleep, waking my husband as soon as was decent and suggesting we moved on   The weird thing was, later that morning in the car I still couldnt shift the image of the man, and his smuggler type appearance. my husband then turned to me and told me he had had a dreadful nights sleep, as he kept dreaming about pirates !  

This man of course turned out to be Brian, who is with me to this day. I refer to him as Brian, as he resembles the actor Brian Blessed (google him!) and Brian is quite happy with that (he once said to me " Im blessed so that makes sense" - guide humour - never particularly good). Now the reason I tell this story is several fold. Firstly, you will remember that I mentioned that none of my guides were around when I was yelling for help. I believe this to be because Brian is in fact the same energy. I believe that our Guides show themselves to us in a form we find acceptable. When I first started out, my Guide was a little girl called Elizabeth. She was a gentle, teaching energy, but as I developed spiritually I needed someone who was stronger more protective, and more kick-ass, so she became Brian and he came along. Had I had Brian from day one, I would have died on the spot - he is immense - best part of 7ft tall, and quite imposing looking - so Elizabeth was easier for me to accept. But I do believe they are intrinsically the same energy.  

This to me partly explains why so many people have Native Americans and Chinese guides. Not only are Guides generally highly evolved souls, and these cultures are of course far more spiritual than ours, but a lot of you EXPECT your Guides to look like that - so to keep in your comfort zone, they do ! Guides are souls - energies - not people, so can assume whatever shape is most appropriate at the time.  

A brief note on one small point that drives me nuts .... relatives in Spirit are NOT Guides ! Sure, they may help you, in fact my grandmother and best friend often pop up with some much needed advice, but they are helpers, NOT Guides ! Guides are deeply evolved souls who have passed way beyond the veil of an earthly existence and are no longer going to reincarnate. So please do not confuse the two.   Now, I mentioned that Brian has a very distinctive smell. This to me is what I term a Guide "calling card" -   I smell Brian often before I see or sense him - I also get a prickling feeling in my chin, which is his distinctive beard. These are ways I know that he is with me. He always stands behind me, but I know he is there mainly due to these two calling cards. So think carefully about your spiritual work. Are there subtle signs your Guide is there - maybe as small as an odour or a tickly chin ?  All Guides have calling cards, and as soon as you can recognise yours, you will be halfway to meeting them fully.  

Your Guides are there - you just have to stay yourself, sit in the silence and ASK ! They will be overjoyed to no longer be overlooked, and will try their best to make that contact with you - and believe me, when they do, it will be the start of a lifelong relationship of the most rewarding kind.  

Ask for signs - ask them to touch you - ask them to let you know they are there. As surely as night follows day you will meet them, they are waiting in the wings, and cannot wait to start their journey with you. Let me know how you get on !  

Blessed be, Jay xxx