Meditation to connect with your spirit guide

From October 31 through November 7 (when the Sun reaches the middle degree of Scorpio), Northern Hemisphere cultures have variously marked this midpoint between fall and winter. Christians call it All Soul’s Day; for children, it’s Halloween; for pagans, it’s Samhain (pronounced “sow-wane”).

With Pluto–the planet of death and rebirth–as its modern ruler, Scorpio guides our relationship with the “other side”—the invisible realms hidden from ordinary view. The soul’s journey through this sign is like a trip down into the underworld and up into a new, more evolved way of being—a passage symbolized by the mythical Phoenix. No person, however, is ever asked to undertake this passage alone. Each of us is accompanied by our personal spirit guide. Because tradition holds that this is the time of year when the veil between this world and the next thins, the Scorpio New Moon is a propitious time to reconnect with your spirit guide.

Every soul is granted one or more invisible guardians to attend its journey through life on earth—an angel, daimon, spirit animal, or saint. Socrates had his daimon, who whispered wisdom in his ear; the oracle of Delphi gleaned the future from a powerful serpent; Native Americans were guided by animal spirits; and in all traditions angels have hovered nearby humans. Even nature spirits are said to watch over mountains, trees, lakes, and streams.

The Meditation

To connect to your spirit guide, begin your meditation by sitting in a safe and special place, perhaps before your altar. Light a candle or stick of incense to signal your intentions to enter the otherworld. Next imagine a circle of protection surrounding you. Feel how it keeps you safe from harm and separates you from the concerns of the everyday world. Next, using the sincerity of your own words, say a prayer or invocation that gently summons the presence of your spirit guide—even if you have no image of who that might be. For a few minutes, simply sit in the silence; as the quiet deepens, imagine that the veil between this world and the world of the Invisibles has parted. Like a guest arriving, imagine next that an invisible, beneficent presence has entered the room and is lighting up the space around you. Something about this presence touches your heart, communicating with you in a wordless, yet deeply knowing, way.

After steeping yourself in the aura of this formless presence, begin to imagine that a real being is taking shape before you. Seeing with your inner eye, and feeling with your heart, intuit the specific identity of your guide: he, or she, may be a familiar figure, such as a beloved prophet, wise priestess, powerful shaman, Sufi dervish, or mythic god or goddess. Or, your spirit guide may appear in the guise of a being you have never seen before – resplendent with luminosity, or as an ordinary, humble individual. Watch that your conscious mind doesn’t step in to criticize your imaginative faculty: whatever you see, simply allow it to be.

Once you have a clear image of your spirit guide, imagine next that this being takes your hand in hers (or his) and, smiling deeply into your eyes, imparts to you the knowledge that you will never be abandoned or alone—no matter how difficult the tragedy or hardship you may endure. In addition, your spirit guide imparts wisdom to you that answers your heart’s deepest question. After a few minutes in this sweet communion, release your hands from your spirit guide’s and, together, bow in farewell. As your spirit guide melts back into the realm of the Invisibles, close your meditation with a prayer of thanks for the loving support given to you by the divine.