I have lots of opinions and nearly all of them are unpopular. Before I share my unpopular opinion of the day, I want to remind you that every single opinion I have is not one I form from something I heard someone else say. Every viewpoint I have is formed from my own interactions paired with what I observe other people experience. I also want to remind you that we are about to discuss the unprovable here. There isn’t a single person who can tell you the answer to spiritual things for certain. Everything spirit related will be an opinion. If mine doesn’t sit right with you, that’s fine. My thoughts do not hold any more weight than yours do, so it is more than okay if you disagree. With all that said, what if I told you that I believe we all receive guidance from spirit pretty much all of the time? What if I told you that spirit is not all good? What if I told you that there is both an angel and a devil on your shoulder whispering sweet nothings in your ears? What if I told you the odds are just as favorable that “evil” wins out as it is that “good” will prevail? These ideas are not new, but they are often not embraced, why?

I have battled with this topic since as far back as I can recall. I have struggled with faith over the years, and I have a spectacular familiarity with the darker side of the world – both physical and spiritual. I have always known what lies in the darkness. I know what corrupts the shadows in our hearts. I know it well. I could never believe in a “god” exactly, but I knew demons were real. If demons were real, something had to oppose them. It just makes sense. For that reason, I have always believed in angels. The idea of guardian angels was something I clung to as a child. They had to be real on some level. If they weren’t, the world was a very scary place. 

Now, take religion out of it for a moment. Again, I am not talking about something someone taught me, told me, or preached in my direction. I am talking about real life and my interactions with things that can’t be described or articulated. From this point forward, remind yourself that I am not coming from a religious viewpoint or context. Yes, the terms used might resonate with certain beliefs; but there are “energies” that go by other names in every faith which align with the agreed-upon “definition” of the terms angel and demon. The energy behind the words is what we are talking about here. I will even go as far as to suggest that you should loosen your grip on what you think you know about these terms. As I said before, we can’t know all things in spirit. That also means the “personality” or characteristics of those we find in spirit. We know what they show us. We know what they want us to know – for now.

When I began to embrace the “truth” that the word of spirit lies right here within our own; this topic of guides and guardians plagued me. There were some things I knew from my experiences that directly conflicted with things I was told. Many people I love and trust believe strongly in spirit guides. This topic is usually one of the first to come up when you begin the journey of “spiritual development”. It has never resonated well with me in the way it is proposed. The idea that someone “good” in spirit is “assigned” to help you and show you the way through life, just doesn’t feel right.

There are too many flaws in the idea of a spirit guide.

Where were they when everything went wrong? Where was their guidance in times of distress? Then there is all the bad advice. What is the deal with that? Every answer I have ever gotten from people regarding these questions are filled with flaws. Something just didn’t add up for me. I can hear spirit. I can hear them well. I always have but I didn’t always believe it. I would ignore it and pretend it was normal to have insight about the world around me. Insight that was bestowed upon me from a mystery voice. Then I sought out help because once I acknowledged what I heard, I assumed I must be some kind of crazy. The trouble is, I wasn’t that kind of crazy. The information I gained was often things I just couldn’t know. Not usually useful things, but things I just simply couldn’t know. Once I began to engage in “conversation” with spirit, I learned very quickly that there are major flaws in the idea of a “spirit guide”. 

People would often tell me to mediate and my guide or my angel will make contact. They would counsel me as though I got no response from spirit when I asked who my “guide” was. This is not what I experienced. I always have a response from spirit. Even when I don’t ask any questions there is a response. I have had no shortage of “guides” present themselves; none have proven to be “assigned” to guide me. Why is that? Am I just broken? Are some people just so beyond the pale that spirit doesn’t even bother to try to guide them? This is logic I held for a short while, but it doesn’t hold water. Spirit also says we are all equal. The good, the bad, the ugly; we are all equal. We all get a chance at redemption eventually. So, if this is true, and I believe it is, it just doesn’t make sense that some of us would only get to interact with those who wish to lead us astray. If I had a “guide” I find it unreasonable that they would sit on the wayside as every “bad guy” in spirit stepped up to claim their job. It just doesn’t sit right with me. Some people have suggested that I don’t “know” my guide because the lesson I need to learn must be conveyed another way. They say that my guide must communicate differently than all other forms of spirit I encounter. This suggests there is a plan and a set path that leads to me learning very specific things. That all forces and variables are being controlled. This way of thinking interferes with what I believe free will to be. I do not believe our path is predetermined. There might be likely outcomes, but nothing is set in stone until it happens. Even then, the finality of things is up for debate. This theory of “good guys” being in charge of guiding us relies heavily on the premise that “good” is calling the shots. That “good” is in control. This can’t be the case if both sides are equal. Make no mistake, we are all equal.

The more you see in the world of spirit,

the more confusing this topic gets. 

Right here is where the experienced medium will stop me and insist that what I am saying is inaccurate. They say that I don’t “know” my guide for a reason. I can never quite get the idea through to them that I don’t lack interactions with specific spirits. I have many I communicate with daily. There are some that have always been around. Then the mediums say, “These are your guides”. This is why I feel the way I do about us all having both aspects influencing us. Those I consult in spirit are not simply of the light or of the dark. There are many I have engaged with, more bad than good I have to say. The “less than good” ones are usually more noticeable and easier to listen to than the subtle interactions and influences of the more positive. They are both always present when I take the time to look for them. I don’t know spirit guides by a name. I know spirit by the intentions they bring to me. I try my best to not blindly follow anything anyone tells me – living or otherwise. This is where we find our power. This is where we find the balance. This is where things get very complicated. If you have faith, it is easy to simply trust in the good. When you see both sides of the coin, it produces more questions than answers. More doubt than clarity. This is where you must decide to hang your hat on something. You either align with good, embrace evil, or believe in something greater than them both.

Our perception of good and evil sometimes makes this topic more black and white than it really is. Good and evil are not quite so clearly defined. An evil act in one situation is an act of mercy in another. If I have learned anything at all from spirit, it is that both good and evil are not only necessary, but they are also two sides of the same coin. You simply can’t have one without the other. My philosophy on interacting with spirit has evolved over time. I have a healthy fear of it all. Anyone who doesn’t, simply has not seen the truth of it all. Anyone who thinks good always prevails is naive. Even the good can be bad. Even the angels can be terrifying. 

For a moment, let’s think about it like a war. If we were to go into battle and our foe was vicious, ruthless, and savage; what would we have to become for us to find victory? We would have to be more of those things than they are. This idea that angels are all good, white light, and nothing but love and happiness; well, it just doesn’t add up for me. What would they have to be capable of in order to combat evil beyond comprehension? They themselves would have to be at least equal to what they oppose. The idea that they are all good seems flawed. It just isn’t what I have seen. They bring about a level of fear that shows you their strength and power. They can also convey that they will use that power to defend you or what is right. The thing is, demons can do the same. Differentiating between the two is sometimes impossible. What we think they are is often what prevents us from seeing that we are influenced by both an angel and a devil. 

Then there are those who show no fear at all. They claim to control the darker aspects and they think they have the upper hand. This is so silly to me. It is like playing chess with a baby. The baby will absolutely never best the experienced player. In fact, the baby is probably playing a different game entirely all while thinking it is winning. This is a fair comparison to those who think they hold absolute control over those in spirit. There is always more to the situation than we can know. There is always more than we can comprehend. We do not hold all the power. We only yield some and faith takes care of the rest. We control ourselves and that is pretty much where our absolute control ends. 

Spirit is both good and bad

I believe the influence the spirit world holds over our own is far greater than many are willing to recognize. I do believe there are those in spirit that try to sway us one way or another. There are those who can see a few moves ahead, and maybe even hope for a desired outcome. My experience tells me that the choices you make bring you closer to one of the two sides. During some periods of our lives, we might find we are a little farther left of center than we might hope to be. Balancing the forces that work to influence us requires a strong sense of self and the willingness to be aware. The pendulum is always in motion, and we can always find ourselves making choices that align us with good or evil. 

The questions we could contemplate about this go on and on with no real provable answers. What if these opposing forces were simply aspects of one being? Just as we have many sides to us, what if banishing the darkness only comes by illuminating the light within? What if those angelic attributes overpower the demonic traits simply because the internal good prevails at that moment? That “good” is what the energy is choosing at that time. What if all in spirit were capable of great good and great evil? What if they choose depending on what their goal is? What if we are just pawns in their game? This is just as likely as it is that we are the stars of the show. The idea of there being an all-good spirit guide for every one of us is flawed for this very reason. We are all equal. That means all people and spirit alike. Yes, I think they help us from time to time, but the why might not always be as pure as the reasons many believe. 

Are they two different beings? Are they one and we experience both sides of them? Are they there just to teach us the lessons we need to learn? These are questions I don’t think we can know for sure. I have seen and interacted with them, and I still can’t tell you either way. What I do know is that there is a constant push and pull between them, and that is where we find ourselves and our choices. If we believe there is both good and evil in the world; we would have to believe both have equal influence over the world. If we believe we have free will and the gift of choice; it only makes sense that we would have both forces guiding us to choose. If we make our choices based on what we know to be right, this is where we find the balance. We can’t simply rely on guidance from external sources. Our guidance must come from deep within our own self. If we pay attention we can feel the sway, the ebb and flow of the forces at work. If we try, we can help to bring balance to them both in our physical world.