Spirits. The other side

Spirits.

The other side.

So what is "the other side" and what is between these places. Well some call it ether, some the astral, I call it The Veil. If you think of bubbles or foam then that to me, is what the Universe is like. All these different dimensions mushed up but not touching. Ask Carl Sagen about it, he explains it better than I do.
I am a medium. I have seen spirit all my life. I claim not ultimate truth and can only talk about my experiences. Firstly everyone is different. They deal with their lives and deaths differently too. Folks that had no inclination to believe there was or is anything else after death tend to have a hard time passing over. As do those who are frightened of what awaits. They are not always bad people, just scared. Also when we get down to it, souls and spirits are not the same, they are very different. 

Spirit is the form they wish to be seen as (trees often take human-like forms when communicating with people in spirit though I feel this has to do with respect and understanding), a residual self image is a powerful thing. Like our own thought form we create throughout our lives. This spirit can leave the body, travel and go and do many things yet is is connected to the physical until we die. The silver chord is well documented in terms of astral (Veil) work. When spirit is on this side of the Veil they often look like shadows, or like people. Often you only see them briefly.
 As a medium it is my joy and duty to help them cross over. When a spirit passes there is a lot of light and something lifts and feels cleansed and better in this place. Some people just need to be heard. Some forgiven. Some just guided. Others a push is required.Spirits that spend a long time not going through, or staying on this "side" start to fade. Their souls seem to leak, their memories get blurred and they often can not remember who they are or why they are there, all that energy seems to just dissipate. I have crossed some people through that were shadows of themselves. I don't know what happens when they cross over exactly. I haven't seen it from the other side. 
For me I saw so many people waiting for me. So many places I could go. I was at peace to sit beside the river in the summer meadow, the sound of lazy bees and children playing, wafting on the air. 
When spirit comes through this light to watch over us, or wants to communicate with the living through me they are clearer, brighter and make more sense when they have passed over. All spirit guides are spirits who have crossed over. It is a spirit that guides you. It is a spirit who has crossed over (not a ghost that haunts you or bugs you) that has chosen to guide you for a set time, lesson, or part of your life.

This spirit may not be human (we are not the only life forms with spirits). You might have an animal guide. This is not the same as a totem or familiar. The animal spirit (or person) might look like a swan, otter or dog, but that doesn't mean they are or were. Nor should they be revered too highly or dismissed too quickly. 

I told someone their spirit guide was a swan and they were mortified. (Clearly it wasn't cool enough/sexy enough/spiritual enough).

As a child my spirit guide (one of) was a large white horse that would gallop towards me. There are two interesting facts about this. I happen to be born in the Chinese year of the horse (not something I knew in rural Wales at the time). As my Grandmother was dying she keep saying she was seeing (she was blind most of her life) white horses running. So much so that a white horse was made of flowers for her funeral. I had never spoken to her about my horse, nor she to me.

Now to work with your guide you need to be in touch with spirit. If you don't do spirit work, your guide will still be their moving things unseen, helping meet the right people at the right time, and so on.

Working with spirit is not glamorous or spooky. It takes time, effort and practice. (Okay I think we lost a lot of folks right there).

That is the truth though. Working with spirit is about inviting spirit into your life and practice. Spirit guides are not perfect, they are often just good people. My guide when I first started working with spirit my guide was an artist (a French guy). I wanted to channel using a paintbrush, so that is what I did. It was odd thinking in french sometimes. During this time I meditated daily, sat with other mediums up to three times a week and learned my ass off. While my friends were getting high and getting laid, this was what I was doing.

When I left my body and journeyed to spirit/astral/Veil as an (nearly) adult for the first time I was greeted by many spirits. Nearly all of them were animals. I didn't feel upset or disappointed by this. I cried with overwhelming joy. I tranced out of my body after a meditation in the farm's kitchen. (no glamorous ritual required). This reunion was brief and it was mostly human guides I had from that time on.

I have two spirit guides at the moment. One I have always had (lets just call her the blue lady) and the cheerful Druid. Sometimes when I heal with spirit I get "the doctor" (a small tubby American gent with round glasses and very little hair).

My spirit guides don't move things, knock stuff over or "haunt" me. My fey are another matter entirely. They do love to take things. Eat things. Move them, then sometimes put them back.

Most things that live have souls. It is an awareness, a light, each unique shimmering force. The more conscious the being (the more sense of self and not self) the more flame like this soul force seems to be. Spirit seems to come from something else. I have encountered spirit creatures that seemed soulless, but rarely.

Souls on the other hand have no form or thought. They are (for me) swirling vortexes of energy. When a person dies their spirit carries this soul back to the place where it came from. A seemingly endless lake of pure liquid light. Sort of reminds me of the places dreams form in Roald Dahl's BFG. This soul place heals and nourishes the souls. Spirits when they cross over tend to have what they feel they deserve. Some have trails (metaphorical and otherwise) some speak to people they need to speak to. Sometimes the dead usher their own (family by blood or spirit) to some place together. Certain things mark spirits and souls, the taking of another's life especially so; also the "higher" aspects too, how loving, kind and sweet, how spiritual (not religious). Some spirits choose to stay in spirit. Some choose to be re-born. Some watch over the living. Some watch over a place. Each is unique and beautiful.