Building trust in divine guidance

An essential aspect of the spiritual journey with divine guidance is trust. There are two parts to trust. One is to trust whether the message we received comes from spirit and not from our ego. And also, is it from a benevolent, wise spirit and not from a negative one? And the other part is to actually trust enough that all will work out well so that we are courageous enough to dare to act on the message or advice. Getting guidance to do something scary (like coming out of the woo-closet, for example) does not mean we are automatically ready to follow that guidance.

In order to trust guidance, it is crucial to learn to distinguish it from the ego’s voice. But how? Some parts may be obvious. If it is the voice of anger, hatred, or fear, it is from ego.

But at other times, there is no easy answer since the ego can come as a wolf in sheep’s clothing. The ego can mask itself as reliability and responsibility when it is really attachment to the former self-definition and attachment to security and comfortable old pathways. So, I have to be aware that any of my well-meant intentions can stem from ego.

If the universe wants me to do something, there will usually be many signs pointing into that direction on many different input channels. But if the ego wants me to do something, there won’t be such signs.

Also, inner peace is a measure. If I am in inner peace, then the inner guidance is most likely from spirit.

For learning to trust the guidance, I find it helpful to maintain a healthy communication partnership like I would in the 3d world. And by that I mean patient listening without interrupting, repeating the content in own words and asking “did I understand this correctly?”, or asking “I don’t see the point. Can you clarify more?”

In order to establish this kind of rapport, you can ask for fine-tuning of the communication methods. For example, I asked for additional signals that the inner voice was of spirit and got little flashes of light on my retina and sounds in the outside world like that of a window frame which is cracking as it is adjusting to temperature differences.

(Just as I was re-reading this sentence in the draft version of this post, the window frame in my living room made a cracking noise and my heart made a jump of joy. I love these little synchronicities which occur throughout my day. That which would otherwise feel like an ordinary groundhog day suddenly becomes sprinkled with the shiny glitter of awe and wonder.)

If I don’t understand guidance or disagree, then I discuss and ask for clarification. I think it is important to not become a yes-man. The spiritual journey is not about adoring or serving our spirit guides. But it is about coming into touch with or own divinity.

Here is a story by Paul Tuttle, who channels Raj (aka Jesus). He ran into this trap of being overly obedient once he realized that it was Jesus who he was talking to. And it is interesting to see what trick Jesus had to apply in order to get him out of that state.

“He shifted from a healthy relationship with me to one of blind obedience. It was an interesting situation—and I will not go on at length about it—but it was an interesting situation because I could not tell him to stop doing it because he would have been blindly obedient. And so I set up a circumstance for him—an impossible circumstance.“
Source : Raj gathering, Lake Morey, 1994,
from http://heavenlydesigns.homestead.com/Gathering.html (page 39 of 99)

Eventually, Paul got so uncomfortable with the “impossible circumstance” that was set up for him that he refused to follow guidance. But he had returned to his integrity.

***

Once the guidance is clear and I have accepted it, I should follow it. Otherwise there might be consequences like mirroring events in my surroundings or sickness.

Once I have followed it, I can then evaluate whether what the guidance told me was true.

I have found that following my guidance was beneficial in most cases. However, at one time I felt that I had been terribly betrayed.

I was lured by my guides to go on a hiking event in summer 2016 with the promise that it would be very much needed for my recreation. I didn’t want to go there, but the signs and dreams were so many and so insistent that I gave in.

It turned out that the hike was way too strenuous and difficult for me. And what was even worse is that I got a severe rheumatoid arthritis attack from the strain of going steeply downhill which kept me in pain and unable to walk for almost 5 months afterwards.

I felt terribly betrayed after that trip and regretted that I had participated at all. I felt that I could never listen to my guides again after they did that to me. I even thought that I could not continue with the creation of the divine guidance workshop. How could I possibly teach others that listening to guidance is a good idea if the spirit guides can lead one into a painful disaster?

A dream then indicated to me that I was knocked out on purpose in order to put me into alignment. Apparently this 5 months period where I was not able to go for walks was something like a time-out or detention in order to get me into alignment with the will of my higher self and make me prepare the divine guidance workshop which I had procrastinated doing for more than a year (but which I held in spring of 2017, eventually).

If the higher self wants to achieve something, there is a point in the journey where resistance becomes just too painful. I am forced to yield to this higher power even if my personal preferences are not met. It often seems as if exercising my free will becomes more and more unpleasant.

One year after the hike, in summer of 2017, it turned out that a negative guide was involved in this, and he was dismissed (see here ). So, even though there was a benefit from this whole hike-pain-experience (because I finally did create the divine guidance workshop after that), the event caused some scars regarding trust which had to be dealt with afterwards, from my side as well as from the side of my guidance. This process of rebuilding the trust after 2016/17 was like two steps forward and one step back, and then repeat. And it is still work in progress (at this point in time in January 2022). Some people have the ability to sense the vibrational energy of their guides, but I can’t sense vibration. So, I don’t know whether a guide is negative or not and attracting a negative guide can always happen again to me.

In summary, trust in guidance is essential. But I found that it is not always easy to have trust. And the whole topic is multifaceted.

5 Tips for Interpreting Divine Guidance

1) Literal vs metaphorical guidance

For almost every part of guidance, the following categories can be considered. Is it meant literally or metaphorically?

For example, the content of a dream could have a very literal meaning. When my deceased cousin visited me, he just wanted to say goodbye.

On the other hand, when I have a dream with my younger son in it, I usually don’t interpret it literally. Rather, it is meant metaphorically as son = the sonship or the Christ in me and what the current learning experience is.

2) Does it relate to past, present, or future?

And if it is meant metaphorically, is it just descriptive of the present? Is it an explanation of the past or congratulations for a job well done? Or is it about the future? And if it is about the future, is it a prediction, advice, or a warning?

For example, before important or possibly disturbing events in my life, I sometimes get a ‘heads up’ in a dream or in signs first. And after the event had happened, I would get a sort of explanatory statement. This can come as a dream or as some event or sign in daily waking life.

For example, around the fall of 2017, I had several dreams where I was shown pirouette-like dancing actions, and I was always asked the question whether I would like to learn to do the ‘whirlwind’ or the spinning top. I did not answer because I was not sure what my guidance meant by that.

Then I was formally invited to a new, fledgling internet forum which just formed itself at that time and had only about four participants. I joined and participated because I was guided to do so, and thought that this was all about me getting an opportunity for sharing my experiences which I did.

But then one guy wrote that my experiences remind him of multiple personality disorder and another guy wanted to do battle over his viewpoint that all spirit guides are deluded or evil, and I started to feel some friction. I must say that I assume they only meant well, but their behavior pissed me off and I started to wonder why I would join such a forum in the first place. And so, I left.

Shortly afterwards, I saw a short film clip on TV from one of those Boston Dynamics robot dogs getting kicked and still keeping its balance. I understood immediately that this was meant as an explanation about the forum experience. The announcing dreams had been asking me whether I would like to learn to keep my balance (like a spinning top) under all circumstances. And the robot dog which got kicked and didn’t fall down was meant to tell me that this was what the forum experience had been all about: Keeping my inner balance and calm even under what felt like an attack. So, this was an example of guidance relating to the future first in the form of an announcement. And second, relating to the past as an explanation.

3) The very personal ‘dictionary’ of metaphors

In case the guidance is to be interpreted metaphorically, I think that even though there are metaphors which are true for many people, often it is the case that everyone has their own personal dictionary for interpretation, for interpreting signs as well as for interpreting dreams.

For example, I had frequent dreams of looking for a restroom, only to find that the toilet was dirty, clogged, and offered no privacy. I wondered for a long time what this meant and later found out that this dream symbol points to the need for emotional release and it would have been very helpful for me to look it up in a dream dictionary.

On the other hand, I had dreams about me doing some kind of dancing, (latin, folk, or ballet), and that usually meant coming out of the closet in real life, communicating my story, and engaging with fellow travelers on the spiritual path. In this case, the interpretation is very personal to me and a dream dictionary would have been only moderately helpful.

4) The meaning of a metaphor

In case the metapher is personal, how can the meaning be determined? I usually either already have a fixed meaning in my personal dictionary. Or if I am not sure what it could mean, then I write down all the associations that come with that particular thing. For example, when was shown the color mint (or even the word mint or minted) frequently, I wondered what it meant. So, I gathered all the possible meanings and associations from the soothing qualities of the color over the healing qualities of mint oil. I even asked some of the participants of the recent channeling class what they got about the meaning of mint. I also saw a meme with a drawing of a smiling mint leaf and the word ‘encourage mint’. LOL

Eventually, I settled on the soothing qualities of this color and now think that mint means that my guides want to send me a calming and reassuring message.

5) Divine guidance and the stages of the spiritual journey: There is a time for everything

In my experience, I have found that my journey had stages. After the initial awakening to the fact that there is something more besides the visible 3d world, there was a stage of dismantling of the old and of going inside. And afterwards, there was a stage of coming into alignment with guidance. (For more information, you can find the overview of my journey here .)

I am aware that all our journeys are different. I chose the metaphor of an uphill and downhill path, but you would probably choose a different metaphor for your journey. For me, an important milestone was coming to look back at that which is looking, i.e. looking back at awareness (which I placed on the mountaintop of the path). You might choose another thing as your important milestone.

Be aware of the stage of the journey you are in. If you are not sure whether guidance calls you to fight or rather accept, or whether you are guided to withdraw inside or rather go out and meet many people, this might give you a clue for the interpretation of the guidance.
On this journey, there is a time for everything.

There is a time for withdrawing into a cave for meditation,
and there is a phase for going out into the world again.

There is a phase for letting oneself be humbled.
And there is a phase for stepping into one’s power in alignment with guidance.

There is a phase for totally letting go of the self-will.
And there is a phase of resurrecting one’s will in alignment with Source.

There is a time for being still and accepting.
And there is a time for speaking up boldly and upsetting other people’s apple cart if that is what you feel guided to do.

There is a time for devouring tons of books (or going to millions of workshops).
And there is a time for putting books away and applying the knowledge in day-to-day life.

To sum it up, guidance can be literal or metaphorical. It can relate to past, present, of future. The dictionary of metaphors is often unique for each of us. And knowing about the map and the stages of the spiritual journey can give a hint about the meaning of the guidance.

Intention is more important than technique

There are a variety of techniques out there about almost anything. If you want to let go of anger, there are several useful techniques on the internet to achieve this. Or if you want to learn how to open your third eye or travel out-of-body or meditate, there are many different techniques, too. It is easy to be confused by the many different approaches and waste much time in collecting, trying, and comparing which one is better.

I would suggest, try whatever technique you feel drawn to or comfortable with, but know that intention comes first and technique is of secondary importance only. In other words, if the motivation to release anger is not really present, then no technique in the world is going to help with that.

And if the motivation to get (and follow) divine guidance is not really there, then no matter how large the collection of various techniques is and no matter how many beautiful oracle decks are stacked on the shelf, it is not gonna work.

When I ask for guidance, it is necessary to be clear about whether I really want to have an answer.

Could I accept the answer even if it went against what my beliefs are?

Or if it went against what my ego wants?

And, OMG, what if it pushed me outside my comfort zone and into fear again?

And often I am not detached enough to be able to listen. So, I might get an inner voice that tells me something which sounds like a higher truth. But as soon as I get a hint on where the gist of the message is going and if that direction happens to go against my beliefs or happens to push me outside of my comfort zone, then I metaphorically put my hands over my ears and start singing , ‘La, la, la, sorry, I can’t hear you.’

On the other hand, when I am at the end of my rope and have completely given up my own attempts to solve an issue, in humble surrender, then I might be in a better place to really listen to that inner voice (or to the signs and synchronicities which show up all around me).

And afterwards, I sit there and wonder whether it is really necessary to run into trouble so often? Isn’t there a better way?

Once I saw a blind man with his white cane going around the fields and meadows next to our house. I often interpret what I see as metaphors for something else in life. So, I thought that the way he used his cane to test whether he would accidentally run off the paved path and into the meadow could be a metaphor for how it would be smart to use divine guidance (via the various input channels of dreams, inner voice, number signs, and patterns of events, etc.) as a tool to check early whether my intended direction is actually the best way to go. To detect early whether I am headed off path.

That openness to guidance and the willingness to not only listen but also to follow through is work in progress for me. In this post, I wanted to point out that the honest intention is very important, more important than the technique which is used.

Helpful habits for getting divine guidance

Noticing the connection between inside and outside: Be aware of your emotional state, of your thoughts, physical sensations, and of what is happening in the outside world (events around you). There is a connection between our inside world and your outside world which can be noticed if we pay attention.

The trajectory of the journey is to make us aware of the fact that we are consciousness and that thoughts are creative. So, what is inside the mind, conscious or subconscious, can show up on the outside. We need to pay attention if we want to notice this connection.

Eventually, the distinction between ‘inside’ and ‘outside’ will fall away because we are consciousness and everything, thoughts and seemingly outer events, happen inside of consciousness.

Meditation: Before you can feel what your higher self is telling you, you need to be aware of the usual chatter that is going within and the usual feeling state.

In order to receive answers via the inner voice, one needs to be quiet enough in order to listen. Calm down ego chatter and come into a receptive state of mind. The inner voice can only be heard when there is peace inside and an openness to a new perspective.

There are several different meditation methods out there. Focusing on the breath and letting the thoughts move by like clouds, visualizing some colors and forms in connection with chakras, visualizing a journey to a peaceful landscape, clearing the mind.

For me, none of these techniques was attractive or helpful. The method which resonated most with me was to turn the focus of attention inward in a 180 degree turn, focusing on awareness itself (see the post Describing the ineffable ). This meditation makes me calm and blissful. However, since the focus of attention is away from everything including the inner voice or any visions, it is not such a good method to get guidance. For getting guidance, I rather relax the body and relax the mind (as trying to have fewer thoughts), but then stay alert and notice what thoughts or images appear in the mind. It is not useful to clear the mind entirely and disregard all the thoughts which appear because they could be from guidance. Esther Hicks did that in the beginning (let go of all thoughts) and the guidance (Abraham) had to move her nose and make her paint letters in the air to get the message through.

Journaling:

I love journaling because it helps me to think about the meaning of my dreams.

If I have a problem in my mind, I write about it and then usually get a different perspective during writing. The mind is not the place to organize my thoughts since I can keep only very few thoughts in my mind. After that I need to put them on paper.

Journaling helps me to keep track of the connection between dreams and events. Often I can only interpret in retrospect that I have actually received a warning in a dream before a disturbing event. Or I can see in my dreams that I get announcements for future events and when the events come, I can make sense of this.

I find using tags (like #innervoice, #essay, #blogidea etc.) helpful for finding paragraphs later in the long journal text.