All About Spirit Guides? Part 1

Have you ever wondered what are spirit guides and what type of spirit guides surround you? In this article, you will learn what are spirit guides and what types of spirit guides surround you based upon the Black Experience in North America.

Before I begin, let me say that I have been following this subject for some years. I remember the first time I came face-to-face with a bóveda (ancestral/spirit guide Spiritist altar); I was so captivated and fascinated by its beauty, elegance, simplicity and power. I will never forget the unique Florida water, cigar and other sweet essences that hovered in the air around this altar. I could also not forget the statues of Catholic saints, figurines of a Native Americans chief and a Black couple alongside mammy doll called a La Madama that crowded themselves along the small table. I remember asking the owner of the altar who were the figurines and that’s when they told me that they represented their spirit guides. Since that time, I have tried my best to learn as much as I could about spirit guides, and what I learned surprised me.

First, what are Spirit Guides?

According to my research and experience the term spirit guides is a generic label for spiritual beings who guide living beings. In ancient times, spirit guides used to be called gods, goddesses, daimons or daemons (not demons), angels, cherubs, orbs of lights, extraterrestrials, or whatever an individual needs. But, somewhere around the 1800s people started calling all spirits “spirit guides” because it was more acceptable with Christian beliefs. Based upon this understanding, spirit guides can be or adopt whatever shape or form they deem necessary according to an individual’s cultural beliefs.

How Do We Get Spirit Guides?

According to theory, we are all assigned spirit guides to assist us in life. Spirit guides receive their assignments prior to us incarnating to this physical plane.  It is believed that before we were physically born, we signed a soul contract that indicated what we will accomplish and the challenges we will face to achieve this goal in our lifetime. Our spirit guides witnessed us signing this contract and agreed to assist us in fulfilling the soul contract.

How Many Spirit Guides Exist?

There are numerous spirit guides that exist, but they do not all assist you at the same time. Your spirit guides will only appear to you as needed.

What Types of Spirit Do We Have?

One of the things I have noticed that has confused many people is the writings of Allan Kardec, the founder of the Spiritist philosophy’s writings. Many people are confused about them because most people who practice any form of spiritism have not read Kardec’s books. The reason is that Kardec wrote his books in Victorian style, a popular writing style in the late 1800s and early 1900s that focused on reporting or telling a story from an objective perspective instead of reporting based on one’s personal experience, as is done today. In other words, reading his books was like reading a lengthy report.

Consequently, according to Kardec there are ten types of spirits, arranged in a rigid class system and they are:

  1. First Order
    • 1st Class – Pure Spirits
  2. Second Order
    • 2nd Class – High Spirits
    • 3rd Class – Wise Spirits
    • 4th Class – Learned Spirits
    • 5th Class – Benevolent Spirits
  3. Third Order
    • 6th Class – Boisterous Spirits
    • 7th Class – Neutral Spirits
    • 8th Class – Spirits Who Lie About their Knowledge
    • 9th Class – Frivolous Spirits
    • 10th Class – Impure Spirits

But, I have found that many people assume that these ten classes refer to spirit guides but based upon my experience it does not. 

Kemetic Tree of Life from the Temple of Komombo. Disclaimer: I am not the owner of this image. If you are the owner, I would gladly like to give you credit.
  1. Osar
  2. Djahuti
  3. Sokar-Ptah
  4. Ma’at
  5. Hru Aakhuti
  6. Hru
  7. Nebthet
  8. Npu
  9. Oset
  10. Set

When I first started studying the Spiritism philosophy because I had been studying the Ancient Egyptian or Kemetic Tree of Life system for years. At first glance, I thought that the ten classes of spirits looked like the Tree of Life, which also looked resembled the Gods and Earth’s Supreme Mathematics. This led to me to believe that the ten classes of spirits refer to ten dimensions based upon spiritual development. In other words, when a person physically dies or transitions, their soul does not migrate to one of these ten classes. These are just the different classes or dimensions of spirits that exist.

For instance, I mentioned in a previous article how I placed an image of a deceased friend, whom I will call John,  on my altar to elevate his spirit but I felt compelled to move him to my Npu (Anubis) altar space, and eventually he migrated to my Hru Aakhuti altar space.  Now Hru Aakhuti on the Kemetic Tree of Life is the 5th sphere, which means he was a Benevolent Spirit according to Kardec teachings? That didn’t make sense.

The Kemetic Tree of Life from the Temple of Komombo. Disclaimer: I am not the owner of this image. If you are the owner, I would gladly like to give you credit.

Math
  1. Knowledge
  2. Wisdom
  3. Understanding
  4. Culture Freedom
  5. Power Refinement
  6. Equality
  7. God
  8. Build/Destroy
  9. Born

        0. Cipher

Then, a spirit explained to me that the spheres on the Tree of Life symbolize states of awareness. I was told that the Kemetic sages used various symbols to help people remember what they are aspiring to. In other words, the spheres does not symbolize the ten types of spirits but the awareness the spirit must have at that level. This meant that there are numerous types of spirit guides that exist and the most common are: 

  • Primary spirit guides are spirit guides that are closely associated with our Higher Self.  These spirits are responsible for organizing and orchestrating events and energies that will assist us in accomplishing our purpose. In the Yoruba tradition, this spirit is referred to as the Ori, and in the Kemetic tradition, the Ba, which is symbolized as human headed hawk. Thus, indicating that its purpose is to reconnect us back to the Divine. Anytime we feel or get lost, we can talk to our Ba to get direction.  
  • Deified Totem spirit guides are the first ancestors to achieve a historical feat by using divine power. Many of these spirits are so ancient and far removed from humanity that they have entered mythical status, which is why they are also called Mythical Spirits. Typically speaking, little is known of these spirits’ historical accomplishments, which is always debatable if they were real or not.   Some of the most popular deified totem spirits are your biblical heroes like Moses, King Solomon, and Jesus.   In the Judaic tradition, the most famous deific spirit is the prophet Enoch who became the angel Metatron. In the Kemetic tradition, King Narmer also known as King Menes is believed to be the first Osar (Asar, Osiris). These spirits are also believed to be by some the ones who established ancestral norms, laws, etc. that many spirits abide by today.
  • Ancestors are spirit guides that most people generally refer to as Ancestors. Technically these spirit guides are our biological relatives or are close to kin that have transitioned, which includes our grandparents, great aunts and uncles, many of whom we knew when they were physically alive.  
  • Cultural spirit guides are the spirit guides who have shaped our culture and way of life. Most of these spirits are not biologically related to us but they watched and protected us as if we were their own. For instance, many of us may not have a La Madama spirit guide but we have a Big Momma. The mere mention of her name will conjure up nostalgic memories of a protective caregiver of children.  Included in this category are Ancestral Spirits, which are spirits that may be five or more generations removed. These spirits are the first of your ancestral line. Cultural spirits can Also in this grouping are Native American spirits and other spirits from a specific culture. 
  • GATEKEEPER spirits are a unique type of spirit guide that provides us with physical and psychic protection by shielding us from specific types of energies, information, messages, etc.
  • Historical spirit guides are the spirit guides who have made history. These are the spirits that have monuments, and streets, halls, libraries, schools and other public buildings named after them like Fredrick Douglas, Martin L. King Jr., Rosa Parks, Harriet Tubman, Malcolm X, and so on. 
  • Healing spirit guides are the spirit guides that basically help us to maintain perfect health. These are the spirits that whisper in our ears or remind us to drink an herbal tea or to take some concoction to overcome an ill-ness. Or, they can give you a ritual that will help you to heal your body. When my body was ill, I could not walk and could barely stand. It was my healing aakhu who inspired me to talk to Lazarus, an avatar of Sokar Ptah, and promise to remove his crutches if he would help me to walk. I imagined what it would feel like and what would I do if my body was never ill. Then, one day, the toilet was leaking and to turn off the main water valve I had to quickly go downstairs. Before I knew it, I had ran up and down the stairs at least seven times with little discomfort or pain. As soon as all the water was got up, I removed Sokar Ptah’s crutches, which are resting on his side to this day.     
  • Sweetwater spirit guides are gentle, loving and harmonizing spirits that assist us with our relationships.  Many of these spirits are also very artistic, creative and fond of crafts. 
  • Warrior spirit guides as their title states are spirits who fight on your behalf. Technically all our spirit guides will fight for us, but these spirits take the fight to the next level because they are like our own personal bodyguards. Their purpose is to protect us on all fronts which means physically, mentally, psychically and spiritually. Most warrior guides are no nonsense spirits who cut through the mess. These are the spirits that will give us that awkard feeling whenever we hear or encounter someone or something encouraging us to compromise our principles.
  • Teaching spirit guides are spirit guides who teach us.  These spirits help us to learn and master difficult subjects.  Most of these spirits guides usually come different cultures and are attracted to you based upon a common interest. For instance, I like a lot people living in the United States struggled with exercising because of my busy schedule. I know the benefits of exercising and I know through exercising I will lose excess weight, etc., but this is not enough to get me to exercise.  All that changed one day when a guide inspired to enroll in a kickboxing class. I have advanced several levels, and I have lost over 40 lbs. because my guide taught me to focus on mastering the skills and not exercising and losing weight. 

So, when a spirit chooses to be a spirit guide, it is so that they can spiritually grow on the other side.  For instance, John told me that he migrated to the 5th sphere (the Hru Aakhuti sphere), with others of his kind so that he could defend, protect, fight, and do all the things that fighters, warriors, etc. do by learning to follow the self instead of his ego, thus becoming a benevolent or warrior spirit.  This made me realize that my grandmother who helped me to discover the Maa Aankh but did not know anything about the Kemetic tradition, was not a spirit Who Lied About her Knowledge.  She was a gatekeeper spirit that led me to meet a spirit guide who could explain things regarding the Kemetic tradition to me.

Ancestors and Spirit Guides is a subject that a lot of people have asked me about, and I have spent a significant amount of time trying to research it because when I was kid I used to see a lot of spirits. Again, because African spirituality was suppressed, demonized and/or Christianized, I was taught to view spirits as psychic noise and either ignore or fear them. The problem with this denying approach is that over time it teaches you to ignore and to repress your intuition.   

So, what are spirit guides? According to my research and experience the term spirit guides is a generic label for spiritual beings who guide living beings. In ancient times, spirit guides used to be called gods, goddesses, daimons or daemons (not demons), angels, cherubs, orbs of lights, extraterrestrials, or whatever an individual needs.  Somewhere around the 1800s people started calling all spirits “spirit guides”  because it was more acceptable with Christian beliefs. Based upon this understanding, spirit guides can be or adopt whatever shape or form they deem necessary according to an individual’s cultural beliefs. 

What are Spiritual Commissions or Aakhu (Akh Iqeru)?

As you can imagine, many spirits exist, which is why, in Spiritist traditions, when spirits gather based upon common interests, they are collectively called a Commission, a Spiritual Commission, or, in Spanish, Las Commisiones.

A Spiritual Commission is part of an individual’s ancestral chain or lineage. To understand this concept, we must delve a little into the theory of reincarnation if you know that your Ab soul is the immortal part of your being that does not die but is constantly evolving like the Sun (See the Maa Aankh). Then, in each lifetime, your Ab soul encounters and befriends a host of individuals. For instance, in a past life, you may have worked alongside an Asian man building railroads and developed a friendship where you both exchanged ideas and beliefs about your culture. When both of you transitioned, and you incarnated into this lifetime, your soul still remembers your Asian friend from the past life. If you ever think about something that your Asian friend taught you in the past life, it will call his spirit to you in this lifetime.
And, since your Asian friend from a past life was Asian, he may be a part of various cultural commissions, like maybe he was Buddhist and could teach about Buddhism, or he was into acupuncture, moxibustion, and so on.

This is why many of us have interests and extensive knowledge in various subjects that are beyond our present communal circles. If you read my story about how I started on the Kemetic path, you will recall that no one in my family knew about the Kemetic religion. The inspiration to read and study the Kemetic religion at an early age came from a spirit guide who was part of the Kemetic collective or Kemetic Commission.

What needs to be understood is that the spirit realm which had many names in the Kemetic language and was personified as Nyut (the so-called goddess Nut) is what is referred to here as KAMTA (all CAPS), which is a dark and mysterious realm, hence its name, the Black Lands. Metaphorically speaking, it makes up 90% of our reality, which means 90% of our reality is hidden, mysterious, invisible, unknown, and dark. Within this hidden, mysterious, invisible, unknown, and dark realm are the spirits that have collectively come together. For this reason, instead of calling this collective a commission, I prefer to use the Kemetic term aakhu, which means “stars,” to remind me that these spirits are guiding lights in the night sky of Nyut.

nine pointers to keep in mind in regards to spirit guides

Because spirit guides is a hot topic in these contemporary times, and a lot of authors of publishing books about spirit guides just to make a quick buck. Most people are under the impression that spirit guides are these light and fluffy beings that will do whatever you want like Genie from Aladdin. So, here are some pointers that should be kept in mind regarding all spirits:

  1. All spirits of the dead were once living and breathing people, which means they understand struggle, because they had trials and tribulations they had to overcome. So, honorable spirits will never mislead you, rush you or force you to do something you are not comfortable with doing. They do not gaslight you or brag about their accomplishments nor more than an honorable doctor boasts about theirs. Any spirit that promises you the world it most likely a Setian spirit and should and should be told to leave your space. For this reason, always test spirits. Never take what a spirit tells you literally. Honorable spirits will not get offended if you test them, but dishonorable spirits will. 
  2. Spirits are not obligated to work with you, nor are you obligated to work with them. The relationship between you and your spirits should be a mutual and beneficial to both the Living and the Spirit. If at any time you or your spirit is not pleased with the relationship, it can be terminated and both of you can part ways. The relationship between you and the spirit should be like a business partnership.  
  3. Some of your spirit guides will come and stay with you for a short time, while other spirit guides will stick around for you a longer time. They basically stick around for as long as needed until you achieve a specific goal, then they leave.
  4. Spirit guides can come from various cultures and backgrounds. It is possible to have saints, gods, goddesses, etc. as spirit guides.  
  5. It is also possible for the same spirit to serve in different roles such as a Warrior and Teacher.  
  6. All your spirit guides will not appear to you at the same time.  
  7. Anyone can become a spirit guide such as close friends. There are many artists like KRS-1 who talks about how their career blew up after the passing of a loved one. This is because the deceased transitioned and become a guide.  However, it is recommended that before honoring any recently deceased that you wait at least 6 months (9 months to be born) after their passing.   To ensure that they accept their new role. 
  8. Some spirit guides are quick to work with you, while others are not. As I mentioned before, they were once people too. So, they may take a while to warm up to you because they want to see if you are serious. 
  9. Last but not least, you will know when a spirit connects with you because you will have spiritual bells and whistles just come on. If you are not sure how your spirits communicate to you. It would be in your best interest to learn which psychic ability is strongest with you, and strengthen it because this is most likely how your spirit guides will communicate to you.  

  

The Difference Types of Spirits

There are different types of spirits that exist and according to my research and experience, these are the most common spirits that I have encountered. Please note that this list is by no means complete because I am quite sure there are other types of spirits that exist as well. 

  • Deified Totem spirit guides, which are the first ancestors to achieve a historical feat by using divine power. These spirits are so elevated and ancient that they have entered mythical status because they are so ancient they are very far removed from humanity. Typically speaking, little is known of these spirits’ historical accomplishments, which is always debatable if they were real or not.  For this reason, these spirits are also called Mythical spirits.  Some of the most popular deified totem spirits are your biblical heroes like Moses, King Solomon, and Jesus.   In the Judaic tradition, the prophet Enoch who became the angel Metatron. In the Kemetic tradition, King Narmer also known as King Menes is believed to be the first Osar (Asar, Osiris). These are the spirits who established the ancestral norms or taught the Maa (the Law) that all spirits underneath them abide by today. 

  • Primary spirit guides are spirit guides that are closely associated with our Higher Self.  These spirits are responsible for organizing and orchestrating events and energies that will assist us in accomplishing our purpose. In the Yoruba tradition, this spirit is referred to as the Ori, and in the Kemetic tradition, the Ba, which is symbolized as human headed hawk. Thus indicating that its purpose is to reconnect us back to the Divine. That being said, anytime we feel or get lost, we can talk to our Ba to get direction.  

  • Ancestors are spirit guides that most people generally refer to as Ancestors. Technically these spirit guides are our biological relatives or are close to kin that have transitioned, which includes our grandparents, great aunts and uncles, many of whom we knew when they were physically alive.  

  • Cultural spirit guides are the spirit guides who have shaped our culture and way of life. Most of these spirits are not biologically related to us but they watched and protected us as if we were their own. For instance, many of us may not have a La Madama spirit guide but we have a Big Momma. The mere mention of her name will conjure up nostalgic memories of a protective caregiver of children.  Included in this category are Ancestral Spirits, which are spirits that may be five or more generations removed. These spirits are the first of your ancestral line. Also included in this grouping are Native American spirits and other spirits from a specific culture. 

  • Historical spirit guides are the spirit guides who have recently made history. These are the spirits that have monuments, and streets, halls, libraries, schools and other public buildings named after them like Fredrick Douglas, Martin L. King Jr., Rosa Parks, Harriet Tubman, Malcolm X, and so on. 

  • Healing spirit guides are the spirit guides that basically help us to maintain perfect health. These are the spirits that whisper in our ears or remind us to drink an herbal tea or to take some concoction to overcome an ill-ness. Or, they can give you a ritual that will help you to heal your body. When my body was ill, I could not walk and could barely stand. It was my healing aakhu who inspired me to talk to Lazarus, an avatar of Sokar Ptah, and promise to remove his crutches if he would help me to walk. I imagined what it would feel like and what would I do if my body was never ill. Then, one day, the toilet was leaking and to turn off the main water valve I had to quickly go downstairs. Before I knew it, I had ran up and down the stairs at least seven times with little discomfort or pain. As soon as all the water was got up, I removed Sokar Ptah’s crutches, which are resting on his side to this day.     

  • Sweetwater spirit guides are gentle, loving and harmonizing spirits.    Many of these spirits are also very artistic and fond of crafts. 

  • Warrior spirit guides as their title states are spirits who fight on your behalf. Technically all our spirit guides will fight for us but these spirits will do next level in their fight. So much so, you must be careful when giving them alcoholic beverages because too much will make them destructive.  

  • Teaching spirit guides are  spirit guides who teach us.  These spirits help us to learn and master difficult subjects.  Most of these spirits guides usually come different cultures and are attracted to you based upon a common interest. For instance, I like a lot people living in the United States struggled with exercising because of my busy schedule. I know the benefits of exercising and I know through exercising I will lose excess weight, etc., but this is not enough to get me to exercise.  All that changed one day when a guide inspired to enroll in a kickboxing class. I have advanced several levels, and I have lost over 40 lbs. because my guide taught me to focus on mastering the skills and not exercising and losing weight.