This week we look into the difference between ancestral guides and the spirits, commonly known as ghosts, that are perceived to haunt a person/place.

Many people do not necessarily understand that there is a difference between these two things, or, where they think there is a difference they tend towards a stereotypical view of the two ( i.e. ancestral guide = ancient member of the family line – ghost = malevolent echo of a person bent on scaring the living.)

These are very involved topics and so we are just going to look at a summary here and will dive deeper into the topics in future articles. So, let’s look at what these two are, the differences between them, and the way we interact with them.

Ancestral Guides

What are Ancestral Guides?

Ancestral guides are members of our family line, or occasionally close friend group, that come to us to offer guidance and wisdom.

Their souls have passed entirely back through the veil and are now offering their love, support, and guidance from the higher planes.

How Do Ancestors Become Guides

Before a member of our family/friend group can become an ancestral guide they must first:

• come to terms with their death;
• go through their soul counselling to heal any traumas from the incarnation they took part in; and
• allow themselves to plan the next steps in their soul journey.

Once this is completed, if they still have a duty to serve as part of a combined soul agreement or if they wish to support due to love, duty, etc. they can leave a part of themselves to act as a guide.

They continue their soul journey, reincarnating if they wish, whole and involved in their new tasks, soul contracts, and experiences.

Do All Ancestors Become Guides?

The answer here is no. Not all ancestors become guides.

Some of our ancestors move on to new soul experiences and become inaccessible to us for a variety of reasons.

A particular ancestor may not be in our soul group and was only in our line due to a specific need at a specific time, therefore they have no actual connection to us and move on to help other souls.

Some ancestors, especially ones close to us in human time, complete their duties to us in the physical world and so hols no further duty to us. They move onto their next stage with no obligation to us.

Still others may not become guides because their souls are not yet experienced enough to become guides. These souls need time to evolve further before they have the necessary abilities to manage guiding others. Just because a soul incarnated as your grandfather does not mean that his soul is older then yours.

Finally, a soul may choose not to be a guide for it’s own reasons. This is entirely the choice of the soul and can be due to many different reasons. This is an element of free will and we cannot be angry or upset with a soul for their choice.

How Do Ancestral Guides Interact With Us?

Ancestral guides appear in dreams/visions, speak to us through magical methods such as tarot/séance/etc., and provide us with signs in various ways. They will contact us when, and if, they need to.

We can connect with the energies of ancestral guides to ask for their advice/support should we feel we need it through those same methods.

Ancestral guides will usually provide high level information based on their knowledge and experience both within, and without, the veil.

Recently deceased ancestors are often not contactable right away as they go through their soul counselling and heal from incarnated traumas.

Although some will appear within the first week after death to let close family members know that they are well and not in suffering. They then vanish from contact for a while and may, or may not, become a guide later on based on the various elements we have discussed above.

Ancestral guides show us that we are linked to each other in Unity.

They provide comfort and support that other guides cannot due to myriad limitations. Their advice is very often more grounded than that of other guides as they understand the trials of being in human form and, with their link beyond the veil, can offer an understanding of the “bigger picture”.

Ghosts are very different from ancestral guides as it is the ghost that needs the guidance.

Ghosts

What Are Ghosts

Ghosts are souls that have died and so no longer have a body in this physical incarnation but have not been able to pass back through the veil to move onto their next stage.

Their souls are often lost and confused, unaware that they are deceased, and /or fixated on an element of their lives they have not yet “completed”.

How Do Ghosts Interact With Us?

Ghosts communicate in a variety of ways, just as ancestral guides do, however, their messages tend to be much more self-serving, rather than attempting to aid the one they are communicating with.

Communication with ghosts should be geared towards helping the soul understand that it no longer has a vehicle in our physical plane and it needs to move on to the next phase of their soul Journey.

Ghosts should not be contacted for advice or support as they are often unstable and unable to consider situations rationally.

This can be very painful to those who were close to the soul in question, especially if the passing was recent.

Grief acts as a magnet – holding the bereaved and the deceased together – unintentionally adding a “justification anchor” to the deceased’s belief that they are still alive. The deceased feels “needed” here and therefore bolstered in their view that there is no need for them to acknowledge their death and move on.

This traps both the deceased and the bereaved in a cycle of pain – the bereaved clings to the messages/contact with the deceased and the deceased fuels avoidance of their change of state through that contact.

This is not healthy for either soul. The bereaved stop living their lives and the deceased does not continue their Journey.

Then once the the bereaved passes on both either:

• both souls get stuck and the cycle continues, snaring a few generations into a ghostly dam; or
• the bereaved moves on with their Journey and the deceased is now alone stuck with no anchor just more confusion and misunderstanding.

In either case this can lead to a lot of issues for those in the physical plane by way of hauntings, latching/leeching, uncomfortable energies, “bad luck”, etc.

It is always best practice to help ghost souls move on to their next stage and help the bereaved move through their grief so they can live their own experiences.

How To Know The Difference Between Ancestral Guides and Ghosts?

It can be very difficult to know whether you are being contacted by an ancestral guide or a ghost depending on:

• the connection type;
• the closeness of the relationship;
• the length of time since passing;
• etc.,

as the distinctions can be quite subtle.

However, there are a few differences that can help you make an educated guess as to which type of entity you are dealing with.

Ancestral Guide	Ghost
Appears in a dream as has access to a wide range of dimensional planes.	Unlikely to appear in dreams as still very much tied to the physical plane.
A feeling of comfort, warmth, and wisdom.	Often a feeling of confusion, coldness, or anger.
Messages of love and guidance to assist you with higher level matters you are facing.	Messages of “everyday” type, often seeming about them and their needs rather than yours.
Advice geared toward actions for you to take to benefit your life.	Often ask for you to do tasks that would benefit them in some way.
Feels very personal to you.	May seem familiar but no direct personal feeling.

Of course these are not always the case and each contact is individual. We are also not accounting her for general ghost behaviour (i.e. that of ghosts not related to those they are in contact with) which has many forms (and is a fascinating topic that we will investigate further in future articles).

This is just intended to give an overview of some ways in which you can identify whether or not you are connecting to an ancestral guide or a ghost soul in need of assistance.

What To Do With A Ghost?

Having a connection with an ancestral guide is always a gift and can benefit us in so many ways.

However, being contacted by a ghost can often be overwhelming, frightening, and, intentionally or not, quite negative in its impact.

There are ways in which a ghost can be helped and their soul guided to the next phase of their Journey, thus clearing their energy from this physical plane.

All people are capable of carrying out these techniques, however, it can take some practice to deal with ghosts, especially in instances of very close relationships. This is because there must be focus and intention to help them move on with strict boundaries to prevent any “latching” on of energies.

Just as with the living, ghost souls can be stubborn, obnoxious, belligerent, and scary when in a temper. Many who work with ghost clearing could be counsellors if they worked with the living. Just as not all people feel able to provide counselling to others so too not all people feel able to “clear” the dead.

In situations where you are very close to the ghost soul and/or have no experience with ghosts/magic/etc. it is often best to consult someone experienced in the matters you are experiencing. Always remember to research and use discernment so that you find an authentic provider of “clearing” services.

We will be discussing more on the topic of ghosts in future articles, as this is a deep and sensitive subject that many worry about bringing up for various reasons.

Ghosts are often misinterpreted, or confused with other types of beings, because people do not understand the subject, which can lead to multiple problems in identifying and helping those in need.

Let’s take some of the fear out of this topic so that we can all benefit from sharing knowledge and experience.

Have you had any encounters with a ghost or other entity? we would love to hear, and tell, your stories so that others can learn more. If you would be happy to share your story then contact us or drop a comment below to get the discussion going.

If you are worried about being contacted by a ghost, or other entity, then we can help. Contact us to book a mediumship services consultation and we will investigate and look to help in any way we can.