Hi Anna,

“I’m interested in developing my intuition and I also feel a strong pull to be more of service to God through the empath that I am.

Would you mind if I asked what your religion your courses are based on?  I read statements on your website about Archangels and such – are you by any chance Catholic?

I believe if I do have this gift it’s by the Holy Spirit and I want to expand with that in mind, to be of service to God.  How do you feel that Spirit Guides fit into this equation?”

~ Monica

Hi Monica,

Thanks for your question.

I wanted to answer it on my blog as I have received variants of this question over the years.

First of all: I am not Catholic or Christian. I did use to be a Christian – (I have written about my religious background here, in case you are interested.)

To give you the quick version: I have always been very spiritual and church was the only outlet I had as an 11 year old to explore that.

But I didn’t resonate with many of the Christian teachings. When I went to church, I was simply connecting with Ascended Master Jesus and God and I enjoyed that.

In my early twenties, I abandoned my Christianity because I had some difficult experiences which taught me that I was trying to make myself fit into a mould that was never going to fit – I did not believe in hell or the devil. Nor did I believe that non-Christians needed to be “saved”. I also wanted to open up my intuitive abilities, and I did not feel there was anything negative in connecting with astral-level beings like Spirit Guides or angels. Basically, I wanted to be free to pick and choose what felt right to me, belief wise.

The Significance of Religion to Our Soul’s Path

I learned something interesting during my Akashic Record Reading Training about 10 years ago, which was that during any given lifetime, we choose a religion or spiritual path based on what our soul wants to learn.

Souls who want to explore Divine Love may explore Christianity. Hinduism teaches humility. Buddhism compassion, and Islam surrender (to give a few prominent examples). So if a soul wants to explore a certain theme, the soul may choose to be born into a society that has a specific religious backdrop (obviously these are very general themes and they may not apply in every case.)

When I had my own Akashic Record Reading done, I learned that I had explored lots of different spiritual paths and religions in my past lives: I’d been a missionary, worked in the Christian church and abused my power, been Hindu in a traditional Indian society. I’d been an oracle in a Greek temple. I’d also been a witch. And a Celtic priest in France. I’d had Native American lives, some of which were spiritual ones. I’d been a priest in an Egyptian temple.

Not all of my lifetimes were spiritual ones, but I think lots have had a spiritual aspect. And then in this lifetime, I am clearly on a different path. I feel the truth behind many religions and I take only what resonates with me. I believe that there are qualities of the Divine that are embodied and personalised in the Ascended Masters.

I believe in reincarnation (from Hindu and Buddhist religions), I meditate (Buddhism), I pray and dialogue with the Divine (who knows where that is from.) But nature is my church and I sometimes use Wiccan rituals. I also like to connect with Archangels, Jesus, Quan Yin and Mother Mary.

I am also probably what you would call a Pantheist – I believe that a piece of the Divine is in everything. And when I connect to God, I feel I am connecting with the Divine intelligence that is in everything. I do not believe in a male God that we are disconnected from, unless we believe in Jesus.

In this lifetime, there are undoubtedly lessons in my spiritual path. Perhaps in choosing my own beliefs, writing about them, being open about them and just walking my own path. But in previous lives I guess I would have been learning something different.

Where Do Spirit Guides Fit Into The Equation?

And as for where Spirit Guides fit into all of this, personally I believe that our guides are given to us to help us on our path through life. Spirit Guides are souls who have at some point also incarnated here on Earth. They are more personal aspects of the Divine that we can relate to. They have distinct personalities and strengths.

Earth is not an easy place to be, but they know our life lessons and what we set up for ourselves before we even came here. They know it can be hard for us sometimes. So they are closer to the earth plane, and to our human experience, than say, Mother Mary or an Archangel. For this reason, the guidance we receive from a Spirit Guide will often feel more personal and earthly than an Ascended Master.

Ascended Masters and Archangels deal in the archetypal energies such as peace, love and power, that we can all tap into. On the other hand, Spirit Guides can help you to find your way home if you are out driving and your GPS stops working. They can help you to stay out of danger. They know what it feels like to fail or encounter adversity and can give you spiritual perspective on that. They can help you to find a new relationship or a career that feels right to you.

The guidance that comes from them to help you to do all these things, is going to be personalised to you, your unique path, and situation.

I believe that it is also part of the Divine plan – not a deviation from it.

But you have your own spiritual path that you are on in this lifetime, Monica. It may or may not be the same as mine.

There was a quote that I read once, and I think it was by the Dalai Lama:

“There are 7 billion people on earth – and 7 billion ways to the mountain top to meet God.”

If you feel part of your spiritual path is to connect with your Spirit Guides, angels and Higher self (perhaps in addition to the Ascended Masters/Archangels) I would love to help.

PS. In my courses, I also teach you to work with Archangels and Ascended Masters. This is mainly to raise your vibration and protect yourself from channelling lower energies such as earthbound spirits. I have had people of no faith and many faiths doing my courses, and you can work with any Ascended Master of your choosing as part of your intuitive development. Students who are Jewish have in the past chosen to work with Moses. Christians work with Jesus, Catholics have preferred to work with Mother Mary or Jesus. But you do not have to follow a certain religion to be able to work with these masters. They are available to us all.

Now I want to hear from you – do you feel being religious and being into ‘new age’ practices are compatible?