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Dear Soul Arcanum:

I am sensitive and am aware of it. On two occasions I’ve seen a man but I’m unsure if he’s a spirit or a guide. Both times I was in the same location, and both times all he did was lean over and look at me. I was napping both times but in different rooms of the same house. I would open my eyes like someone called me and he would be there leaning over me, just looking at me. He doesn’t say anything and I don’t feel scared. The last time I asked him who he was but he didn’t answer me. Who is this man? Is he a guide of mine just checking in or perhaps a spirit stuck in my home? I’d like to know what he wants. If there’s something he needs help with, I’d like to try to help him. If he’s just checking on me, it would be nice to know who he is. I have a brother and other relatives who passed before I was born. I would not recognize them if I saw them so I don’t know if this could possibly be one of them. Any insight would be helpful, for I am at a loss.

Marybeth

Dear Marybeth:

What you describe doesn’t sound like a spirit guide; in fact, I have never experienced or heard of spirit guides appearing in the manner you describe. I’ve heard many stories of angels appearing to be as physically real as living people, and I’ve heard stories about ghosts and spirits appearing as solid apparitions or ethereal forms, but I’ve never heard of a spirit guide manifesting in outer reality like this.

The interactions I’ve had with spirit guides and those I’ve heard about others experiencing have taken place on a psychic/inner level. I’ve never seen a spirit guide with my physical eyes or heard one with my physical ears; instead, spirit guides appear like characters in our minds, much as we may imagine well-developed characters when we’re engrossed in reading a novel. We may have a vague sense of how they look, move and sound, but the entire experience is mental. Imagine that a beloved character from a novel stops whatever he or she is doing in the story, moves to the forefront of your mental screen, looks at you and begins to dialogue with you. That is sort of what it’s like to interact with a spirit guide.

While the spirit you describe certainly could be a typical friendly ghost, there are other possibilities to consider. I would rule out the possibility of a residual haunting because this entity seems to be cognizant of your presence and actively seeking you out to observe or interact with you, and because these events have occurred in different places. You are clearly dealing with a conscious being as opposed to a stain on the fabric of space/time.

It’s hard to say if this being is trying to interact with you or if you’ve simply gotten lucky in catching it when you have. It definitely makes sense that you had these experiences when you were napping. In fact, napping is a powerful way to explore altered states of consciousness.

When we sleep at night, we are usually so tired that we don’t linger in the alpha states of mind that allow us to consciously explore subtle realms and energies. Similarly, when we get up in the morning, most of us awake to an alarm and have to quickly move from a sleep state to full waking awareness. When we sleep in on the weekends or we nap, we can drift in and out of different states of consciousness and spend lots of time in that magical place between being fully awake and asleep. This is when interesting metaphysical experiences tend to occur such as spontaneous out of body experiences and interactions with metaphysical beings like the one you describe.

It could be that this spiritual being is often present and observing you and perhaps trying to interact with you but you aren’t usually aware of it because your consciousness is so centered in physical reality. However, it could also be that this being is aware of when you are in an altered state of consciousness and is purposefully seeking you out at those times. Since you feel like someone is calling your name just before you awake, it certainly sounds like he is seeking you out and trying to communicate with you.

Some of the more unusual and intriguing possibilities regarding this being’s identity include the notion that this is a traveler from another dimension of space/time as opposed to the spirit of someone who died and somehow got stuck between planes, which is how we typically view ghosts. For example, this could be someone from the so-called past or future who is in or near your home and in an altered state of some kind. Imagine that someone who lived near there before you or will live there in the future is <q>dreaming</q> about seeing you napping. It could also be someone who is exploring the astral who came upon you or was drawn toward you because you were sending out a signal that you were in a state of mind conducive to conscious interaction. This could be someone from nearby (such as a neighbor) or someone from a distance. It could also be someone from another time who is traveling out of body. The possibilities are endless!

I have even heard stories of people being visited in a very similar way to what you describe by themselves – by their own selves from other lives or other times in this life. Sometimes people are visited by their future selves with some sort of message or warning. In those cases, it usually happens that the future self has learned to travel inter-dimensionally and has purposefully gone back to help or guide their younger/other self.

Of course, as you suggested, this could also be a relative or loved one who died some time ago or even a loved one from another life/dimension – someone you’ve not known in this lifetime who is adept at inter-dimensional travel and is checking in on you.

So not every apparent “ghost” is in need of help. I think we’ve all been led to consider just a fraction of the possible explanations for experiences like those you describe. We tend to view all spirits as either trying to help us or in need of help, when in fact they may not have any pressing need or agenda. By imagining ourselves traveling out of our bodies, curiously exploring other realms, we can see how it’s easy to read too much into such encounters.

To learn more about this being, you have only to further develop your ability to enter the state of consciousness you were in when these encounters occurred. To facilitate this, try to recreate the same circumstances. Lie down at the same time and place and either take a nap or begin to take a nap. Ideally you don’t want to sleep; you want to hover somewhere between being awake and asleep.

As you do this, try to both relax your mind and body and at the same time focus on this spirit. If you open your heart with a feeling of love and good will, it will encourage you to have a positive experience no matter what happens, and it may call this spirit close. Flowing loving energy toward a particular being is sort of like ringing a bell or sending out a homing signal in the astral.

If you fail to encounter this spirit again, most likely these were just casual run-ins with an inter-dimensional explorer. Even if that spirit doesn’t show up again, you are sure to have other interesting paranormal experiences as you develop your ability to enter these special states of consciousness. By relaxing in this quiet state of mind you are performing a form of meditation, which will naturally lead to the development of all your psychic senses as well as countless other benefits.

– Soul Arcanum

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