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by Joanna Pinney Buell

We arrived at our destination without a GPS or directions from Google. We'd been there once before. I recalled the way was simple and straightforward. I knew we had a map in the car from our previous trip and I had directions on how to get to the cottage. The directions were unclear in places, yet still we arrived at our destination without difficulty. How did we ever do it without the aid of a GPS? We used our PGS, our Personal Guidance System.

If Columbus sailed to what became the Americas in 1492 relying on the stars, a sextant and a very limited map of the world, how is that our society has become so totally dependent on GPS in such a short time? Granted, Columbus did not arrive at his consciously intended destination; he arrived where his Personal Guidance System was directing him to.

I do understand the attraction of a shiny, new technology for many people, and I know that for people with short-term memory loss, GPS is a real godsend. What I don't understand is how people capable of reading a map and/or following directions don't see the potential detriment of giving the responsibility for one more cognitive function over to a gadget.

The more I ponder this, the more I see that the larger question is: What is it that makes us fear that we can't find our way?

Our society has become lost, as a whole. In most recent times, technology has contributed to a great divide between us and the nature around us and the nature within us. We know at least subconsciously that we've lost touch with the intuitive skills and practices that guided previous generations to get to where they needed to be. In the midst of all the clamor for our attention from media through the ever-expanding technologies, we've lost the ability to hear the voice of truth within. Epidemics of greed, anger, depression and apathy are the products of having lost our connection with our Personal Guidance System.

So just what is this Personal Guidance System I've been referring to?

Your PGS is the voice of your divinity by whatever name or symbol you choose to identify it with. The point of communication for this guidance is through the heart. The wisdom that lives here, waiting to be called upon, can direct us to an open parking space, to a retreat destination, and show us the way out of the Boston red light district or help us get through NYC without a GPS (or map). Yes, I know this by my own experience, though I never professed that all my trips were straight and narrow.

Our PGS is both practical and profound. It's the voice that answers us when we surrender and call for help from the depths of life's chaos and our times of deepest despair. When we're at the crossroads of life, lost in new and difficult emotional territory, our PGS lights our way in increments. We receive what we need to know, when we need to know it.

When I was about five years old and living next door to my Uncle Johnny's dairy farm, I got lost in the back fields with my friend, Petey Sewall. I can still recall how weak, confused and hopeless I felt. Alongside the feeling of fear, I could hear a guidance that told me that by looking around, we'd spot something we'd recognize. We did, and I suspect this was more of a feeling than an actual recognition. In a short time, we were in familiar territory and then home.

The result of this early experience with being lost and being guided to find my way home is that I recognize the condition of being lost as a temporary state. My adult experiences with being lost have taught me that this is necessary for our human and spiritual development. When we give our responsibility and authority for our personal direction away to external gadgets, media, governments and others' opinions, we narrow the window of opportunity for discovering new territory under the guise of being lost.

The stars that guided Columbus both through dead calm and storms are reflections of the light within us, our inherent guidance, our Personal Guidance System.

Blessings for all the new discoveries that will arise out of your feeling lost, and remember to let the light of your Personal Guidance System shine and illuminate your way.

© Joanna Pinney Buell, The Dowsing Deva, 2012-2014. All rights reserved. Printed here with permission. Joanna Pinney Buell is living the Good Life with her husband David Buell in Downeast, Maine, at their home, Light Heart Retreat. Joanna has been many years in the fields of spirituality, energy work and holistic health as a teacher, hands-on practitioner and writer. Most recently, she has channeled her desire to help others through The Dowsing Diva, where she offers resources for self-health, insightful blog posts, and dowsing services. Joanna can be reached via email at joanna@thedowsingdeva.com. For more information, visit TheDowsingDiva.wordpress.com and lightheartretreat.com to see what this unique place on Earth has to offer YOU.

The other night I had a vivid dream. My four-year-old daughter was running around on the deck of a cruise ship and fell overboard. Although my six-year-old son was with me, I jumped overboard to save her. What was a calm sea suddenly became very turbulent and my daughter was always just out of my reach. The water swirled around us like a whirlpool, and I could then see large fish in the water circling us. I was so frightened they were sharks! I was pulled under several times but finally managed to grab my daughter and more or less surrendered to fate when we were pulled/pushed to safety by a large angel who appeared in the shape of a dolphin. We suddenly surfaced on a pristine white sandy beach. I immediately knew we were in Heaven or an alternate Universe. There was a McDonald's on the beach with cupcakes all over the roof! The dolphin changed its appearance and stood before me as an angel with dark skin and hair. (This is not what I imagined an angel would look like for some reason.) I felt this overwhelming love for him and wanted him to stay with us but he smiled and said he had to go but would always be around to protect us. My daughter and I explored the beach and I was content to stay but wondered how my son would fare without us. The rest of the dream was like something out of Narnia, but I've described the parts that really mean something to me. What could this all mean? Was that my guardian angel? Thank you.

Shazmin

Though this dream involved your daughter, it was more about your own fears than her well-being. There are multiple aspects to this dream; let's explore them one at a time.

Being surrounded by water indicates that this dream was soul-based, for water represents not only the subconscious but also the spiritual. It could also represent the fact that, as we go through life, there are many dangers we need to be aware of.

The threatening sharks in the water represent the dangers we may encounter in life. The dolphin who saved you and later turned into your guardian angel underscores the fact that even when you find yourself in dangerous situations, you are always protected.

Ending up in heaven or an alternate Universe suggests that you are in the midst of a spiritual transition. (It is interesting to note that what you saw may have been your daughter's idea of heaven: a McDonaldís covered with cupcakes!)

The dolphin turned angel in your dream represents your intellectual idea of what your guardian angel might look like even though he did not fit the description of a typical angel. We are the ones who determine what the spirit guides and guardian angels we can't physically see look like to us.

Itís wonderful to know they can shape-shift into any form that may appeal to us or any creature that may offer us the best protection. As a dolphin, he was able to get you both safely to shore. As an angel, he revealed himself in a form that was identifiable to you.

The general message of the dream is that you are always protected and that, when things seem worst, Spirit will transform them into something positive. Because this dream centered on saving your daughter, it may have been a way to process the normal fears most parents carry about their children. It is also possible that you have been overly worried about your daughter for some reason, for our dreams are often designed to process our greatest fears so that we can work through and resolve them.

Though you may not always be able to protect your children, this dream affirms that all of you have special guardian angels who are always looking after you.

*****

Mata:

There are all sorts of possible interpretations for this wonderful dream. It could be a symbolic representation of a past life experience. Many people don't even know that it is possible for us to dream of past life experiences in a non-literal manner.

For example, if you and your daughter died in a past life when you tried to save her from drowning, it would explain the basic plot of the dream, your intense feelings, and also your arrival in a heavenly realm after being met by the angel. Having dreams like this is one way our inner beings try to help us heal and release past life trauma.

Of course, it's also possible that this dream was you processing some recent concerns about your daughter, or prophetic of problems looming on the horizon. Water often represents our emotional lives, so it may be that you are in some deep emotional water, surrounded by perceived threats to your or your daughter's peace and happiness.

For example, if your daughter recently started preschool and has been having a hard time getting socially acclimated, you may fear that she is in over her head. Here the sharks may be bullies or other kids who are attacking her or tearing her emotionally apart. When my daughter was in the throes of adolescence, I often had water-based dreams that involved threatening sea creatures. My concern was usually how to get her safely from one side of the water to the other without her drowning or being attacked by sharks or other threats.

While the guardian angel could be symbolic of the fact that you are always spiritually watched over, protected and supported, there are a couple of elements that indicate to me that this was an actual meeting with one of your guides. The main evidence for this is your overwhelming feelings of love for this being. The fact that he didn't at all look like your own concept of a guardian angel also suggests that this was a real individual you were blessed to meet in this way.

In any case, the message of this dream is comforting and positive: no matter what happens, there are spiritual forces ever ready to help you and your loved ones remain safe on all levels.

Astrea:

Many times in life we hear, "You will always have what you NEED, but not necessarily what you WANT." Your spirit must have needed to experience the feeling of leaving your human body, and the suggestion in the next chapter of Sylvia Brown's book was all it took to get you there.

Even though you hadn't read it yet, your SOUL recognized the title of that chapter as something it had been seeking, and your soul, knowing that you had that reference to read after your experience, got with it and out you went!

While I don't usually recommend her books, Sylvia Brown has a wide reaching and powerful effect on lots of people. A Gemini like you would be able to relate easily to her writing and put it to good use. Synchronicity - you gotta love it!

I like your description of "getting caught." That's exactly what it feels like, isn't it? One minute you're free and hovering above the room, and the next minute, ZAP! back down into your corporeal form you go!

As a little kid, I loved that "feeling of return." With practice, most of the time we can control that event, but sometimes, when our physical ears hear a distracting noise or something else occurs to knock us back into reality, back we go. With practice you will be able to control your return better.

I find it interesting that you were visiting your mother-in-law and not someone in your own genetic family. Evidently, you and your husband got married for reasons that are even deeper than love. His family's interest in "psychic stuff" will nurture your children in such matters and help them to grow into their own abilities.

You'll never have to be concerned that when your daughter visits them, she'll be discouraged from exploring her own psychic life and power. My parents encouraged me to develop my psychic senses in a time when it wasn't nice to even discuss such things in public. Heck, it's STILL not considered a great topic at the dinner table in some families!

Your kids will get to talk about it ALL and ask questions and read and study. This is going to give them such an edge in life! Talk with your husband about how you want to present this to your kiddos, so that you are united in your approach and ready to tell them their experiences are all natural and okay.

A word or two of warning: Geminis often have difficulty staying grounded in REAL LIFE. Don't get so strung out on your ASTRAL life that you neglect what you're doing here on Earth.

You are at the beginning of a long journey to learn where your power really lies. Try to be patient with this process and take your time.