Some people believe very strongly that we have "spirit guides" or "angels" watching over us. It is a very new subject, and one hard to answer because there is no empirical proof that they exist. I think that they do. There are many stories that tell of strange occurrences that involve the intervention of some form of beings from the "other world"- the spiritual plane. I'll tell you this: I am left feathers when I have been visited by a guide. It is amazing just how many feathers I came across after the death of my father. I collected enough to frame them! It is a very personal question....How do you feel them, or contact them? Various ways have been recounted. Some people pray, and feel guided or visited. Some people claim that their spirit guides talk to them. Research this topic on the internet, and you will see just how much information has already been gathered on this subject. Great question, one that will bring up a lot of different answers! Blessings, Jai. A P.S...I went to out to buy something right after I wrote this answer. When I came out of the store, there, parked next to my car, was a truck with a Greenlee Tool Box in the bed. My Father spent his last years working for Greenlee, making those very toolboxes, 1,000 miles from here! Coincidence or Godincidence? I think Dad was leaving me a special sort of "feather"! Jai

This is information I have found out about spirit guides. But you probably already know about most of this. I have also left you an link to where I got the information from. Sorry I don't have any personal comments or opinion on this. I don't know about spirit guides.

They tend to reside on higher vibrational planes (dimensions) because they are not hindered by the physical lower-vibration body.

They work from these planes (the world of spirit) and move into our reality (3rd dimension) occasionally to offer guidance, assistance and insight. We can reach them through the above mentioned methods such as meditation, hypnosis and by "tapping in" to our life-force and raising our vibrations that way.

Spirit Guides will stay with us even if we choose to ignore them, and they will continue to love and honour us throughout our life.

Spirit Guides are not the same as Angels. They are of the same "energy", being that of a higher vibrational force, but I don't agree they function in the same manner. Yes, we do have an angel who also stays with us throughout our lives too, but this is not our spirit guide. Angels rarely incarnate on the physical plane, preferring to do their work from the angelic realms (higher energy realms).

Spirit guides, though they can take on any form they choose, usually take a "gender". i.e. they appear as male or female; this is based mainly on the person / being they are presenting to us. Angels on the other hand are without gender. They may appear to us as more masculine or feminine if they appear to us, but they are in essence genderless, androgynous... it's their energy, which supplies them their more masculine or feminine attributes.

Angels function on a higher vibration than spirit guides, and in a higher dimension than spirit guides.

An encounter with an angel in it's full glory could very well scare someone more than assist or sustain them.

Angels are such beautiful beings with such love that their energy itself can bring too much truth to the person and as humans we are capricious creatures. They are the essence of purity. Too much truth can be scary or even terrifying, that is why angels will usually take on a form of lower stature when we encounter them, someone on our level so we can interact with them without the head-on, possibly overwhelming experience of an angel.
They are excellent conveyors of universal love, they are not always equipped to deal with earthy problems.

Spirit guides on the other hand have a lower energy and aren't nearly as intimidating in their full form.

To put it simply - Angels are of the stars and guides are of the earth.

There are many ways of meeting your guides. Most children know their guides from birth, and can easily open up the channels to talking to them (remember those imaginary play friends? Were they really imaginary?), but as we grow older we get negative messages from our parents and other adults around us, "time to stop playing with imaginary friends Darling" "Don`t be silly" "No they don't really exist." "That's nice dear, but shouldn't you be playing with some REAL friends?" and messages like this, so children learn to break their connection to their guides and forget about these wonderful beings.

I believe that these unseen, imaginary friends are the child`s guides – frequently the master guide amongst them assuming an identity with which the child can communicate as he or she develops.

Here is the link to where I got the information about spirit guides:

http://elevatedtherapy.org.uk/index-page56.html