Not quite exactly whot was being referenced to gerbah, though, yes, I imagine that would be quite tiresome indeed.
A 'spirit guide', likely as intended to be meant by scott, is the one commonly referred to by north american indian tribes, which's whot most people associate them with... in reality, the use of such is actually quite widespread by many different religions, including some versions of christianity in the form of angels or saints (catholics basically believe in spirit guides, though not quite labeled as such; the majority of the other versions of christianity basically state that only the holy spirit counts as such).
In the most widely known traditional sense, a spirit guide is a non-physical, non-currently-living being, or entity of some natural aspect, which takes a recognizable form to guide one, either during sleep, meditation, or other trancelike state, with or without the use of drugs to easier contact such.
A guide can take the image of someone yeu know, of an animal, of a spirit of nature, or any of a number of familiar concepts to the individual in order to direct them, but unlike just 'that little voice in the back of one's head', spirit guides generally take on a physical appearance and show themselves to be present, and directly help show the recipient the 'correct' path to take.
Under most accepted forms of such, the guide is just that; a guide. They won't DO the work for yeu, they'll just either give hints, or flat out tell yeu, where yeu should go next, or whot yeu should do with yeur life, and so on. Essentially, they have other worldly knowledge that they're willing to share if yeu show respect towards them.
I personally have not had direct contact with any spirit guides, or at the very least, have not recognized such, nor in the manner which they are traditionally described within. I did have a similar situation, but it turned out she was merely an aspect of my own mind rather than a seperate entity. And she was a total bitch anyway; literally and figuratively, though I hate the figurative connotations normally, it's fitting in that case XD
Now as to whether such exists or not for 'real', who knows... some believe spirits of the world, ancestors, or other spiritual beings exist en masse, others believe only singular entities do, and some believe in no such thing at all. I've not had direct contact, as stated, so can't say so myself, but wanted to make sure the definition was presented for people to know whot's being talked about, at least as I understand it.
For referance:
- Going into a drug-assisted trance to speak with a spirit guide who portraits itself as a wolf or other animal
- Being asleep and being given direct instruction by a deceased family member
- Being in a meditative state and directly communing with a spirit of nature in whotever form it takes
- Being in some 'higher' state, such as the trances that some christian believers go into which include falling to the floor in a minor seizure of sorts, and directly contacting the holy spirit
- Physically seeing and directly speaking to an angel, saint, or other important religious icon in any state other than regular consciousness
Things which would not count:
- Getting a 'feeling' yeu should go a certain way
- Praying for something and believing yeu know the answer
- Pretty much anything that does not include either being in a state other than normal consciousness, and does not include directly speaking with the image face to face.
If moses had spoken with the burning bush and it turned out he was asleep at the time, rather than awake and aware, it could be considered a spirit guide. If awake normally, it doesn't count, as one is required to be in an 'other' state to perceive such guides.
Hope this helps people =3