Reclaiming Spiritual Authority Without Losing Reverence
A reflection on guides, sovereignty, and right relationship
Why So Many Spiritual People Give Their Power Away
(And why it makes sense that they do)
External authority has been ingrained in us since childhood.
From the moment we’re small, we are physically required to look up—literally—to the people who keep us alive. This pattern is reinforced again and again: in church, in school, in systems where even our most basic needs require permission; eating, relieving ourselves, and limited rest or personal space.
Over time, medicine moved out of the home and into institutions. Doctors became centralized. In contrast to our ancestral ways. Cultures where there was almost always a healer in the home, a medicine person in the community, and their wisdom of plants, herbs, healed us.
So we learned, subtly and repeatedly, that someone else knows better.
That conditioning doesn’t disappear when we become spiritual.
When Authority Moves From Institutions to the Unseen
In spiritual spaces, external authority often takes a quieter form.
The guru knows more than you.
Your intuition can’t quite be trusted.
The guide, ancestor, or spirit must know best.
Especially when we begin interacting with the unseen—when awe, beauty, or reverence is present—it becomes easy to assume that any being without a body is more evolved, more advanced, or more authoritative than we are.
This is where many people unconsciously surrender sovereignty.
Sometimes even to spirits that wish to work through us or with us—without any vetting, discernment, or clear consent.
This isn’t devotion.
It’s a power leak.
And it’s one of the most common reasons spiritually aware people feel supported… yet still oddly powerless. Still seeking authenticity.
A Missing Reframe: Spirits Have a Skill Set — Humans Do Too
Here is a foundational truth that is often overlooked:
Spirits have their perspective, their skills, and their knowing.
Humans have theirs.
We are not lesser because we are embodied.
We are the experts on the ground—living inside the complexity of mental, emotional, energetic, and physical reality simultaneously!
That is not a disadvantage.
It is the assignment.
Guides and ancestors can offer insight. They can share wisdom. They can illuminate patterns we may not see.
But you will feel the most satisfied, the most aligned, and the most authentically empowered when your own soul’s intelligence is at the center of the conversation.
Guidance works best when it is collaborative, not directive.
How to Tell if You’re Giving Your Power Away
One of the most important discernment skills you can develop is learning the difference between supportive and authoritative spiritual influence.
I have met people working with spirits that feel:
Emotional yo-yo (elated to solum)
Possessivness
Defensivness
Uncertainty, like undependability
Dependant
This kind of relationship can often start with a bang, elation. It can even feel powerful.
Then turns into a feeling ups and downs inconsistantly. But it is not anchored in sovereignty—because it is not anchored in pure choice.
Here is a simple litmus test:
If a spirit being or guide leaves you feeling
smaller/lesser
dependent
pressured
unathentic
Something is off.
If a spirit being or guide leaves you feeling
clearer
more self-trusting
more empowered (vs. powerful)
more yourself
You are likely in right relationship.
What Right Relationship Actually Feels Like
In sovereign partnership with spirit, there is never a loss of power.
There is never a loss of choice.
Just like in any healthy relationship, there are many paths to the same outcome. You are not overridden. You are not coerced or corrected. You are not bypassed.
You’re guided. Your own knowing is amplified. It resonates as truth and alignment.
CONSIDER THIS:
You are here in human flesh—and that matters.
This life is complex. It is layered. It is demanding in ways many non-embodied beings do not experience. And because of that, your choice carries weight.
When you step into creative relationship with your guides, there is amplification—not extraction.
No one feeds off anyone else’s power.
No one overshadows.
No one dominates.
It's co-creation at its best. A win-win.
A Simple Metaphor
I often describe it this way:
I am the stock of the soup. (my human form)
I am also the cook, choosing the ingredients. (my higher self)
Spirits may be the sous chefs.
They can contribute brilliance, timing, and nuance.
But their influence does not override mine. I get to contemplate and see how it resonates.
That is partnership.
That is sovereignty.
That is reverence with agency intact.
That's beautiful.
How to Begin Working With Guides in Authority
A powerful place to start is with intention.
Before connecting, ask yourself:
What is the focus of this relationship right now? Or how would you like them to help you?
An intention to work with your guides might be:
Supporting your physical body
Gaining clarity in a life situation
Receiving insight for healing or growth
Exploring the spiritual dimensions of your existence
From there, you might ask questions like:
What can I know about this that would empower me?
What would strengthen my health, love, or success?
Show me what is truly aligned with my soul’s desires.
What choice here supports my wholeness and sovereignty?
You can also set a clear boundary:
“Only what is aligned with my highest good”
This is not control. This is clarity.
This simple consideration is a profound power shift.
Instead of asking,
“What is my life purpose?”
You begin asking,
“What allows me to feel of value, joyful, satisfied, and deeply myself—
in work or a role that truly fulfills why I chose this life?”
A Closing Truth to Sit With
Guides do not replace your authority.
They respond to it.
They amplify it.
When a being takes the role of guide, they are there to honor you—supporting you, working with you, and serving the evolution of your soul.
Not the other way around.
Sit with this.
Let it reorganize you.
An Invitation
If this way of relating to spirit resonates, you may feel called to go deeper.
Sacred Alchemy is a guided program designed to help you:
Build a clear, vetted, sovereign relationship with your guides
Create a Sacred Council that supports all areas of your life
Strengthen discernment, spiritual safety, and energetic authority
Work with spirit in a way that honors your body, your soul, and your choice