BellaOnline Forums Religion and Spirituality Pagan What is your thoughts on Guided Meditations ?

I just read a really good article on Witchvox.com called [i]The Pagan Secret[/i] by Fire Lyte. The author calls bullsh** on a common practice in the pagan world. This is the practice of claiming that the astral plan full of various spirits just hanging around waiting to dish out the secrets of the universe. Her second grip is about over commercialized "guided meditations" being the major peddlers of this myth. I agree that commercialized (like Cd's)"guided meditations" are bad and that the astral plan is not full of Merlins handing out advise. But I do believe that that the author missed one major point. That guided meditations can help a person unlock parts of their mind so that they can better solve their personal issues(such as finding the car keys or connecting with a cultural mind set). The symbolism within the guided meditation can be used to assist in this. So what are your thoughts on the subject?

I believe that guided meditations are about exploring yourself and your own depths of knowledge. It's a little like a placebo effect, or dumbo with his feather; because you believe something will help you achieve something, it will do so. Whether it normally would or not is irrelevant.

Guided meditations, I have found, are excellent in helping a person do things that they may have not been able to on their own. As an example, I have done a couple of guided meditations and learned through these how to contact my guides on my own and henceforth, have meditated on my own. i dont beleive that there are 'spirits' out there just hanging around waiting for us to become enlightened on our journeys so in that I think perhaps that person is probably more right! But sure, a guided meditation can have many benefits.. :)