How to interpret signs and symbols
When you work with your intuition or your Spiritual Support Team, the language is different from our physical communication. Messages from the spirit world can occasionally be literal, but often than not, their messages are far more symbolic —and it can often be tricky to determine which, let alone interpret the signs you receive.
When you start asking for signs from the Universe, or your own SST (your spirit guides), you’ll surely start to receive a plethora of them… but, receiving a sign is only half the challenge; then you need to interpret them to extract the rich meaning and guidance they hold.
Asking for a sign
Asking for a sign is actually the first step in what I call the ARIA Method — a simple four step process for Asking for, Receiving, Interpreting and Acting on guidance.
Suffice to say that when asking for a sign, like almost anything else you want in your life, the best way to receive it is to ask for it.
I believe the best way to ask for a sign is to keep it open to spirit to determine the delivery. It’s better to ask for a sign, rather than asking for a specific sign.
That way, you’re not just receiving confirmation your SST has heard you, but you allow room for them to provide additional meaning in the sign they send you. And who doesn’t want that?
Noticing the signs
If we want to notice the signs from the Universe or our spirit guides, it’s important to create an observatory position. This observer mode is something I teach in my courses, and it essentially requires us to separate our logical head and our spiritual heart so we can take in much more than our busy lives demand of us.
This may require practice, of course, but if you can notice your thinking, the part of you observing the thoughts is the part of you that will also notice the signs and symbols. And that observer part of you needs the time and space to see and feel more than the head will usually allow.
Practice connecting with your inner observer, which is one of the reasons I recommend a regular meditation practice —it helps you separate the head and spiritual heart.
The good news is, if you ask for a sign, and you are open to how it arrives, they will always come. Your job is to notice them. The spirit world, especially your SST, wants to connect with you, so if you ask for a sign, they will always bring one. Maybe not immediately, maybe not how you expect, but it will always come.
The best is when the signs make themselves known in very obvious ways. I have a rich story library of the signs I’ve seen, but perhaps my favourite is the licence plate “WRI73” which pulled up in traffic beside me after I asked for a sign as I left a meeting with my publisher who had suggested the topic for my second book. Asking For A Friend was the result.
A word of caution: not everything is a sign. You can’t force it. But when you allow it, it is an amazing feeling.
How you receive signs from your spirit guides
In my experience, it’s quite rare to have a neon flashing sign fall at your feet in response to your request for one. However, there are some ways that are a little easier for the spirit world to send you a sign. Below are the most common ways you might receive a sign from your SST.
dreams. Try asking for guidance before you fall asleep, then note what you remember of your dream the next morning. Much has been written about the symbolism of dreams, and many of our dreams can be prophetic and predictive.
meditation, especially guided meditation. You can simply allow signs and symbols to clairvoyantly arrive during meditation, or work with Meet Your Spirit Guides meditation to receive specific signs.
messengers. Spirit will often send us our guidance in the form of others, who magically share a snippet, a book, or some other wisdom at the most serendipitous of times. Not everyone and their opinions are signs, but when life answers you this way, it can be quite powerful.
in your day to day, as you go about your commute, stocking up the groceries, at the school gate… As you're doing the most regular of things, be open to signs. Notice the surroundings, the conversations, the repetition of themes.
A word of caution: be careful with anything digital. Social media algorithms and advertising means some of the stuff you’re served up online is curated. I love my signs to come through a means where there is literally no other explanation for them.
Interpreting the signs you receive
If it’s literal, it’s relatively straightforward to interpret. The meaning will be clear and often an immediate impression of the action to take. The best example here is the type of sign that comes through our intuition and instinct. It’s easy to trust the fear, or sense of foreboding.
But, to interpret the more symbolic images, you can employ a few tricks:
Is there a personal reference? My grandmother loved Kookaburras and once gifted me one (a toy, not a real one). Since she passed away, Kookaburras are one of the ways she now communicates with me.
Is there a play on words? If you hear a particular phrase, does it double with another meaning? I quickly learned that my Inner Child card in The Little Sage Oracle Card deck was of course about your innocent, playful younger self. But, when interpreted literally, Inner Child is a symbol for pregnancy.
Is there meaning in the colours? Often the colour of the sign is important. Does it relate to a particular chakra? Does it have meaning in your culture? Or a personal meaning for you? Add that to your interpretation.
Record and review your Interpretations
With symbolic signs and images, it’s important to build a reference library for your own interpretations, which of course will be based on your own intuition. I have included an Interpretation Index in the Head & Heart Digital Planner, which helps you create a daily guidance practice of asking for, receiving, interpreting and acting on your guidance.
By recording the sign and your interpretation you will start to build your own library of meanings. With regular review, you can then also update the meanings, make a note of how they turned out and how you might change it next time.
