Why Ethics Matter When Reading the Akashic Records
Consent, spiritual boundaries, personal sovereignty, and the wisdom of knowing when to speak—and when not to.
There is something I wish more people understood about spiritual development.
Just because you can do something doesn’t necessarily mean you should.
And nowhere do I think this is more important than when we’re working with the Akashic Records.
People are often fascinated by the idea of accessing information about the soul. They want to know about past lives, soul contracts, spiritual gifts, relationships, and the lessons they may have come here to experience.
And I understand that fascination. I’ve spent years exploring these subjects myself.
But when I teach students to read the Akashic Records, I want them to understand something before we begin exploring anyone’s soul history.
Spiritual awareness does not give us authority over another person’s life.
It doesn’t give us permission to cross boundaries.
It doesn’t make our opinions more important than someone else’s experiences.
And it certainly doesn’t mean that every impression we receive should be treated as an unquestionable truth.
In fact, I believe the more comfortable we become with spiritual work, the more responsible we need to be about how we practise it.
What Are Ethics in Akashic Records Reading?
Ethics are the principles that guide how we work with other people, particularly when they are trusting us with something personal.
In Akashic Records work, that includes respecting consent, maintaining confidentiality, recognizing our own biases, and understanding the limits of our role as practitioners.
Within Akashic spiritual traditions, the Records are understood as a field of consciousness containing information about the soul’s experiences, gifts, lessons, and possibilities.
I approach this as a spiritual framework through which we can explore the deeper meaning of our experiences.
But regardless of how someone understands the Records, the ethical responsibilities involved in a reading are very real.
There is a human being sitting across from us, or on the other side of a Zoom screen.
They may be grieving.
They may be frightened.
They may be struggling with a relationship, a difficult decision, or a belief they’ve carried for most of their life.
They may be hoping we can tell them something that will finally make sense of what they’re experiencing.
And that creates a responsibility.
We need to be thoughtful about what we say, how we say it, and what happens when someone takes our words home with them.
Consent Is More Than Asking Permission
One of the first things I teach students is that we need to understand who we can ethically read for.
Curiosity isn’t consent.
Just because someone is our spouse, parent, child, friend, or coworker doesn’t automatically give us permission to explore their private spiritual life.
And just because someone asks us about another person doesn’t necessarily mean we’re entitled to investigate that person’s Records.
This becomes especially important during relationship readings.
People naturally want to understand what their partners are thinking or feeling.
They may ask whether someone still loves them, whether their marriage will survive, or whether a person they care about is being honest.
These questions are understandable.
But I believe we need to distinguish between exploring the client’s experience of a relationship and claiming access to another person’s private inner world.
When appropriate consent has been given, I may explore what I understand to be the soul history or spiritual themes involving both people.
Without that consent, I focus on the person who has come for the reading.
What are they experiencing?
What patterns are appearing in their relationships?
What beliefs or fears might they want to explore?
What choices are available to them?
There is usually plenty to discover without crossing someone else’s boundaries.
And consent isn’t something that disappears once a reading begins.
A client should always be free to change the subject, decline to explore something, or stop the session.
Permission is an ongoing conversation, not a one-time transaction.
Your Personal Filters Can Influence What You Receive
This is one of the most important lessons I teach.
Every spiritual practitioner is still a human being.
We have histories.
We have preferences.
We have opinions about relationships, parenting, money, careers, and what a successful life should look like.
We have experienced heartbreak, disappointment, happiness, loss, and everything in between.
And all those experiences can influence how we interpret information.
I know that I have my own filters.
For example, I’m happily partnered, and I recognize that my personal experience can make me inclined to encourage people to keep trying in their relationships.
That’s my bias.
And because I know it’s there, I make a conscious effort not to impose it on anyone who comes to me for a reading.
Sometimes I’ll even tell clients about that bias.
I want them to understand why I’m careful not to offer my personal opinion about whether they should stay in a marriage or leave it.
Someone who has experienced a difficult divorce may have a different filter.
Neither perspective is automatically wrong.
But neither should become the deciding factor in someone else’s life.
This is one of the reasons I use the same spiritual preparation before every Akashic Records reading.
I want to quiet my own thoughts and opinions as much as possible.
I want to listen rather than assume.
And I want to remain aware that even when I feel strongly about an impression, my interpretation may still be influenced by my human experiences.
Spiritual practice doesn’t make us immune to bias.
Recognizing our biases is part of practising responsibly.
Why I Don’t Like Predicting Someone’s Future
Some intuitive practitioners work by exploring what they perceive as timelines.
Within certain spiritual traditions, timelines are understood as possible directions a person’s life might take.
I don’t object to considering possibilities.
What concerns me is the way a possibility can become a prediction.
Imagine someone is struggling in their marriage.
They visit a psychic who perceives that the relationship is coming to an end.
The psychic tells them the marriage is finished.
Now, what happens?
That person may begin interpreting every disagreement as confirmation.
They may stop trying to communicate.
They may overlook opportunities for change.
Or they may feel that the decision has already been made for them.
Of course, sometimes leaving a relationship is the healthiest choice.
And no spiritual reading should ever encourage someone to remain in an abusive or unsafe situation.
But I don’t believe it’s appropriate for a practitioner to make that decision on someone’s behalf.
Our expectations influence our behaviour.
And when someone believes a particular outcome is inevitable, that belief can affect the choices they make.
I would rather explore the roads available to someone than convince them that only one road exists.
Because I believe spiritual guidance should expand possibilities, not close them.
Two Souls May Experience the Same Relationship Differently
Relationships are especially interesting to explore within the Akashic framework because two people can share the same circumstances while experiencing them very differently.
One person may feel abandoned.
The other may feel overwhelmed.
One may believe they’re giving everything.
The other may feel that nothing they do is ever enough.
And sometimes, one partner may be completely unaware of how lonely the other has become.
Within the spiritual framework I use, we may explore whether the two souls are approaching the relationship through different lessons.
Perhaps one person is learning about boundaries while the other is learning about emotional availability.
Perhaps one is exploring independence while the other is learning to receive support.
But these are interpretations to consider, not facts that should override what either person says about their own experience.
A spiritual reading cannot replace an honest conversation between partners.
Nor should it be used to excuse harmful behaviour.
What I hope to offer is an opportunity for someone to see their situation from another perspective.
Sometimes that leads to compassion.
Sometimes it leads to a boundary.
Sometimes it helps someone recognize that a relationship needs to change.
And sometimes it helps them realize that they have more choices than they thought.
The decision remains theirs.
Sometimes the Most Ethical Thing We Can Do Is Not Say Everything
Last spring, I attended a fair with my friend Shelley, and we decided to have readings with a woman from Tibet.
She gave each of us a reading, and during mine, she began talking about my cat.
Now, I absolutely adored this cat.
She was a blessed little being with her own personality, her own quirks, and a very special place in my heart.
The psychic seemed particularly interested in her.
She talked about how much I loved my cat and mentioned some of the little things that made her who she was.
I remember feeling that she was circling around something.
It was almost as though there was more she could have said, but she chose not to.
Eventually, she moved on to another subject.
Two months later, my cat died.
And sometime afterward, I had a moment of realization.
I believed that the psychic had known.
I hadn’t known. Or perhaps some part of me hadn’t been willing to know.
Looking back, I wondered whether my cat had been trying to communicate something to me herself. I had been so deeply attached to her, and so unwilling to imagine life without her, that I may not have been receptive to what I now believe she was trying to tell me.
I think I remained in denial until the final week of her life.
But here’s the extraordinary thing.
I’m grateful that the psychic didn’t tell me.
If she had looked me in the eye that day and told me my beloved cat was going to die in two months, what would I have done?
I know myself.
I would have gone into fixing mode.
I would have spent those weeks worrying, searching for answers, looking for ways to heal her, and trying desperately to prevent something I couldn’t bear to imagine.
Of course, I would always want to provide whatever veterinary care she needed. But I know how easily fear can consume our attention when someone we love is suffering.
Instead, I spent those final weeks simply loving her.
I gave her my attention.
I enjoyed her company.
I appreciated all the little things that made her special.
I didn’t spend every moment counting down to a loss I was afraid to face.
I was able to be present with her.
And looking back, I believe that was exactly what she needed from me.
My love.
My attention.
My time.
I will never forget that psychic.
I have enormous respect for the restraint she showed, or what I understand now as restraint.
I can’t know exactly what she perceived that day. Perhaps she sensed something about my cat’s health or our relationship. Perhaps she simply felt that the love between us was the most important thing to emphasize.
But I believe she made a compassionate choice.
She didn’t burden me with a frightening prediction.
She directed my attention toward the love that was already there.
And that experience taught me something I will carry into my own spiritual work.
Just because we believe we’ve received information doesn’t mean sharing every detail will serve the person sitting in front of us.
That doesn’t mean we should conceal important information that someone needs in order to make an informed decision, particularly when health or safety is involved.
But there is a difference between offering useful guidance and presenting an uncertain future as an unavoidable event.
We need to consider why we’re sharing something.
Are we helping someone understand their choices?
Are we giving them information they can responsibly act upon?
Or are we placing a burden on them simply because we feel compelled to say everything that comes into our awareness?
I believe discernment is part of spiritual responsibility.
Sometimes guidance is about helping someone recognize what needs to change.
Sometimes it’s about helping them see a possibility they hadn’t considered.
And sometimes, perhaps, it’s simply about reminding them to love what is right in front of them.
Because we don’t always need to know how much time we have left with someone to understand how precious that time is.
Sometimes knowing would change the way we spend it.
And sometimes, love is better served by presence than prediction.
We Enter the Akashic Records Together
Another important part of my approach is that I don’t simply enter the Records on behalf of my clients while they wait for me to report what I’ve discovered.
We go in together.
Every reading begins with breathing exercises.
We synchronize our breathing, ground ourselves, and move into meditation.
Then I guide us through a visualization as we journey toward the Akashic Records together.
My client hears me speak the prayers I use to open the Records.
They participate in the process.
Within my spiritual practice, I understand this as helping us connect with the soul, the Higher Self, and the spiritual team of guides, teachers, and angels. Sometimes I experience guidance as coming from Creator.
But I don’t want the client to feel that I’m the only person capable of participating in that experience.
They’re coming with me.
And people tend to love that.
Once we’re in the Records, the client guides the reading through their questions.
We have a conversation.
They can explore a subject more deeply, change direction, or decide that something isn’t relevant to them.
I’m there to facilitate the experience, share what I receive, and help explore the information.
But I’m not there to take control.
The client remains the authority over their own life.
Why Closing the Records Matters
Just as we enter the Records together, we leave together.
At the end of a reading, we don’t simply stop talking and disconnect the Zoom call.
We consciously close the experience.
I guide us through the process of disconnecting and visualizing our journey back out of the Records.
We return our attention to our bodies and our everyday surroundings.
Within my spiritual practice, I understand this as an important way of maintaining healthy energetic boundaries and intending that neither person continues carrying the energy of the session afterward.
I believe spiritual work should have a clear beginning, middle, and end.
We prepare.
We explore.
We close.
And then each of us returns to our own life.
I don’t want clients feeling that they’ve left part of themselves behind.
And I don’t want to carry their experiences around with me for the rest of the day.
Your energy belongs to you.
Mine belongs to me.
We can be deeply present with another person without becoming responsible for everything they’re carrying.
We can offer compassion without absorbing someone else’s suffering.
And we can share a meaningful experience without remaining attached to it.
This is an important lesson for spiritual practitioners, especially those who identify as empaths or highly sensitive people.
Healthy boundaries aren’t a rejection of compassion.
They’re part of what allows us to practise compassion sustainably.
Confidentiality Is Part of Spiritual Responsibility
People sometimes share deeply personal information during an Akashic Records reading.
They may discuss family difficulties, relationship problems, fears, regrets, or experiences they haven’t spoken about openly before.
That information deserves respect.
A spiritual practitioner should never treat someone’s vulnerability as entertainment or casual conversation.
If we share examples from our work, we need to protect the identities and privacy of the people involved.
Changing a name isn’t always enough.
Sometimes details about a person’s circumstances, relationships, or location can make them recognizable.
And even when we believe a story could help others, that doesn’t automatically give us permission to share it.
I think it’s important to ask whether a story can be told responsibly, whether permission is needed, and whether sharing it truly serves a useful purpose.
Trust is a gift.
And it should be treated with care.
We Need to Know the Limits of Our Work
Another important part of ethics is understanding what spiritual work can and cannot responsibly provide.
An Akashic Records reading is not a substitute for medical care, mental health treatment, legal advice, or financial guidance.
It should not be used to diagnose an illness, establish whether someone is telling the truth, or determine whether a person should leave an unsafe relationship.
And spiritual interpretations should not be presented as independently verified facts.
When someone needs professional support, encouraging them to seek it is not a failure of spiritual practice.
It’s a recognition that different kinds of support serve different purposes.
I also think we need to be careful about the language we use when discussing soul contracts, karmic patterns, past lives, or spiritual attachments.
These ideas may be meaningful within a person’s spiritual worldview.
But they should never be used to frighten someone into believing they are cursed, trapped, powerless, or dependent on a practitioner to rescue them.
Fear is not a healthy foundation for spiritual development.
And no one should feel pressured to purchase additional sessions because they’ve been told something terrible will happen if they don’t.
Learning to Say “I Don’t Know”
I think one of the healthiest things a spiritual practitioner can learn is to become comfortable with uncertainty.
Sometimes an impression is unclear.
Sometimes we don’t understand what something means.
Sometimes a client asks a question and nothing useful comes through.
And sometimes our interpretation simply doesn’t resonate.
That’s okay.
We don’t have to fill every silence.
We don’t have to manufacture an answer.
And we don’t have to defend every impression as though our credibility depends on being right.
I would much rather acknowledge uncertainty than give someone a confident answer that might influence an important decision in their life.
Humility is not a weakness in spiritual work.
It’s a strength.
And I believe it becomes increasingly important as our experience grows.
Spiritual Teachers Have a Responsibility Too
When I teach students to access the Akashic Records, I want them to learn more than a method.
I want them to understand the responsibility that comes with working with another person’s questions, beliefs, and vulnerabilities.
We explore consent.
We discuss spiritual boundaries.
We examine the importance of personal filters and the way our own experiences can influence interpretations.
We talk about who we can ethically read for and when it’s appropriate to decline a question.
We learn to prepare ourselves, enter the Records intentionally, and close the experience afterward.
And we practise allowing the person receiving the reading to remain in control of their own process.
I don’t want to create practitioners who believe they have authority over other people’s souls.
I want to help students become thoughtful, responsible, compassionate people who understand the importance of personal sovereignty.
Because spiritual development shouldn’t make us less respectful of boundaries.
It should make us more aware of them.
The Difference Between Guidance and Control
There is a difference between offering someone a possibility and telling them what they must do.
There is a difference between exploring a soul lesson and declaring that someone is destined to suffer.
There is a difference between sharing an intuitive impression and insisting that it must be true.
And there is a difference between helping someone develop spiritual awareness and making them dependent on us for answers.
For me, ethical Akashic Records work comes down to remembering who owns the journey.
The person sitting across from me does.
Their questions belong to them.
Their experiences belong to them.
Their decisions belong to them.
And their future is still theirs to create.
My role is to accompany them for a little while.
To help them explore.
To listen.
To share what I receive with care and humility.
And to respect the fact that they may choose a different road than the one I might have chosen for myself.
That’s not a failure of the reading.
That’s personal sovereignty.
We Enter Together, We Explore Together, and We Leave Together
If I could summarize my approach to Akashic Records work in one sentence, it would be this:
We enter together, we explore together, and we leave together.
We begin with intention, breathing, grounding, meditation, and prayer.
We explore the questions that matter to the person receiving the reading.
We remain open to possibilities without becoming attached to a particular outcome.
And when we’re finished, we consciously close the experience and return to our own lives.
No one gives away their power.
No one becomes responsible for living someone else’s life.
And no one needs to surrender their judgment to a spiritual practitioner.
I believe the purpose of this work is to encourage greater awareness, understanding, and freedom.
Because the most meaningful spiritual guidance doesn’t tell you who you must become.
It helps you recognize that the choices are still yours.
And sometimes, that is the greatest gift of all.
Learn Ethical Akashic Records Reading with Crow Medicine Level 1
If you’ve been curious about learning to read the Akashic Records for yourself and others, I offer Crow Medicine Akashic Records Reading Level 1, a seven-week online certification course.
Alongside intuitive development, pendulum work, pathway prayers, soul profiles, soul gifts, and soul lessons, we explore the ethical foundations of working within the Records.
Students learn about consent, boundaries, spiritual preparation, responsible interpretation, and the importance of respecting another person’s free will.
My intention is to help students develop confidence without losing humility, and spiritual awareness without losing their grounding in everyday life.
Explore Crow Medicine Akashic Records Reading Level 1
With love,
Sue Crielaard
Vital Village Metaphysical
