[Soresbox]

Well, I can't speak about the nature of guides or the subconcious mind, I can tell you that you can never "know" in the tradition sense. For the same reason you can never know if the other persons responding to these posts, or the people you see walking around the world everyday are even conscious. Its all subjective. We assume that our fellow man is conscious, because he acts like he is. Because he behaves in a similar way as the only person that you know without a doubt is conscious: yourself.

So what it all comes down to is where you draw the line between "enough" and "not enough" evidence to support your beliefs. I imagine for many of the people that experience these events, the reality and fidelity of the experience more than enough evidence.

Only you can be the judge, because only you (each of us individually) are capable of making a determination on subjective information. Which is in contrast to objective information that can be proved, irrespective of the observer (incorrect oversimplification, but close enough, if you've followed this far).

If these topics interest you, you should take a college class, or read up on some introductory philosophy, which may help you get a handle on "what we know and how we know it".