MEDITATION ON DIVINE PROTECTION
Like an apple among trees, so is my beloved.
I sit within his comforting shadow;
I taste his sweet, refreshing fruit.
It brings me to a state of inebriation.
Sheltering me under his love;
Sustaining me, comforting me;
I am helpless under his banner of love.
His left [arm] is under my head;
His right embraces me.
Song of Songs 2:3-6
The divine protection practice is designed to empower the inner guide that protects us as we go through life. This is also an important place of safety and healing as we engage in other deep meditative practices.
1. Close your eyes and sit quietly, observing the movement of the chest as you breathe. Do this for at least five minutes.
2. Imagine that you are on a wonderful vacation, lying on a beach on a warm sunny day, listening to the surf.
3. Imagine that you are now floating on your back in the water in perfect safety and comfort. You are being supported by an unsinkable foam cushion that is securely fastened to your body. You have absolutely nothing to fear because you are in a bubble of protection and nothing can harm you, yet you can experience nature and the sea around you in their fullness.
4. Now, allow yourself to realize that the cushion and the protection around you are really a form of divine embrace; you are in the arms of God, perfectly safe, relaxed, floating on a sea of love. Enter this experience fully, taking as much time as you wish, dwelling in the embrace of the Divine.
5. Imagine that this is a source of divine protection and is available to you whenever you call on it. Ask it to give you a name, a word, or a symbol by which you will be able to summon it in the future. Let this name, word, or symbol sink deeply into your memory.
6. Now imagine that you are back on the beach, lying in the sun, relaxed.
7. Two or three times, use the name, word, or symbol to enter into the embrace of the Divine, and then come back to the beach. In this way you will become accustomed to summoning the divine protection.
8. When you are ready, open your eyes. Know that your individual angel of protection is always available at a moment's notice.
This meditation of divine protection is often used as a daily practice until it becomes second nature to call upon the light of healing and safety whenever and wherever you feel the need. It is also useful to have instant access to a source of inner protection as you enter more deeply into your spiritual work. There will be times when you want to call on it. The more you practice with this image, the more powerful it becomes.
As we strengthen this image through practice, we begin to realize that it is a major aspect of our intimate guardian angel. In Jewish mysticism, angels take many forms. Sometimes we see them; sometimes they speak with us. Sometimes we know they are present because we feel a strange little nudge. Most of the time, we simply experience a presence on a level of intuition, as a mystical experience.
In kabbalistic meditation, we do not have to wait for the guardian angel to make itself known to us; we can call upon it, we can empower it through our inner work, and the amazing vitality of kabbalistic interaction is that the more we empower our guardian angel, the more it empowers us. In this way, we are able to develop a symbiotic relationship, giving and taking, generating enormous spiritual potential. If you work daily with this power of protection and healing, you will quickly discover its extraordinary benefit.