Guided Meditation: Spirit Garden

The following is a guided meditation. By becoming familiar with one's interior landscape, it becomes easier to utilize personal energies as well as manage one's thoughts and mental states. This guided meditation is a variant of one that I was taught in the early days practicing Wicca. It remains a useful tool. I like to revisit my spirit garden to gain a better insight into my internal state and initiate changes within. I use this meditation on a monthly basis for introspection. It can also be used for communication with the Divine. Preface given, let us proceed on to the script. Some may find that recording the script and playing it back whilst meditating is useful. This may be something you wish to consider as you apply it within your own practices.



Breathe deep. Feel the air filling your lungs. Hold it in for a moment and then let it ease out. Exhale slowly, letting the tensions and worries go out of your body with your breath. Wait a moment, aware of your heart beating in your chest and the feeling of waiting in your lungs. Inhale slowly, savoring the cool air moving through your nose, down your throat, and into your chest. Feel your lungs filling like balloons, pleasantly stretching out to accommodate your breath.



Exhale and feel all of the tension pass out of you, dissipating with your breath into the air. Now, as you inhale, the state of relaxation deepens. A feeling of serenity fills you even as your lungs fill with air. When you exhale, all lingering anxiety and tension fades. You are now in a state of deep peace and comfort, like when you are on the edge of sleep and yet aware.



In this state of peace, you begin to visualize a door, an entry into a hidden, secret place within yourself. This is a place known only to you and is sacred, for it is a part of you. Within your hand, there is a key for this door. You unlock this door and pass through, turning to lock it again from the other side, maintaining the safety of this sacred place. You are safe from all harm here. Within this place of spirit, no one might enter unless you allow them and no ill will can touch you here. You are completely safe, for this is a part of you.



As you turn from the door, you find yourself before a vast garden that stretches as far as the eye can see. It is filled with all manner of green, growing things. Flowers of every color; trees and bushes; even things that are not plants of this world, fantastic, wondrous things from your dreams meet your eye. This garden is the garden of your spirit. As you walk through it, you realize that many of these plants correspond to your dreams, desires, and goals. You find that there are plants that relate to your personality traits as well. As you become acquainted with your spirit garden, you realize that it is a landscape that reflects your soul in all its multiple facets.



Places that are healthy and pleasing to the eye are the healthy parts of yourself that you are comfortable with. Places that are healthy yet unappealing are the parts of yourself that you are uncomfortable with but healthful. Places that are unhealthy are the part of you that are likewise ailing. Negative habits appear as invasive plants, weeds, and plant diseases. This includes the unhealthy thoughtforms that are the basis of these habits.



You will also find there are place in your garden that lead to parts of your mind. One leads to where your dreams take shape. Another path leads you to where you have hidden parts of your spirit, even from yourself. Yet another path leads to where you present yourself to the world. Many, many different paths lead through this garden and are lined with the plants that represent the thoughts associated with their destination.



At the center of the garden, enclosed by that which protects it, is a structure that is the most sacred part of this garden. It is where you commune with the Divine. The structure is as simple or complex as you deeply believe the ideal place of worship would be. Within, there is an icon that represents the deities you believe in. When you go within, the icons transform into living figures of these deities. They are the deities' presence within you. They speak with wisdom and the truth that the deities are known for. At this structure, there is everything present that you might worship them as fully as your heart desires.



Linger in this place. Take a few minutes to speak with the Divine within. When you feel as though it is time to discontinue your conversation, respectfully take your leave of them. As you exit your inner temple of the heart, the figures transform back into the icons. You then proceed along the path back to the doorway into this place. As you go, you feel at peace and loved. At the door, you take out your key and unlock it. You proceed through and then lock it behind you, ensuring the safety and sanctity of this space within.



You become aware of your heartbeat and the pulsing of your veins. Then you become aware of your breathing. As you breathe, you become increasingly aware of your environment and surrounding. The feelings of peace and relaxation remain. Then, you become aware of the sensation of your clothing and the sounds of the space you are in. When you feel fully alert, open your eyes, remembering all that has passed in this meditation.