Find an appropriate place to stand or sit,
Or preferably even lying down for this meditation and guided visualization of the book of Ezekiel and Ezekiel's magnificent vision.
Settle in.
Enjoy yourself.
We don't often pause to think just how awesome it is to be and to be ourself.
It's beautiful,
All the things the human body is capable of.
Breathing,
Respiration,
Digestion,
Pulse and motivation.
The incredible experience of existence that we get to share for a brief moment.
This guided visualization will take you to some far-flung places.
It may be unnerving or even scary.
If it is,
Just enjoy your breath.
Enjoy the place you're in.
Settle into your glorious and unique body.
For all it's worth.
Start with some wonderful breath.
Deeply in,
Slowly out a few times.
Go inside,
Drawing into deeper stillness.
And greater quiet.
Perhaps the darkness of space is far behind your eyes.
Breathe deep and imagine yourself on a riverbank.
A comfortable and familiar spot you might go to picnic,
To rest or meditate.
Settle into the space in your mind's eye,
Giving it shape and form.
Sketching out its contours.
Even imagining the sounds or smells you might experience.
A gentle wind is blowing from the north,
Across the river,
Stirring the water.
You look and see a dense and powerful cloud.
A piece of sunshower,
The rain and storm is also illumined by the sun.
And a fiery radiance within.
The cloud approaches and you can discern forms inside the cloud.
Human-like forms,
Four of them.
Emerging from the storm.
The image scares you,
Just breathe deeply.
Moving through it,
This is only one possible vision.
The figures are human and winged at the same time.
Each figure has four wings but only one single pillar-like leg.
And the figures that emerge out of the cloud sparkle.
Like polished metal.
Glowing a golden amber.
Human hands,
Four wings.
And the wings of each figure glances and touches the wings of each other figure.
They do not walk,
They move of their own accord.
On a zephyr,
As if propelled by thought.
If this imagery discomforts you,
That's okay.
Take deep breaths.
In all the way,
Out slowly.
Moving and flowing with the unease.
Knowing that this vision,
This imagery,
Is only one of many possible visions.
It will not last or pursue you.
Each of these four figures has four faces as you look closer.
The human face you've already observed but in their turning and appearance,
They have the face of a lion,
The face of an ox,
And a face like an eagle.
And their wings are separate,
And their wings are separate but touching,
Covering their cells,
Impelled by an inner spirit to move without moving.
Breathe in deeply,
Out a long breath.
Out.
Resting,
Unmoved,
But amazed in this vision and its glory.
Among these figures is a light dancing the way a fire might in a fireplace.
The way electricity would leap from source to source.
The way a torch or a flashlight might move in the night,
Issuing forth radiance,
Flaring among and between these figures.
These multifaceted,
Winged figures,
Strong on their pillar-like leg.
Attending more closely,
Drawing your attention within,
You see wheels below each.
Leaning wheels,
Polished stone,
Segmented by a crosswise wheel.
Wheels within wheels.
Breathing in deeply at the magnificence of the great,
Breathing out slowly to calm your beating hearts.
These wheels,
Like the great and good figures above them,
Seem to move of their own accord without turning or twisting,
But constantly impelled by the motion in the direction they choose and seek.
And on the rim of each wheel,
Perhaps mystifying,
Perhaps frightening,
Knowing eyes rest,
Viewing out from each wheel and each cross piece of wheel.
The wheels move in conjunction with the figures above.
The figures four,
That each have four faces,
Human,
Lion,
Ox,
Eagle,
Four wings,
A single imposing leg move in tandem with these wheels within wheels that themselves have sight.
Bursting forth from cloud.
You don't need to make sense of this vision,
Just witness it with appreciation and generosity of spirit.
And there is a motive force of these creatures within the wheels.
When one moves,
The other moves,
They move together in conjunction.
But above these creatures is something excellent,
Something more,
A gleam like a crystal flows down upon them and spreads out over them.
And these figures' wings extend and reach and their motion is stilled in the gleam that covers above them.
When you're breathing,
You are calm,
Amazed,
But perhaps unperturbed.
And when the wings and these figures move,
You can hear the sounds of rushing waters,
The sounds of armies on the march,
The silencing an awesome din,
The silencing an awesome din of forces you can scarcely understand.
Above the interlocking visionary wheels,
Above the figures of one leg and four wings and four facets,
Above the gleam that shines and floats,
Something like a throne,
A sapphire seat,
And a dimly perceived figure.
Amber and flame and radiance descend from the fabulous and dimly perceived figure through the sapphire seat,
Through the gleaming radiance,
Through the figures that express themselves in lightning and flare,
Through the wheels that interlock improbably,
And over and through and piercing it all,
A supernal light like the light of an improbably bright rainbow.
And all you can know is awe and mystery.
Rest yourself in the mystery and the awe and an expansive consciousness.
Let the vision fade.
Your mind can't hold it any longer.
Let yourself be disturbed,
Perturbed,
And changed as you return.
Open your eyes when you're ready.
