Meaning of the Merkaba Symbol: What Can Jewish Mysticism Teach Us?

Diving into different cultural traditions can give us clues about the bigger spiritual framework we’re experiencing a small slither of. Each body of knowledge helps us connect the dots, where we see that despite the myriad interpretations, we’re all pointing at the same things here.

With that said, this article brings us to the Merkaba – A prominent symbol from ancient Hebrew and Egyptian cultures representing a spiritual vehicle that connects us to higher planes of existence.

Think of the Merkaba symbol as a three-dimensional, ethereal Star of David. Once activated, it protects, transforms, and expands consciousness – creating a bridge to higher realms of being.

Whether you’re familiar with the Merkaba or this is the first time you’ve heard of it, I’m going to break down what the Merkaba symbol is and why it’s a prominent theme in various spiritual and cultural traditions.

What Is the Merkaba Symbol?

The Merkaba symbol (also known as the Merkaba star due to its shape) represents a spiritual vessel that connects us to higher realms of consciousness. Once activated, this sacred geometrical form assists with spiritual transformation and the ascension of consciousness.

The Merkaba Symbol is generally depicted as two interconnected tetrahedrons spinning in opposite directions, creating an energy vortex around the person activating it. This motion creates an energy field around the person, activating the light body and transporting consciousness into higher planes of existence.

These opposite-directional tetrahedrons represent the divine masculine and feminine energies, with the downward-pointing tetrahedron representing the feminine and the upward tetrahedron representing the masculine. Together, they create balance, unity, and equilibrium among the material and spiritual dimensions.

Of course, because engines were not a thing back in the day, traditionally, the Merkaba symbol was seen as a spiritual chariot; a similar concept is found in many religions. However, with a modern interpretation, we can view the Merkaba as an engine that drives consciousness toward spiritual ascension and deeper (or more profound) dimensions of consciousness.

Think of the Merkaba as a tool that can assist consciousness in activating the light body (otherwise the subtle body or energy body depending on the interpretation). For example, anyone who is exploring spiritual modalities, energy healing, divination tools, psychic abilities, and spiritual crafts like astral projection must step into their light bodies to do so.

As the physical vessel (the body) only deals with the material realm, accessing any information from other dimensions must be done via the spiritual vessel (the light body). Stepping into the light body is a natural part of the spiritual ascension process, but often, we don’t know how to embody it. This is where the Merkaba plays a role – in assisting a person in activating their light body by bridging the physical and spiritual dimensions.

Different belief systems overlap, and various religions have interpretations of the Merkaba, including the Vimana in Hinduism and the Celestial Chariot in various shamanic beliefs.

A wise Ayahuasca shaman once told me that energies work through symbolism. As we wear, visualize, or draw symbols, different energies work their way through them, and the Merkaba is no exception. Visualizing things can have vague results at times, but because the Merkaba symbol is rooted in sacred geometry, it has a more profound effect on the subtle energy body than other visualizations may have.

The Merkaba Star and the Light Body

There’s a lot to wrap our heads around here when trying to understand the Merkaba and its function, but I’ll do my best to break this rather complicated concept down and iron out some terminology, so bear with me.

First off, every person has a soul that acts as the eternal driver of consciousness, or the node of the supercomputer we understand as god. Without some sort of vessel, consciousness is infinite, formless, and an inseparable part of the collective consciousness. However, for consciousness to experience individuality and enter dualistic realms, it needs a container to take it there.

If you imagine consciousness as the ocean – one unified body that is vast beyond measure – a soul is like scooping up some water with a bucket to separate one tiny portion from the collective.

See how this works?

Wherever consciousness goes, it must have a container to take it there; otherwise, ‘it’ wouldn’t exist. This container defines the soul as a separate experience of consciousness experiencing individuality rather than being an indistinguishable part of the collective, which we understand as ultimate reality – or the deepest layer of existence.

For your soul to incarnate into material reality, you need a physical container – a body. This is one of the many rules of our universe, that the soul must be bound to a body if it wants to experience existence here. What we’re experiencing comes from the soul -the pure essence of consciousness, while the body is the hardware that we are operating on.

Unfortunately, we’re an extremely advanced software operating on Windows 95, so only a very small fraction of our consciousness functions here.

But the body is just one container that pertains to this material realm. What happens when the soul ventures into the astral realms or higher planes of existence? It can’t take the physical body there, so it needs an ethereal container, which is what we understand as the light body.

Sure, it’s another container, but this one is like Windows 2008. Still limited in the grand scheme of things, but a much more advanced hardware than the physical body.

Here, the soul uses the light body as an interface when interacting with information from other realms. The light body is seen as a higher awareness, otherwise a bigger container for consciousness. This means that while you’re experiencing the light body you perceive existence from a higher vantage point.

The light body enables the soul to express itself in non-material realms. You can look at it as an energy suit for the soul’s interaction with different planes of existence (sort of like you would need a space suit if you want to travel in space).

So, the light body acts as a vessel of consciousness in the same way the physical body acts as a vessel of consciousness. They’re just different containers that operate in different realms.

I know you’re thinking… What does this have to do with the Merkaba? Well, there’s just one issue. How do we make the jump from the human body to the light body? The light body is always there, but most of us don’t know how to embody it.

Now we get to the good stuff – the Merkaba. The Merkaba symbol acts as a spiritual engine that helps activate the light body, allowing us to embody it. This process can take time and be gradual, but it’s best seen as a tool that can help you enter the light body and experience deeper layers of consciousness.

Embodying the light body is part of everyone’s spiritual journey as it grants us a higher awareness. You can activate your light body without the Merkaba, but it’s a powerful sacred geometrical symbol that can help, especially if you struggle to step into this higher part of yourself.

This can all be a little difficult to mentally untangle, so think of it like this:

• Consciousness: At the deepest level of reality, everything is consciousness – totality.
• The Soul: A small piece of consciousness experiencing individuality – the driver
• The Light Body: The energetic car that drives consciousness into other realities
• The Merkaba: The engine that powers the car

Now that hopefully, you have a decent idea of how this all works, let’s look at how you can use the Merkaba to activate the light body.

Merkaba Meditation: Activating Your Light Body

Talking about the light body, everyone has a light body, but most of us don’t know how to use it (or activate it). This is often why we fail to tap into spiritual abilities, energies, entities, and dimensions because we’re trying to enter space in a car.

There’s a little problem here…

The problem isn’t that you don’t have a spaceship hidden somewhere in this endless territory of consciousness; you just don’t know where it is (or how to operate it). This is where Merkaba meditation plays a role in helping you locate that spaceship and launch into the cosmos.

This is what the Merkaba does; after all, it builds a bridge to our light bodies, which in turn allows us to tap into non-material information.

As the Merkaba is an intrinsic part of our energetic anatomy, we can activate it when we:

• Feel spiritually blocked or stagnant.
• Feel out of balance
• Want to raise our vibration and access higher states of awareness.
• Aim to astral project or tap into higher bodies of information.
• Seek protection from negative energies.
• Desire a deeper connection with the universe and our higher selves

Merkaba meditation is a powerful practice for activating and aligning your light body. This involves specific breathing patterns, visualizations, and focused intention to engage the energy field around you. The most common way that people step into their light bodies is via Merkaba meditation.

Here’s a simplified guide:

1. Set your intentions: Setting intentions is like using a compass. Set your intentions to activate your light body via the Merkaba symbol.
   
2. Meditate: Close your eyes, create a rhythm with your breathing, and allow yourself to enter a deep meditative state (this may take some practice if you’re not a big meditator).
   
3. Visualize the Merkaba: Imagine the Merkaba engulfing your body, with one part rotating clockwise and the other counterclockwise. The Merkaba should be made of pure light, or gold light, and pay attention to the vibrations in your body as you spend some time visualizing the Merkaba spinning faster and faster as every breath powers it a little more.
   
4. Feel the Energy Activation: As the Merkaba is spinning so fast that it creates a blur of light around you, imagine yourself dissolving into this light. Pay attention to any sensations, such as vibrations, feelings of expansion, visuals, and non-ordinary phenomena. Don’t resist anything that comes up, and allow yourself to step further outside of your body, knowing that you’re protected.
   
5. Bring it back: Slowly bring your focus back to your physical body. When you feel ready, open your eyes and carry this energy into your day.

You may feel something instantly when activating the Merkaba, but often, it’s a gradual process of awakening consciousness via repetition. The better you get at the practice of activating the Merkaba, the more you will notice yourself stepping into your light body, which creates space for a higher expression of consciousness and the offset of more regular mystical experiences.