The Merkaba

The Merkaba comes from Hebraic tradition, and it refers to a vision described by Ezekiel. Merkaba means “chariot,” and Ezekiel was describing the throne/chariot of God, which he described as a four-wheeled vehicle that four Cherubim with four wings and four faces each (faces of a man, lion, ox, and eagle)inhabited. According to Jewish biblical interpretation, the Merkaba is not a real thing, but rather Ezekiel’s analogy for the ways God reveals himself in the world.

Later merkaba additions by rabbinic scholars throughout the ages included detailed descriptions of the seven heavens, layered over one another and guarded by angels, encircled by flames and lightning. The highest heaven contained seven palaces, also concentric, and in the central palace rested the divine image of God’s glory seated on a throne, surrounded by a heavenly host singing his praises.

This vision, you may have noticed, is not unique to Judaism. Mystics and visionaries in Christian and even Islamic traditions have often described similar images of heaven. Later, it became combined with individual ascent traditions, and mystics and ecstatics both described seeing these things during divine trance.

The chariot is actually constructed of the cherubim called Chayot, or animals; each has a body like a human, but with four faces described above to represent the four directions. Two of the four wings of the Chayot spread across the length of the chariot, connecting with the angel on each side to create the walls of the chariot. Below, other angels shaped into wheels are at the base of the chariot, creating a “wheel inside of a wheel.” Seraphim, or burning angels, power the movement of the chariot. In heavenly hierarchy, seraphim are closest to God, followed by the Chayot, and then the Ophannim, the wheels. The Merkaba is constantly moving, with the Chayot in control of the Ophannim and the Chayot controlled by the Seraphim. God, within the Merkaba, controls the whole.

The Hasidic interpretation, which is pretty coherent, states that the Chayot faces represent the four basic archetypes God used as a pattern for the world: lion=fire, ox=water, eagle=earth, and man=wind. The way these things combine is the Ophannim, the wheel determining combination. Because God cannot drive the chariot when the four angels don’t have wings connected, we cannot understand him by looking at the four elements individually. When we see how these elements coexist despite their internal opposition of nature, we start to understand how God acts through them.

The imagery of the Merkaba is also reflected in tarot, where the four creatures show up in The World as well as in a few other places. In other forms of mysticism, the Merkaba is used to teach how a man can make a sublime journey to God, and then draw His divine powers down to Earth. The seeker moving through the heavens and the palaces must not only have been properly purified, but also be able to get through the angelic guards by understanding and having memorized the correct incantations, seals, and angelic names, in essence reciting a mantra. He must also understand how to use the forces within the heavens.

New Age teachings are a little different. The merkaba is transmuted into two tetrahedral of light, interlocked to form a three-dimensional Star of David and in such a way that their center is shared with one tetrahedron pointing up and the other pointing down. This form is called a stella octangula or a Star Tetrahedron. By imagining this figure in motion, with each tetrahedron rotating opposite the other, and using particular prana breathing techniques and other things, the contemplater can activate a saucer-shaped energy field anchored in the kundalini which can bring one’s consciousness to higher dimensions. The simple act of focus involved in visualizing such a complex figure undoubtedly works to put the contemplator in a trance.

The idea behind this version of the Merkaba is that the field generated is a balance of male and female energies which contains the soul and higher self. By focusing on the Merkaba, the meditator can transcend this world.