In this meditation you take an inner journey to find answers or find healing. In this we use the energy and symbology of a tree to carry your imagination and we work with the divine spirit of the deva of the tree to connect you to the healing or information you seek.

Give yourself a block of 10 minutes or more of uninterrupted time, and choose a day when the weather is comfortable for you.

Find a large tree nearby that you feel some affinity for. It can be one in your own garden or perhaps in a nearby park or forest. Allow yourself to feel a genuine sense of affection for the tree and a genuine appreciation that it exists in the same world as you. This tree will be the vehicle for your inner journey and it will keep you safe while you travel there.

Close your eyes and stand, sit or lay down at this tree, getting comfortable.

Imagine that your consciousness can travel inside the tree itself, deep into its roots, to a world of earth and roots, sap running. Feel it with all your senses. Notice how all this opens up into a well-lit earthen cave within the roots of the tree.

Be comfortable there for a while and state your intentions clearly in your mind. This is when you want to be clear about the questions you want answers to, or the loving support you are requesting. Recognize that you are asking this of a divine presence - like a prayer to the angel of the tree.

As you explore this earthen cave, you notice how, around the perimeter of the cave, several passageways branch off. They all have a different appearance and feel to them. Perhaps each passageway seems to glow with a different colour, reflecting the light or place that lies beyond the entrance. Look at each one and choose the one that feels the best for you to explore.

When and if you are ready, go into the passageway of the one you feel right to explore and see what kind of world seems to lie beyond the entrance. If you are not ready, feel free to disengage from the whole exercise and bring your imagination right back into the here and now. If you feel ready, walk through the doorway to see what lies beyond.

Your experience of this place will be unique. You may find yourself on a forest path, in this time or in another era. You may find yourself in a grey city world, a brightly lit rainbow-type place or surrounded by water or fog. You may find yourself in a place that you might think heaven looks like, or in your own back yard. If this feels too intense of uncomfortable you can withdraw fully at any time. Just disengage from the whole exercise and bring your imagination right back into the here and now.

Walk along this path, noticing with all your senses what the place is like. Notice the scents, the temperature, the density of the air, the sounds, the textures. As you walk along this path, you may discover a wise being - an angel perhaps - who greets you and has a package for you. There may be several of these angels. Notice what they seem to be like. Perhaps they are bright beings of light - some green or violet or red. Perhaps they appear like tree people. Perhaps they seem to be wise old men or women. Your experience of them will be unique. They represent your connection to the divine and the information and healing they are offering comes from a place of higher wisdom and order.

The package that you are being shown contains the information or healing you are looking for. Notice the details of the package. It may appear to be a box that glows with a certain coloured light. It may be a simple package wrapped in brown paper or gift wrap. It may be made of wood or stone or another substance that you are unfamiliar with. Open it or watch as this wise being opens it for you to show you the special object inside it.

Notice what the object is and what the wise being does with it or asks you to do with it. Carry on a conversation in your mind with this being to get to know what is being given to you and how it works. If you are unclear, ask for clarity. This angel can speak telepathically, or change your inner senses or feelings to impart the knowledge directly into you. It may place the object somewhere in your body to complete a healing. It may tell you the object is "Truth" or some other quality.

When you have received what you came for, accept and acknowledge the gift and return along the path you took to the earthen cave. Then allow your imagination or consciousness to leave that world of earth and roots and sap running and back into your everyday awareness of the here and now.

This exercise does not require a deep meditative state. It may begin as a light exercise in imagination, and then deepen as it progresses, or it may stay light. Too deep a meditative state can prevent you from taking an active part in the journey. Often the most profound answers come when just lightly touching down in a place that may even seem like your imagination.

There are no right or wrong ways to do a meditation. The instructions are guidelines; adapt them to who you are and to your needs at that particular time. Be curious about the process itself.

Remember most meditations become richer the more you practice them. They reveal more of themselves. It can take practice to remember to do a meditation when you need to, and it can take practice to go through the steps. But that's why it is called practice, and for most of us, we practice for the rest of our lives.

Meditations like these are a regular feature of my free monthly Ezine, Starry Night. Subscribe today!

All content Copyright © Janet Dane unless otherwise stated.