Biblical Sacred Ground

Oak of Mamre.

We concluded our exploration of the Physical or Assiyatic Tree with two sessions in which we focussed on how Sacred Ground is depicted in the Bible. On 30th November we started with some stories from Genesis.

The Matriarchs and Patriarchs of the early chapters of the Hebrew Bible can come alive to us through their stories; stories that are deeply grounded in the landscape of the Holy Land and within the 'down to earth' lives the Hebrew people experienced as they tended their crops and herds.

Bible stories begin in Genesis, with a vision of a 'good and pleasing' garden:

Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. 9 The LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Genesis 2:8-9

Kabbalistically, the eating of the fruit of knowledge can be understood as the ego awareness and physical experience that each soul embraces in leaving the inner Eden and taking human birth. Yet the deeper spiritual vision remains within the soul and can be awakened at any moment, as we see happening for characters such as Abraham & Sarah, Jacob & Rebekah and Moses & Miriam:

Genesis 18:1

The LORD appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day.  

Genesis 28:16-17

When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” 17 He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.”

Exodus 3:1-4

Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. 3 So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.”

 4 When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!”

   And Moses said, “Here I am.”

Each of these Biblical characters sets us a wonderful example in waking up and becoming present ("Here I am") to the divine dimension of the everyday ground of our lives!


In meditation, we took our symbol of the Inner Garden and explored it through a biblical form. We imagined ourselves travelling back in time to visit the great trees of Mamre and to enter the Cave of Machpelah (which still exist in a changed form to this day). There we were able to envision an inner encounter with a Biblical Matriarch or Patriarch and ask for and receive their understanding and wisdom, which proved to be a powerful and inspiring exercise.