Part 1 needs only be done once, each subsequent time you can skip straight to part 2 if it’s been a while, or 3 if you are practising regularly. (You can repeat Part 1 if your connection with the energetic source feels like it has substantially changed, though I would recommend keeping your symbol as stable as possible in order to nurture the feeling that this place is stable for you, and remind you that the symbolism isn’t as important as the connection you are symbolising. Think of it somewhat similarly to naming yourself, you wouldn’t change your name every day depending on how you feel, but you may adopt a new name if you were reidentifying yourself.)

Part 1: Finding your key

• Close your eyes, relax, and be still in yourself.
• Consider how you envision the source of the energy of life. If you have no conventional image of the ‘divine’, focus on what connects you most to a sense of energetic beauty and harmony (It may well be an abstract feeling such as connection, inspiration, or balance).
• Contemplate your connection with this source. How do you interact with this feeling? Make the abstract more concrete – try to focus on one thing that represents this feeling best for you. (For example, I feel most connected to the source of the energy of life when I see/hear/smell a flight of geese/bells/lavender.)
• Allow this personal connection to provide you with a simple symbol. (For example, a flight of geese could be a V.)

This symbol is both the key and the door to the sanctuary of life. It is your unique connection to the source of life, a dedicated waveband that you alone are wired to pick up. A personal symbol that nobody else can use in the same way (even if they have the same symbol).

Part 2: Forming your key

• Close your eyes, relax, and be still in yourself.
• Sense/see/feel the nature of your personal symbol of the source of life. Tune in to the unique quality that makes it harmonious and beautiful.
• Become aware of your symbol turning into form (light/colour) and shaping itself into a key in your hands.
• Practice forming the key and returning it to its own form, thanking it each time for its help.

Part 3: Finding the door

Once you complete this part, always complete Part 5 too (so that your Sanctuary is left symbolically safe).

• Close your eyes, relax, and be still in yourself.
• Form your key in your hand.
• Become aware of the urge your key has to find the door it opens. Allow it to guide you in the right direction, like a divining rod.
• Your key leads you to a door and leaps from your hand to the keyhole.

Part 4: Entering the Sanctuary

• Take your time, breathe, centre yourself & open the door only when it feels right for you.
• Experience what lies behind the door, knowing this is the place and presence of the sanctuary of the energy of life. In this place of supreme harmony and balance, you are held safely. Your personal understanding of the energy of life is authentic, no one can alter or deny it.
• Spend whatever time you need here interacting with your sanctuary. You can safely release anything that is feeling heavy/dirty/fearful/etc, trusting the sanctuary’s power to transmute everything safely back into the source.
• This sanctuary is also where your soul can be safe while you sleep. Entering the sanctuary before sleep can be a nice bedtime practice.

Your Mantle

• If you are feeling vulnerable, ask the sanctuary for a beam of loving, strong, protective light from the source of life to find and enclose you, creating a mantle of light. This mantle offers you safety and security, a piece of the source that you can surround yourself with wherever you are every day.
• If you are feeling polluted, your mantle of light can become a shower of cleansing that removes residues and pollutants.

Part 5: Leaving the Sanctuary

• When you leave the sanctuary, give thanks. Return through the door wearing your mantle. Close your door, turn your key, and take your key with you.
• Return your key to its usual form with thanks.

If you entered your sanctuary before sleep, don’t forget to leave in the morning when you wake.

Optional practice: Shrine

If you find ‘imagining’ difficult, this is a way you can more easily ‘see’ and ‘interact with’ what you are focusing on. Even if you have a vivid imagination, having a reminder in the physical world can help you nurture your connection with the concepts you are working with.

• Create a shrine for the energy of life. The purpose is to encourage that presence to become stronger to you and for you. It can be as simple as an allocated space on a shelf, or as elaborate as a fully decorated surface.
• Place something in your shrine that represents your source of the energy of life.
• Light a candle and spend some time each day with the presence of your connection to the source of the energy of life.

Note

The Sanctuary is a place I use in other meditations. Getting familiar with interacting with it is a good first step to practice if you want to work with more of my intentional meditations.

(Adapted from The Psychic Protection Handbook)