El-ginnat egoz yarad’ti lirot b’ibay hanachal

I went down to the nut grove,
To see the new green by the brook. (Song of Songs 6:11)

We usually go up to a higher place to see… but sometimes we need to go down. We need to descend into our own depths and use a different kind of vision to penetrate the complexities within. We enter the nut grove with an eye toward cracking that nut whose hard exterior hides a delicious treasure. And our inner journey takes us to the nachal, which is a kind of stream that flows intermittently. (The Arabic word would be a wadi; the Spanish word, an arroyo.) The “new green” that sprouts up in that nachal is mysterious and miraculous… . found only by those who have the insight and courage to “go down” and explore the hidden places.

To view context from Shir HaShirim through the Love at the Center project, click Shir HaShirm (Matot).

To hear the chant, use the audio players. To download a chant, right-click the note and save (or download) the linked MP3 file.

• Going Down To See (melody)  
• Going Down To See (harmony)  
• Going Down To See (mix)  

To download the PDF file for this chant, click Going Down To See PDF.

Lo yadati nafshi samatni markevot ami-nadiv

And oh, before I knew it,
She sat me down in the most noble of chariots. (Song of Songs 6:12)

The preconscious is the part of the mind below the level of immediate conscious awareness from which memories and emotions that have not been repressed can be recalled. Our spiritual practice can facilitate that recollection.

When we receive the Divine gaze and let in love, and feel seen and known, we realize our true identity. We re-member, allowing the truth of our nobility to rise up from the preconscious into glorious awareness. When that remembrance happens, we can take our place in “the most noble of chariots,” which is the vehicle that allows us access to all worlds and dimensions of being.

To view context from Shir HaShirim through the Love at the Center project, click Shir HaShirm (Massei).

To hear the chant, use the audio players. To download a chant, right-click the note and save (or download) the linked MP3 file.

• Before I Knew It (melody)  
• Before I Knew It (harmony)  
• Before I Knew It (mix)  

< To download the PDF file for this chant, click Before I Knew It PDF. For the musical notation, click Before I Knew It notation PDF.

K’felach harimon rakataych mi’ba’ad l’tzamataych

The curve of your cheek like a pomegranate
hidden behind the thicket of your hair. (Song of Songs 6:7)

The pomegranate is mentioned a few times in the song. It is a fruit that leads me to explore the multi-layered complexity within the Unity of Love. The lover’s face is veiled in mystery. Beyond that veil her face is opened to reveal smooth skin, a complex husk that hides treasures of sweetness; at the center of each treasure- another seed. They say there 613 of those treasures hidden in the husk of this fruit, corresponding to the Mitzvot of Torah. The high Priest had embroidered pomegranates and golden bells on the hem of his robe. Each step sounded the tantalizing song of holiness and lured us with the fruit of the Promised Land.

How do we navigate the complexity, the multiplicity of our human journey with all its myriad forms and layers… without losing our focus on the Unity? How do we dive deep into those layers to excavate the sweetness… and not get lost?

To view context from Shir HaShirim through the Love at the Center project, click Shir HaShirm (Chukat).

To hear the chant, use the audio players. To download a chant, right-click the note and save (or download) the linked MP3 file.

• The Secret of the Pomegranate (1)  
• The Secret of the Pomegranate (2)  
• The Secret of the Pomegranate (mix)  

To download the PDF file for this chant, click The Secret of the Pomegranate PDF. For the musical notation, click The Secret of the Pomegranate notation PDF.

Achat hi yonati tamati,
achat hi l’imah bara hi l’yola’d’tah
(One Alone)

One alone is my dove, my perfect one,
One alone so luminous in her mother’s heart. (Song of Songs 6:9)

This is a love-song celebrating Unity consciousness. Though Reality appears to us as multiplicity (sixty queens, eighty concubines, young maidens beyond number), the awakened inner eye knows and sees it All as One, sourced in and emanating from the Great mother-womb of Being.

To view context from Shir HaShirim through the Love at the Center project, click Shir HaShirm (Balak).

To hear the chant, use the audio players. To download a chant, right-click the note and save (or download) the linked MP3 file.

• One Alone (melody)  
• One Alone (underchant 1)  
• One Alone (underchant 2)  
• One Alone (mix)  

To download the PDF file for this chant, click One Alone PDF.