What is kabbalah’s use of rings? While not as widespread as kabbalah red string bracelets or necklaces, the kabbalah ring is also a public display of one’s alignment, as well as one’s right to speak and act on behalf of tikkun haolam (the fixing-up of the present cosmos). The kabbalah ring carries on the tradition that a monarch’s signet ring carried the power to seal documents in his name, and that this power could be entrusted to emissaries; the wedding ring from groom to bride, similarly, demonstrates the groom’s trust in the bride to act on his behalf (as well as to possess, as dowry, the gold of which the ring was made).
The ring generally proclaims a Hebrew thought as well. Two phrases from Shir Hashirim (the Song of Songs) are used for both kabbalah ring and wedding ring, due to their rich symbolism: “Ani ledodhi wedodhi li” (I am my lover’s and my lover is mine), and “Zeh dodhi wzeh rei” (This is my lover and this is my friend). A kabbalah ring may simply contain the letter shin, representing Shaddai, one of the 10 names of God that represents all-sufficiency and close personal relationship.
Therefore a kabbalah ring, like a hamsa necklace, proclaims not only one’s intent to do what is right in service of the cosmos and one’s fellow human, but one’s express commission to do so. And what is kabbalah’s understanding of how one is commissioned? The fact that the cosmos has permitted and graced one to enter into covenant with it, committing wholeheartedly to seek that which is more than Self, is sufficient commission to act on behalf of what is right.
Like other physical and technical aspects of kabbalah, red string bracelets and the kabbalah ring make use of the universal energy flowing through one’s body. Physicists have lately found this universal energy, which literally holds all parts of the cosmos together, and they have proven scientifically that it is many times stronger than what we typically think of as energy, which merely adjusts parts of the cosmos from one state to another. Universal energy is generally discounted because there is no known natural way to extract it: its extraction is supernatural.
Most miracles are not displays of great physical power but displays of great order: transfiguration (Moses), healing, resurrection, translation (Elijah and others), multiplication of resources (Chanukkah). Universal energy, many times more powerful than the largest supernova, refuses to budge from its hidden position of continuing to establish the cosmos, unless it works through a highly ordered soul. Thus the lifetime process of ordering one’s soul through kabbalah disciplines is commended. Jewelry and particularly crystals have been known to mark the body (the head and heart, the hand and fingers) as a receiving channel for universal energy, but only insofar as the soul welcomes external light by constant self-restriction.
Without giving special favor to any particular kabbalah store, or ordinary considerations of price and workmanship, a significant question in selection of jewelry and physical symbols is this: does this symbol represent my highest conception of the ultimate, Ein Sof? As related examples, most those who wear “WWJD” bracelets clearly intend by them to represent their highest conception of God; while those who wear “Livestrong” bracelets may be intending to represent either their highest conception (the life of the cosmos) or a lower subconception (human life on this planet).
Physical symbols should never become items that one manufacturer or guild can monopolize or capitalize on. Concentrate on function, not form. Although it is traditional to spare no expense in obtaining just the “right” physical symbol, the kabbalistic principle of responsibility requires that one not spend uncritically as if under pressure. One’s expenses above the market value of merchandise should be designated as gifts, voluntarily given to the merchant; if one feels any hesitation, it suggests disharmony in the transaction and indicates that some other overlooked way of fulfilling the function is available to one. Avail yourself of such signals to ensure thorough peace in what you possess in this life.