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Temple of the Sacred Spiral
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The earliest mention of the word Chakra in written literature is in the Vedas where Vishnu, a major Indian male deity, was described as descending to Earth having in his forearms a Chakra, a lotus flower, a club and a conch shell. (approximately 2000 BC) Yogic systems which systemised the Chakras may go back even earlier. Systems involving seven levels, as does the Chakra system, are quite common e.g. the seven cosmic rays of creation in theosophy, and the seven days of creation, the seven seals, the seven angels, the seven virtues, the seven deadly sins, and the seven stars in Revelation in Christianity, the seven horizontal levels of the tabala, the seven colours of the rainbow, the seven notes in the Western major scale, the seven days in the week, the seven ages of life, the seven planets known to the ancients, the periodic table of elements in a pattern of seven, being some instances. However, throughout the history of the Chakras, the number of major chakras has varied from five to nine. In addition there are many other minor Chakras in the body e.g. the legs and arms.
Described as a wheel-like spinning vortex the Chakra is a pointed intersection and it is the seven major Chakras along the spinal column that are of the greatest significance and have the highest number of correlations. These Chakras (wheels or lotuses) are resonance nodes or vortices acting as store houses of vital energy. The word Chakra also means lotuses and therefore can be thought of as the unfolding of flower petals which metaphorically describe the opening of a Chakra. Like lotuses Chakras have petals which vary in number from Chakra to Chakra (from bottom to top or seeks 10, 12, 16 to 1000 petals). These Chakras are seven basic energy centres within the subtle body which is the non-physical psychic body that is superimposed on our physical bodies. It is experienced as thoughts and feelings and can be measured as electromagnetic force fields that are found within and around all living creatures and can be photographed using Kirlian techniques. On a physical level they correspond to nerve ganglia where there is a high degree of nervous activity and also to glands in the endocrine system. While they are interdependent with nervous and endocrine systems they are not thought to be as synonymous with any portion of the physical bodies. However their effect on the physical body is strong for it is believed that the physical body shapes itself around the psychic body and its Chakras. An overblown third Chakra, for example, would show in a big tight belly, a constricted fifth Chakra may result in tight shoulders and a sore throat etc.
Prana (light force) flows through the body via a network of very fine channels called Nadis. This is referred to in many systems, and particularly classical Hindu Yoga, as the subtle body. It may or may not have an exact set of physiological correlations. There are overall fourteen major Nadi channels corresponding very roughly to the fourteen Chinese acupuncture meridians. The principal Nadi (the Sushumna) runs from the base of the spine to the interior of the skull passing through various psycho-physical centres - these are the Chakras.
There are two other Nadis which are very important - The Ida Nadi which begins at the base of the spine and ends at the left nostril and the Pingala Nadi which begins at the base of the spine and ends at the right nostril, both of them spiralling around like a double DNA around the central Sushumna Nadi. Each time they cross the Sushumna they enclose within it one of the Chakras. The Ida coils counterclockwise, the Pingala clockwise up to the brow centre (Ajna). Note that this produces a structure resembling the caduceus of Mercury. These Nadis draw Prana (vital energy) from the air through the nostrils which is why alternate nostril breathing is considered so important to Pranayana. They manifest in the physical body as the parasympathetic (Ida) and sympathetic nervous system (Pingala) respectively. The Ida is associated with the left side of the body and is sometimes called the Moon Channel. The Pingala is associated with the right side of the body and is sometimes referred to as the Sun Channel.
Chakras are associated with seven basic levels of consciousness. As we experience the opening of a Chakra we also experience a deeper understanding of the state of consciousness associated with that level. This stage may be summarised with key words and their associated elements can be of crucial significance to understanding the quality of the Chakra.
Diagram from "Ariadne's Thread" by Shekinah Mountainwater, showing eight chakras.
In the evolution of understanding of the Chakras there have been anything from 5 to 9 major Chakras described. A very common finding as we read more about Chakra is that Chakra 2 can either be located in the genital region or in the splenic region. It is likely, particularly if the Chakras are associated with the nerve ganglia, that Chakra 2, associated with emotion and sexuality, is associated with the inferior mesenteric nerve plexuses and the genital system whereas the splenic Chakra or mid-abdominal region (between the solar plexus and the suprapubic area) is likely to be associated with the superior mesenteric nerve plexus, and so associated with discipline, order and with the element of time. This would mean the old Chakra 3 would become Chakra 4 in solar plexus associated with the coeliac nerve plexus. This would give 8 Chakras, which along with the Sushumna, Ida and Pingala Nadis and the overall aura of the whole body would give 12 major energy locations, forces or flows in the body which can be correlated very well with the zodiac system. This will be dealt with later.
Chakras are also associated with the Goddess Kundalini described as a sleeping serpent coiled three and a half times around the first Chakra at the base of the spine. Her name comes from the word Kundala which means coiled. When this Goddess wakens she climbs up Chakra by Chakra to the crown Chakra at the top of the head and as she pierces each Chakra she brings awakening to her subject. The path through the Chakras forms a vertical column, the Sushumna, and travelling in figure of eight patterns around these Chakras are Ida and Pingala.
The Kundalini is generally a unique and very powerful experience which can result in profound consciousness change and may be experienced as increased alertness, increased insight, a feeling of weightlessness, a feeling of beauty within the body or extreme joy. There is some evidence that it sets up a wave-like rhythm which triggers the pleasure centres in the brain giving us the blissful state so often described by mystics. Note that the Kundalini relates to archetypal myths as well. The serpent has been a religious symbol in cultures throughout the world representing enlightenment, immortality and a path to the Gods. In Genesis the serpent led Adam and Eve to taste the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil leading to improved moral understanding. In Egypt the Pharaohs wore crowns with serpent symbols over their third eye to represent their godly stature. Even today the serpent wraps itself around the staff forming the modern symbol for healing, the caduceus.
It is important to note that, in modern Pagan thought, the lower Chakras are of equal value and importance to the upper Chakras for human beings at our present level of development and this system has value for personal growth and use in therapy as well as a form of creative visualisation and meditation.
The Chakras can be opened through various exercises, meditation, acupuncture points, biofeedback and general understanding thus leading to a more profound state of consciousness which is obtainable by anyone. A table of correspondence of the Chakras using a twelve point system rather than the more traditional seven point system is outlined below and will be discussed further in Session V. Opening and closing the Chakras is a very important psychic exercise and is particularly involved in psychic healing involving direct contact.
The first stage is to assume a meditation position that is quiet and comfortable. The next stage is to breathe regularly and to focus on the breath as in normal meditation. The third stage is to energise the Chakras one by one: - visualise first energy coming through the feet, up and resting into the root Chakra at the perineal and perianal area just below the coccyx, seen as an earthy loam-black, growing, spinning ball. Visualise the colour of the breath as you breathe in as the same and see the Chakra expand whilst spinning faster and brighter.
Now imagine the energy from the centre you have just energised moving up to the next Chakra but changing the colour of the light to that of the new Chakra (in this case silver). Again energise the Chakra in the same way by breathing in and visualising the breath as being silver and repeat the process until you reach and energise the Third Eye. Finally visualise all the colours from each of the energised Chakras to move swiftly up to the crown centre to the top of the head, allow the aura to leave the top of the head like a fountain and bathe your aura.
To close the Chakras can be done in several ways; the easiest way is to sit down and eat. Another way is to visualise energy draining back down from one Chakra to another, seeing a shutter closing it from vision like lotus flower petals closing up at night. A more complex visualised system is given as an appendix to this essay.
References:
Blessed be and Never Thirst from Kim and Quenten.
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