Chakras are energy centers. They function like receivers and transformers of the various forms of prana. Through the nadis, the chakras take in the vital energy and transform it into the frequencies needed by the various areas of the physical bodies for sustenance and development.
Each chakra is connected with one of the elements of earth, water, air ether and mind - mind being an instrument of consciousness. These elements are states of matter and NOT elements as we understand them in modern chemistry. They are equivalent to the terms: solid, liquid, fiery or gaseous, airy, and etheric - which are somewhat analogous to the physical, astral and mental planes and sub-planes.
Its concept referring to wheel-like vortices which, according to traditional Indian medicine, are believed to exist in the surface of the etheric double of man. The Chakras are said to be "force centers" or whorls of energy permeating, from a point on the physical body, the layers of the subtle bodies in an ever-increasing fan-shaped formation. Rotating vortices of subtle matter, they are considered the focal points for the reception and transmission of energies. Different systems posit a varying number of chakras, the most well known system in the West is that of 7 chakras.
Traditional writings say there are 88,000 chakras in the human body. Most are extremely small and play a minor role in your energy system. However, there are approximately 40 secondary chakras that are of significance; these are located in your spleen, the back of your neck, the palms of your hands and the soles of your feet.
The seven primary chakras are located along a central vertical axis of our spine and open toward the front of the body like a blossom. These circular energy centers are in constant motion, rotating, attracting energy - receiving or radiating.At the center of each chakra, in its deepest point, is a stem-like channel that extends to the spine and merges with it, thus connecting the individual chakra with the sushumna (the most important energy channel) which ascends within the spine to the top of the head.
For most people, the chakras extend about four inches in all directions from their point of origin. When undeveloped, they appear as small circles about two (2) inches in diameter, but when awakened, they are blazing, shimmering whirlpools akin to miniature suns several inches in diameter. As one's development advances, their chakras will extend further from the body, their frequency vibrations will increase and their corresponding colors will become clearer and brighter.
Depending on the sex of the individual, the chakras rotate either clockwise or counter-clockwise. For instance, when a chakra in a man is rotating clockwise, the same chakra in a woman will rotate counter-clockwise and visa versa. This enables the energies of man and woman to compliment each other. Every clockwise rotation is primary male, which is in accordance with the Chinese teaching, Yang; and every counter-clockwise rotation is female, or Ying.
It should be noted, the direction in which a chakra rotates varies from chakra to chakra. Each chakra rotates in a different direction, as these illustrations depict.
The Seven Primary Chakras in the human body are:
The 1st chakra is called Muladhara / the Root chakra.
Area of the Body: Organs of EliminationHuman Talent: Acceptance
Color: Red
Shadow Emotion: Resentment, Rigidity
Element: Earth
It is located between the anus and the genitals and is connected with the coccyx. The Root Chakra opens downward. When active with vigor, it is fiery red-orange in color.
The 2nd charka is called Swadhisthana / the Sacral or Spleen chakra.
Area of the Body: The Sexual OrgansHuman Talent: Creativity
Color: Orange
Shadow Emotion: Passionate manipulation, Guilt
Element: Water
Located over the spleen, it is sun-like in color and opens towards the front. Sanskrit books always substitute the 2nd sacral chakra with that of the spleen, locating it below the navel instead of at the spleen. My research suggests that there is a danger associated with tampering with the spleen, so perhaps this is why they locate it below the navel. I don't know.
The 3rd chakra is called Manipura / the Solar Plexus chakra.
Area of the Body: Navel CenterHuman Talent: Commitment
Color: Yellow
Shadow Emotion: Anger, Greed
Element: Fire
It is located about two finger-breaths above the navel and is directly connected to our astral or emotional body. Through the solar plexus chakra we absorb the solar energy which nurtures our etheric body, which energizes and maintains our physical body. This is where our emotional (feeling) energy radiates, particularly our "gut feelings." It glows a golden color.
The 4th chakra is called Anahata / the Heart chakra.
Area of the Body: Heart CenterHuman Talent: Compassion
Color: Green
Shadow Emotion: Fear, Attachment
Element: Air
It is the center of our entire chakra system. It is located in the center of the breast at the level and vicinity of the heart cavity and connects the three LOWER physical and emotional centers to the three HIGHER mental and spiritual centers. Its color is chiefly green.
The 5th chakra is called Vishuddha / the Throat chakra.
Area of the Body: ThroatHuman Talent: Truth
Color: Blue
Shadow Emotion: Denial, Abruptness
Element: Ether
It is located between the depression in the neck and the larynx, beginning at the cervical vertebra behind the Adam's apple. It starts at the cervical vertebra and opens towards the front. It is also connected to a small secondary chakra, which has its seat in the neck and opens to the back, but since the two chakras are so closely related, they have been integrated into one. Although it has a lot of blue about it, it is also silvery, like moonlight upon rippling water. Blue and green predominate.
The 6th chakra is called Ajna / the Third Eye chakra.
Area of the Body: Third Eye PointHuman Talent: Intuition
Color: Indigo
Shadow Emotion: Confusion, Depression
Element: None
It is associated with the pituitary gland, which is a very small, shapeless organ about 1/8 inch in diameter located in the forehead about one finger-breath above the bridge of the nose between the eyebrows. Here conscious perception of being takes place. It is the seat of our higher mental powers. On the physical plane, it is the highest center of command for the central nervous system. One half is chiefly rose-colored with a lot of yellow, and the other half is predominantly purplish-blue.
The 7th chakra is called Sahasrara / the Crown chakra.
Area of the Body: Crown of the HeadHuman Talent: Boundlessness
Color: Violet
Shadow Emotion: Grief
Element: None
It is seated in the pineal gland, which is a small organ of fleshy consistency not much larger than the pituitary. The pineal gland is located near and behind the pituitary body almost in the exact center of your head at the level of your ears. The Crown Chakra opens upward, at the top of your head. Interestingly enough, medical science has yet to conclusively determine the physical influence this gland has on the human body (probably because metaphysics is beyond their rational thinking mind.) Although it contains all sorts of prismatic hues, it is predominantly violet.
The Crown Chakra is usually the last to be awakened. It is the same size as the other chakras but as the person progresses on the Path of spiritual advancement, it increases steadily until it covers the entire top (crown) of the head.
Like the other chakras, at first the Crown Chakra is a depression in the etheric body and the divine force flows in from without. But when the person realizes his position as the king of the divine light through development of this chakra, the Crown Chakra reverses itself and turns itself inside out! In other words, it no longer is a channel of reception but a channel of radiation; it no longer is a depression but a prominence above the head - it radiates outward like a dome, like a crown of glory.
Each chakra is perpetually rotating. At the mouth of the chakra, a divine force from the higher world flows. Without this inrush of primary energy, the physical body could not exist.
The chakra centers are in constant operation in all of us. In the undeveloped person, they are usually in sluggish motion, just forming the necessary vortex for the force to enter, and not much more than that. However, in the more evolved person, they may be glowing and pulsating with living light so that an enormous amount of energy passes through them.
The divine energy that pours into each chakra from without sets up at right angles to itself secondary forces in an oscillating circular motion. Think of this like a magnet that produces a current around a coil at right angles to its axis.
After entering the vortex, the primary force radiates from it at right angles as straight lines, as though the center of the vortex was the hub of a wheel and the radiations of the primary force were the spokes.
The force of these spokes seem to bind the astral and etheric bodies together like grappling-hooks. The number of these spokes differs in each chakra, which determines the number of petals each chakra exhibits. This is why the chakras have been described in oriental books as resembling flowers.
Each of the secondary forces, which sweep around the saucer-shaped depressions, has its own wavelength and moves along large petals of various sizes. The number of petals is determined by the number of spokes in the wheel, and the secondary force weaves itself under and over the radiating currents of the primary force like a basket might be woven around the spokes of a wheel - the number of wavelengths being infinitesimal.
All the petals have a shimmering effect, like the mother-of-pearl, yet each has its own predominant color. This silvery aspects is likened in Sanskrit works to the gleam of moonlight on the surface of the water.
