In last week’s post I mentioned that Kundalini sleeps at the base of the tailbone and that when the chakras are activated, she rises, ultimately reaching the crown of the head.  It follows that the chakras are discussed from the bottom up.

The mandala of each chakra contains several elements:

• One central Sanskrit syllable (or mantra) at the center and a varying number of lotus petals around the perimeter, each containing the symbol of a Sanskrit syllable.
• A geometric shape representing an element.
• The representation of an animal.
• The representation of deities.
• Various colors.  There are different interpretations of the colors of the chakras.  In the older works (Serpent Power, Jung’s lectures, etc.) the colors are very complex (ex: within one mandala one part is vermillion, another part is a smoky color and the animal is black) but in our modern interpretations they have been simplified into basic rainbow colors.

Today I will explain the location of each chakra with relation to the physical body and give a few key components of the symbolism of each.

Muladhara – the root chakra

Muladhara is referred to as the root chakra as it grounds us to our physical reality.  Its location in the subtle body is near the base of the tailbone – Kundalini sleeps below muladhara.  The element of the chakra is earth (grounding, foundation, root).  The mandala of muladhara includes a yellow square (symbolizing earth), an elephant, the syllable lam, and is surrounded by four petals. 

Svadhisthana – the chakra of creativity

The next chakra, Svadhisthana is found in the region of the reproductive organs and is considered the chakra of creativity (consider the proximity to where life is created).  Its mandala has six petals.  An eight-petaled lotus inside the mandala with a white crescent moon symbolizes water.  The mandala also contains a sea monster (sometimes referred to as an alligator) and the syllable vam.  This chakra is associated with unconsciousness and emotion and is closely connected to muladhara.

Manipura – the solar plexus chakra

Above svadhisthana is the power chakra of manipura.  Manipura is located in the solar plexus region (above the navel but below the diaphragm).  Manipura means “lustrous gem” and this chakra is associated with the element of fire. The mandala is surrounded by ten petals and contains a triangle shape (representing fire) as well as both the syllable ram, and a representation of a ram.

Anahata – the heart chakra

The word translates to “unstruck” which relates to the sounds of the celestial realm where there are no hard sounds, as well as “pure” referring to the state we achieve when we are able to become detached by activating this chakra.  It is associated with balance, calmness, and serenity. The anahata mandala is surrounded by twelve petals.  Inside, it contains two triangles creating a six-pointed star, the syllable yam, and an antelope.  The element of this chakra is air.

Vishuddha – the throat chakra

Vishuddha chakra is located in the region of the thyroid gland.  Sixteen petals surround this chakra’s mandala and within it is a sky-blue, downward pointing triangle that contains a white circle (representation of the full moon), symbolizing the element ether.  The mandala also contains a white elephant and the syllable ham.  Stress caused by the fear of speaking up can affect this chakra.

Ajna – the third eye

Associated with the pineal gland, the ajna chakra serves as our link to the subconscious and the brahman (the ultimate reality underlying everything).  Activating this chakra connects a person to her intuition. The ajna mandala is surrounded by two petals.  The seed syllable contained within this mandala is om, the primordial sound and most sacred of all syllables.  There is no element connected with this chakra, because by this point corporeal reality has been transcended.

Bonus chakra content: Sahasrara – the crown chakra (thousand-petaled lotus)

Sahasrara is included in the Description of the Six Centres, and in some interpretations is referred to as the seventh chakra.  This is the point at which Kundalini connects to the energy of the universe and pure consciousness is achieved.  Sahasrara is described as a 1,000 petaled lotus flower.  The petals are arranged 20 rows of 50 petals, so all of the 50 syllables of Sanskrit are repeated 20 times.

In the coming weeks, I will go through each chakra in more detail and get into Jung’s interpretations of the symbols in terms of archetypes.  I’m also going to work on finding some images of the mandalas that I can share with you.

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The first thing that I found was that there was a great deal of interest in this subject among all sorts of different people who I know.  One friend mentioned that he thought that there was something in the air that made this idea have a lot of resonance with people at this time (hold that thought, we’ll be coming back to it in a bit).

As I mentioned, the term chakra describes a series of energy centers within the Kundalini yoga paradigm.  Kundalini yoga is a branch of yoga that comes out of Tantric philosophy.  In some usages, Tantra and Kundalini are used interchangeably to describe the style of yoga practice; however, Tantra refers to an entire subset of the Hindu/Buddhist cannon.

It is a rich tradition, full of iconography and symbolism.  It is also complicated, and the classical Tantric texts are intentionally opaque.  I’m going to try to strip things down as much as possible without simplifying the concepts too far.  You’ll have to let me know how I do.

Kundalini an aspect of the goddess.  She exists within everyone in the form of a serpent that is coiled three and a half times at the base of the tailbone, asleep.  The object of Kundalini yoga is to “activate” the various energy centers (chakras), waking Kundalini and allowing her to rise through the body, ultimately connecting an individual’s consciousness to the universe.

In the course of conducting research for my speech, I re-read a book called The Psychology of Kundalini Yoga by C.G. Jung.  This book contains the transcription of a series of seminars that Jung gave on the subject of Kundalini yoga in 1932.  Jung had already established his ideas on the collective unconscious and archetypes and reading the ways that Jung relates the concepts and symbols of the chakras to universal themes gets really interesting and overwhelming.  One point though did feel like a sort of life-line, when the way that Jung was explaining the chakras related directly to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (even though Maslow was much later).  I’m really interested in exploring this idea more after laying the groundwork by spending some time considering each chakra, I hope you’ll bear with me.

I’m listing the sources from my research so far here, but I will also tag references in future posts.

Sources:

• Description of Six Centers (a classic Tantric text, translation from The Serpent Power is available online)
• Encyclopedia Britannica: Tantrism, chakra
• Fruge, Knekoh (yoga master)
• Kaufman, Scott Barry (Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, Self-Actualization)
• The Chakras (Leadbeater)
• The Psychology of Kundalini Yoga (Jung)
• The Serpent Power (Avalon)
• Yogic Chakra Symbols: Mirrors of the Human Mind/Heart, Journal of Religion and Health, Volume 32, No. 1 (1993) (Meadow) *I downloaded this article using jstor

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