The Science and Structure of Chakras
We live as ripples of energy in the vast ocean of energy.
Deepak Chopra
As a swirling vortex of light, each chakra is like a star. And like a star—which doesn’t float solo in space but is part of a vast star field—each chakra is only part of an array of luminous bodies and fields that make up the subtle anatomy. Yet each chakra is also a unique energy body with its own relationship to physical and subtle energy as well as its own signature structure. In this chapter I will explore both the science and the structure of these energetic bodies from A to Z.
First, I will examine chakras from a biological point of view—from perspectives including psychophysiological, electromagnetic, sonic, and developmental. I will also explore further chakra subtleties, including their placement as etheric organs that connect layers of reality to the physical body. Finally, I will inspect the individual chakra as a jeweler would scrutinize a diamond, studying its multifaceted aspects including spin, shape, spheres, and more. Throughout, I will support these concepts with as much science as possible. By the time you have finished reading this chapter, you might have arrived at a deeper appreciation of the complex organ that is the chakra.
Chakras as Psychophysiological Organs
The yogic chakra system is typically depicted as a column of energy bodies nourished by three interweaving energy channels—the ida, pingala, and sushumna—with the former two crossing the sushumna and one another at the sites of the chakras. In Western terms this story depicts the central nervous system, with the chakras each representing a nerve plexus, if not particular vertebrae, and the three main nadis associated with the nervous system. Systems vary as to how they assign the nadis to the nervous system. Frequently, the sushumna is seen as related to the parasympathetic system. The other two nadis are associated with the sympathetic nervous system: the ida with the left side of it and the pingala with the right side. Another system has the ida correlating with the entire sympathetic system and the pingala with the entire parasympathetic system. The chakras form nodes that interact with nerves linked to the various organs, including endocrine glands specific to individual chakras.
This body-based view of the chakras was popularized through the work of John Woodroffe and Charles Leadbeater, among other Theosophists. Hence the chakras consistently have been considered psychologically influential gateways to consciousness and centers marrying the physical and the spiritual.
More recently, scientific knowledge about the neurological and hormonal systems has enhanced our understanding of how chakras might affect us at every level. We can now suggest that chakras affect us through the electrical and chemical functions of the nervous system and that the nervous system’s kinship with the endocrine glands spreads the influence of chakras throughout our body.
In order to comprehend the full effect of our chakras, it’s important to first explore the neurological system, brain, and endocrine glands. After I present this scientific and medical material, I will make more definitive statements about the relationship between the chakras and our basic biological and psychological functions.
Illustration 48—The Human Spine: The different chakras are often affiliated with sections of the human spine and vertebrae, as well as the different nerve plexuses. This image describes Anodea Judith’s version of the chakra’s nerve plexi as described in her book Wheels of Life. illustration by mary ann zapalac
Chakras and the Nervous System
background on the nervous system
A major player in chakra medicine and the physical body is the nervous system, composed of nerve tissue. This tissue transmits chemical and electrical messages to run all aspects of your body.
The main stage is the central nervous system, composed of the spinal cord and the brain. The spine—also called the backbone, vertebral column, or spinal column—consists of twenty-six bones, including the sacrum, coccyx, and twenty-four vertebrae that are separated by cartilage. The vertebrae are labeled by region (cervical, thoracic, and lumbar) and number, beginning with 1 at the top of each region. An image of the vertebrae as related to the chakras is featured in Illustration 48.
There are seven cervical vertebrae. The first supports the skull and is called the atlas; the second is called the axis because it allows the skull and atlas to rotate left and right. Directly below are twelve thoracic vertebrae (each of which joins with a pair of ribs to protect the chest organs), then five lumbar vertebrae, the sacral region (consisting of the sacrum), and the coccygeal region (including the coccyx). The sacrum is formed from five smaller vertebrae that fuse during adolescence, and the coccyx from four vertebrae that fuse then as well.1
Each part of the spine is associated with a nerve plexus, a system of nerve fibers that associates spinal nerves with specific parts of the body. Fibers within a plexus connect to an area of the spinal cord and eventually reduce into one large nerve. The different plexuses include, from bottom to top, the coccygeal, sacral, lumbar, solar, brachial, and cervical plexuses. Each nerve plexus is like a local postal center that makes sure its associated bodily region communicates with the periphery nervous system, the nerves and ganglia outside of the spinal cord.2
The brain controls the body and is composed of three main parts. The brain stem connects the brain to the spinal cord and helps control basic life activities such as smell, vision, expression, hearing, breathing, and pulse rate. The cerebellum is cupped around the brain stem and manages muscle coordination, balance, and voluntary movements. The cerebral cortex is made of four lobes that deal with thinking and higher awareness.
The cortex is also divided into two hemispheres. The left controls verbal functions and logical reasoning. It actually manages the right side of the body. The right hemisphere controls visual functions and is more emotional and intuitive. It runs the left side of the body.3 You can see an image of the various parts of the brain in Illustration 49 and Illustration 50.
The peripheral nervous system, which includes nerves outside of the central nervous system, is the sensory-based part of the peripheral system. It receives stimuli, the central nervous system interprets them, and then the motor-based part of the peripheral system initiates a response.
The somatic nervous system manages functions under our conscious control, such as the movement of muscles, and the autonomic nervous system, composed mainly of motor nerves, governs functions of the involuntary smooth muscles, such as the cardiac (heart) muscles. Within the autonomic nervous system are two sets of nerves that relate to nearly every organ: the sympathetic and parasympathetic. These usually work opposite each other, with the sympathetic system preparing the body for activity, stress, and emergencies, and the parasympathetic system lowering activity and allowing digestion and conservation of energy.4
The primary constituent of the nervous system is the neuron or nerve cell, which passes information through electrical charges, called impulses, to other cells in the body. These messages often travel long distances in the body. For instance, they will tell your brain that you’ve stepped on a sharp stone, sending an alert all the way from your foot to the top of your head.
In order to fulfill this communication job, nerves are often grouped in a circuit, conveying information to nerves in their “inner circle” and into other circuits as well. In other words, they have to function like UPS. Packages delivered to a large city are frequently shipped to smaller facilities—and vice versa. These neurological deliveries are electricity conveyed along cell membranes via ions. The brain triggers six trillion electrical signals through neurons every second to regulate thought, movement, and all of life.
the chemical signals of life: neurotransmitters
Communication between cells is accomplished by the conversion of electrical signals into chemical signals. These chemical signals are carried by neurotransmitters, small molecules that are able to leap across synapses—the empty spaces between nerves—to carry their messages. These neurotransmitters are extraordinarily busy, as the synapses in the human body outnumber the stars in the Milky Way. On top of that, there are nearly infinite numbers of messages, including communiqués about pain, hunger, yearning, thirst, emotions, and the like.
Once a neurotransmitter has reached its correct destination, it is able to lock into neural cells, as well as other bodily cells, through receptor sites coded to recognize certain neurotransmitters. These receptor sites are like antennae that are unlocked only by the neurotransmitters that carry the right key. There are more than a hundred neurotransmitters in the brain alone; scientists don’t know how many there are altogether. All of them communicate different messages. Once a neuron registers a certain message, it will “kill” that message or send it onward. This choice is dependent on the type of neurotransmitter being received. Excitatory neurotransmitters encourage neuron firing; examples include epinephrine and norepinephrine. Inhibitory neurotransmitters stop the sharing of the message; this type includes serotonin and GABA (see “A Closer Look at Neurotransmitters” on page 432). Certain other neurotransmitters, such as acetylcholine and dopamine, both stimulate and inhibit neurons.
Neurotransmitters are produced inside a nerve through an electrical process using ions. Before a neuron releases the neurotransmitter, the inside of the neuron has a negative charge and the outside is positively charged. Ions maintain this balance. When an impulse is sent from a cell body, certain neuron channels open and the positive ions surge into the cell, making that part of the nerve more positive. Ions start working to restore the resting state, but this influx has already stirred up other parts of the nerve. The neuron might or might not fire, but if it does, negative ions charge out and the nerve fibers become even more positively charged. If this charge passes over a certain threshold, an electrical impulse is carried down the nerve through a series of pulses, and also to neurons that are physically linked with it. If there is no physical link to nearby neurons, the signal is carried across the gap, or synapse, by the appropriate neurotransmitter, which has been stored in a special sac inside a part of the nerve. Once this neurotransmitter fits into a receptor site, it is converted back into an electrical impulse. After finishing its job, the neurotransmitter returns to the space between cells and is destroyed by enzymes or pumped back into its original neuron’s neurotransmitter storage center.5 What do our neurotransmitters do? Well, just about everything. They tell our heart to beat, lungs to breathe, and legs to get going in the morning. They affect mood, learning, weight, and sleep. Neuropeptides in particular run our emotions, and monoamines, our reaction to stress.
Many people struggle with neurotransmitter imbalances, which can be caused by alcohol, nicotine, and other mind-altering drugs; poor diet, especially the use of sugar and caffeine; environmental toxins; chronic stress; genetics; nutritional deficiencies; food allergies and sensitivities; and candida yeast overgrowth as well as other microbial conditions. Neurotransmitter imbalances are linked to dozens of disorders, including addictions, obesity, migraines, depression, ADHD, panic attacks, chronic pain, weight issues, bipolar disorder, fibromyalgia, hormone dysfunction, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s, adrenal fatigue, and irritable bowel syndrome.6 It is estimated that 86 percent of Americans have imbalanced neurotransmitter levels.7
the “second brain”
One particular part of the gastrointestinal area is of increasing interest in medical science as well as chakra medicine. Located between the anus and the esophagus is a mass of neural tissue filled with vital neurotransmitters that determine our mental and physical health. Known as the enteric nervous system, this area is often called the “second brain” because it contains even more neurons than do the “head brain” and the peripheral nervous system combined. In fact, it is composed of one hundred million neurons, which are located on sheaths that measure about nine meters end to end. Its nerve cells are bathed in and influenced by the same neurotransmitters we find in the brain, many of which are the neuropeptides that create everything from mood to emotion. These neuropeptides can “turn on” in the gut in reaction to stimulation in the brain—responding to whether we’re scared or not, for example—but can also operate independently in the second brain, responding to drugs, foods, microbes, other neurotransmitters, and more.
These nerves are formed during fetal development from the same type of tissue that makes up the central nervous system. Revealing how busy this second brain is, more than 90 percent of the fibers in our most communicative nerve, the vagus nerve, which runs from the brain stem to the abdomen, are busy carrying messages from the second brain to the head brain, while the brain talks to the second brain through various command nerves.
This second brain can operate autonomously from the central nervous system. In fact, it determines about 80 percent of our immunity and most of our emotional health, based on factors including diet and our reaction to stress. Neuropeptide synthesis occurs in the enteric nerves as well as in the gut-associated lymph system, which means that a number of our immune cells, including lymphocytes and macrophages, respond to these enteric-related neuropeptides. As an example of how important this second brain is, we’ve only to discuss serotonin, which determines our mood. Doctors often prescribe selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) such as Prozac for depression, which impacts the head-brain. However, 95 percent of our serotonin, a dual-operating neurotransmitter and hormone, lies in the bowels. Prozac doesn’t work on gut-induced depression.
Serotonin in the second brain is also complicit in diseases such as irritable bowel syndrome, which is partially caused by too much serotonin in the bowels. Dozens (if not hundreds) of other diseases are related to the second brain as well. For instance, according to one study, inhibiting the release of serotonin from the gut counteracts osteoporosis. Autistic children have elevated levels of gut-produced serotonin, the presence of unhealthy gut bacteria, and a lack of healthy flora.
Even mental illnesses might have a root in the second brain. For example, one of the more promising treatments for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in children is the use of an antibiotic normally prescribed for tuberculosis. This medication, D-cycloserine, is a nonabsorbable antibiotic and strips the gut of certain bacteria that seem related to OCD. This antibiotic also seems to affect cellular receptors in the brain related to anxiety.9 Of the neurotransmitters, neuropeptides deserve special attention. Many neuropeptides are released from the hypothalamus and are part of a larger group of chemical signals called peptide hormones that affect the endocrine or hormone system. Typically, neuropeptides send information out and relay it back again to their original cells, creating a net of electrical activity with neighboring cells. They can also work with waves of peptides to create hormonal signals inside the brain and reprogram neural networks throughout the body. Neuropeptides bind to a cell’s surface; though they don’t enter the cell, they are more powerful than other neurotransmitters. While their quantity is smaller than those of neurotransmitters, they are found not only in the head brain but also in the second brain.
There are many differences between neuropeptides and their fellow neurotransmitters. One main distinction is that while neurotransmitters often come from a neuron area called the dendrite, neuropeptides have many origination points within the neuron. This makes it hard to resist the analogy that neuropeptides are like kids on Facebook, posting messages that go near and far. Other neurotransmitters are comparable to kids standing in a row whispering secrets, one to the other.10
Because neuropeptides operate throughout the body, they are proof positive that the mind is not only located in the brain but is spread throughout the body like a complex multidimensional net. The main pioneer proving this point is Dr. Candace Pert, who was a well-known author and speaker on the mind-body phenomenon and an internationally recognized pharmacologist.11 Dr. Pert discovered that many cellular receptors and neuropeptides correlate specifically to certain emotions and states of mind, such as bliss and depression. These receptors, where memory and information are processed, are found on every cell in the body. For our understanding of subtle energy, it’s important to know that the cellular receptors aren’t just lock and key. They vibrate while pumping ions and information through cellular membranes, creating and joining electrical vibrations.12 These vibrations, in the form of EMF or frequencies surrounding information, flood through us but also project around us. This means that our cells not only send vibrations but can receive them from others as well, establishing the basis of empathy and even ESP.
Dr. Pert also made another discovery in relation to neuropeptides—something that wraps chakras, the central nervous system, and the second brain into one package.
chakras and our neurology: the scientific picture
Besides uncovering the importance of neuropeptides, Pert also discovered that the peptides and receptors processing emotions are clustered at chakra points. The chains of nerve bundles on either side of the spinal cord, each laden with peptides, compared almost exactly to the location of the chakras.13
This discovery reveals the chakras as mini brains, at least in terms of neurological functions: nodes of electrical and chemical activity that can receive, process, and distribute body-mind information. Looping back to our discussion of the spine, we now see that chakras are, in fact, related to nerve plexus and vertebrae areas, and the body itself is neatly divided into left and right halves. The right-brain hemisphere is intuitive, creative, and receptive, and controls the left side of the body. The ida also relates to the left side of the body and the left channel of the sympathetic nervous system; in Eastern medicine, the left half of the body is considered yin, or feminine. The left-brain hemisphere is logical and action-oriented and manages the right side of the body. It is linked to the male pingala nadi, the right channel of the nervous system; according to Eastern medicine, the right half of the body is yang, or masculine.14
We also find that the chakras are related to the network of cells affected by neuropeptides and other neurotransmitters. Hence a chakra is physiologically based but is also related to the neurological functions that create and respond to emotions and physical-life stimuli.
The chakra medicine functions of the first, second, and third chakras also relate to the second brain. Found in the genital and hip area, the first chakra relates to primal concerns and our “flight, fight, or freeze” reactions. Located in the abdomen, the second chakra governs the intestines and is considered the center of feelings. Managing the solar plexus, the third chakra reigns over the remaining digestive organs and processes thoughts. Together, the second chakra (feelings) and third chakra (thoughts) form our emotions. These three chakras obviously relate to the second brain.
Trauma incurred physically or emotionally will not only block the body but also become imprinted in the related chakra, degrading the performance of the entire body and subtle anatomy. Remember: neuropeptide receptors, and neurotransmitter receptors in general, are always ready to receive information from other neurons. When the system requires assistance from a specific chakra, the plexus in that chakric area releases neuropeptides to other chakra areas, calling for help from the entire organism.15 For instance, if the third chakra needs to be engaged so you can focus on an exam, it will receive a rush of assistance, closing off some of the other psychophysiological functions to achieve that result. In general, the lower three chakras will operate as their own unit and the top chakras as their own unit, with the heart mitigating between.
the brain and the chakras
The chakras also relate to specific different parts of the brain, looping it into our biological portraiture of the chakras. In the book The Body Has a Mind of Its Own: How Body Maps in Your Brain Help You Do (Almost) Everything Better, authors Sandra and Matthew Blakeslee link each chakra with a part of the brain.16 Illustration 49 shows the location of many of these brain parts featured in their system, which is described as follows:
Illustration 49—Parts of the Brain: Parts of the brain have been affiliated with different chakras. For instance, the brainstem equates with the first chakra; the cerebellum with the second chakra; the parietal, temporal, and occipital lobes with the third chakra; Broca’s area with the fifth chakra; most of the frontal brain with the sixth chakra; and the prefrontal cortex with the seventh chakra. Other parts of the brain are shown here, as they will be referenced later in this book. (The fourth chakra is often affiliated with the thalamus and hypothalamus, which are shown in Illustration 50.) illustration by mary ann zapalac
First Chakra: The brain stem, regulating involuntary bodily functions.
Second Chakra: The cerebellum, also called the reptilian brain for its governance of self-protection and human drives such as sex and aggression. It specifically regulates muscle tone, coordinates movement, maintains posture and balance, and stores memories for learned responses.
Third Chakra: The parietal, occipital, and temporal lobes, which work with the limbic system to deal with touch, pressure, and pain; aspects of vision; and perception of hearing and memory, respectively; also enables the sense of time and space, and therefore action.
Fourth Chakra: The thalamus region, including the hypothalamus, which orchestrates the brain, circulating hormones and allowing deliberate movement.
Fifth Chakra: Broca’s area, which produces speech.
Sixth Chakra: The frontal brain, minus the prefrontal cortex. Governs visual and verbal inputs as well as planning, problem solving, and emotions.
Seventh Chakra: The pre-frontal cortex, which relates to our higher states of consciousness and concentration, free will, and altruism.17
Chakras and the Endocrine System
Armed with an understanding of the chakras and the neurological system, it’s equally important to comprehend the chakras’ link with the endocrine system. And because the endocrine system is interwoven with the circulatory system, it, too, must be integrated into the picture.
backgrounder on the endocrine system
We can’t completely separate the nervous system from the endocrine system, as these two friends work together to coordinate bodily activities. Both systems use chemical signals to communicate from cell to cell, maintain bodily homeostasis, and link parts of the body together. They also use many of the same organs, signaling mechanisms, and transmitters, although they assign the latter different tasks. The endocrine system, however, employs hormones through the circulatory system that act on target cells throughout the body. These cells feature receptors that bind to signaling molecules and then respond to them.
Nervous and endocrine signaling can target the same or different cells, but compared to the nervous system, the endocrine system is slower. This is because blood is slower than the electrical flow of the nervous system.18 Nonetheless, hormones are often “king,” determining everything from mood to activity.
The endocrine system comprises the glands of the body that produce hormones, but it also includes the hormones themselves, chemicals that are constantly circulating through the body. Showing the true interdependency of our two featured systems, these glands are actually controlled by the nervous system, chemical receptors in the blood, and hormones produced by other glands. The job of a hormone is to ensure balance in the body in nearly every area, including reproduction, sexual development, glucose and mineral homeostasis, heart rate, cellular metabolism, heart function, and digestion. Illustration 8 shows the location of the major endocrine glands.19
A hormone can either pass through cells or along the plasma membranes of cells. It “hunts and seeks” until it encounters a receptor that it fits into. It will ignore other receptors. Some hormones are called tropic hormones, which can trigger the release of a hormone in another gland. Many hormones produced by the pituitary are tropic hormones.
Hormones are regulated in many ways. Primary is the action of the hypothalamus, which can release stimulating but also inhibiting hormones, starting up activity or stopping it inside the rest of the body. Tropic hormones can regulate other hormones throughout the body but are dependent on factors including nutrition. For instance, if your diet is lacking in iodine, your thyroid can’t produce the right hormones. The other issue is exposure to hormones. Cells exposed to high levels of hormones for a long time eventually reduce the number of receptor sites, leading to reduced hormonal control of that cell. This is one of the reasons nutritional experts are concerned about the presence of added hormones in foods, especially meat.
There are two types of hormones: water soluble and lipid soluble. Water-soluble hormones can be peptide- or amino acid–based and include insulin, epinephrine, HGH, and oxytocin. They are soluble, or broken down in water. They can’t pass through cellular plasma membranes and so are limited to linking on external receptor molecules, thereby triggering a reaction inside the cell. Lipid-soluble hormones can be stored in fat. Estrogen, for instance, can be dissolved by fat tissue but also stored in fat tissue. These hormones can pass through the cellular membranes and bind to receptors inside the cell nucleus. They include steroid hormones such as testosterone, estrogen, and more. Because they pass into the cell, they can control cellular functions, often triggering genes in the DNA.20
chakras are hormonal
Based on the interaction between the neurological and endocrine systems, we can see that the chakric relationship with the endocrine system is at least equal to the relationship it enjoys with its neurological neighbor. Serena Roney-Dougal, who holds a PhD in parapsychology, believes that the endocrine system is actually the main aspect of the chakric system; she also theorizes that the autonomic nervous system is equivalent to the nadis.21
Roney-Dougal recognizes that most energetic systems link each chakra to a different endocrine gland. Her own ideas differ from those presented in part 2. For instance, she connects the pineal gland with the sixth chakra and the seventh chakra with the pituitary gland, rather than the other way around. She also connects the first and second chakras with the gonads, the adrenals with the third chakra, the breasts with the fourth chakra, and the thyroid with the fifth chakra. The reason I am relaying this information is that she tracks the chakras’ physical locations to these particular endocrine glands rather than the nerve plexuses.
One of the benefits of this strategy is that hormone activity explains many important but also rare chakric functions. For instance, the pineal gland (which Roney-Dougal relates to the sixth chakra) produces hormones that touch nearly every part of the body but also psi activity, one of the more famous—or infamous—outcomes of a kundalini rising. According to Roney-Dougal, the pineal gland produces a number of hormones and neurotransmitters, including peptides, that invite psychic experiences. Specifically, the MAO inhibitors prevent the breakdown of serotonin and an accumulation of amines called beta-carbolines, which can cause hallucinations, depression, or mania. One particular neurochemical, pinoline, seems to stimulate psi experiences in our sleep. Melatonin, another hormone produced by the pineal gland, operating in conjunction with the hypothalamus, is also of interest in the discussion. When present later in life, as it is among yogis, it bolsters health, increases longevity, and improves the function of the other glands. It also regulates activity at the other traditional chakra sites.22
There are dozens if not hundreds of other theories about the chakras and the endocrine glands. Dr. Earlynne Cheney, a twentieth-century American mystic, believed the glands were the physical counterparts to the chakras. Theosophist Adelaide Gardner thought the glands were influenced by the chakras. Alice Bailey testified that the glands were the best organs to work with, as they interconnected the chakras and the dense physical body.
Of course, the chakras could be physically linked with both the nerve plexuses and the endocrine system, as we’ve already seen that the neurological system and endocrine glands are interdependent. Because of the endocrine system’s dependency on the cardiovascular system, which interacts with the connective tissue and therefore the meridians, we are now looping the entire body together through the chakras.
In terms of our two friends the nervous and endocrine systems, we can see the benefit of chakras interacting with both. The nervous system enables quick responses, allowing high-speed reactions. By comparison, the endocrine system is lazy. Its slow-starting and longer-lasting reactions allow consistent change.23 Both functions enable the chakras’ effectiveness.
Illustration 50—Close-Up of the Glands: Chakra functions are integral to glandular functions, and vice versa. For instance, the first chakra interacts with the amygdala, which is part of the “flight, fight, or freeze” limbic system. The seventh chakra is linked to the pineal gland and the sixth chakra to the pituitary gland. illustration by mary ann zapalac
Chakras and Fields and Frequencies
It’s tempting to remain Newtonian and analyze the chakras mainly in terms of receptors, ions, neurotransmitters, and hormones. After all, these concepts are measurable (to some extent). To explain chakras as nodes and glands, connection points, and psychological indicators is to remain on relatively stable ground. However, life isn’t only about the firing of chemical signals. It is about all forms of energy, as are the chakras.
As we’ve already determined, the human body is composed of oscillating fields of energy, the basis of which is frequency. Chakras operate the same way, although they exist on multidimensional levels of reality. To comprehend a chakra most fully is to examine it as a series of fields and frequencies, understood as electromagnetic expressions or light and sound. It is to reduce it to frequency and then examine it within different layers of reality, each composed of different energies. In the end, chakras can be perceived as bands of frequency interacting both internally and with external fields.
Backgrounder on Fields and Frequencies
Every part of us constantly transmits energy. This energy can be perceived in many forms, but fields are probably the most important way we stay “organized.”
While our bodies are in constant flux, we are always generating EMF that is essential to our core programming, as well as harmonic frequencies that serve us. The trillions of atoms in our bodies are only one set of “harmonic oscillators” that emanate subtle EMFs and our most fundamental frequencies. Some of the fields we generate might be very weak, but they can add up to stronger fields that can sometimes be measured.
At one level, the fields and frequencies our bodies generate are indicative of our biological state. Ionization, which involves charges moving across membrane walls, accounts for many of the short-distance waves, as do changes that occur within a cell. Included in the formula are thousands of other biological activities, among them the electricity involved in nerve conduction. As we’ve been proving, however, emotions, thoughts, and other psychological factors are also based in biology and can be communicated through the various fields generated in and by the body.
As Dr. Scroggins points out, even chemical reactions, which involve transmitting energy by acting on cellular receptors, give us only a partial understanding of what is occurring. The rest of the story is that these interactions produce frequencies that activate similar frequencies. Remember our discussion in chapter 19 in the section “Putting It All Together: A Brave New Model”? Frequencies have certain formulas, and so do the energies connected to them. Newly activated frequencies actually stir up a chemical response, causing cells to take in energy and produce waste. The real activity and driving force are the energy pulse and dielectric effect in the form of frequencies. In fact, at one level, explains Dr. Scroggins, we don’t really even need energy exchanges or energy transfers. We only need to vibrate the correct formula of a frequency to create a response.24 Of course, we mainly function on a subconscious and unconscious basis. Most of us have no idea what is occurring in these subterranean aspects of ourselves, especially on the subtle energy level. That’s one of the reasons that chakra medicine practitioners use intuitive and meditative techniques to decipher subtle energy matters. If we can become aware of the deeper levels of interactions within ourselves, we can shift frequencies to make a desired change.
When a frequency outside of us matches our fundamental frequency—which we could also think of as our harmonic frequency—the result is resonance, which causes an amplification of the vibrations. This is how we connect to others; it is what occurs when we feel “in tune” with someone else. Likewise, we will be negatively affected by frequencies that are in discordance with our fundamental frequency. When an illness occurs, for example, the natural fluctuations of charge are disturbed. The cell must now divert some of its power and energy into combating the cause of the disturbance, such as an invasion of microbes. There is a reduction in the power available to perform normal cellular functions and a resulting decrease in the frequencies emitted by a cell. Microbes also emit frequencies that further distort the body’s micro and macro fields. These distorted frequencies can potentially be “picked up” in the surrounding biofields, including the chakras and auric fields, for diagnostic purposes.25
From the perspective of the electromagnetic spectrum of light, there are certain numbers of measurable fields, as is apparent in Illustration 51. This number is actually a small fraction of all fields. For instance, visible light is only 1/1000 of a percent of the spectrum. Much of the color generated by the electromagnetic spectrum and the energetic anatomy falls outside of the range of visible light.26
Illustration 51—The Electromagnetic Spectrum: Chakras reflect a higher vibration of visible light, which is only a small part of the entire electromagnetic spectrum. Their effects, however, spread throughout all known and unknown radiations, which are measured as waves or frequencies. This illustration shows a comparison of wavelength, frequency, and energy for the electromagnetic spectrum. (See the insert for a color version of this comparison.) illustration by llewellyn art department
Scientists including Beverly Rubik, renowned for her work in biophysics and frontier medicine, focus primarily on the electromagnetic aspects mainly because the most research has been done in this area. Researchers using the electrocardiogram (ECG) and the electroencephalogram (EEG) have measured both the electrical and electromagnetic activity of the heart. Other tools, including the magnetocardiogram (MCG) and superconducting quantum interference devices (SQIDs), have been used to track the body’s magnetic fields. Still other tools have been used to detect infrared radiation and biophotons.
Measuring Chakras’ Fields and Frequencies
One of the more interesting testing devices Rubik remarks upon also clues us in to the chakras: a high-voltage electrophotography process called the gas discharge visualization (GDV) camera, developed by Konstantin Korotkov in Russia in the 1990s. An updated form of Kirlian photography, the GDV camera is electrically high frequency and high voltage and has been used in conjunction with a charge-coupled device (CCD), which is able to detect photons emitting from fingertips. A computer analyzes the findings of these combined technologies.
Results revealed GDV images of the biofield plus additional effects discharged from each of the five fingers. The chakras and meridians are thought to contribute to these effects, as do the physical fields of an organism, skin conductivity, acupoints, and more.27
This study and others must take a bow to one of the first of its kind, which involved five years of research conducted by Valerie Hunt, Wayne Massey, and other scientists through the University of California in the 1970s. The so-called “Hunt studies” were based on recordings of electromagnetic radiation from the body resulting from rolfing, an intense massage technique that incorporates manipulation and restructuring of deep tissue.
The equipment these researchers used included telemetry, a radio broadcasting system that interfaces with the body’s electrical activity. The resulting information was analyzed by procedures that measured wave shapes and frequencies and noted regular high-frequency electrical oscillations coming from the seven basic chakra areas. The frequencies, converted to colors, were consistent with the typical coloration assigned the chakras, although the actual frequencies measured in cycles per second (cps) were far higher vibrationally than those emanating from other parts of the body. For example, the heart organ has a frequency of 250 cps, yet the chakra readings fell in an electromagnetic band between 100 and 1,600 cps, which validates the esoteric assumption that chakras, as well as other subtle systems, operate at higher frequencies than we typically measure.
Hunt also studied the relationship between the chakras and the human auric field, which is composed of several separate fields or layers, each of which has been esoterically related to a specific chakra (such as the first auric layer relating to the first chakra). Each layer of the human auric field was associated with a different wave pattern, which in turn can be described as a color. The colors of the different auric layers corresponded with the colors usually associated with the correlated chakras. Hunt also noted that the chakra energy flowed both toward chaos and toward order.28 In support of the goal of chakra medicine practices—to enable higher and higher states of enlightenment—Hunt’s studies discovered that the highest frequencies were generated by individuals who were psychics, healers, or on a spiritual path.
More recently, Hunt has performed additional studies of the auric field, which she defines as the electromagnetic frequencies that pass through the body as waves of energy. She discovered that when this field emanated colors such as white light, the frequency signal was over 1,000 cps. Her hypothesis is that the field’s frequency is a subharmonic of an original frequency that is in the range of many thousands of cycles per second, as well as a subharmonic of the original subtle energy of the chakra.29 One of the problems in figuring out the exact frequencies of chakras and auric fields has been that modern equipment can’t measure truly high vibrations, anything faster than what EKG and EEG machines can track. Consequently, Hunt has developed an auric measurement instrument, called a Bioenergy Fields Monitor, that can detect frequencies a thousand times faster than those measured by traditional instruments. Her auric readings can now pick up wavelengths cycling up to 750,000 cps and reveal that different diseases have different signature patterns, as do individuals. Emotional and physical health results in smooth, shallow, even, and gentle L-fields or electrical fields, and problematic states show up as deficient or hyperactive energetic patterns. These irregularities will appear even before physical symptoms and can sometimes be shifted by positive emotional changes, which she believes is the apex of healing and can produce electromagnetic change.30
Hunt’s research in this and other areas has led her to believe that diseases are caused by factors different from the reasons given in traditional medicine. For instance, she has determined that cancer is created by the body’s inability to adequately deal with viruses causing oxygen deprivation, inflammation repressing the immune system, and imbalanced patterns in our energy field, which includes the chakras.31
Her research also concentrates on a different type of electromagnetic wave from auric field waves. I introduced this form of electromagnetism in our last chapter as a scalar wave, although Hunt calls it a bioscalar wave. The principle is that if energy is introduced on a straight line from two energy sources of the same frequency at the same time, these actions create standing energy or a standing wave, which isn’t a wave at all; rather, it is an energy that occupies space and can increase in spatial mass. This means that if this energy is strong enough, it can expand outward in circles of energy and influence the blood and lymphatic systems. Red and white blood cells clump together when there is illness or energy. This bioscalar energy “unsticks” the cells, improving fluid flow and healing.32 One particular study showed that scalar waves created a twentyfold stimulation of cell growth in human immune cells.33
Many healers believe that scalar waves are actually the vital force that animates the chakras; therefore, these waves are able to correct chakra imbalance or dysfunction.34 Healer Stephen Linsteadt asserts that the scalar waves generated by the heart’s scalar field link all the chakra centers together.35
Other people are frightened of the potentially destructive nature of scalar waves, which can warp the space-time continuum, although earth chakras naturally shape space-time around their curvatures, usually with beneficial results.36
motoyama tests for chakra functions
Hiroshi Motoyama, whom we’ve met before, has also conducted numerous studies over decades to explain the existence and functions of both the chakras and meridians. One study detected the energy generated by the chakras in minute levels in the immediate environment of a subject. His tests linked the chakras to these systems:
First Chakra: Sacral and coccygeal plexuses
Second Chakra: Sacral plexus and urogenital system
Third Chakra: Solar plexus and digestive system
Fourth Chakra: Cardiac plexus and circulatory systems
Fifth Chakra: Superior, middle, and interior cervical ganglia; respiratory system
Sixth Chakra: Pituitary body, interbrain, autonomic nervous system, and endocrine system
Seventh Chakra: Cerebral cortex, entire nervous system, organs and tissues of entire body
These findings differ only slightly from standard Hindu theory. For instance, the first chakra is frequently associated with only the coccygeal plexus as well as the urogenital system, leaving the sacral plexus to the second chakra. The respiratory system is usually linked to the fourth chakra instead of the fifth chakra. However, Motoyama’s findings are extraordinarily similar to standard theory and reflect the link between chakras, plexuses, and bodily systems.
Motoyama also performed a test to determine disease susceptibility among individuals with chakra activity ranging from none to extensive. The study focused on one hundred yoga students divided into the following groups:
Group A: Advanced chakra activity
Group B: Beginning chakra activity
Group C: Dormant chakras
Susceptibility to disease was highest in group A and lowest in group C, with group B in the middle. Groups A and B were more vulnerable to functional troubles in the organs linked with the chakras. Motoyama’s interpretation was that those who used their chakras the most, both generally and specifically, were most affected by their external environment.
In yet another test, Motoyama used an ECG and a plethysmograph, an instrument measuring an organ’s change in fluid volume, to investigate the link between the cardiovascular system and the fourth or heart-based chakra. In the case of yogis and long-term spiritual practitioners, Motoyoma noted large rhythmic fluctuations in the basal blood flow in addition to regular heart pulses. This implies that the autonomic nerves controlling the cardiovascular system function in a rhythmic fashion, with a dynamic balance between the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems. In other words, as a person develops the chakras, he or she gains control over the internal organs connected with the chakras.37
Motoyama has also investigated the age-old belief that chakras are related to various psi activities. Because of his research, Motoyama ended up classifying psi abilities into two categories: powers of reception and powers of generation. Basically, he discovered that receptive powers are linked to the lower chakras and generative powers to the higher ones.
For instance, the first chakra includes the complete knowledge of kundalini and the power to awaken kundalini, as well as abilities such as levitation and control of emotion, thought, and semen, and the ability to smell fragrances associated with a person or an event (even when not present). The second chakra includes the fear of water (which makes sense, as this chakra is commonly related to the element of water), and the third chakra activates the power to know one’s body. Motoyama’s understanding of the link between receptivity and the lower chakras is that the lower energy centers must be strong in order for us to live in concrete reality—the reality of this physical planet, not otherworldly planes of reality. The abilities shift in the heart, which is empowered by the principle of love. At this point we can generate energy to send to others.
Motoyama also determined that some individuals have one naturally stronger chakra or set of chakras. His explanation of that is karma: past experiences cause one chakra to be more active than others. In one study he placed electrodes in front of subjects who claimed to have awakened certain chakras. Knowing he couldn’t conclusively measure the subtle energy of the chakra, he nonetheless wanted to assess the electrostasis frequencies, which are electrical charges that move slowly and therefore are presumably easier to measure. He discovered that the chakra areas that were presumably stronger did, in fact, emanate stronger frequencies.
It is interesting to note that while he was testing an evolved yogi, Motoyama encouraged him to increase his heart chakra activity to such an extent that researchers could detect a measurable electrical energy. In yet another subject, the subject concentrated on the heart chakra and produced measurable light or electricity, detected by a photo-electric cell. Motoyama concluded that concentrating on the chakras can activate them but also produce measurable physical changes, such as the creation of light.38
A Complete Picture of Chakras as Bands of Frequency
Perhaps the easiest way to relate to the chakras is to keep it simple—in a rather complex sort of way. Each chakra is affiliated with a band of vibrational frequencies, which can be measured in any number of ways but always includes color and sound. It is this fact that enables a chakra to connect the stars with the tiniest movement of an atom in our body.
Basically a chakra is similar to a king: it can relate to—and, to some extent, govern and respond to—anything that falls within the confines of its kingdom, or the band of corresponding frequencies. But this doesn’t limit its interactions. Any chakra can relate to any other chakra—and, in fact, at least theoretically, to nearly everything else in the universe. Our king has “Internet” and is wired for outer space.
Dr. Scroggins explains that there are infinite possible combinations of frequencies in the universe. Some of these intersperse matter, but most frequencies are open or “unattached.” All aspects of matter and energy, including molecular structures, operate on unique energetic vibrational levels. Every particle or molecule is unique. As we’ve already established, however, no matter the differences, they can all be described with the same formula, which relates to the radial size, and each rides inside a frequency that directly correlates to that size and vibrational level. Everything rides on a pi radial string of numerical sequences—and every one of these sequences in the universe vibrates with energy (moving information) that interacts with that sequence. These sequences also interact with matter and form information storage bins at these junction points. Add the fact that all particles, molecules, and bundles of molecules, which are constantly vibrating outward in 360-degree rings, are multidimensional. This means that a single particle, because of the sequencing nature of frequency and its multidimensionality, can tap into information stored anywhere in this universe, as well as others.
It means the same for our chakras.
Scroggins believes it is important to understand that we are traveling through and along the frequencies in the universe while they are constantly passing through us. After all, the universe is expanding, and our energy moves with it. This “double movement” means that at every moment, the interactive frequencies of the universe, or at least the numeric sequences of them, interact with us.39 We are already gigantic storage systems, desktop computers with eons of material encoded within us. Surrounding our genes are the epigenes, a chemical soup that contains our ancestors’ memories. Primarily made of viruses as well as other microbes, these epigenes link us to the past. They also largely determine which genes will toggle on and off.
Our bodies themselves are memory units containing the details of everything we’ve ever thought, felt, or said. Many parts of the brain are involved in the chemical, electrical, and neurological activity that cause our programmed responses to stimulation. I would also suggest that because of the interaction of our physical and energetic fields with others (a concept I’ll introduce more completely in our next chapter), we are also linked with anyone we have ever come into contact with—and anyone they have known as well. In fact, because subtle energy doesn’t have to obey the traffic cops of the universe and can indulge in quantum principles, we also have informational access to events that could have happened, might be occurring, and could happen in the future, as well as all beings associated with these possibilities.
Surrounding and within this interconnecting flux are universal frequencies that link us to knowledge greater than our own and the knowledge of people we come into contact with. Within this dynamic, chakras operate like multidimensional portals that can tune in to the universal frequency “Internet.” As we explored in the last chapter, and as is more fully explained in the “Chakras in Multiplex” section later in this chapter, chakras exist on all levels of our being. Therefore, they are able to operate at measurable color and sound frequencies but also harmonically, or at lower and higher frequencies. As Scroggins asserts, frequency drives energy. If a chakra operating at the causal level interacts with a set of universal energies or otherworldly beings, the chakra is then able to “spin” this data into our physical bodies, shifting our neurological and endocrine capabilities and advancing us in any number of ways. We would only need a dot of matching frequencies in our actual body to allow this shift to lock in. These spaces of what are called “sympathetic resonance” are interaction points. And of course, we’d need to know how to perceive these interaction points, which chakra medicine practitioners do through their intuition. The truth is that you wouldn’t notice the new message or healing energy on the frequency itself, only at the interaction point.
Each chakra is carried on its own independent band of frequencies and is most likely to interact with frequencies that harmonize to itself. The electromagnetic spectrum is a literal spectrum—a continuum of frequencies that increase in intensity one particle at a time. In fact, each color is nothing more than a frequency range. Our perception of the color itself shifts when enough particles change: suddenly, it invites us to see orange instead of red or green instead of yellow.
For the mathematically minded, Scroggins has figured out a complex formula to measure the wavelengths and frequencies of the various colors (data which can also be applied to chakras, which sit within vibrational bands of energy appearing as color as well as the energy between chakras). The following calculations are twofold. Wavelengths are presented in nanometers (NM), a nanometer being a billionth of a meter, and frequencies are presented in gigahertz (GHz), a gigahertz being one billion cycles per second. Scroggins employs elements including the speed of light to arrive at these figures:
|
Color |
Wavelength (NM) |
Frequency (GHz) |
|
Red |
710 |
422,242.9577 |
|
Red-Orange |
670 |
447,451.4925 |
|
Orange |
645 |
464,794.5736 |
|
Yellow-Orange |
610 |
491,463.1148 |
|
Yellow |
580 |
516,883.6207 |
|
Yellow-Green |
555 |
540,166.6667 |
|
Green |
535 |
560,359.8131 |
|
Blue-Green |
490 |
611,821.4286 |
|
Blue |
450 |
666,205.5556 |
|
Blue-Violet |
420 |
713,791.6667 |
|
Violet |
395 |
758,968.3544 |
|
Red-Violet |
340 |
881,742.6471 |
As you can see, we can easily associate chakras with each of the solid colors, but colors can also be affiliated with tones. On a vibrational basis, chakras receive and send light but do the same with sounds. This is because pitch can be described by frequency too.
In general, there is no universal agreement about which chakra matches a specific note, pitch, or range, although there are many such systems featured throughout this book in relation to the chakras. The most typical association of the chakras to octave notes is featured in chapter 15 and basically affiliates the chakras with C as first chakra, graduating upward to a D in the second chakra, and so on.
A more scientific approach starts with the speed of light in a vacuum as the constant. Recognizing that audible frequencies range between 20 and 25,000 Hz, the basis for figuring out which pitch is associated with each color—and therefore each chakra—is to use wavelength, measured in meters, nanometers, and angstroms. A formula develops that looks like this:
For 5,800 angstroms (yellow): frequency = 299,792,458 (constant speed in a vacuum)/ 0.00000058 = 516,883,530,000,000 Hz.
As octaves are a result of doubling or halving frequency, this high frequency may be reduced to a precise audible value by cumulative halving. The result of this figuring, solely in terms of hertz and tone, is as follows:
|
Chakra |
Hertz |
Tone |
|
First |
757.53 |
G♭ |
|
Second |
845.89 |
A♭ |
|
Third |
472.27 |
A♯ |
|
Fourth |
527.35 |
C |
|
Fifth (as blue) |
588.86 |
D |
|
Sixth (as violet) |
657.54 |
E 40 |
White typically is not included in these types of tables because it is usually considered to contain all frequencies.
Chakras in Multiplex: Ladders of Light
As we’ve already discussed, subtle energy is arrayed in multiple layers along different strata of reality. This means that the (plus or minus) seven chakras exist in multiple levels of reality. One of their many functions is to step energy up and down, from the farthest reaches of heaven to the smallest atoms.
Several of the systems showing these layers of reality and the role of the chakras are featured in Part 8. The goal of covering this topic here is to explain how chakras function as organs of conversion within the multilevel reality that we occupy while also presenting subtle science explanations of this process.
The simplest presentation of the multiple realities and subtle bodies is that there are several layers (often called energy bodies), each of which contains a number of spatial dimensions. The most commonly discussed layers and their dimensions are as follows: etheric layer, three dimensions; astral layer, four dimensions; mental layer, five dimensions; causal layer, five dimensions; and buddhic layer, six dimensions. Layers atop these, covered in chapter 20, are on higher dimensions.43
All living beings have access to these dimensions through their major chakras, although there are also chakras unique to each layer. We can only tap into these layers in a graduated manner, however. This means that our chakras are not only operational energetic organs but also vehicles for potential transformation.
As a species, we have evolved over time from the most primal of levels to a higher one (some would say that first we “devolved” and are now emerging again). Some esoteric professionals believe that we have mastered the atomic level, which is physical, and are now operating on the astral plane. This means we can most easily access our chakras between the physical and astral levels.
These various layers differ in frequency and other matters. The physical dimension is primarily mitigated by electromagnetism, which is based on simple spins of energy. The higher planes are more complex and are often described with various geometrical images. This is one of the reasons that chakras are described with yantras and sacred shapes, as well as sounds.44 The lower the chakra, the simpler its geometric and sacred symbols; conversely, the higher the chakra, the more complex the symbology. In general, the lower chakras process denser and more material energy—or draw from and spin into the lower layers of reality. In contrast, the higher chakras are more complex and reach into higher frames of reality. Following is a discussion about how the seven basic chakras operate on each layer and how the layer-specific chakras work.
chakras on the etheric level
The etheric layer, extending beyond the skin a couple of inches, governs how the physical body functions and how its energy exchanges with the outside world. Partially composed of an electromagnetic biophoton field and partly of a torsion field, the etheric layer helps the body access and move life energy and directs physical growth and healing. It actually serves as the template for the physical body, interacting with DNA to direct change. It sends commands through the acupuncture meridians and enables cell specialization in the embryonic stage.45 Most frequently, this layer is seen as light blue to gray and is pictured as a net composed of tiny energy lines.
All the chakras specific to this energetic layer range from blue to gray and look like vortexes of light. Through these spins, the sub chakras establish matrixes for the body’s cells and organs.46 All seven major chakras also operate within the etheric body, linking it to the physical body (as well as to higher layers of reality), though most frequently the etheric body is linked to the first chakra. When all seven chakras function optimally on the etheric level, the physical body reaps the reward. It is now able to fully respond to the vibrational changes downloaded through the etheric body. Also activated are the seven rays described in chapter 20.47
chakras on the astral level
The astral body is linked with feelings, emotions, and desires. It channels sensations between the higher mind and the physical self. Located between one and two feet beyond the physical body, it also penetrates the entire physical body. Strong emotional states affect and can expand this body; Buddha’s astral body was said to have extended for three miles.
The truth is that our physical body shares space with the astral body, which is quite colorful in a developed person, each color representing a feeling. Because of this, it is often called the “rainbow body,” although some individuals use that same term for the seven in-body chakras or the light body. Many people journey on the astral plane, an extension of the astral body, their soul traveling into various realities.48 In Hindu and Theosophical traditions, the astral plane is often considered the liquid aspect of the cosmic subplanes, which are one of three planes of existence (the others are the physical, which is solid, and mental, which is gaseous).49
Through my work and global travels and studies, I have also found there are three levels of the astral plane. The high astral plane is accessible to enlightened beings. Our highest self can dwell on this level and meet there with other enlightened beings. The middle astral plane is available to souls of the living and deceased. We can visit with these souls to learn about our life concerns. Inhabiting the lower astral plane are entities or aspects of a soul that are stuck in challenging issues. We travel this plane to observe our deepest wounds and shadow sides, and those of others.
When the physical body dies, I believe that the etheric body absorbs a being’s soul and all the memories, karma, and teachings of that lifetime. Along with other experts, I believe that the soul is then absorbed into the astral dimensions. If the soul hasn’t accelerated past the astral dimensions, it creates the energetic structure to join heaven (higher astral), purgatory (middle astral), or hell (lower astral). The soul can also stretch beyond the astral and into the higher planes, as well as to levels of existence I call “the planes of light” that enable a soul to evolve while in between lifetimes.
Specific astral chakras are considered fourth dimensional, but we don’t know exactly what they look like, as their appearance is projected on the lower three dimensions. They are symmetrical in shape and located in the center of the body, opening to the front and back sides of the body.50 They help link the etheric body to the higher vehicles, although many systems relate the astral plane primarily with the second chakra.51 Other experts, however, link the astral layer to the heart chakra.52
In the astral body, the seven traditional chakras look like a vortex of different colors, all described with the colors of the rainbow. It is likely that astral coloration is the reason we ascribe the rainbow colors to the chakras.53
chakras on the mental level
The mental layer is a five-dimensional reality that focuses consciousness on the intellect. Here memory and imagination reign, and we can access facts. In highly developed people this body is almost like a computer that can access whatever information they desire.
Information is shared through waves sent from the mental plane. These waves aren’t subject to time and distance; they can share information from any “when” or “where.” Often described as thoughtforms, these waves can be shared with an individual, who can then send them elsewhere. Data sources include the Akashic Records—the storage center of anything a person has ever thought, felt, or done—as well as unlimited storage houses of information from every dimension.54 Various systems divide this layer of reality into separate planes. A person’s lower mental body is part of their personality and configured for a particular lifetime, while their higher mental body is spiritual in nature and permanent. The latter is concerned with abstract thinking and principles, not specific pieces of data.
This body is often perceived as yellow and quite structured, which makes sense, as yellow often represents information and organization. Because of this, many systems affiliate the third chakra with this body, although this idea varies.55 The truth is that every one of our major chakras can receive both lower and higher mental ideas.
chakras on the causal level
Atop the mental body is the causal plane, which is often equated with the higher mental body in that it deals with formless rather than focused thoughts. Its name evokes its true job: to cause events in the lower planes. Carrying our memories and karma from lifetime to lifetime, it allows us to manifest experiences, making it a very creative plane indeed.56
Chakras aren’t as defined in this arena, which is called the karana sharira in Sanskrit and relates to the anandamaya kosha, or blissful sheath. Rather, the causal body causes both gross and subtle bodies to exist as illusions; we only perceive them as real.57
chakras on the buddhic level
At the highest levels there is less energetic individualism and more overlap with other beings. At the buddhic level separateness falls away, and we stop blaming others for their differences; rather, we perceive them as manifestations of aspects of our own consciousness. We can still gain wisdom from others’ unique experiences, however, choosing not to participate in interactions that don’t fit our value system, such as evil or cruel activities.
Despite the fact we don’t really “need” chakras at this level, they still exist on the other planes. When interacting with others’ chakras, we can now perceive them from the “inside out,” as if they are “our” chakras.58 Some experts link this plane to the fifth chakra, attributing the communication center to Buddha’s teachings, but others affiliate it with different chakras.59
Chakras and Embryonic Development
In the last chapter I introduced Grant McFetridge, who theorizes the existence of chakras in the embryonic state. His theory presents an unusual picture of the chakras and their functions.
McFetridge’s observations have led him to conclude that a fully developed chakra system is one in which all the chakras are fused into a disk located in the solar plexus area. This allows a “flow awareness” state, or the ability to process information and emotions easily. Someone in “chakra flow” would be able to operate effortlessly. His research has also shown that individual chakras anchor into the meridians. Depending on the bond, problems can create depletion or hyperactivity.
Most importantly, according to McFetridge, chakras are actually devices run by corresponding energy-based brains. Within this context chakras wouldn’t be considered mini brains, which they are according to many theories; rather, they are depicted as vehicles managed by aspects of consciousness.
McFetridge explains that our precellular brains contain one or more chakras, which energetically look like glowing balls of light. The egg has seven major chakras, but the precellular sperm has a heart-brain with a series of chakra balls that extend upward and downward. As the egg and sperm come together or coalesce, the chakras ideally converge into a single smooth-edged chakra in the solar plexus area, about two-thirds above this area and one-third below. This results in a chakra disk that has indentations on the rim. During any of the stages leading to the creation of this disk, trauma—either inherited or something that happens to the fertilizing egg—can cause imperfections in the final fusion: the cohesive chakra fragments resulting in the typical seven-chakra pattern. In the young fertilized egg, the separated chakras can now be seen as physical structures attached to the nuclear membrane. After this point, the chakras anchor into the meridians.
Because we usually have separate chakra balls during gestation, a fetus copies its mother’s use of her chakra balls.60 Most likely, one of the reasons that chakra medicine practitioners—and professional therapists, for that matter—so frequently relate issues, problems, and patterns to a subject’s mother is that a child models his or her chakras after the mother’s chakras. We then “inherit” her life viewpoints and attitudes, as well as her behaviors. However, according to McFetridge, the results of activities affecting the primary cell remain with us our entire lives, causing genes to toggle on or off. Modeling is important, but so is the primary cell.
In relation to this theory, Dr. Scroggins’s suggestion is that our initial code sequence is accessible throughout our lives, but it can be affected by changes in frequency levels, which create rifts in our cellular codes. Certainly we receive baseline combinations from both parents, as well as their ancestors. These effects can even activate “sleeper” cells, or potential game-changers, which can alter our genes, attitudes, and behaviors. At some point, Scroggins theorizes, science might even figure out how to analyze an individual’s first code, or even the parents’ codes, to project the subject’s development, including everything from their taste in ice cream to their ideal geographic location in which to live.61
There is also a scientific theory that explains how chakras could be a vital part of embryonic development. Researcher Richard W. Maxwell, in a paper called “The Neurobiology of Chakras and Prayer,” acknowledges that the challenge with the chakra field is demonstrating how something nonphysical could operate physically. Maxwell’s theory takes us right into the life of an embryo, during which time the dividing cell is undergoing what are called gap junctions, which are associated with electrical conduction. These gap junctions, says Maxwell, explain chakras and other subtle systems, including the meridians, and why they might affect us physically.
Gap junctions are hydrophilic passages between the cytoplasm of two adjacent cells. They are formed by certain proteins arranged in hexagonal shapes and are involved in electrical conduction. Among their activities, they synchronize hormone secretions, help neurons fire, relate neurons to glial cells, and coordinate activity in embryological development. Some researchers have proposed that acupuncture points and the meridians linking them arise from dense areas of gap junctions. The chakras are related to gap junctions that link autonomic cells and the parts of the central nervous system that control the differentiation of autonomic and other neural cells.
Basically, the gap junctions concentrated in certain regions each relate to a classically known chakra. In these areas the gap junctions are also associated with the endocrine system and the central nervous system. In this scenario the Hindu-proposed sushumna is equivalent to a network of glial cells that extend from the spine to the brain and allow a full electrical connection between the two. It also incorporates the neural tube that relates to the gap junctions.
Three main activities are associated with these gap junctions in relation to the chakras:
- • A physical base located in the dorsal central nervous system
- • A concentration point within this base
- • Influence of this physical base over glandular secretions, which can also influence mental activities
If, in fact, chakras are subtle structures that emanate from or at least connect to these points, a change in chakra activity would modify the physical centers in the central nervous system.
The only chakras that aren’t linked to these neural cells, specifically the neural crest cells, are the higher chakras, which aren’t connected to nerve plexuses. However, bones and cartilage of the face and parts of the head are formed from the neural crest cells. Even after they are formed, they could keep the higher chakras linked to the central nervous system.
The theory of gap junctions also affiliates chakras with hormone systems. This is an important point because chakra medicine features techniques for controlling glandular secretions through mental actions. Science shows that gap junctions, operating electrically, can also affect endocrine functions.
Maxwell actually wonders if the reason chakras are perceived as nonphysical is that the chemical synaptic functions (which also involve electrical conduction) of both the central nervous system and the autonomic nervous system are more difficult to discern than electrical gap junction networks. In other words, chemically based nerve functions spread differently from electrical gap junction networks. For a yogi, the physical base of a chakra is in the subordinate electrical circuitry that becomes accessible to conscious control of the central nervous system, autonomic nervous system, and endocrine system. Yoga training provides access to these subtle electrical circuits and functions.
Kundalini, too, can be explained with this theory, as you will see in chapter 22. To finish our current thought, though, Maxwell noted an unusually high concentration of gap junction–linked cells at the end of the spinal column and associated with the coccyx and other first chakra physical mechanisms covered in chapter 4. One idea is that kundalini is, at least in part, a description of changes among the polar molecules within the spine rising from the filum terminale, the end filament of the spinal cord, to the brain. Experts associating it with kundalini include Sir Arthur Avalon, who noted that it contains nerve cell bodies and connects the chakra points. Most of the neurons in the brain, as well as our motor or movement neurons, are considered polar or multipolar, which means they are shaped in such a way as to allow for the integration of a lot of information from other neurons. This model would portray the spinal column as a series of gap junction–linked cells whose gap junctions open as the kundalini rises.62
The Structure of the Chakras
To recap what we have said so far in this chapter: chakras as nerve plexuses are structured into the neurological system, which means they are chemical and electrical. They are also anchored in the hormone and cardiovascular systems. A simple feeling or relational interchange can be conveyed by and through a single chakra and, in a moment, can be conducted to thousands of other sites in the physical body, therefore into any or all other major or minor chakras—including those that rise into other levels of reality.
As bands of frequency, chakras are unlimited in their outreach. Often energy is received from the outside world through the correlated auric field and then transferred into the related chakra, which then disseminates data every which way—chemically, electrically, and through fields and frequencies. The reverse is also true. Whether they are operating physically or through color or sound, chakras interpenetrate all of reality.
To understand the nature of the chakra even more completely— as well as kundalini, the topic of the next chapter—I want to dive into the issues of chakra structure, a subject I first introduced in chapter 1. Chakras are organs. This means that they function in certain ways relative to the flow of energy, structural organization, and spin. As we examine these issues, know that many of the exercises in this book enable you to make use of this information.
Chakras, Structure, and Spin
As we have already determined, chakras maintain a yin-yang balance in our life. They do this by flowing energy to the left and right sides of the body and internally within the chakra from the left side into the right side. The left side receives energy from the world and the right side shares information about us with the world. The front and back sides each process different information—the everyday versus the supernatural, respectively—and the inner wheel manages our spiritual function, while the outer wheels help us adapt to the external world. These factors help create chakra spin.
Many bodily energies emanate spin. The fibers of the heart, for example, cause the heart muscles to form looping spirals. Red blood cells also loop, their cell membranes a network of protein hexagons that look like a geodesic dome. Joints move through spin, as do bones.63
One of the factors in this dance of life is a form of magnetic resonance produced by the heart and the resulting left ventricular torsion, a term borrowed from our studies of subtle energy and important to our current discussion.64
There are countless examples of spin in the body. For instance, certain red blood cells are shaped like discs. Because of their form, they move through blood vessels in a spiraling shape—the very same types of twists we find in DNA double helixes and many forms of organic and inorganic matter, which can be described as lines of force that impact growth.65 We find spin or vortexes when EMFs expand, and, of course, in the movement of the chakras. In fact, every time we have two similar rotations with a small frequency difference, we end up with a vortex.
One of the shapes that commonly produces spin is a torus, which looks like a donut or a bagel. One property of the torus is that it is connected like a Mobius strip, which really only has one surface. In particle physics, the torus provides the best environment for accelerating particles. It is also a potential opening to the vacuum or zero-point field, sometimes called a black hole.66 Illustration 53 shows both a torus and a torus with a vacuum or zero-point field inside.
Many modern chakra experts envision the chakra as a two-ended trumpet, a depiction of two connected spherical tori. In this manner the chakra torus operates like a gyroscope and actually creates a torus-like energy flow through and around the entire body, leaving us in the middle of a donut; the flow around our head and feet is bidirectional, flowing first one way and then another like the tides.67 This analogy also describes kundalini in the form of a double coil of helixes with complementary chains of yin and yang.68 Illustration 54 shows how a chakra is constructed from a torus and reveals the symmetry of the heart as toroidal.
Illustration 53—The Torus, Zero-Point Insert, and the Chakra: The donut-shaped torus (top) revolves around a black hole, or a zero-point vacuum in the center. As noted in Illustration 54, a chakra can be pictured like a torus, its center comparable to a vacuum through which energy can be released or pulled. illustration by llewellyn art department
Illustration 54—Two-Sided Chakra (left) and the Heart’s Field (right): Chakras are often considered to be made of a torus, the spindle connected with the spine. The heart’s electromagnetic field is a combination of torus shapes and spin. illustration by mary ann zapalac and llewellyn art department
One of the reasons this spiraling occurs in the body is because of bilateral symmetry—the fact that we have two sides. Consider what forces might make the sixth chakra spin. From an endocrine point of view there are two parts of the pituitary, which can rotate in opposite directions, thereby creating a spin. In terms of the chakras, the fact that a chakra inhabits the left and right side of the body, and also has a right and left side, ensures the generation of two rotating vectors with different frequencies or rates of rotation, thus giving rise to the idea of inner and outer energy flows creating chakra patterns. The actual form is produced by frequency ratio and direction of the rotation, which at the physical level is created by fundamental electrical, gravitational, and developmental frequencies such as those generated by the spine.69
To explain this, electrical currents running near the spine cause spin directions. The right side of the spine features a positively charged current, the left side has a negatively charged current, and the center is neutral. This description relates also to the right, left, and center nadis, respectively. The right-side current travels up the right until it comes to the top of the first chakra, after which it splits. Part of the right-side current continues up the right side of the spine and the other half crosses over to the left side of the spine, in between the top of the first chakra and the bottom of the second chakra. This positively charged current now moves up the left side and crosses over again at the bottom of the third chakra. Onward goes the looping path, with the left-side current operating in the same zigzag fashion.
The right-side (positive) current is dominant and spins the first chakra to the left as it comes up the right side of the first chakra. The first chakra now spins counterclockwise. When the positive current returns to home base at the top of the second chakra, it spins the second chakra to the right, or clockwise. Under this scenario, the odd-numbered chakras usually spin counterclockwise and the even-numbered chakras spin clockwise.70 See Illustration 55 for a depiction of the crisscrossing of the nadis that produce these currents.
Illustration 55—The Rising of Charges: As positive and negative currents rise and cross over the chakras, shown here on the twelve-chakra system model, we find our kundalini pattern emerging. The dotted line indicates the negative charge that is affiliated with the ida nadi, which is located on the left side of the first chakra and is considered feminine. The pingala arises on the right side of the first chakra and is considered positive. The kundalini flows through these and other nadis, such as the central sushumna. illustration by mary ann zapalac and llewellyn art department
Logic would also suggest that disturbances in the electrical flow, such as chakra blocks, would change the directions of the chakras. Yet another explanation of chakra spin returns us to our discussions of torsion fields, which Kozyrev called spin waves that move through space. Torsion waves explain how entropy, or disorder involving information in the universe, is constantly preserved, fulfilling natural law.
As a reminder, when entropy increases, information disappears from that state, only to reappear somewhere else. At the second site, entropy would be said to be decreasing. As counterintuitive as it seems, the following is therefore true:
- • Entropy increasing equals information disappearing
- • Entropy decreasing equals information appearing
Where entropy decreases we get what is called left-handed torsion, which makes disks spin counterclockwise (moving to the left as seen from the top). Experiments showed that left-handed torsion causes yang types of reactions such as the growth of plants and flowers. This makes sense, as energy is being added. Where entropy increases we have right-handed torsion. Studies have shown that right-handed torsion causes disks to spin clockwise (moving to the right as viewed from above); this spin, having more yin in orientation, costs energy and caused debilitation in plants and flowers.71
Our formula now looks like this:
- • Entropy increases—information disappears—right-handed torsion—clockwise spin
- • Entropy decreases—information appears—left-handed torsion—counterclockwise spin
These findings would suggest that the counterclockwise spins add energy and clockwise spins subtract energy. I would suggest that we must be careful with this conclusion, however. When a mirror was used during experiments, the torsion field reversed polarity, causing the properties to be reversed.72 Think of what happens when you look into a mirror. The resulting image is opposite your “real” life one. This is what occurred with the polarities in the experiment when a mirror was present. The clockwise spins brought in energy and the counterclockwise spins lost energy. This point is important because many chakra systems state that clockwise spins cause the gaining of energy and counterclockwise spins force a loss of energy. In my own practice, I have found that individuals can be quite different. Some individuals’ chakras consistently run clockwise and others typically spin counterclockwise, hence various systems might differ depending on who first created the system.
The other factor is that I believe there are two wheels involved with each chakra. The internal wheel actually links to the zero-point vacuum in the center and reflects our spiritual essence. The outer wheel holds our programming and reflects our more wounded self. These two wheels run opposite. Most people identify with their outer wheel rather than their inner wheel. Depending on which we identify with, our clockwise and counterclockwise functions might be different.
In general, I believe that when our inner wheel is in charge, the clockwise spins bring in energy and the counterclockwise spins exit energy. Then again, everyone is unique. While I can’t make a final conclusion, it is possible that the inner wheel of the chakra operates like a mirror, shifting the torsion properties and causing clockwise movement to bring in energy and counterclockwise movement to lose energy.
Additional research adds more complexity to our exploration. Chakra medicine practitioners are known for their ability to shift time and space and produce nearly miraculous results such as through the siddhi gifts. Research subsequent to Kozyrev suggests what might be occurring during such magical chakra moments. In studies they conducted in the late 1980s, two Japanese physicists, Hideo Hayasaka and Sakae Takeuchi, spun a gyroscope in a left rotation at a fast pace. The gyroscope showed no weight change; however, the one rotated to the right was found to weigh less or undergo a “levitation effect.”73
According to Kozyrev’s theories, these effects would be explained by the nature of a torsion, which can be imaged as a twisting vector between two points in space-time. The issue isn’t really one of weight but of time. Time is thinner at the end of a right-handed torsion wave and denser at the other end, shifting the nature of space and how much mass can be perceived on either side, producing an antigravity effect.74 Wherever time is denser, such as with left-handed spins, we actually have negative time flow and information is taken away; ESP becomes easier.75 Where time is thinner, as with right-handed spins, information is added.76 Frequency is basically altered, changing the relationship with the vacuum; the pattern of the spin decides what is going to happen with the information.77
Chakras and the Famous Lotus
We’ve now offered a couple of suggestions for why chakras spin and how this spin affects the chakra—and us. What about the reason that chakras are depicted as lotuses? One way to grasp the concept is to picture a helicopter with two propeller blades. When they are going full speed, they share similar frequencies and you perceive one blur. When they slow down, they begin rotating at different frequencies and a distinct lotus pattern emerges.
In general, if two rotation rates are equal and opposite, the vectors will meet at two diametrically opposite points. But if there is a little difference—as would be the case with a blocked chakra or a chakra processing levels of reality, such as the etheric and the causal, at inconsistent rates—they would converge off-center and you would end up with distinct divisions of a circle. Very high numbers of petals actually indicate very little difference, although lower numbers could occur uniformly because of resonance as well.79 One interesting aside is that when frequency ratios are in near unity, the two components begin to cancel each other out. The result is that the vectors spiral toward the center and then spiral out toward the edges—and we have the vortex typically perceived in chakras.80
A biologist wearing a white research coat and sporting a textbook and microscope would be comfortable with much of this chapter. From a purely biological point of view, chakras are intertwined with our body’s neurological and biochemical systems. Because of this, a chakra is an organ of many facets. We’ve seen that it is psychophysiological, electromagnetic, sonic, and also an important component of embryonic development, which means that scientists of other disciplines would now be fascinated. But they are also etheric organs, members of a greater subtle energy body family. Each of these greater energy bodies or levels of reality, many of which link with our seven in-body chakras, also have their own chakric system. A few of these additional levels of reality include the etheric, astral, mental, causal, and buddhic planes. As you’ll discover in part 6, various esoteric professionals add additional layers of knowledge.
To help you comprehend the sheer artistry of this complicated organ, I have also showcased various structural aspects of the chakra. A chakra, established on a band of frequency, also has a flow of energy, spin, and shape. Indeed, chakras are multifaceted organs that appear at every stage of our lives.
In and of themselves, chakras reinforce the age-old belief that we truly are divine beings in human bodies. Yet they are vehicles—for physical health, psychological well-being, and spiritual consciousness—that require a special activation in order to function. That activating element is kundalini, the divine flame and the subject of the next chapter.