Chakras, from top to bottom: Crown, Brow/Third Eye, Throat, Heart, Solar Plexus, Sacral, and Base.
The word chakra comes from the ancient Sanskrit, meaning “wheel of light.”30 According to esoteric teachings, the body has seven major and twenty-one minor chakra points, each representing a vortex of energy that appears to spin like a wheel. The chakras and your aura are connected and are part of your energy body. Together with the life force known as chi (cosmic energy), they work to maintain your balance and good health. They are like gas stations on your personal energy highway, creating a network (meridians) that feeds energy to your entire body. Each chakra supports a different area of the body. Any blockages along the network can create illness. Therefore, when we visualize healing for ourselves and others, our primary picture should be a free-flowing network of energy within the body. This is also true for any living thing, so don’t forget that your pet also has a chakra system. Where our system runs along a vertical plane, theirs runs horizontal. The Earth also has an energy highway, called ley lines.
Chi has many names, including god/dess force, life force, prana, Spirit, or primordial glue. Some people believe that chi might be the basis for electromagnetic energy. All life taps into this cosmic energy!31 Eastern philosophers believe that chi enters the body from the top of the head and, as it flows downward, it activates the seven primary chakras, which in turn activate other energy vortexes in the body. When we are at the peak of health, all chakras spin or vibrate at an incredible speed. When all things in the body are working well and balance occurs, the chakras open like beautiful flowers. The rainbow is the universal symbol of the chakras, and each vortex is normally assigned a particular color that helps us visualize them in meditation. The chakras can be nourished by breathing exercises, chi, meditation, taking care of your body, and eating right.
The study of quantum physics tells us that there is a mathematical way to convert any pattern, no matter how complex, into the language of light waves. Each wave carries a vibration. Different areas in our brains process this vibrational data. For example, our sense of smell is based on cosmic frequencies.32 Not only do we interpret this data, we also create our own, shifting stored information and reworking that information and energy to manifest our mental, physical, and spiritual health. According to some quantum theorists, objective reality is nothing more than a resonating symphony of wave forms that is transferred into the world as we know it only after it has entered our senses. This means that everything, within and without our bodies, is affected, created, or destroyed by our thoughts and actions. We can literally make non-things become things by rearranging patterns of energy. We can and do affect things by mental and physical vibrations. Some call this the “cosmic light force.”
The four lower chakras—heart, solar plexus, sacral, and base—work with the elements. Earth = base; water = sacral; fire = solar plexus; and air = heart. The other chakras—throat, brow, and crown—work with the more spiritual realms. As Witchcraft manipulates energy in all forms, it is necessary for us to learn the chakra system, what each vortex stands for, and how to keep our system in balance. When we raise energy in meditation, spellwork, magick, and ritual, we are tapping into the cosmic life force. Therefore, if a person continually worked negative magick (which we do not), their energy body would eventually sicken and die. This sickness may affect the mind, or the body, or both. The Wiccan Rule of Three—What ye give out comes back to thee, three times three—is in direct relation to how you handle the force of life (chi), as well as a warning that if you use this energy improperly, you will pay the price.
Most modern Wicca studies include basic chakra work to teach the student about his or her energy body, because all magick and healing work relies on how well you learn to use the life force that feeds the universe. You’ll discover that a color isn’t just a color but an energy vibration that can jumpstart and continue to feed a spell, a ritual, or even a meditation. When a spell recommends a particular candle color, gemstone, or herb, it is the energy of that item that’s important. When we speak of things being “in sympathy,” we are talking about the energy of that item and how it relates to, or affects, something else. For example, if a person is having trouble with his eyesight or sinuses, you might burn a blue candle (representing the brow chakra, which controls the energy flow of the face as well as the more spiritual energy of intuition and insight). You might also make a small blue bag out of felt and add natural blue stones and petals from blue flowers. This little package is a conjuring or gris-gris bag. Items like the conjuring bag and candles have two distinct purposes: their vibrational qualities and their ability to help you focus on a person, place, or thing. Most magickal books call the relationship between things and colors correspondences. The use of items like the magick wand, staff, or rod (three different items) are linked to the manipulation of cosmic forces or chi.
Sound is also an important aspect of energy manipulation. A loud, unpleasant sound affects the body in a negative way, where a pleasing, soothing sound creates harmony within and around the body. This is why some magickal books recommend specific types of music for various workings, and why Witches use chanting, song, bells, singing bowls, rattles, and drums in ritual and magickal work.
The following list will help you to match the colors of the seven major chakra vortexes to different areas of the body. You may find this information helpful in planning your healing work.
Color: White.
Association: Universal consciousness, wisdom, transformation in a spiritual way.
Body areas: Brain and pineal gland.
Emotional: Peace, purity, cuts through mental confusion, encourages the growth of new ideas. Helps shy people open up.
brow (third eye)
Color: Violet.
Association: Intuition, insight, paranormal abilities, connecting with the group mind and universal consciousness.
Body areas: Face, nose, sinuses, ears, eyes. Brain functions that include the pituitary gland, cerebellum, and central nervous system.
Emotional: All knowledge, spiritual advancement, cleansing for emotional addictions, release of painful memories, heals the emotionally shattered. Brings the sleep cycle into balance.
throat
Color: Blue.
Association: Creativity, self-expression, and communication. Changing the vibrations around you through sound.
Body areas: Throat, neck, thyroid, ears, windpipe, and upper part of lungs.
Emotional: Peace, calm, serenity. Looking back on the past to learn and grow, frees the power of the spoken word, releases mental confusion.
heart
Color: Green.
Association: Unconditional love, compassion, healing, learning to live in balance, bridge from physical to spiritual.
Body areas: Heart, upper back, breasts, general function of the lungs, blood and air circulation. There is a secondary chakra close to the heart chakra called the thymus, which controls lymphatic systems.
Emotional: Emotional clearing and insight, clarity, stability. Healing for both body and mind as one complete package. Brings balance, focus. Green/gold works on nervous tics and stammering.
solar plexus
Color: Yellow.
Association: The storehouse of spiritual and physical energy; keeps the other chakras healthy. When we ground and center in magick, we are concentrating on the solar plexus chakra.
Body areas: Lower back, digestive system, liver, spleen, gall bladder, pancreas, and the production of insulin.
Emotional: Forgiveness, removes depression, negative thinking, boosts self-esteem, helps to release fear and phobias, and adds the energy of joy and laughter. Emotional success, abundance, and vitality. Gold helps to relieve suicidal tendencies.
sacral
Color: Orange.
Association: Purification, joy, receptivity to nature, feminine energy, immunity from disease. Located around the pelvis.
Body areas: Pelvis, kidneys, production of adrenaline, womb, bladder, and the liquids of the body—blood, lymph, gastric juices, and sperm.
Emotional: Breaks down barriers, helps in cases of mental breakdown, depression, rape, divorce, and accidents. Best color for dealing with grief, loss, or shock. Helps to eliminate fear.
base
Color: Red.
Association: Root of the collective unconscious, vitality, stability, and survival.
Body areas: Bones, teeth, nails, rectum, colon, prostate gland, blood and blood cells.
Emotional: Renews enthusiasm, strength to carry on, power to do something you dread. Courage, support, and willpower. Removes sluggishness.
Find a place where you will not be disturbed for about a half hour (though your first meditation experiences will probably be much less than that). Sit comfortably in a chair. You can lie down, but sometimes when we do that if we are very tired, we’ll fall asleep. Close your eyes and take three deep breaths. Imagine that your entire body is surrounded by white light. Take a minute or two to think about the white light. Don’t worry if you can’t visualize right away. You’ll get better at it as you go along. Take a deep breath and relax.
Now, imagine the white light of the Goddess (chi) coming down into the top of your head and slowly moving down your entire body, into your neck, shoulders, chest, arms, fingers, pelvis, legs, and down into your feet. Allow any negative energy collected in your body to flow out of the bottom of your feet. Take a deep breath and relax.
Follow the same visualization again, using the visualization of God energy (chi) doing the same thing, all the way down to your feet. Take a deep breath and relax.
Imagine the base chakra glowing red; you can think of it opening like a flower or spinning like a ball of light. Sometimes I see the chakras as colored flames. Like a flower turning toward the sun, imagine your inner self turning toward Spirit and receiving the right amount of cosmic energy that is right for you. Move up to the next chakra (sacral), and visualize orange. Work through all the chakras in this way, matching the color to the point on the body. When you finish with the crown chakra, take a deep breath and relax, imagining the chakras closing one by one, from the crown down to the base. Take another deep breath and open your eyes. Shake your hands lightly. The meditation is finished. Try practicing this meditation every day for at least a month. Most magickal people meditate every day for their entire lives.