A chakra is like a wheel that creates a vortex which can “download” energy from the higher dimensions. This higher dimensional energy, known as prana (or chi), is not physical. Prana is the life force or animating principle of our physical bodies. Our ego, emotions, intellect and mind, as well as the physical elements of earth, water, air, fire, and ether are creations of the life force within us.
This “downloaded” prana is an aspect of our consciousness in the same way that our aura is, but it is denser than our aura and less dense than our physical body. Our chakras interact with our physical system via a connection with a specific endocrine gland and nerve plexus, which associates each chakra with a different area of our bodies. Chakras one through three, as well as an explanation of how the chakras work, is in the Unconscious Section of this site.
HIGHER AND LOWER CHAKRAS
The Fourth Chakra is the Heart Chakra. Chakras one through three are often called the lower chakras; probably because they rule our “lower”, more primal nature, while chakras four through seven are often called our higher chakras. The fifth and sixth chakras are an octave above the second and third chakras, but they rule similar areas of physical life. For example, the fifth chakra rules creativity and communication just like the second chakra, but the second chakra rules our basic communications in our homes and our procreative creativity, while the fifth chakra rules our more complicated communications and our creativity in the world.
The sixth chakra is an octave higher than the third chakra. Our third chakra rules our issues of “power over” and “power within” and our abilities to tune into messages sent to us via the fourth dimension, whereas our sixth chakra rules our spiritual power and our ability to commune with our higher guidance.
The first chakra (Root Chakra), the fourth chakra (Heart Chakra), and the seventh chakra (Crown Chakra) are connected in a somewhat different fashion. Our Root Chakra brings our feminine, physically manifest, energy up into our bodies and our Crown Chakra brings our masculine, spiritually unmanifest, energy down into our bodies. These two transpersonal polarities meet with a burst of light in our Heart Chakra.
Our Heart Chakra is also where our personal feminine/matter and masculine/spirit energies integrate. Therefore, the Heart Chakra is often thought of as the chakra of relationships. These relationships begin with the relationship between our inner male and female polarities as well as our human and divine polarities. The success of these integrations has a strong impact upon our external relations and our ability to be happy and successful in our lives.
MASCULINE AND FEMININE ENERGIES
Certain chakras demonstrate primarily masculine energy and others demonstrate primarily feminine energy. Masculine energy flows outward and is related to expression and action while feminine energy flows inward and is related to reception and emotion.
Emotion here is defined as “energy in motion”. The second chakra (Navel Chakra) and the sixth chakra (Third Eye) are of a feminine energy while the third chakra (Solar Plexus Chakra) and fifth chakra (Throat Chakra) are of a masculine energy. Therefore, we are receptive to emotions with our second-feminine chakra and express those emotions with our masculine-fifth chakra through creativity and communication.
Our feminine-sixth chakra is an octave above our masculine-third chakra. Our sixth chakra allows us to receive spiritual power and information from our higher guidance, and our third chakra can use our personal power to express that information through “right action” and clear, intellectual and/or psychic interactions.
The first, fourth and seventh chakras hold both feminine and masculine energy. Therefore, these three chakras assist us in learning how to integrate our masculine and feminine energy fields. The Root Chakra pulls energy up from the earth to serve as a source of grounding and vitality, a quality which both men and women need. The Crown Chakra pulls energy down from the universe to open our multidimensional awareness, a quality which both men and women need.
The Heart Chakra is where we integrate our masculine and feminine energy as well as our human self and spirit self. Within our Heart Chakra, we can raise our consciousness through the power of love or lower our consciousness through the power of fear. Our Heart Chakra is where we wage our battle between the Light and the Dark. Many cultures think of our Heart as the Seat of our Soul.
