All about chakras' Journal (original) (raw)

11:07 pm
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Severely deficient? I'm almost finished reading Eastern Body, Western Mind, by Anodea Judith. It's a great book, approaching the chakra system from the point of view of Western psychology. It's aimed at psychologists as a resource for working with patients, but is accessible to the interested "hobbyist" as well.

At the end of the book, Ms. Judith outlines a self-assessment. Upon completing mine, I found myself to be deficient in...just about every chakra except for the crown chakra! Is this...normal?

12:00 pm
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Seven gifts of the Holy Spirit I often find fascinating connections between groups of 7 and the chakra system. Here is one that I just stumbled across:

These gifts are enumerated (approximately) in Isaiah 11:2-3.

Here are the names of the the seven gifts, as given[1] in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, along with a description of each gift, as defined[2] by St. Thomas Aquinas in the Summa Theologica:

Wisdom - The gift of wisdom perfects a person's speculative reason in matters of judgment about the truth, Aquinas writes.
Knowledge - The gift of knowledge perfects a person's practical reason in matters of judgment about the truth, Aquinas writes.
Counsel - Also called "Right Judgment." The gift of counsel perfects a person's practical reason in the apprehension of truth and allows the person to respond prudently, "moved through the research of reason," Aquinas writes.
Fortitude - Also called "Courage." The gift of fortitude allows people the "firmness of mind [that] is required both in doing good and in enduring evil, especially with regard to goods or evils that are difficult," Aquinas writes.
Understanding - Also called "Common Sense." The gift of understanding perfects a person's speculative reason in the apprehension of truth. It is the gift "whereby self-evident principles are known," Aquinas writes[1].
Piety - Piety is the gift "whereby, at the Holy Spirit's instigation, we pay worship and duty to God as our Father," Aquinas writes.
Fear of the Lord - Also called "Wonder and Awe in God." This gift is described by Aquinas as a fear of separating oneself from God. He describes the gift as a "filial fear," like a child's fear of offending his father, rather than a "servile fear," that is, a fear of punishment.

Aquinas says the first four of these gifts (wisdom, understanding, knowledge, and counsel) direct the intellect, while the other three gifts (fortitude, piety, and fear of the Lord) direct the will toward God.

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_gifts_of_the_Holy_Spirit

The seven gifts seem to correspond pretty accurately to the seven chakras from the top down!

9:59 pm
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Third chakra opening I'll start with an odd phenomenon I've experienced a few times. Two or three times I year, I go to the beach with my grandparents. It is probably the only time that I get in the hot tub. I tend to go back and forth between the hot tub and the (fairly warm) pool. Something I've noticed is that with the changing of temperatures (it is more noticeable when I go from the spa to the pool), I experience a huge release in my stomach, where I imagine my third chakra to be. It's a nice, expansive sensation.

Has anybody else experienced this? Any explanation or insight as to how or why this might occur?

9:57 pm
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Welcome to ChakraCom! It seems to me that there is no community on LJ devoted specifically to the chakras, so I created one. I don't know much about the chakra system, but I want to learn.

If you have any suggestions for what I can include in the interests list, helpful links to include in the community info, or other LJ communities that would be interested in hearing about us, please let me know. Also, first person to make a sweet icon for this community wins.