A shamsa (from the Persian word for "sun") is a radiant, starburst-lke medallion or rosette used in Persian and Islamic art. Typically painted with vibrant colors and intricate gold leaf, these geometric or floral designs usually symbolize divine light, cosmic order, and the unity of the Divine.
Mooladhara (Root Support) – Smell
The Mother Earth expresses Herself in the fragrance of flowers growing from the earth element. Studies have shown that mothers and their babies can recognise one another through the sense of smell. The Mooladhara is associated with fragrance, innocence and the simple purity of childhood. Smell is our most primal sense, linked to memory, instinct and survival, reflecting the grounding and protective qualities of this centre.
Swadisthana (Sacral) – Taste
The Swadisthana is governed by the goddess Shri Saraswati, the Goddess of eloquence and creativity, who also rules the tongue, the organ of taste. She bestows art, music and aesthetic refinement, and we often speak of aesthetic "taste". Taste involves discernment and enjoyment, transforming nourishment into experience, just as this chakra transforms inspiration into creative expression.
Nabhi (Manipura) – Sight
The Nabhi is the abode of the goddess Shri Lakshmi, celebrated during Diwali, the Festival of Lights. Light is required for seeing. Sight allows us to perceive form, direction and possibility, qualities that resonate with the Nabhi's associations with purpose, balance and sustaining wellbeing. Fire, the traditional element of this centre in many systems, illuminates and reveals. The element for the Nabhi, and he Void (Ocean of Illusion) surrounding it, is water; however, it is orbited by the Swadisthana chakra, which is the fire element.
Anahata (Heart) – Touch
Something is described as "touching" when it opens the heart to feeling and compassion. Physical touch conveys affection, comfort and reassurance. The element of the heart centre is air: the breeze felt upon the skin, gentle yet impossible to grasp. Touch reminds us of our interconnectedness and our capacity for empathy, love and human closeness.
Vishuddhi (Throat) – Hearing
The Vishuddhi governs communication, and speech is inseparable from hearing. This centre is associated with ether or space, the subtle element through which sound travels. Shri Krishna, the aspect of the Divine ruling the Vishuddhi, is sometimes depicted blowing a conch, whose call carries across great distances. Hearing requires receptivity: before we speak truthfully, we must learn to listen deeply.
Agnya (Brow) – Insight
Beyond the five physical senses lies the faculty of inner vision: imagination, intuition and insight. The Agnya chakra is associated with witnessing, perception and the ability to discern what lies beneath appearances. Through this inner seeing, we recognise patterns, meanings and possibilities that cannot be apprehended by the ordinary senses alone.
Sahasrara (Crown) – The Sense of Truth
The opening of the Sahasrara chakra brings awareness of the Divine and of the Self as absolute truth. From this centre arises a subtle sense of truth that may be felt through all the senses and beyond them. The Goddess, abiding at the Sahasrara, unites and enlightens them all. Here, the diversity of perception resolves into a direct experience of unity, wisdom and pure consciousness.
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| Roman Altar of Peace |
In ancient Roman art, divine figures were often depicted with a veil forming an arch around them, as if billowing from a breeze emanating from their own body. This artistic device is called a velificatio, a term related to the word ‘veil’. The velificatio is also associated with rebirth and the vault of heaven.
The Kundalini energy is felt as an inner cool breeze, which not only refreshes and nourishes the subtle body, but generates a protective aura around it. Ancient Indian yoga texts use the term kosha ‘sheath’, and there is no close equivalent of the term ‘aura’.
In ancient Greek mythology, the Aurae were wind deities, who were often depicted with a velificatio, (the device spread via Greco-Buddhist Central Asia as far as Japan). 19th century spiritualists associated the velificatio with the subtle energy field they postulated, and started to use the word “aura” to refer to this emanation.
Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi has recommended the use of a bandhan, before and after meditation, as a protection. The bandhan is a movement of the right hand in an arch over the body, seven times, once for each of the auras generated by the seven chakras awakened by the Kundalini. It should be performed with the power of the attention, which is purified and strengthened by the Kundalini, the Cool Breeze.
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| After Louis F Elle the Younger, portrait of a lady as Iris, the messenger goddess, source: Wikipedia |
A few quotes from the 17th century English Puritan preacher and author Thomas Watson:
"The providence of God is 'the queen and governess of the world.' It is the eye which sees, and the hand which turns all the wheels in the universe."
"Meditation is the saints’ perspective glass, by which they see “things invisible.” It is the golden ladder by which they ascend in holy imagination to heaven. It is the dove sent out, and which brings back the olive-branch of peace."
"The wheels of a chariot are an emblem of contentment: the wheels move, the axle stirs not. When change and motion are around us, a contented spirit remains firm in its centre."
The Wheel of Fortune, from John Lydgate’s Troy Book and Siege of Thebes
Note: the Left Agnya is on the right side of the head, as the Ida Nadi and Pingala Nadis cross over at the sixth centre. The Australian aborigines did not have an empire as such, but their culture and deep spirituality arose many thousands of years ago, and must have had a subtle influence on the development of humankind.
Please feel free to share this diagram, but please do not remove the credit. Thanks.
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| Franklin Carmichael |
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| Sant Jnanadeva |
Nivruttinath says, Oh Dnyanadeva,
you are purified by Self-realisation.
By understanding the Self,
you and your devotion have become
one with the Universe.
The doubts and division
between you and God
have disappeared.
Reigning in your mind,
God has appeared in your heart.
Now with His omnipresence,
there is no emptiness.
Nivruttinath says, Oh Dnyanadeva,
you are purified by Self-realisation.
The brightness of this light of knowledge
has outshined everything else in this world,
and the flames of desires inside you
are extinguished.
Nivruttinath says, Oh Dnyanadeva,
you are purified by Self-realisation.
With the disappearance of these desires,
the whole world is filled with God’s presence.
Nivruttinath says, Oh Dnyanadeva,
you are purified by Self-realisation.
Dnyanadeva says, with the ultimate teachings
of Nivruttinath,
Dnyanadeva realised complete
mercy and contentment
She is so bright and glorious that you cannot look at Her face or Her garments for the splendour with which She shines. For She is terrible with the terror of the avenging lightning, and gentle with the goodness of the bright sun; and both Her terror and Her gentleness are incomprehensible to humans . . . . But She is with everyone and in everyone, and so beautiful is Her secret that no person can know the sweetness with which She sustains people, and spares them in inscrutable mercy.
- Hildegard von Bingen’s vision of the Feminine Divine, from Scivias, III, 4.15, translated by Mother Columba Hart, O.S.B. and Jane Bishop
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| Petrarch and Laura de Noves, Ashmolean Museum |
“Often have I wondered with much curiosity as to our coming into this world and what will follow our departure. When I was ruminating lately on this matter, not in any dream as one in sickness and slumber, but wide awake and with all my wits about me, I was greatly astonished to behold a very beautiful Lady, shining with an indescribable light about her. She seemed as one whose beauty is not known, as it might be, to mankind. I could not tell how she came there, but from her raiment and appearance I judged her a fair Virgin, and her eyes, like the sun, seemed to send forth rays of such light that they made me lower my own before her, so that I was afraid to look up.”
“it occurred to me this could be none other than Truth herself.”
-Petrarch, Secretus
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| Rose Window, Milan Cathedral |
