{"collection":"bos","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/bos/bos545.htm","path":"bos/bos545.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/bos/bos545.htm","text":"Internet Book of Shadows, (Various Authors), [1999]\n \n \n The Parts of the Soul\n \n A Greek System of Chakras\n \n (first draft)\n \n by John Opsopaus\n \n Introduction\n \n This essay resulted from an attempt to find a Greek system of \"energy\n centers\" corresponding to the chakras of Eastern philosophy. Such a\n correspondence would help illuminate Greek mysticism and reveal some of\n the foundations of the Western Magical Tradition. This goal might seem\n to be a shallow exercise in analogies, but there are reasons to expect\n a\n substantial correspondence. First, the Eastern and Greek systems evolved\n out of a common Indo-European culture, so one would expect genetic\n correspondences; these connections were likely maintained over the\n millennia, since we know the Middle East mediated continual cultural\n transfer with both the West and East. Second, there is a certain degree\n of objectivity in the system of chakras, as reflected in the physical\n body, which would lead to correspondences even in the absence of\n cultural contact. The consequence of these two factors is a significant\n uniformity in ideas about the Spirit and its connection to the Body\n across the Eurasian continent, and even beyond, as documented, for\n example, in Onians's _Origins of European Thought_.\n \n How would we know a Greek system of chakras if we saw it? The standard\n I have used is that (1) they should be approximately seven energy\n centers; (2) they should be approximately located where the chakras are\n located; (3) they should have approximately the same \"functions\" as the\n chakras.\n \n It's worth keeping in mind that the chakra system best known in the\n West, with seven chakras, is not the only system; some have more than\n fourteen (Eliade, 243-5; Murphy, 156). Therefore, we should not expect\n an exact correspondence of number, since certain energy centers might or\n might not be counted depending on their strength or the \"kind\" of energy\n they concentrate. Furthermore, different systems differ in their exact\n placement of the chakras, so likewise we should not expect an exact\n correspondence in a Greek system. Nevertheless, it will be apparent that\n the Greek system corresponds closely to the system of seven chakras.\n \n My principal source has been Onians, especially Part I and Part II (chh.\n 1-7), but the overall structure is described in Plato's account of the\n \"Parts of the Soul\" in the Timaeus (69c-73d), which probably embodies\n Pythagorean doctrine. In the following I've numbered the energy centers\n from the top down with Roman numerals, since this accords better with\n Platonic doctrine; however, the chakras are conventionally numbered from\n the bottom up, for which I've (appropriately) used Hindu numbers\n (so-called Arabic numbers).\n \n I\n \n The Crown of the head (Gk. koruphe, Lat. vertex). Plato said the humans\n stand upright because of the connection between the Heavens and the Soul\n in their brains. People with especially great power in their heads were\n 2401\n \n represented with a nimbus, a halo of flames, around their head (attested\n as early as the 3rd cent. BCE in Greece). This center corresponds to\n \n \n Chakra 7 (at the crown of the head), called Sahasrara, which means\n \"thousand (-petaled),\" an appropriate description of a nimbus.\n \n II\n \n The Brain (Gk. enkephalos, Lat. cerebrum), which contains the psuche\n (Gk.) or genios (Lat.). (I use the old Latin spelling \"genios\" to avoid\n confusion with the English \"genius.\" The genios is sometimes called the\n anima.) In Homeric times the psuche was taken to be the \"Vital Spirit\"\n or Life Principal (the mind or consciousness was placed in IV, the\n chest), corresponding to Skt. asu. The later view, which is found in\n Plato and corresponds better to the Eastern system (cf. Skt. atman), is\n that the brain is the center of rational thought, the Intellectual\n center. In both Homer and Plato the psuche is considered the immortal\n part of the Soul. The physical substance corresponding to psuche was\n marrow (medulla), especially the cerebrospinal fluid of the brain and\n spine, but also in other parts of the body (see below). For this reason\n departed souls were thought to appear as snakes, which are all brain and\n spine. Scalp and facial hair were considered physical emanations of the\n psuche, and so the hair, scalp and chin were considered sacred (hence\n the dedication of locks and the touching of the chin or beard in\n supplication). This center corresponds to Chakra 6 (at the brow),\n called Ajna, which means \"authority or command,\" an appropriate name for\n the rational faculty, which Plato said \"controls and restrains\" the\n lower faculties; Onians calls it the Executive function.\n \n III\n \n The Neck (Gk. trachelos, dere; Lat. collum), which Plato called the\n \"isthmus or boundary\" between the Superior, Divine or Immortal Soul and\n the Inferior or Mortal Soul. He said that it allows communication\n between the two, but prevents the Lower Soul from \"polluting\" the\n Higher. This center corresponds to Chakra 5 (in the throat), called\n Visuddha, which means \"purgation or purity,\" that is, \"the purging of\n the merely animal, physical system\" (Campbell, 165).\n \n IV\n \n The Heart and Lungs (Gk. phrenes, Lat. cor), which contain the thumos\n (Grk.) or animus (Lat.), which is the Higher part of the Mortal Soul.\n In Homeric times the thumos was the Conscious Spirit, the vehicle of\n Thought and Feeling (cf. Skt. manas). Later, it was restricted to\n feeling, emotion, passion and especially spirit, courage and anger - the\n Affective function. This center corresponds to Chakra 4 (at the heart),\n called Anahata, which means \"not hit\" (referring to the mystical sound).\n This chakra is associated with prana (Skt.) - vital breath, vital spirit\n (Campbell, 164), as are the phrenes with pneuma (Gk.) or spiritus\n (Lat.) - breath, spirit. Campbell (164-5) says, \"This is the\n aspiration, then, of spiritual striving,\" and \"the birth of the\n spiritual as opposed to the merely physical life,\" and likewise the\n phrenes are associated with spirit, as opposed to the lower parts, which\n are associated with physical needs and desires.\n \n The \"little foyer\" (the Red Lotus of Eight Petals with the Kalpa Tree)\n 2402\n \n below the Heart Chakra corresponds to the diaphragm, which Plato called\n the \"midriff partition\" separating the two parts of the Mortal Soul\n (associated with Spirit and Desire, respectively).\n \n V\n \n The Belly (Gk. gaster, Lat. abdomen), between the diaphragm and navel,\n is the site of the Lower Part of the Mortal Soul, which is the\n Appetitive Soul, which we share with the lower animals and plants; its\n function is nutrition and it is the source of Desire (both Nutritional\n and, by most accounts, Sexual). This center corresponds to Chakra 3 (at\n the navel), called Manipura, which means \"city of the shining jewel,\"\n and its function is \"aggressive: to conquer, to consume, to turn\n everything into oneself\" (Campbell, 159-60), which is a good description\n of the Appetitive Soul.\n \n VI\n \n The Gonads (Gk. gonades, Lat. genitalia), representing the Procreative\n function. The \"marrow,\" the stuff of which psuche or genios was made,\n was the Life Essence; Plato says that in it is made \"the bonds of life\n which unite the Soul with the Body.\" This marrow or sap is passed down\n the spine, concentrated in the gonads, and is the source of the life of\n the offspring. In particular, semen was considered a kind of\n cerebrospinal sap. This center corresponds to Chakra 2, called\n Svadhisthana, which means \"her favorite resort,\" an apt name for \"the\n cakra of sexuality\" (Campbell, 144).\n \n VII\n \n The Sacrum or Holy Bone (Gk. hieron osteon, Lat. os sacrum), that is,\n the base of the spine. Because this was a center of concentration of\n the Life Force, Middle Eastern people believed that the entire body\n could be regenerated from this bone, and Onians (p. 208) conjectures\n that its potency may account for \"kiss of shame\" (osculum infame) of the\n Witches and Templars (and perhaps the Cathars and Waldenses). This\n center corresponds to Chakra 1, called Muladhara, which means \"root\n base,\" which Campbell (p. 144) associates with \"hanging on to life\" and\n a \"reactive psyche,\" so in both cases we have the grossest form of the\n Life Force.\n \n Similarly, the Spine was called the Holy Tube (hiera surinx), which\n recalls the Sushumna (Spine), which is likewise considered a channel\n (nadi). Likewise the Egyptian Ded Pillar, which represents the spine,\n was a symbol of Life. I have not, however, found Greeks correspondents\n to the Ida and Pingala nadis.\n \n VIII\n \n The above are the \"central\" energy concentrations of Greek philosophy,\n and it is apparent that they correspond closely to the familiar seven\n chakras. The Greeks also recognized \"peripheral\" energy concentrations\n in the hands, thighs and knees (which have a large concentration of\n \"marrow\"). This explains the sacrifice of thigh bones, the use of the\n hand (especially the right hand) to exercise executive power, and\n clasping the knees when beseeching. (The knee - Gk. gonu, Lat. genu -\n was especially associated with the Life Force - genios - and with\n procreation or \"generation\"; cf. genital, genetic, gonad, etc.) So far\n 2403\n \n as I know, corresponding chakras are not recognized in Eastern thought.\n As a general rule of thumb, Spirit, of one sort or another, is most\n concentrated where the flesh is thinnest (Timaeus 75a), thus, in the\n head, chest, sacrum, knees and hands.\n \n \n Summary\n \n No. English Greek Latin Function Chakra No.\n _______________________________________________________________________\n I Crown Koruphe Vertex Illumination Sahasrara 7\n II Brain Enkephalos Cerebrum Intellection Ajna 6\n III Neck Trachelos Collum Purification Visuddha 5\n IV Heart/Lungs Phrenes Cor Affection Anahata 4\n V Belly Gaster Abdomen Appetition Manipura 3\n VI Gonads Gonades Genitalia Procreation Svadhisthana 2\n VII Sacrum Hieron Osteon Os Sacrum Basic Life Muladhara 1\n \n \n References\n \n Campbell, Joseph. (1990). Transformations of Myth Through Time. New\n York: Harper & Row.\n \n Eliade, Mircea. (1969). Yoga: Immortality and Freedom, tr. Willard R.\n Trask. Bollingen Series LVI. Princeton: Princeton University Press.\n \n Mead, G. R. S. (1967). The Doctrine of the Subtle Body in Western\n Tradition. Theosophical Publishing House.\n \n Murphy, Michael. (1992). The Future of the Body: Explorations Into\n the Further Evolution of Human Nature. New York: Jeremy\n Tarcher/Putnam.\n \n Onians, Richard Broxton. (1951). The Origins of European Thought About\n the Body, the Mind, the Soul, the World, Time, and Fate. Cambridge:\n Cambridge University Press.\n \n Poortman, J. J. (1978). Vehicles of Consciousness: The Concept of\n Hylic Pluralism. Vols. 1-4. Theosophical Publishing House.\n \n finis\n \n ................................................................................\n 2404","title":"Internet Book of Shadows: A Greek System of Chakras","type":"page"}