I remember the month, although not the specific day or hour, when I crossed one of my personal Rubicons.
On one side of that border, I could refer to humanity as ‘mankind’ and on the other, I couldn’t. On one side I was perfectly willing to accept the semantic practice of referring to groups of mixed genders as ‘men’ and to believe that I was included in ‘he’ ‘him’ and ‘his’…and on the other, that construct no longer fit in my brain. On one side I referred to the One in whose image I am created as ‘He’ and on the other, I had to find a whole new lexicon.
At that tipping point, poised on the fulcrum – although I wouldn’t have used the image or the language at the time – I was drawing upon the energy and the focus of my Brow Chakra, also called Third Eye Chakra. I was examining (and eventually rejecting) a self-limiting idea which included the use of language that was untrue.
This sixth energy node is located directly behind the center of the forehead. (Think of where Hindu women place the red bindi – right there.) It is the inward eye, the eye of wisdom, the eye of clarity that is capable of discerning between truth and illusion. My guess is that all of us need to spend a lot more time being sure this chakra is clear and open.
In the schema of Buddhist anatomy, the energies that run up both sides of the body (one side female and one male), come together in this chakra. In fact, time and eternity (chronos and kairos) connect here, the manifest and the unmanifest. All that we consider opposites become one in this node. It is the inner space in which we can balance perfectly in paradox.
As we look back at the chakras from Root to Third Eye, we can see a natural progression of emotional and psychological development from infancy when we connect with unyielding strength to the source capable of meeting our most basic needs, opening into the awareness of our creativity (which young children have in super-abundance), growing into confidence in our own unique Being, on to the ability to love Self and others, then into nurturing the ego-strength necessary to speak truth and to risk revealing our deepest, truest identity without masks or disguises…and now into the ability to live in peace with our light and our shadow.
It is a profoundly important energy to invoke when we need to judge between something we have been told (or are being told) by someone else, and what we have experienced personally. It is useful energy to call upon when we suspect we are being manipulated (consciously or unconsciously) by another. [Think political candidates. Think ad agencies. Think media stereotypes. Think fashion. Think definitions of beauty.]
However, the most important aspect of Brow or Third Eye Chakra is not that it provides the skill of discerning between outward truth and outward illusion, but that it guides us in discerning between truth and the self-limiting illusions we all carry inwardly. It is here that we finally confront the subliminal messages from our past which have restricted us, perhaps even imprisoned or paralyzed us.
In an individual human life, there is no stage of our development and maturation in which we can be uncommitted to keeping this node free of debris and blockages. However, in the corporate life of which we are a part, there are eras – sometimes a year or two, sometimes a decade or two, sometimes more than a generation or two – when attending to this node is actually an act of transformative vision. I believe we are in one of them.
The Big Lie technique is being used by more and more individuals and groups hoping that we will fall prey to it as the people of Germany fell prey to it during the Third Reich. We are increasingly willing as nations, cultural entities, and religious sects to accept the demonization of the Other (whoever that is for us) and that, dear sisters and brothers, is one short step away from accepting our inner demons as our true self.
We all have a Brow Chakra (by whatever name we call it) and we all have the ability to discern truth from illusion. Even small children (if left to their own devices) have the ability to discern safety from danger – just as all small mammals do. We cannot afford to ignore what we are being told.
Rather than a guided meditation this week, I would like to invite you to a steadier practice, to something short and sweet that you can do over and over and over.
The seed mantra for Third Eye Chakra is Om. This is the sound that opens and clears the node. Repeated over and over, the sounds assigned to each node, activate the energy of the node.
I invite you to listen with care to what people are saying around you and to you. When something sounds wrong or, even, just ‘iffy’, trust your instinct. Pause, take a deep breath, and say Om. Let the ‘m’ resonate and linger, if possible. I invite you to listen to the voices in your own head. When you hear something that stops you from feeling confident or happy or relaxed or free, pause. Take a deep breath and say Om. Pay attention. We know the truth. We do.
Truth does not imprison. Truth does not disrespect. Truth does not demonize. Truth does not destroy. Truth does no harm to another. Truth does not silence. Truth does not abuse or abase. Truth does not need to shout or bluster or bellow or pontificate. Truth does not delude. Truth does not exclude.
If you sense any of those things happening, pause. Take a deep breath and say Om. Do it again. And again. And again.
Singing Fountain
Twining power,
fountain through me:
clarity of dream,
radiance of darkness,
enfolding of light,
simplicity of truth,
wisdom of time,
stillness of eternity,
floodtide of intuition,
order of reason,
balance of paradox.
Free me from all illusion
that I may be living blessing.
May it be so.
–Andrea
NOTE 1: Four of the Chakra panels are available in my Etsy shop and a fifth one will go up by Sunday.
NOTE 2: Eight of my nine-fold prayers (for the quarter days and cross-quarter days of the Celtic Year) are now available as a hand-sewn booklet-card (also from my Etsy shop). There is even a special 2-For offer good through Easter so that you can purchase one for a friend and one for yourself.