My darling daughters, Kelly and Erin, banded together for Christmas 2005 to bless Greyhavens with a fitting and appropriate Christmas gift: a perfect set of hand-made Chakra Chimes from the good and long suffering people of Salt Spring Island, BC. I am sure that you will all know about the artisans of this island, including the problems they had last summer with the Police grow-op spotting overflights frightening livestock, rattling handmade crockery, waking babies, and disrupting the tourist industry. Their complaints did, eventually, cause the flights to lessen, but only after several plantations were destroyed. You gotta love the strange dichotomy that is Canadian law, and the fervour with which Enforcement pursues the adherents of this "victimless" crime.
The chimes are composed of tuned aluminum (or aluminium, in Terry's case) rods set in a pine and cherrywood frame, with a wand with which to strike the rods. The notes go from the high C (aura) to the lower C (root) for a full, perfectly tuned and resonant octave. For those of you not familiar with the concept of Chakra, it is a belief in Hinduism, Yoga, and some New Age movements, that the body contains seven main energy nodes located from the top of the head to the base of the spine. An eighth Chakra (Root) is sometimes described as being from the base of the spine to the feet. The word Chakra (pronounce Chuhkruh) comes from the Sanskrit word for wheel or circle, thus corresponding to the Hindu wheel of life, or the Buddhist circle of enlightenment. Each chakra is associated with a certain colour, multiple specific functions, an aspect of consciousness, a classical element, and other distinguishing characteristics. The chakras are thought to vitalise the physical body and to be associated with interactions of both a physical and mental nature. They are considered loci of life energy, or prana, which is thought to flow among them along pathways called nadis. Traditional Chinese medicine also relies on a similar model of the human body as an energy system.
The Aura symbolises connection to the next plane
The Crown symbolises Spiritual Wisdom
The Third Eye represents Intuition
The Throat represents Communication
The Heart represents Love/Compassion
The Solar Plexus symbolises Personal Power
The Sacral symbolises Sexuality/Relationships
and the final Chakra, Root, represents Grounding, or Reality.
Although I have always had difficulty with Meditation techniques, I am finding that the resonance of the Chakra notes help clear my head of the out-of-control, whirling, chaotic state that is my normal (default) setting. I think that, with the assistance of the Chimes, and a bit of focussing, I shall be able to meditate at last. I have positioned the chimes on the south wall of that offshoot of the livingroom I call my conservatory, where Terry's multitudinous potted and hanging plants create a suitable environment for my Sadhus, Temple bells, batiks, limestone Buddha, incense burners, etc. I have placed them just above the two foot bronze of Lord Siva in his Nataraj (Lord of the Dance) incarnation, which stands on an circular inlaid Indian table, and just below a small bronze face representation of Hanuman, the monkey god who aided Rama (an avatar of Vishnu) in reclaiming Rama's wife from the evil King Ravana. They seem to have been made to fill their allotted space. Good vibrations indeed, man!
May your Chakras resonate with harmonic clarity that illuminates your Dharma.
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