Petal (chakra)
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/* Considerations affecting number of petals */
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==Introduction==
In [[chakrology]] (see also [[esotericism]] and [[Tantra]]) the number of [[petal]]s in a ''chakra'' identifies a characteristic of an individual ''[[chakra]]''. The significance for each ''chakra'' to have a specific number of petals is not generally known. The purpose of this article is to describe the reasons why each ''chakra'' holds in it the specific number of petals which they are traditionally reported to contain.
Traditionally the names used to identify ''chakras'' come from [[Sanskrit]] but there is a [[New Age]] consensus in the use of English names for the ''chakras''. In this article the English nomenclature will predominate.
In current literature on the human [[Aura (paranormal)|aura]] and ''chakras'', the expression "subtle energy centres" is often used in conjunction with or instead of the Sanskrit term ''chakras''.
==Number of Chakras==
Based on Sanskrit literature from [[India]], it is generally considered that there are seven major ''chakras'' within the subtle human energy body or - to say it differently - seven subtle energy centres within the human energy field.
However, the earliest Sanskrit sources (''Upanishads'') list either only four '''or''' five chakras. The ''Yogatattva Upanishad'' (''sloka'' 83-101) lists five and describes these ''chakras'' as being interrelated with the five elements: ''earth, water, fire, air, space''. Over time, less ancient sources have added two or three major ''chakras'' to the original list while contemporary New Age writings have added a plethora of minor ones.
Recent ''chakra'' literature has also expanded the original list of five elements with many different and sometimes rather arbitrary elemental notions such as ''time'' or ''light'' for the brow chakra, and ''consciousness'' or ''pure energy'' for the crown chakra.
This article specifically focuses on the number of petals for each of the seven major chakras. However, in order to help with the understanding of the [[mathematics]] behind the various and sometimes varying ''chakra'' petal counts, one additional but lesser known ''chakra'' will be brought in.
In addition to the more abstract characteristics that are traditionally discussed in relation to the ''chakras'' e.g. [[Chakra Sanskrit Characters]], [[Chakra Sounds]] and the elements or ''[[Skandhas]]'' there are also more concrete characteristics (albeit still rather non-human) e.g. [[Chakra Animals]], [[Chakra Geometric Shapes]] and, as discussed here, the number of chakra petals that are traditionally used in the description of the chakras.
This article aims to explain that the relationship between the number of chakra petals and the human body is much more fundamental and concrete than it is generally assumed to be. Often only a symbolic value is given to the petal counts, especially when discussed in relation to the Sanskrit characters that are assigned to ''chakras'' and petals.
It will become evident that the petal count for each ''chakra'' is related to certain specific groupings of [[vertebra]]e and certain specific groupings of nerve pairs in the [[peripheral nervous system]] (PNS) that emanate from the spinal column through the vertebrae. This may be an indication of the fact that the early yogic investigators of the ''chakras'' (who either depicted or enumerated the ''chakra'' petals) were not only intuitive or [[clairvoyance|clairvoyant]]{{Fact|date=October 2007}} but also used anatomical practices to find a correlation between what they saw intuitively and found through physical anatomical research. Terms like ''sushumna'', ''ida'' and ''pingala'' that often appear in texts dealing with [[yoga]], ''chakras'' or ''[[kundalini]]'' are not only dealing with esoteric subtle energy notions but also point concretely at physical structures found in the human body - structures that may produce energetic field characteristics that are not accepted or easily understood in current scientific investigations of the human being as a ''whole'', in a spectrum ranging from the more ''physical'' or ''gross'' to the more ''spiritual'' or ''subtle''.
The main purpose of this article then is to show how the number of chakra petals is not just 'some number' but rather specifically related to and depending on a series of physical internal components within the human body such as its skeletal and peripheral nervous system parts as well as some specific physical structures within the brain.
==Considerations affecting number of petals==
Thus the following considerations affect the number of petals for each chakra:
* groupings of spinal vertebrae,
* groupings of nerve pairs ([[ganglia]]) in the peripheral nervous system,
* the [[pituitary gland|pituitary]] and [[pineal gland]]s situated within the [[brain]].
Each ''chakra'' can be envisaged as an energy field that resembles a rotating color wheel, somewhat funnel or vortex-like, that can be seen as divided into a number of segments or divided up by a number of spokes.
''The Chakras'' by [[C.W. Leadbeater]] (1927) is considered to be a classic book on this topic. In it the chakras are depicted as segmented or striated color wheels, the segments of which according to tradition are called petals. Leadbeater proposes another additional term for these petals: ''undulations''.
Appellations such as ''colored undulations'' and terms like ''striated rotating energy disks'' or ''circular concentric interference wave patterns'' describe the way these segmented chakras are seen by clairvoyants much more accurately than the word ''petals''.
Except for the crown ''chakra'', literature in general agrees on the number of petals or segments for each chakra.
In addition to explaining the reason for the specific number of petals that each ''chakra'' can be observed to contain, this article also explains the reason for the discrepancy between the number of petals for the crown ''chakra'' as reported in various differing older and newer writings e.g. 960, 972 or 1,000.{{Fact|date=October 2007}}
As mentioned above, in order to understand this discrepancy it will prove to be worthwhile to recognize an additional but not very well known ''chakra'' that is situated underneath the root ''chakra'', just below the base of the [[coccyx]]: the [[perineum]] ''chakra''. This ''chakra'' (just like the crown ''chakra'') is situated outside the physical body but still within the subtle human energy field.
When this additional ''chakra'' is taken into account, the reason for the difference between the crown chakra petal counts of 960 vs 1,000 will become more understandable.<!-- maybe a little more more informative explanation would be more accessible -->
{| border="1" cellpadding="2"
!Chakra
!Petals
!Color
!Glands
!Element
!Phase State
|-
|Crown (Sahasrara)
|960, 972 (960 +12) or 1000
|Violet
|Pineal
|
|
|-
|Brow or 3rd Eye (Ajna)
|96 (2 main lobes of 48 each)
|Indigo
|Pituitary
|
|
|-
|Throat (''Vishuddha'')
|16
|Cyan
|Thyroid
|Space
|
|-
|Heart (''Anahata'')
|12
|Green
|Thymus
|Air
|Gaseous
|-
|Solar Plexus or Navel (''Manipura'')
|10
|Yellow
|Digestive system glands
|Fire
|Plasmic
|-
|Sacral (''Svadhistana'')
|6
|Orange
|[[Ovaries]] or [[Testes]]
|Water
|Liquid
|-
|Root or Base (''Muladhara'')
|4
|Red
|Adrenals
|Earth
|Solid
|-
|Perineum °
|2
|Magenta
|Pheromone glands at the bottom of the coccyx
|
|
|}
° a minor chakra
Note: Unfortunately, in contemporary literature on the ''chakras'' the pineal and pituitary glands are sometimes exchanged in their relationship to the crown and brow ''chakras''. This mix-up originates from a confused understanding of a difficult paragraph in Sir [[John Woodroffe]]'s (pseudonym Arthur Avalon) book ''Serpent Power''.
In his book ''The Chakras'' Leadbeater shows an illustration in which the five lower chakras are related to various nervous plexi that are part of the central nervous system. Keeping that in mind, we can - for the five lower chakras - come to an understanding of the relationship between:
* the number of petals, segments or undulations of those chakras,
* the number of vertebrae that each particular chakra appears to be linked to,
* the number of nerves (nerve pairs) emanating from the particular groupings of vertebrae.
In a brochure ''The Chakras, a clearer view'' (2000), the reader is reminded that human body's spine consists of 24 vertebrae and that according to older anatomical studies{{Fact|date=October 2007}} 24 nerve pairs (48 nerves) emanate from those 24 vertebrae. In modern anatomy though, it is noted that 25 nerve pairs are observed instead of 24 pairs. The brochure contends that the difference between the older count (24 nerve pairs) and the current count (25 nerve pairs) might very well explain the discrepancy in the crown chakra's numbers of petals that are either reported as being 960, 972 or 1,000. This will be explained in more detail later on in this article.
When the number of petals of the five commonly accepted lower ''chakras'' (not including the extra perineum ''chakra'') are added up, one comes to a total of 48 petals (4+6+10+12+16=48). It is interesting that this number corresponds to the 48 nerves as they are identified in older anatomy sources{{Fact|date=October 2007}}. When the perineum ''chakra'' (consisting of two petals) is included, one counts 50 petals. This quantity corresponds to the current count of 50 nerves - the 25 nerve pairs that emanate from the spinal vertebrae.
The lower ''chakras'' thus appear to be directly related to the nerve pairs that emanate from the spinal column; their petal count corresponds - although not exactly - to the current convention of anatomical identification and numbering of the vertebrae and nerve pairs (28):
{| border="1" cellpadding="2"
!Conventional vertebrae grouping
!Conventional vertebrae numbering
|-
|Cervical
|C1, C2, C3, C4, C5, C6, C7
|-
|Thoracic
|T2, T3, T4, T5, T6, T7, T8, T9, T10, T11, T12
|-
|Lumbar
|L1, L2, L3, L4, L5
|-
|Sacral (sacrum and coccyx)
|S1, S2, S3, S4, S5
|}
The arrangement for the ''chakras'' (including the additional perineum chakra) that are directly related to the spinal column and CNS nerve pairs emanating from it, is as follows:
{| border="1" cellpadding="2"
!Chakra
!Nr. of Petals
!Nr. of Nerve pairs
!Revised vertebrae grouping
|-
|Throat
|16
|8
|C1, C2, C3, C4, C5, C6, C7, T1
|-
|Heart
|12
|6
|T2, T3, T4, T5, T6, T7
|-
|Solar Plexus
|10
|5
|T8, T9, T10, T11, T12
|-
|Sacral
|6
|3
|L1, L2, L3
|-
|Root
|4
|2
|L4, L5
|-
|Perineum
|2
|1
|S5
|-
!Total
|50
|25
|
|}
When we look at an anatomy chart (generally to be found in a doctor's or [[chiropractor]]'s office) depicting the vertebrae and their nerve pairs, it can be demonstrated that the division as described in the list above makes as much sense (or more?) as the current convention of vertebrae number designation.
The lower ''chakras'' are directly related to the spine, but the brow and crown chakras do '''not''' have a direct spinal column connection. Instead, according to most sources{{Fact|date=October 2007}}, they are directly linked to two glands embedded in the human brain: the pituitary gland (hypophysis) and the pineal gland (epiphysis).
The brow ''chakra'' is linked to the pituitary gland which consists of two parts, the anterior and the posterior lobes. This two lobed feature of the pituitary gland - or alternatively - the two hemispheres of the brain (which this chakra is also reported{{Fact|date=October 2007}} to be influenced by) may account for the fact that in many{{Fact|date=October 2007}} illustrations the brow chakra shows two large lobes.
According to above mentioned brochure it is this twofold nature of the pituitary gland '''or''' the brain that accounts for the doubling of the total number of petals of the traditional five lower chakras (48x2=96) as their accumulated energy reaches the brow chakra, thus producing the 96 petals of the brow ''chakra''. The writer of the brochure, favoring the two brain-hemisphere view, suggests the following,
<blockquote>
"The 48 nerves (older anatomical count) are intricately connected to the brain's two hemispheres. This might be what results in the doubling of the total of 48 petals for the five lower chakras thus resulting in - as depicted in Leadbeater's book ''The Chakras'' - the two vertical semi-circles containing 48 striations or undulations each, adding up to 96 petals altogether."
</blockquote>
In most ''chakra'' literature, chakras are described as subtle energy centres processing and transmitting subtle vibrational energies. The chakra pictures found in Leadbeater's ''The Chakras'' show this vibrational energy as concentric undulations or interwoven energy waves. Keeping that in the mind's eye, one can envisage that the ''energetic wave packets'', as they acquire and build up more energy while moving up from the lower chakras up the spinal chord to the highest chakra, that they affect the total energy of the crown chakra around or, according to most writings, '''above''' the head - but still within the subtle energy field that surrounds the human body.
According to ''The Chakras, a clearer view'', to understand the differing counts in petals e.g. 960, 972 (960+12) or 1,000 for the [[sahasrara | crown chakra]], it may be helpful to know that the brain contains within it a number of interconnected liquid containing cavities, the ''five paired ventricles'' of the [[ventricular system]], that are filled with [[cerebro-spinal fluid]] (CSF). This is the same fluid that circulates through:
* the central spinal canal,
* an outer layer of the spinal chord,
* the meninges that surround the brain,
* and - according to current histology texts{{Fact|date=October 2007}} - leaks out from the ventricles and the spinal chord either to be absorbed by the blood or to 'bathe' the nerves by a process that is currently not well understood.
How the combined vibrational energy from the six '''or''' seven chakras (48 '''or''' 50 petals) below the crown ''chakra'' may gets its vibrational strength multiplied tenfold, thus producing either the 960 (2x48x10) or the 1000 (2x50x10) petals as they can be observed in the crown ''chakra'' and as they are depicted in Leadbeater's ''The Chakras'' is as yet not understood.
The crown ''chakra'' is often depicted with an additional twelve lobed flower-like formation in its centre. This may account for the additional 12 petals that, when added to the 960, make up the 972 petals that the crown chakra is reported to contain according to some writings{{Fact|date=October 2007}}.
In turn this 12 lobed centre contains another striated circular formation. It may be possible to interpret these lobed and striated formations as representing the 12 major cranial nerve pairs that are found to exist within the brain.
==Additional notes==
Literature dealing with ''chakra'' petals often associates each petal with one of the characters of the [[Sanskrit]] ''[[Devanagari]]'' alphabet.
Each chakra as a whole is usually also associated with a single Sanskrit ''Devanagari'' character, an element, a color, a geometric shape, an animal, a sense, one organ or a pair of organs, a gland and a [[Mantra|mantric]] sound.
For more information regarding this, a classic source is ''Chakras, Energy Centers of Transformation'' by Harish Johari (1987). Other good sources are ''Kundalini Yoga'' by Swami Sivananda of Rishikesh (free www edition 1999 - see external links to download) and ''Kundalini Tantra'' by Swami Satyananda Saraswati (1984).
==External links==
*[http://www.aurasphere.org/KundaliniPosts/AuraReadings.html Aura Sphere]
*[http://www.kheper.net/topics/chakras/chakras.htm The Chakras]
*[http://sivanandaonline.org/graphics/ebooks/swami_sivanandaji/introduction.html The Divine Life Society]
[[Category:Hindu philosophical concepts]]
[[Category:New Age]]