CHAKRA TONE CHANTING
You can probably already hear the Chakra Tones being harmonically chanted by six members of Metamorphic Ritual Theatre; but if the soundstart code isn't working on your system/browser, please CLICK HERE for mp3 audio.
The recording is a track from Mutation Parlour's LABYRINTH CD
Chakras are the major energy centres within our bodies, called such in the Hindu traditions which have been their main advocates.
'Chakra' is a sanskrit word which translates as 'spinning wheel'. According to most systems there are seven of these energy vortices within the body, although some systems seperate into eight and even further minor centres. The exact locations of these points obviously varies according to the individual, but the basic areas are as illustrated below. This diagram also includes corresponding sounds, colours and attributes, which I elaborate upon below.
The chakra tones I practice have been recently modified to incorporate the Bindu chakra, the lunar energy-center of the subconscious mind (cerebellum) which is located at the top of the back of the head. This is a very important energy centre, ('the seat of the sexual power' according to Kenneth Grant) despite its ommission from most modern westernized chakra sytems. It is of course very related to the ajna or third eye chakra at the same level on the front of the head, and the two unite in the pineal gland in the centre of the head, as explored in my 'Liber Pennae-Ultim-Atum' . Thus the two can be considered as one chakra, and this is usually how I treat them in Chakra breathing and meditation exercises. However the seperation of this energy 'core' through the top of the head into Ajna and Bindu for chanting purposes allows the Chakra toning to fit better with the musical Octave: the focus for the 'nnnng' tone is shifted to this area, the Bindu -use of kechari (tongue in back of throat) with this tone is appropriate for the 'inwards-turning' or 'backwards-turning' nature of this rear chakra- thus allowing a high, 'Ohhh,' to complete the octave for the Crown Chakra. This tone is thus the same as the 'Ohhh' of the Base Chakra except an octave up. This is because the Crown chakra of the self is also the Base chakra of the Universe -it is our connection with the All. It is still recommended that a return to the low 'Ohhh' be toned to complete the cycle and ground the energy in the individual self's body. White light -all the colours of all the other chakras combined -is usually considered an alternative visualization for the Crown chakra, so this can be used with the high 'Ohhh' and the violet colour shifted to the Bindu.
Sceptics argue that we wire our own bodies according to these systems if we choose, that there is no hard evidence for their prior existence. While we can no doubt increase our awareness of chakras and specify their exact locations by thus focusing our attention on certain areas, there is information to suggest innate energy centres within our physical systems.
There are ancient statuettes found in Middle America which show that the Mayan/Aztec cultures who had no known contact with the Hindu tradition were aware of corresponding 'power centres'. These clay figurines have a number of dots at each power centre which correspond to the number of 'petals' in the Hindu chakra system. According to Mayan priest Hunbatz Men in his book 'The Maya: Science and Religion', the prophesied 'return of Quetzalcoatl' in 2012/2013 is a metaphor for the raising of the kundalini energies through these power centres/ chakras on a mass consciousness level.
TheGLOBAL MANIPURA (solar plexus) WORKING at Uluru (Ayers Rock), Central Australia Solstice June 2000.
Accounts and photographs from the Gaian/Global MULADHARA (base) Chakra Working -Mt.Shasta, California, USA; Oct.99 Samhain Full Moon.
SVADISTHANA (navel) Global Chakra Working -Lake Titicaca, Bolivia, South America; Feb.2000 Full Moon.
GLOBAL CHAKRA WORKINGS -The Collective Vision.
MUTATION PARLOUR HOMEPAGE