Editing Chakra (section)

== Western chakra system ==

=== History ===
[[File:Nervous plexi.jpg|thumb|Chakra positions in supposed relation to nervous plexuses, from [[Charles W. Leadbeater]]'s 1927 book ''The Chakras'']]

Kurt Leland, for the [[Theosophical Society in America]], concluded that the western chakra system was produced by an "unintentional collaboration" of many groups of people: esotericists and clairvoyants, often theosophical; [[Indologist]]s; the scholar of myth, [[Joseph Campbell]]; the founders of the [[Esalen Institute]] and the psychological tradition of [[Carl Jung]]; the colour system of [[Charles W. Leadbeater]]'s 1927 book ''The Chakras'',<ref>{{cite book |last=Leadbeater |first=Charles Webster |title=The Chakras |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BRbtL7_Q_i0C |year=1972 |orig-year=1927 |publisher=[[Theosophical Publishing House]] |isbn=978-0-8356-0422-2}}</ref> treated as traditional lore by some modern Indian yogis; and energy healers such as [[Barbara Brennan]].<ref name="Leland 2017"/><ref name="Leland 2016">{{cite book | last=Leland | first=Kurt | title=Rainbow body : a history of the western chakra system from Blavatsky to Brennan | publisher=Ibis Press | location=Lake Worth, Florida | year=2016 | isbn=978-0-89254-219-2 | oclc=945949596}}</ref> Leland states that far from being traditional, the two main elements of the modern system, the rainbow colours and the list of qualities, first appeared together only in 1977.<ref name="Leland 2017"/>

The concept of a set of seven chakras came to the West in the 1880s; at that time each chakra was associated with a nerve plexus.<ref name="Leland 2017"/> In 1918, Sir [[John Woodroffe]], alias Arthur Avalon, translated two Indian texts, the ''Ṣaṭ-Cakra-Nirūpaṇa'' and the ''Pādukā-Pañcaka'', publishing and commenting on them both in his book ''The Serpent Power'' drew Western attention to the seven chakra theory.<ref>{{cite book |last=Woodroffe |first=Sir John |author-link=John Woodroffe |title=The Serpent Power |publisher=[[Dover Publications]] |year=2000 |isbn=978-0486230580 |pages=317ff |url=https://archive.org/details/serpentpowerbein0000wood}}</ref>

In the 1920s, each of the seven chakras was associated with an endocrine gland,<ref name="Leland 2017"/> a tradition that has persisted.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gardiner |first1=Philip |last2=Osborn |first2=Gary |title=The Shining Ones: the world's most powerful secret society revealed |date=2006 |publisher=Watkins |location=London |isbn=1-84293-150-4 |pages=44–45 |edition=Revised and updated}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5n4dkTw7e0QC&pg=PA20 |title=Wheels of Life: A User's Guide to the Chakra System |isbn=9780875423203 |last=Judith |first=Anodea |author-link=Anodea Judith |year=1999 |page=20|publisher=Llewellyn Publications }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.edgarcayce.org/ps2/mysticism_interpretating_revelation.html |title=John Van Auken : Mysticism - Interpretating the Revelation |publisher=Edgarcayce.org |access-date=5 March 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120526075243/http://www.edgarcayce.org/ps2/mysticism_interpretating_revelation.html |archive-date=26 May 2012 }}</ref> More recently, the lower six chakras have been linked to both nerve plexuses and glands.<ref>{{cite book |last=Sturgess |first=Stephen |title=The Yoga Book: a practical guide to self-realization |date=1997 |publisher=[[Element Books]] |location=Rockport, Massachusetts |isbn=1-85230-972-5 |pages=19–21}}</ref> The seven rainbow colours were added by Leadbeater in 1927; a variant system in the 1930s proposed six colours plus white.<ref name="Leland 2017"/> Leadbeater's theory was influenced by [[Johann Georg Gichtel]]'s 1696 book ''Theosophia Practica'', which mentioned inner "force centres".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.archeosofica.org/en/index.php/Theosophical-Excerpts/Gichtel-and-the-Theosophia-Practica.html |title= Archeosophical Society - founded by Tommaso Palamidessi|website=www.archeosofica.org |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120304194144/http://www.archeosofica.org/en/index.php/Theosophical-Excerpts/Gichtel-and-the-Theosophia-Practica.html |archive-date=4 March 2012}}</ref>

Psychological and other attributes such as layers of the [[Aura (paranormal)|aura]], developmental stages, associated diseases, [[Aristotelian element]]s, emotions, and states of consciousness were added still later.<ref name="Leland 2017"/> A wide range of supposed correspondences such as with [[Alchemy|alchemical]] metals, [[astrological sign]]s and [[Planet (astrology)|planets]], foods, herbs, [[gemstone]]s, [[Homeopathy|homeopathic]] remedies, [[Kabbalah|Kabbalistic]] spheres, musical notes, totem animals, and [[Tarot]] cards have also been proposed.<ref name="Leland 2017"/>

===New Age===

{{further|New Age}}

In ''[[Anatomy of the Spirit]]'' (1996), [[Caroline Myss]] described the function of chakras as follows: "Every thought and experience you've ever had in your life gets filtered through these chakra databases. Each event is recorded into your cells...".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://myss.com/library/chakras/ |title=Myss Library: Chakras |publisher=Myss |access-date=5 March 2015}}</ref> The chakras are described as being aligned in an ascending column from the base of the [[spine (anatomy)|spine]] to the top of the head. [[New Age]] practices often associate each chakra with a certain colour. In various traditions, each chakra is associated with a physiological functions, an aspect of [[consciousness]], and a [[classical element]]; these do not correspond to those used in ancient Indian systems. The chakras are visualised as [[Lotus (genus)|lotuses]] or flowers with a different number of petals in every chakra.<ref name="Leland 2017"/>

The chakras are thought to vitalise the physical body and to be associated with interactions of a physical, emotional and mental nature. They are considered loci of life [[Energy (spirituality)|spiritual energy]] or [[prana]], which is thought to flow among them along pathways called [[Nadi (yoga)|nadi]]. The function of the chakras is to spin and draw in this energy to keep the spiritual, mental, emotional and physical health of the body in balance.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Neff |first=Dio Urmilla |title=The Great Chakra Controversy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nusDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA50 |journal=[[Yoga Journal]] |issue=November–December 1985 |date=1985 |pages=42–45, 50–53}}</ref>

[[Rudolf Steiner]] considered the chakra system to be dynamic and evolving. He suggested that this system has become different for modern people than it was in ancient times and that it will, in turn, be radically different in future.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://wn.rsarchive.org/Books/GA010/English/MAC1909/GA010b_c01.html |title=GA010: Chapter I: The Astral Centers |location=Fremont, Michigan |access-date=5 March 2015}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web | url=http://wn.rsarchive.org/Books/GA010/English/MAC1909/GA010b_index.html | title=Contents - GA 10. Initiation and Its Results (1909) - Rudolf Steiner Archive }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://wn.rsarchive.org/Books/GA010/English/MAC1909/GA010b_index.html |title=GA010: Initiation and Its Results|location=Fremont, Michigan |access-date=5 March 2015}}</ref><!--Steiner described a sequence of development that begins with the upper chakras and moves down, rather than moving in the opposite direction. He gave suggestions on how to develop the chakras through disciplining thoughts, feelings, and will.<ref>Rudolf Steiner, ''How to Know Higher Worlds''{{pn|date=December 2024}}</ref>--><!--According to Florin Lowndes, a "spiritual student" can further develop their consciousness by moving from the "ancient path" of schooling to the "new path" of Steiner's ''[[The Philosophy of Freedom]]''.<ref>{{cite book |last=Lowndes |first=Florin |title=Enlivening the Chakra of the Heart: The Fundamental Spiritual Exercises of Rudolf Steiner |date=2000 |publisher=Sophia Books |location=London |isbn=1-85584-053-7 |edition=2nd |page=}}{{pn|date=December 2024}}</ref>-->