Ultimate guide to crystals and stones - Uma Silbey 2016
Minor Chakra System—Secondary Energy Centers
Subtle Energy Bodies and Subtle Planes of Reality
Completing the main parts of the subtle energy body is what are called the secondary or minor energy centers. Separate from, though related to the main seven chakras, these energy centers include the chakras of the feet, hands, elbows, knees, finger and toe joints, fingertips, ears, and the clavicle or lung area. Energetically powerful, they are known to reflect or be similar to their counterpart among the seven chakras. Interrelated through a matrix of energy system pathways that can be sensed or felt when we are aware, they also serve to join or connect the various chakras and assist the free flow of life force or subtle energy through our body. The energy centers of the knees help connect the foot chakras with the root chakra, and the energy centers of the hands connect through the elbow centers with the shoulders, throat, and heart. Thus connected, they are also eventually connected through the energy matrix with every other energy center in the body. Though not part of the main energy system, these chakras have their own importance, which you will discover as you listen to your guiding inner voice when you lay down your stones.
To help open the connecting chakras of the elbows and knees, we can place a clear, double-terminated quartz crystal beneath the knees and on the inner side of the elbows. If we want to join the shoulders with the throat, we might place double-terminated crystals along the clavicle bones or atop the shoulders. Double-terminated crystals pointing outward and slightly upward from the heart center connects the lungs with the heart, helping us to relax, trust, and breathe deeply. The colored stones are also helpful for laying on these chakras, depending on what else is necessary for their balancing. If healing in one of these secondary centers is being sought, we can use an amethyst. If we want to cool what is too heated, we can use a green stone. If we need energizing in that area, besides clear quartz, we can use a yellow stone. Likewise, if we need to heat that area, a red stone is good to use.
Hand Chakras, Finger Joints, and Fingertips
Hand chakras, associated with giving and receiving, are located in the center of our palms. The hand chakras are those energy centers through which we receive and transmit healing energy, allowing it to flow into our bodies or into those with whom they come into physical or energetic contact. When open, they help receive energetic information from the larger universe and other subtle planes of reality. When linked with the heart chakra, they help transmit love and compassion through the hands, which help all forms of healing.
Blocked energy centers in our palms create a closed off system where energy cannot move freely, backing up into our body to create imbalance and its associated ills. Not only are open hand chakras essential for our health and union with the larger energetic universe, but they are also essential for any kind of energy healing, including healing with crystals and stones. Without open hand chakras, we cannot feel the stone’s energy or receive it in order to transmit it.
There are also small connecting chakras that correspond with each of the joints of our fingers. A small, double-terminated clear crystal beneath each joint will help bring the energy of our palms down through our fingers to flow out from their tips. Though we can transmit energy from our palms alone, if our fingertips are also open, besides helping to channel energy into our palms, we can transmit energy more precisely.
Besides using the sensitization method already given, we can open the energy channels from our palms and out our fingers by first pointing a crystal to the center of our palms until we sense or feel it, and then spiral around the palm, down each finger, spiraling at each knuckle joint, and then flowing out of the fingertips. Our hands may start feeling almost as if they are on fire, or we may feel a buzzing or slight wind sensation as these pathways open. Once the thumbs and every finger have been done, it is good to give our hands a good shake as if we are shaking off any small remnants of blocked energy.
Foot Chakras
Just like the hand chakras, the foot chakras—energy centers located in the center of the arches of our feet—transmit and receive energy. Open foot chakras help us to be grounded into the earth, facilitating the channeling of its energy into our subtle and physical bodies. Connected with the earth, we can more easily open our crown to the heavens. When our foot chakras are open, we feel secure and powerful, anchored in the light rather than scattered or swept away. Open foot chakras contribute to a strong subtle and physical nervous system. When we do any work with our stones and crystals, it is important to have our foot chakras open into the earth so that we have the balance to remain centered, have access to the earth’s life force for our own health and well-being, have the strength to remain focused, and the energy needed in order to transmit.
As with the hand chakras, if our foot chakras are closed or blocked, we create a closed system in which energy ceases to flow, often backing up into our legs, groin, and further, contributing to imbalance and ill health.
To help open the foot chakras, besides doing the grounding exercise that were presented earlier, we can place clear crystals on the bottoms of our feet, pointing outward, or we can place any black or earth colored stone against the center of our feet or rub it in a circular motion on the center. If we point a clear crystal to the bottom center of our feet and spiral outward as we draw the crystal away, we can open these chakras. (We should clear the crystal after we use it.)
Lung Chakras
With every breath we pull life force into our bodies, the flow of our breath helping to form the relationship between our sensations and emotions, each breath helping to stimulate our chakras or subtle energy centers. When our lung chakras are open, each of our breaths can freely flow along its pathway, allowing us expansion and full somatic expression. Stimulating the lung chakras along with the throat chakra can help stimulate verbal communication and the release of uncommunicated feelings. Their stimulation and relaxation can help release pent-up anxiety, especially if they are joined with the energy of the heart. All in all, our breath, life force, and health are all connected through our lung chakras. The more completely we are able to breathe, the more life force we bring into our being, which will bring us better health and a sense of well-being.
Blocked lung chakras create imbalances that are associated with illness, such as pneumonia, asthma, tuberculosis, and other breathing problems. Sorrow and trust issues are also often associated with blocked lung chakras. Blocked lung chakras may also be connected to the air we are breathing. If the air is toxic, or our bodies don’t want to take it into our lungs, we may find ourselves breathing with very shallow breaths that, in turn, tend to close these centers. Similarly, if our life is toxic, not supportive of our well-being, we may find ourselves unable or unwilling to breathe as it may bring us even more pain. This will close or block the lung chakras.
Besides helping to stimulate and open the lung chakras, crystals or stones placed over these centers can help connect the pathways between our throat and heart centers, as well as our arms and hands. Generally speaking, when they are being used to connect energy centers, a double-terminated clear crystal is good to use. If the lung areas need healing, an amethyst is good to use. If the lungs are inflamed, a light green colored stone, such green aventurine, green calcite or a light colored malachite, can be used to cool the inflammation. Rose quartz or pink tourmaline on the lung chakras can be used to channel loving healing to reduce sorrow. We don’t only have to use one color at a time on these chakras, but can combine colors depending on the condition we are working with. Clear crystals, of course, will amplify the effects of the various colored stones as well as energize the lung chakras.
Elbow and Knee Chakras
Besides acting as energetic conduits between the energy of the upper and lower arms and between the hands and the shoulders, the elbow chakras help energetically bridge the upper and lower subtle body and its corresponding physical counterpart. These chakras also connect with the stomach and heart area associated with the third and fourth chakras. Stones placed on the elbow chakras will tend to relax the arms and help relax the back. Small double-terminated crystals placed on the inside of the elbow will help energize and open these chakras. If there is any tension in the arms or shoulders, amethysts are also good to place here. When placing the stones, visualize energy flowing freely between shoulder and hand and creating a state of relaxation. If we still find holding of any sort, while focusing on the stones, use the breath, relaxing on every exhale.
Pelvic Chakras
These chakras are related to the first, second, and to some extent the third chakra. Any issues relating to sexuality, potency, manifestation, fear, self-expression, or shame affect the pelvic chakras, closing or blocking them. With closed or blocked pelvic chakras, we may be afraid to show our true selves to the world, or feel as if we are bad or insufficient as a human being in some way. When the pelvic chakras are blocked, the subtle energy is not able to flow freely between the bottom of our spine, our sexual centers, and our navel centers. Without the pelvic chakras open and functioning, we cannot open the chakras in our feet. With blocked pelvic chakras, it is not uncommon to suffer from urinary or reproductive issues, nor is it unusual to experience tension in our lower back or lower spine, bringing pain and less mobility. We may also find that energy is not able to flow freely down into our legs, affecting our physical stability.
If we place a clear, double-terminated quartz crystal on each pelvic chakra, they will be stimulated and will open, especially when coupled with visualization. These crystals will also act to connect the energy of our central energy cord with the subtle nerve channels that divide from the first chakra to run down each leg to the foot, an area roughly corresponding to our hamstring muscles. If we want to stimulate these chakras, any yellow, yellow-orange, or orange stone, such as citrine, yellow tiger eye, yellow calcite, amber, orange garnets, or carnelian, will work well. These can be combined with the clear quartz to further stimulate the pelvic chakras. If the pelvis area is inflamed, we should use great care when placing these fire colored stones on the pelvic chakras because that could increase the inflammation. A very small green colored stone combined with the clear quartz can sometimes be used, as well as the universally healing amethyst.
Forehead Chakras
The forehead chakras are located on each side of the forehead. Stimulating and opening these energy centers will help balance the two sides of the brain, helping increase both intellectual and intuitive capabilities. Bringing the two forehead chakras into balance with each other, each equally open, will help balance both the male and female energies in the body, mind, and emotions. Tension in the forehead, jaws, eyes, and head can be relieved with a crystal or stone placed on each forehead chakra. Related to the sixth chakra or third eye, when these energy centers are balanced and stimulated along with the third eye chakra, it will enable us to access our intuitive abilities, help bring us insight and mental clarity, and increase our psychic abilities. These chakras are also connectors between our throat center, third eye, and crown chakra, so when they are opened energy can flow freely upward into these higher centers.
When the forehead chakras are blocked we may find that we have trouble thinking clearly, our thought processes muddy and lacking clear direction. We are unable to access our natural intuitive abilities, feeling stuck in the earth energies and unable to reach the heavenly influences. We are unable to hear the guidance of the higher spirit clearly or see with our mind’s eye. When these centers are blocked or closed, it is not unusual to get headaches, neck and facial tension, and have problems with our eyes, teeth, or brain. Closed or blocked forehead chakras make it difficult if not impossible for the energy to flow between our throat center and our third eye, so that we are unable to express the deeper truths gained from an open third eye and crown center. With blocked or closed forehead chakras, the vital connection between our ability to manifest (gained from the open second and third chakras), to speak (gained from the open throat center), and see (gained from the open third eye) will be broken.
As with the other secondary chakras, it is good to use double-terminated clear quartz crystals on these centers. However, if more energy is needed to flow upward into the crown so that we are less grounded and our awareness is expanded, we can place a single-terminated clear crystal on each side of the forehead with the tips pointing upward towards the crown. Likewise, if too much of our energy is centered in the upper centers, or we are too ungrounded, we can place a single-terminated clear crystal on each side of the forehead with the tips pointing towards our shoulders. Since the forehead chakras are related to the third eye center, another good stone to use is anything turquoise, light blue, or royal blue colored, such as aqua aura, turquoise, blue celestite, blue lace agate, blue sodalite, tanzanite, iolite, sapphire, or lapis. Amethyst is always a good stone to use, especially if healing is needed in this area.
Back of the Head
The energy center, located at the midpoint in the back of the head where it joins the neck, also connects the throat chakra with the third eye and crown chakra. It brings the energy from the spine directly up into the head area, where it can be released through the crown, connecting us with higher consciousness. It will also help connect the energy from our hands, arms, and shoulders into our head or down through our spine, a connection necessary to do stone work or any other subtle energy work with our hands. If we find ourselves clenching our teeth or having any tension in our face or jaw, when this center is opened along with the throat chakra, third eye, crown, and forehead chakras, we are able to find release.
Good stones to place on this chakra are double-terminated clear quartz with the terminations pointing both upward and downward, amethyst, and any light blue or turquoise stone.
Though not formally a part of this twenty-two chakra energy system and stone layout, it is often helpful to place a single-terminated clear quartz crystal with the tips pointing outward or a double-terminated clear quartz crystal on top of each shoulder. This will help connect the stone on the bottom of the head with the elbow and hand chakra stones to help energy flow freely between the hands and upper chakras.