The Ultimate Guide to Crystals & Stones: A Practical Path to Personal Power, Self-Development, and Healing - Uma Silbey 2016
Basic Energy Channels
Subtle Energy Bodies and Subtle Planes of Reality
There are seven energy centers, or chakras, in the etheric body that also have their counterparts in all of the subtle bodies. These are important in our work with crystals and stones because we can focus on these energy vortexes and channels and interact with them in various ways in order to create changes in our physical body. Each chakra—which means wheel or revolving disk—appears to the subtle eye to be a rapidly rotating, circular-shaped vortex of energy or subtle matter. The chakras are points of energy transformation, absorbing, filtering, and distributing vitality to the etheric as well as the physical body. As the chakras are stimulated and opened, either by crystals and stones, yoga, meditation, or other practices, they transform energy frequencies, bringing into physical consciousness the inherent qualities associated with each one. This may result in different behaviors, states of health, mental states, and increasing levels of awareness. Generally speaking, the more the higher chakras are open and stimulated, the more our awareness of subtle planes and energies increases. Likewise, the more the lower chakras are stimulated, the more grounded and secure we feel and the more our vitality is increased.
There is also a central channel of energy called the sushumna that roughly corresponds to the spinal column in the physical body. Most often pictured as a golden cord of light, the sushumna connects all of the chakras from the first, the root chakra to the seventh, or crown chakra. Along the left side of the sushumna is a channel of feminine energy called the ida. Associated with the moon, it is receptive in nature. Along the right side of the sushumna is a channel of male energy called the pingala. Opposite to the ida, it is associated with the sun or solar energy, and is more projective in nature. In other words, the ida receives and the pingala manifests.
All of the subtle bodies have both masculine and feminine energies in them. This refers to the naturally circular flow of receptive and projective energy rather than one’s masculinity or femininity, which are, by and large, social labels attached to certain forms of behavior. Men and women have both male and female subtle energy channels within.
When we work with our crystals and stones, we work directly with the ida, pingala, sushumna, and all of the chakras, because by affecting them we are able to facilitate changes in the entire physical, mental, and emotional subtle bodies and their related manifestations. Most illnesses and other problems are the result of some blockage or imbalance of the chakras, the male—female energy flow, or the central cord of energy. That is why it is so important to first energetically balance ourselves, or other people we are working with, before we do anything else. If blockages in these main energy channels are cleared, we will very often see the problems that we were called to work with disappear or improve.
As we become more aware, we can see or sense where the imbalances lie and correct them. As we experiment with the chakras and become familiar with their qualities, we will be able to stimulate or open them with our crystals and stones, bringing their associated qualities into our physical or subtle bodies or into the bodies of those we work with.
As we open all of the chakras with our crystals and stones, we also need to be aware enough to keep them balanced with one another. It is usually not a good idea to try to direct an energy flow into the chakras without being able to see, feel, or sense that flow, because we can easily overstimulate a chakra that doesn’t need stimulating, or miss one that does. For example, if we send energy into the third eye when the person already has it opened, it may be too much for them and cause headaches or a lack of grounding and all that it entails. If we open the third chakra, thinking that we will help increase the vitality associated with that, the person who already has it wide open may become power hungry or angry. It is best, then, to rely on more than our intellectual understanding when we open chakras, relying instead on our own experiential knowledge and awareness so that we help rather than hinder. It is very useful to open the heart center, however, for that is our ultimate point of balance, and we can very rarely ever go wrong by overstimulating the heart. Whatever we do, work gently, always using our intuitive sense or inner voice to let us know how much is good for someone or for ourselves.
A SIMPLE TECHNIQUE TO OPEN THE CENTRAL ENERGY CORD
This practice is very similar to the basic energy balancing technique that was presented earlier in this book. Though simple, it can be very effective.
1. Lay the person that you are working with (or yourself) on their back with their legs uncrossed and their hands along their sides, palms up in a receptive position. While breathing naturally, they should close their eyes.
2. Place a clear quartz crystal over their head, with the point facing up. Place a black stone or smoky quartz below their feet, with the point facing down. If the person feels too grounded to you, place the clear quartz first. Likewise, if they feel like they need more grounding, place the dark stone first.
3. Using a clear quartz crystal, starting from the bottom stone, slowly trace a pathway straight up from it, following the center line and the line of the spine. (If the spine is crooked, still follow a straight line because the subtle body alignment is not crooked.) Trace the line up as far as the top clear crystal. As you do this, visualize or sense this pathway as a golden beam of light.
4. Any place that you feel or sense your crystal getting stuck or encountering what feels dark or clogged, circle your crystal clockwise around that area, opening what was clogged. Every time after you clear a blockage with your crystal, place the tip on the floor or ground, visualizing that any of the clogged energy that may have been picked up by your crystal flows into the earth and is neutralized or positively transformed.
5. Continue moving your crystal up and down the central energy channel until it seems clear, ending this process by opening the energy center of the heart.
6. If you do not have the extra crystal or dark stone over the head and under the feet, it is still possible to open this central cord of energy with just the crystal in your hand. The other two stones just further empower this process.
7. When you are through, be sure to clear all of the stones and yourself. The person you were working with should now be already clear.