Recently I
was reading an article which mentioned The Fall and the Garden of Eden. There
are several theories about the concept of The Fall, such as Adam and Eve being
cast out of the Garden of Eden or fallen angels being cast out of Heaven, but
it got me thinking…. what if The Fall is a metaphor for the descent of our
consciousness through the chakras with each incarnation? It is generally
accepted that the development of the physical body proceeds from root to crown
but our spiritual self or Higher Self descends downwards from crown to root. At
the beginning of each incarnation our spiritual self leaves the consciousness
of the bliss of unity to descend down to the consciousness of the earth plane.
Could it be that The Fall is actually this Fall of Consciousness?
The Garden of
Eden is likened to the bliss of unity with spirit, which is a good description
for the 7th chakra, the crown chakra. Many who journey to the afterlife in
meditation or near death experience describe being in a beautiful garden. Many spirit communications have also reported
existing in a beautiful garden.
As we descend
from the unity of the 7th chakra, we enter the duality of the 6th
chakra, or third eye chakra, which is represented by the dual forces of Chokmah
and Binah on the Tree of Life. At the
third eye, our energy splits into conscious and unconscious. I have always felt that the forces of light
and dark play out very strongly in this chakra. This idea is depicted perfectly
in the High Priestess tarot card with the two columns Boaz and Jachin, one
black and one white, representing the subconscious and conscious minds. Does the dark pillar contain all the
issues/karmic patterns we come into this lifetime with, with the aim of
bringing them into the light of consciousness for healing? Here lies the
duality of good and bad – our potential for greatness and healing along with
the destructive elements of the shadow self.
This chakra is where we have the opportunity to exercise our free will
with our choice of action. The question
to ask when considering which action to take should always be ‘Is this action
in line with my truth, with love and with my highest good?’ If yes, we stay on the right path. If not, we
lose our way and suffer the consequences of not living as we should.
We are making
choices throughout our whole lives. Even in childhood we are learning the
consequences of the choices we make. It
can take years to undo the damage caused in terms of lack of self-worth and
self-confidence and find our way back to Truth and Light. When we understand that the dark Boaz column
signifies negation and the light Jachin column signifies beginning, this makes
perfect sense. This journey back to Truth and Love, otherwise known as the
healing process, is the clearing out of the negative energy created when we
chose the path of illusion over love.
At the 5th
chakra, the throat chakra, we are learning to express ourselves and define who
we are. At the 6th chakra we
had the choice to be true to ourselves or live in line with the demands or
expectations of others. Here, the 5th chakra, is where we express
the energy of that choice. If we have chosen the path of illusion and false
beliefs, the shadow self is exerting its influence and we are afraid to be
ourselves and we end up living according to other people’s paths, not our
own. If we are able to express our
Higher Self using the energy of light from the 6th chakra we will
make healthy life choices that support our growth and our truth.
As our energy
moves down from the 5th chakra to the 4th, our heart
centre expresses how we feel about the life choices we have made. If we are living our truth, we will live in
joy, contentment, inner peace, abundance and harmony. If not, there will always be an underlying
sense of dissatisfaction and frustration; happiness and inner peace remain
elusive.
At the third
chakra, the solar plexus, the energy of the 4th chakra descends and
expresses itself as self-acceptance, self-worth and self-validation – or the
opposite, self-doubt and low self-esteem.
If you are happy in yourself and with the choices you have made, you
naturally value yourself much more highly that if you are anxious and
depressed. The solar plexus chakra carries the energy of how we really feel
about ourselves. If you are living
according to your highest potential and expression, your self-esteem and
capacity for contentment and love will be high.
If you are struggling to find your path and struggling to separate truth
from the illusions you have bought into over the years, it will always feel
like you are struggling to find yourself.
How we think about ourselves affects how we relate to others. Solar plexus energy stresses that our primary
relationship is with ourselves. If that
relationship isn’t happy and healthy, other relationships we subsequently forge
will reflect that lack of inner harmony.
That is why external relationships can never bring us the contentment we
seek; that contentment has to come from within, at the solar plexus, first.
The focus of
the 2nd chakra, or sacral chakra, is relationships with others and
creativity. Consider your relationships
– are they healthy? What do the people in your life reflect about you? The
people you meet and situations you encounter externally in life reflect how you
feel about yourself and about what is happening within you. When the sacral chakra is functioning well,
your creative juices will flow. This creativity can take a variety of forms
including creating plans and bringing new ideas to birth, creating art and craft
work, singing, dancing and writing, as well as creativity in the form of
fertility at the physical level. When
this chakra is blocked, the energy isn’t flowing down from the solar plexus at
a high enough frequency. In other words, if our self-esteem and self-worth are
low and we do not properly value ourselves, we are either not able to express
ourselves creatively at all or it may be expressed in unhealthy ways such as
violent or subversive tendencies.
Finally the
energy reaches the base or root chakra, the 1st chakra, and fully
merges with the dense energy of the earth plane. In most cases, the energy is
now de-spiritualised, focusing solely on work, money and security. Life
revolves around making ends meet, the hardships of life and the endless treadmill
of working to survive. However if the
energy has remained high and healthy and is in line with the Higher Self, it
can create a trust in the universe to provide for our needs, faith in a higher
power and a career that is more of a vocation or labour of love. You are now living your true purpose while
here on earth.
To summarise
this journey through the chakras then, I believe that The Fall is not a fall
from grace at all (as was traditionally believed) but rather a fall of
consciousness into the heavier density of the earth plane. We can make our journey
a lot easier by aligning with our truth and living from our own higher
spiritual ideals rather than buying into the illusions, prejudices and
falsehoods of the society we live in. Wherever we are now, we can return to the
energy of the 6th chakra and make a different choice and follow a
different path. Connecting to our own
truth is essential for the great healing potential it holds. When we make choices in line with our growth,
we are choosing the path of love and light and making positive, life-affirming
choices. Our energy will start to flow
more freely and naturally, attracting greater potential for happiness and
wellbeing.
Helen Shortland is a Reiki Master Teacher,
Spiritual Coach, Holistic Therapist and Meditation Teacher based at 15 Wheeler
Gate in Nottingham city centre. Helen has been on the spiritual path since 2001
and, following a recent spiritual crisis, now finds she has
a clearer, more intuitive communication with her spirit guides and angels who
have encouraged her to share her extensive knowledge of healing on a broader
scale than before. For further information about her Reiki courses
and therapies please visit her website http://helenshortland.com or ‘like’ her Facebook page Helen Shortland Holistics.
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