Ten Articles on the Chakras

Below, ten articles from Carla Rueckert McCarty on the chakras, from her weekly column UPI Religion & Spirituality- A Small Medium at Large.

Have you ever had the experience of feeling a sudden sense of joy? You're walking along and you notice the beauty of the rose bush against the green of the young tree leaves and the blue of the sky. Or you're working away at the chores and suddenly your whole being feels wholesome and happy. What's happened?

The energy of the Creator is flowing freely through your energy body. That is what has happened.

So often we block that energy from coming through the energy pipe. We have our issues. We're holding hard feelings against someone, or fears about life itself have eaten up our peace of mind. And so we block the flow of energy.

This energy flow can be seen to take place in a kind of energy pipe which is sometimes called the energy body or the chakra system. Picture a pipe which runs along your spine from the bottom of it to the top. Along it lies a rainbow of energy centers. The incoming energy from the Creator enters the pipe at the lowest chakra or energy center, the red ray. It proceeds upward, if the pipe is not blocked, through orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet rays, exiting the body at the crown of the head and returning to the Creator from there.

What blocks red ray? Issues of sexuality and survival. When you are existentially depressed, thinking, "What does it all MEAN?" you're blocking your joy at the red ray level.

The next energy center is orange ray. This chakra is at the level of the intestines. Its energies are concerned with relationships. If you are unhappy with yourself or with another person, you're blocking your joy at the orange ray level.

Upwards along the energy pipe the next chakra is yellow ray, situated at the solar plexus. This energy center copes with issues of family, marriage and work as well as any other groups with which you interact that have a legal aspect to them. Fussing and feuding within the family can easily block your joy. Trouble at work can do the same. Even one's team losing can halt the flow of infinite energy if you are upset enough about that.

The next center along the pipeline is the green-ray chakra, which is located at the heart level. This center is the seat of unconditional love. Carried within this chakra is the energy of the consciousness of the Creator in its personal aspect. I would call this energy Christ-consciousness. The challenge of green ray is to love the self and all others unconditionally. Needless to say, we humans spend a lot of time trying to crank this center open! That agape love energy of green ray is not so easy to come by, even though we pray to forgive the trespasses of others each time we say the Lord's Prayer.

The pipeline moves upwards to blue ray at the throat. This is the energy center of open communication. And how well we block that as we attempt to make ourselves look better or shade the facts as we present them!

The pipeline continues on to the brow level with the indigo ray. This energy center is the seat of work in consciousness. When we meditate, contemplate, pray, sing or create, we are using that energy center. If our energy has flowed through to this level without being baffled by our fears and other blockages, we probably have the use of this energy in full strength.

You can see how many ways there are to destroy our own peace and joy of life. Energy does not like to be blocked! It wants to flow. When it is baffled over a long enough period of time, the resulting lack of good energy through the energy pipe can create illness in the emotions and, finally, in the physical body.

A good way to help this energy flow well in your life is to take some time each evening before you go to bed to reflect on what occurred today. Where were your thoughts and energy focused? What got your goat? What made you angry or irritated? Look at those things and consciously work to balance and release that stuck energy. Work your way through your rainbow energy body and you'll sleep better and awaken much refreshed!

I open my arms and embrace your spirit. May the infinite energy of the Creator flow through us freely and out into the world, which is waiting for the blessing of our special blessing of love.

In this series we're looking at the chakras or energy centers of our energy body. Picture a pipe running along your spine from the bottom to the top. Along it lies a rainbow of energy centers.

The incoming energy from the Creator enters the pipe at the lowest chakra or energy center, the red ray. It proceeds upwards, if the pipe is not blocked, through orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet rays, exiting the body at the crown of the head and returning to the Creator from there.

The red-ray energy center lies at the base of the spine, resting in the groin. The red-ray center is the seat of thoughts, emotions, feelings and impulses having to do with survival and sexuality. When your joy is missing, the first place to look for its blockage in the energy body is the base chakra of red ray. That's where we tend to get caught first and snagged away from our peaceful, natural state of good energy flow.

Our culture can promote feelings of depression, uselessness and suicidal impulse because of its tendency to view human beings as consumers without souls. Our corporations can also promote these deep-seated feelings because of undervaluing employees, overworking and underpaying them and not finding appreciation for them in terms of offering them the benefits of health coverage and pensions. The resulting stress level can be a huge challenge.

There is a strong tendency, as people get a bit older, and lose that first flush of rosy optimism, for us to develop the feeling that not only do we not matter in the grand scheme of things but that we cannot possibly matter. The feelings of helplessness are fostered by a culture that wishes its citizens to consume rather than think, feel, dream and become better human beings.

To balance these pervasive influences we need to call on our faculties of faith and hope. Our peace of mind - and the resulting free flow of energy through red ray in the energy pipe - depends upon our invoking the spirit of the living Creator, which is always with us to inform us as to how to make our life have meaning through our intentions of loving and serving the Creator in ourselves and others.

Sexuality is, at its start within us, the most base of our human natural instincts. It is also potentially its most noble glory. Strictly speaking of red ray, the sexual energy of the untutored, young male is random. His instinct is to impregnate as many females as possible and assure the continuation of the human race.

In a dynamic much discussed throughout the ages, the sexual energy of the female is not at all random. Speaking strictly of red ray, the female's instinct is to pick the strongest "alpha male" for a mate so that her offspring will be taken care of. That is the arrangement in the great ape family of which our bodies are a part.

So if we do not allow the energy of our sexuality to rise above red ray, we have a problem, Houston! Men want to nail women while women want to put off being nailed until they are mated.

The potential for our sexuality is much more than this rather simple and predictable dynamic. When we form a sincere liking for another person who is also a sexual partner, the energy in the pipeline rises to the next stop along the way, the orange ray, which is located in the belly. When we take responsibility for that affection and formalize the relationship in marriage, the energy rises again, this time up into the solar plexus location of yellow ray.

The shock of being tied down by relationships and marriages is not easy for either men or women, although women tend to adjust to the stricture better than men. There is a continuing tendency to feel as though we are chained in the yard of marriage and can only run to the end of our line and bark. It makes us restless.

Once we do recover from that shock and experience how true companionship and support helps us flower and bloom as individuals, sexual energy can rise up the pipeline into green ray, which is the heart chakra. This is the beginning of the Big Bingo in sacred sexuality.

Green ray, the heart chakra, sees all things with unifying, unconditional love. To green ray, sexuality is sacred play, a m nage a trios your mate, yourself and the Creator a play in the fields of the Lord. To green ray, your mate is not a man or a woman. Your mate is Man or Woman and you are Woman or Man - whatever applies to you. You have left behind the particularity of the lower nature of humankind and have become able to share unconditional love back and forth between you as an offering to the one Creator.

It adds a tremendous kick to the hot and slippery friction of red ray, the genuine fondness of orange ray and the honor, respect and organization into family of yellow ray! It makes of sexuality that wonderful force that recapitulates the Creator making creation out of light and love.

I open my arms and embrace your spirit. May you find in your sexuality the power and the peace of sacred energy! And may you use it with love, honor and infinite respect.

In this series we're looking at the chakras or energy centers of our energy body. Picture a pipe which runs along your spine from the bottom of it to the top. Along it lies a rainbow of energy centers. The incoming energy from the Creator enters the pipe at the lowest chakra or energy center, the red ray. It proceeds upwards, if the pipe is not blocked, through orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet rays, exiting the body at the crown of the head and returning to the Creator from there.

In this section we look at the orange-ray energy center, which is located in the belly, along the spine about halfway up to the solar plexus. This center has a three-petalled shape, according to my Confederation sources like the Ra and Q'uo groups. It is the seat of expressions of personal power.

In a positive sense, personal power begins with power over one's self. When your joy is blocked and yet you are not concerned particularly with sexuality or survival issues, the next place to look for blockage of the energy flow is the orange-ray chakra. In terms of our relationship with yourself, the main orange-ray blockage is self-judgment.

In judging ourselves we are helped by a mixture of voices which we have internalized from our childhoods. Every criticism our parents and other beloved authority figures ever gave us is recalled by the subconscious self. When we make a mistake, those internal voices of judgment tend to begin speaking, running the equivalent of an old tape on which is magnetically impressed these judgmental memories.

It is extremely helpful, if you are one who has those internal voices of self-judgment, to recognize, honor, thank and then silence them. This is best done by affirmations such as:

* I have learned and feel blessed by all past experiences and am now ready to release them completely and to embrace new experiences.

* Lord, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the strength to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference.

When we do not deal with this issue of our relationship to ourselves, we are blocking the divine energy flowing through our energy pipe and this cuts off our feelings of joy, peace and personal power. It is truly a service to the Creator, the self and the world at large to come into a liking of the self that is forgiving of our inadvertent mistakes and willing to let go of self-judgment, and begin again when an error is perceived.

If we are working toward becoming a more positive and loving person, the work we do with others in orange ray has to do with finding the sweet spot in all our relationships. We cannot relate to any two people the same way. A wide open orange ray is one in which the small angers and irritations of relationships are never allowed to linger. Instead, they are dealt with by the two involved people at the first possible opportunity.

There is a powerful dark side to the orange-ray energy center. It has to do with control over other people, including sexual control. The energy of rape is an orange-ray energy where the rapist is expressing power over the other self and the person being raped is seen by the rapist as an object completely under his control. Rape has little to do with the red-ray sexual impulse. It is about the domination and humiliation of another person.

The saddest thing about this tendency of orange-ray energy to turn dark and negative is that once a person invests personal power in dominating other people, that urge can rapidly become insatiable and compulsive. Perhaps you have known power junkies whose pleasure comes from controlling others. For these people the only way to progress is to become more and more evil. To progress positively, you must see the people around you as equivalent to yourself and as important to you as you are to yourself.

Our bodies themselves, in the womb and before the entrance of the soul which is our living and eternal spirit, are orange-ray in their nature, as are all the animals and plants of our Earth. There is tremendous power in forming a loving relationship with our bodies, however they look and however other people relate to them.

Give yourself the respect you deserve! Love your body. Tend it with great awareness of the service it offers you all your life. It carries your consciousness around and yields its instincts to your ethical and conscientious choices. Honor it by giving it the best diet you know how to offer it, taking care of it and treating it with respect.

I open my arms and embrace your spirit. May you wholeheartedly love yourself this day. And then may you find love for all those around you with whom you come into relationship. It's all about love!

In this series of articles we have been looking at the various ways in which our joy can be stolen by blockages in the energy pipe through which the Creator's infinite energy flows in our bodies. Picture a pipe which runs along your spine from the bottom of it to the top. Along it lies a rainbow of energy centers.

Round and star-like in its shape, with many facets of shining gold when the energy center is well developed, it lies at the solar plexus. Why do we get ulcers if our work environment is too stressful or if our marriage is falling apart? This is due to the toxic effects on the physical body of energy which is badly and chronically blocked in the yellow-ray chakra.

It is the yellow ray which we use to deal with interactions between ourselves and groups. Marriage and family are at home in yellow ray, as is the work environment and all groups with which we deal, whether they are governmental, spiritual or of any other nature.

It is very easy to become blocked in this energy center! And when we experience blockage, it acts more like what psychologists call the ego than any other energy center, resulting in our attempts to manipulate others and dominate groups of which we are a part. The desire to possess or the desire to be possessed; the fear of being possessed or the fear of possession are all sure to close down the energy flowing through the pipe at the solar plexus level.

This blocked energy of yellow ray is at the heart of war. When we as a nation-state choose to impose our will on another nation-state, we are expressing the blockage of this enormously potent energy of the expression of our personal power.

Our bodies, minds and spirits are all contained within the envelope of the yellow-ray physical vehicle which we enjoy as our body. One interesting facet of the yellow-ray is that it is also the true color of the environment of Earth in which we now live.

Perhaps you have heard talk about a great shift in consciousness which is taking place as we approach the year 2012. That shift is taking place as our Earth moves from the yellow-ray environment of Earth as we know it to a green-ray Earth which offers an enhanced environment of love and understanding.

In the face of this imminent shift in Earth energy, we are seeing a great many so-called "Indigo Children" who have their green-ray bodies activated as well as their yellow-ray bodies, thus being far more able to deal with the new vibrations now hitting our planet, while being somewhat less able to cope with Earth as we now know it. When these children reach adulthood they will be far tougher and more able to respond to the situation as it presents itself in the years immediately ahead of us.

Another facet of this present shift is that, as the new energies of green-ray interpenetrate our Earth world's usual vibrations, many people, challenged by the new energies, are reverting to the home environment where they do not have to interact with groups except for the family, wrapping themselves about with the protective blanket of personal relationships and private doings. It is most unfortunate at a time when our efforts to promote fairness, justice and the stewardship of our resources are enormously needed. If there was ever a time to focus on the right use of our personal power in our group environments, this is it.

A last artifact of the yellow-ray's blockage is the phenomenon of ghosts. There are many ghosts who are caught, during the death process, by their own wills, which are so focused on a personal concern that the forces of death cannot be finalized. The personality shell of that person becomes stuck in the metaphysical no-man's-land between the yellow-ray environment and the green-ray environment and cannot move on.

I open my arms and embrace your spirit. May you experience yourself as the powerful and magical being that you are, and may you use your power well and with great love and style today.

In this series of articles we have been looking at the energy body, which is like a pipeline along the spine of our physical bodies through which flows the incoming, infinite life energy of the one Creator. This pipe is as a rainbow body of energy centers, red through violet, running along the spine from groin to crown. When the energy is flowing well and unimpeded, our feelings of joy and peace flow through us like a broad and sun-sparkled river.

Today, we look at the green-ray energy center, which is located at the level of the heart along that energy pipeline.

The "Ra group," a spiritual source which our L/L Research group has channeled, defines the green ray as one of complete universality, the seat of unbridled and full compassion, as well as the resource for all spiritual work. It is the center in which we focus on forgiveness of ourselves and everyone else.

Its shape is that of the lotus, with the number of petals articulated being dependent upon just how well an individual has activated this heart center. Its color is close to the color of a green apple and the brilliance of this center can be almost overwhelming in a fully activated person.

We have often experienced blockage of this heart center. The telltale sign of green-ray blockage is an inability to feel or express full compassion for someone, either one's self or another person.

In this series, we've been tracking sexuality as expressed in each center. Up until green-ray sexuality, the only energy exchange possible is negative, as in when someone is raped. When two people make love who are both activated in green ray, wow! An energy exchange takes place that creates for the male an inpouring of inspiration and spiritual energy. For the female, the exchange offers an inpouring of the physical energy she so often lacks to a degree.

This exchange is so powerful that it does not even take an orgasm for the transfer to take place. However if even one of the two experience orgasm, the energy exchange is intensified. If both partners are vibrating well in the heart center, the doorway to sacred sexuality swings wide open!

Perhaps you have been fortunate enough to experience bonding with someone sexually. This is an artifact of green-ray energy exchange. When this happens to two people for the first time, the experience imprints itself and bonds the mated pair. Some call it "falling in love". However it's more like "falling into energy exchange." In actuality, both of the mates are falling for the Creator and the full experience of all of the Creator's energy as reflected through the mate's energy in free exchange.

Another way we see green-ray activation is in the lives and service of those who work within society to affect relief from hunger for the starving, increased awareness of truth for the ignorant and the many ways people respond with compassion to the felt needs of the people around them. Contribution from us all in the face of disaster is a green-ray-inspired charity. And how wonderful it feels to give from an open heart!

The green-ray body is that body which shall exist in the next "density" or plane of existence after this Earthly life. We occasionally see a ghost, if we attend materialization s ances, clad in that cigar-smoke-like stuff we call ectoplasm. That is the material from which the green-ray physical body will be made. For now we are muddling along nicely in our yellow-ray bodies, which are the dense, chemically active physical vehicles within which we enjoy life at present.

Our Earth is, itself, becoming a green-ray-activated being at this time! The green-ray energy is heavily interpenetrating our Earth vibrations, which are yellow-ray. This interpenetration has caused a stark rise in mental and emotional dysfunction among people who are not yet able to face their true self for the first time. The energy of green ray is one of shining truth.

Be aware, as these waves of green-ray energy continue to buffet the planet ever more heavily, that you shall need to face yourself very honestly and squarely in the days to come and take responsibility for seeing the truth about yourself and forgiving yourself for aspects of that truth and turning to new life with those aspects amended!

The orientation of the influx of this new green-ray energy into the aura of Earth is 20 degrees east of north. The magnetic center of Earth has been shifting in this direction for some time and is very close to arriving at its new home. There have been a lot of weather disturbances in the last few decades which may be seen to be loosely connected to this shift in magnetic orientation on Earth.

A lot has been written about the Apocalypse or "rapture," which involve a scenario where we're removed from the Earth all at once and taken either to heaven or hell. My spirit sources, however, indicate that we will continue to birth babies, but from now on, the babies being born will almost always have both the yellow-ray body and the green-ray body activated via changes in their DNA. As time goes on, there will gradually be evolution of this DNA so that the babies born are activated purely in green-ray bodies. Then the transition will be complete. This process is likely to take hundreds of years.

I open my arms and embrace your spirit. May your heart open like a flower today under the influence of beauty, truth and the compassion of the people you meet! And may you, with your open heart, touch the lives of many with the sunshine of your love.

In this series I've been looking at the energy pipeline I call the energy body, a rainbow series of energy centers that follow the physical line of our spines from the spine's base to the top of the head.

We've found that our energy and joy can be blocked in the three lowest rays, red, orange and yellow. These are generally blocked because of trouble with sexuality and survival issues (red ray), personal relationships with the self and others (orange ray) and legal and familial relationships like work, marriage and family (yellow ray). When they are blocked, we feel listless, depressed and out of energy.

In the previous column we looked at the incredibly powerful green-ray energy center, the heart center. I talked about the personal power which is ours by our very nature, being one with the Creator, and how, in green ray, we can finally rest in unconditional love.

In this column I would like to look at green ray a bit more. There is a central and usually completely forgotten aspect of working with the green ray upon which I'd like to focus. That aspect is the need to integrate our entire, whole, complete self into our self-perceived selfhood as we approach the gates of green ray.

Have you been to New York City and seen the lions guarding the steps of the main branch of the New York Public Library? There's quite a bit of acreage on those steps! You can linger and chat, sight-see and plan your day before you ever go into the building. While you are on those steps, you are not responsible for getting into the Library with all its rich resources. You are just visiting.

That is generally how we enter our own hearts. We are not really aware of where our energy is. We are sightseers. We walk up those steps in our ordinary, everyday consciousness. We want to enter and experience the relief of being truly and unconditionally loved. However, we're not ready to do that.

We're not ready because we have not yet collected our entire range of characteristics. We have left out of our equation of selfhood, what Jung calls our "shadow side." In our conscious minds, we do not wish to see the shadow side: the angry, lustful, greedy, selfish and self-involved person who is standing before the lions at the gate.

And yet that shadow side is infinitely worthy. It is part of the warp and woof of our humanity. How desperately it needs our attention! How it longs for our respect and our willingness to integrate those dark energies into our whole self.

To figure out what your own shadow side looks like, examine the mirror of those things which really bother you, disgust you or make you turn aside and avert your eyes. For myself, those thorns which catch me within myself are pride, haste in judgment, the arrogance of feeling as though I get the big picture, a critical nature and an Irish temper which does not wait to discover the truth but lashes out in a heartbeat, often mistaking the facts and doing damage to my nearest and dearest.

These are not large sins. They are, however, things which I do not wish to observe and accept within myself. These are the energies which I must own, accept, love and redeem.

Whatever your own tally of less attractive traits might be, the truth of their petty nature is probably the same. Most of us do not murder outright. We do not steal outright. We do not commit adultery outright. We think about doing some or all of the above.

And when we approach the lions at the gate of the inner sanctum of our own hearts, we need to gather all of our less attractive traits up in our own loving arms, embrace them with true affection and ask them persuasively to join the "good" side of ourselves. For either the whole self walks into the inner sanctum of the open, sacred heart or nothing of us reaches that sanctum sanctorum .

There is a wonderful old hymn which begins
"O Jesus, Thou art standing outside the fast-closed door,
In lowly silence waiting to cross the threshold o'er.
Shame on us, Christian brothers, whose name and sign we bear,
And shame, thrice shame, upon us, who keep Him standing there."

I love that old song and sing it often. However, I believe the poet got the image backwards. Jesus, the carrier of Christhood and its unconditional love, is part and parcel of the consciousness of that inner sanctum of the open heart. It is we who stand outside the fast-closed door. It is love itself which awaits us within.

Why do we wait to enter? Because we do not feel worthy. And in a way this is true. We are human. "It is impossible not to sin," say the church fathers. And they are correct. We humans are error-prone.

In another way, the way of faith and resurrection from the persistent darkness of material earth energy, we are infinitely worthy, not because we are perfect but because we are part of the principle of Creator and creation. We are one with the perfection of all that there is.

The pattern is too large for us to comprehend. It is, however perfect. As a mystic I have repeatedly been taken into a state of consciousness where that perfection is quite clearly seen. I trust that personal, intimate experience.

"Here I stand, all ragged and dirty.
Kiss me quick or I'll run like a turkey!"

Here we all stand at the door to the open heart. When we have done the work of accepting ourselves in all our imperfection, the lions at the gate will let us past. We can knock on that door to the inner sanctum and love itself will open that door and welcome us in to our own hearts. We can settle down into the lap of the deity and rest at last, loved and loving.

Focus today on knowing that you are acceptable to the Creator, just as you are. You are loved beyond all measure. You can rest back into that love. You can rest from self-judgment and free your mind and heart to the work of gathering your whole self together as an offering to the divine. "Here I am," you may pray. "My heart is open, trembling, hoping so much to serve You. What have you got for me today?"

The Creator is just waiting for that focus, that heart's presence, that question and that attitude of readiness. Ask that question and you will be busy today - and have a wonderful day in unexpected ways. It is well said, "Ask and you shall be answered."

I open my arms and embrace your spirit. May you find all of yourself moving past the lions at the gate of your open heart. May you find sanctuary that shall not fail within this mortal world of shadow and light. May you rest in the open heart today. Truly shall the love pouring through that open heart bless all whose lives you touch.

LOUISVILLE In this series I've been looking at the energy pipeline I call the energy body, a rainbow series of energy centers that follows the physical line of our spines from the spine's base to the top of the head. We have examined the energies of survival and sexuality (red ray), personal relationships with ourselves and with other people (orange ray), group relationships like family and work (yellow ray), open-hearted love and healing (green ray) and now we look at the energies of the great communication chakra, blue ray.

The first three rays are remarkably important and powerful. However they do not give the seeker a chance to exchange energies with another being. The work we do in those chakras is inner work, as we clear blocked energies and balance our energy system in order to make a full pathway for the Creator's energy through the heart chakra.

When full power is streaming through the heart chakra, the opportunities for energy transfer begin! The Ra group, which I have channeled, suggests that the blue ray is the first true spiritual ray, in that all transfers are of the whole, integrated self.

The throat chakra or blue ray is the first independent ray, in that it may radiate or transmit love to another being regardless of whether there is an answering affection from that other person. One may offer love from the heart center of green ray, but in the face of energy blockage from the person who is loved, green-ray energy is ineffective. In blue ray, one's love streams forth triumphantly, regardless.

People who are open through the blue ray are somewhat rare in our society, as complete blue-ray opening requires the most rigorous honesty with the self. This quality of absolute truth-telling to the self is not a value encouraged by our culture. Consequently we all have a real hurdle to leap in order to open the blue-ray chakra.

However it is greatly desirable to get the blue-ray chakra open and working. Its energy is all about becoming able to express the self without reservation or fear.

The chakra, located in the area of the throat and neck, seats the teachings of the spirit which we receive, "animating the whole and communicating to others the entirety of beingness," according to the Ra group. Its appearance can be brilliant and full of flashing light and it may have as many as 100 facets in its crystal-like form.

Do you wish to communicate effectively today? Then you will wish to clear the lower chakras, visit the heart for blessing and renewal and enter the glowing, jewel-like blue-ray chakra with communication on your mind.

Penetrating blue ray without clearing all lower chakras can result in illness, both mental and emotional, as in personality distortions, and physical, as in those who find their breathing hampered by allergies, experience repeated infections of the lungs and throat or find difficulty in speaking clearly.

That's a fairly common problem among those who are actively seeking. The Psalmist writes, "My soul hath a desire and longing to enter into the courts of the Lord." And, "Oh, yes!" I respond. I do long so deeply for the pleasant pastures of the open heart of green ray, the loving communication of blue ray and all the tools of work in consciousness which reside in the indigo ray. The green-blue-indigo triad of higher energies is the wonder and the glory of our energy bodies. It feels so good to be there and to work with those energies.

And yet, if we try to do this work without having cleared our lower rays of blockage and over-activation, we will be as unable to do this work in consciousness as an appliance is when its power source is cut off. We will have trouble figuring out what we really feel and think. We will have trouble expressing our opinions well. And we will have trouble accepting the opinions of others as simple information. We will be over-reactive to what others think, thusly causing our energy bodies to contract and constrict the flow of the infinite Creator's energy coming through our pipeline even more.

Before you try to communicate, then, do some preparatory work. First, act as though you are straightening your hair. This combs unwanted energies we have perhaps picked up out of our aura. Brush off your clothes, continuing to "comb" your aura and free it of all energy but your own. Then if it is convenient, touch your ankles together and fold your hands. This seals your energy body well.

In this state, say a prayer. It can be a short one. My personal favorite is a simple request for help. I say, "Holly, help!" (Holly is my name for the Holy Spirit.) Christians have always found tremendous power in the one-word shorthand prayer, "Jesus!" Taking a good, cleansing breath and orienting the self to the soul on the other end of the letter, the other side of the door, the other end of the telephone line or the opposite side of the desk can be enough to alert the seeker that energy needs to be flowing cleanly and clearly right now.

With this momentary clearing accomplished, you are ready to offer the exchange of your energy with theirs. In green ray that exchange is loving and being loved. In blue ray that exchange is accepting and being accepted, speaking and being heard or listening with ears that hear and understand. Such energy exchange "transmutes selfhood and place in society into energy transfer situations in which the entity may merge with and serve others and then, finally, radiate unto others without expecting any transfer in return."

All these quotes are from the five volumes of "The Law of One." Go to www.llresearch.org to look at this material more closely.

I open my arms and embrace your spirit. Remember the prayer of St. Francis today and ask to understand rather than being understood and to console rather than being consoled. You will find yourself exchanging understanding and consolation, as well as smiles and laughter, with the most unexpected people!

LOUISVILLE In this series of articles we have been looking at the energy body of chakras or rays that comprise our electrical body, that body which, though unseen, forms the physical body and throughout our lifetime, affects our state of mind. When the energy pipeline is running clear and unimpeded by blockages, we experience joy and peace. We feel our native and natural power. We root deeply into ourselves and stand firmly on our own infinite ground of being.

The indigo ray is located along the spinal column at the pineal gland, at the "third eye" position at the center of the forehead. It is in the shape of an indigo-colored, three-petalled flower or, for some people, a triangle. When the indigo ray is well developed and the person is actively working to develop this ray, the petals can multiply into many facets, like a rose.

Indigo ray is the center of your awareness of the Creator as the self. It is the center of sacramental sex, Creator to Creator. The indigo ray holds the energy of the Creator in microcosm. When your indigo chakra is open and functioning, you are the supernal Logos contained within a living being. You are an Avatar.

The energy of indigo ray is the energy of the adept which has its place in faith. This energy is the energy of transformation from this present earthly life, which my channeling sources call third density, to the life to come, call it heaven as do many or call it fourth density as does my source.

The indigo-ray body is a body of light. It is called the "form-maker" or etheric body by adepts both Western and Oriental. This body is the one in which we enter the fetus of our tiny physical body as it grows towards birth and merge with it to become a soul in incarnation. And upon the death of our physical body, we will depart our bodies in the form-maker or indigo-ray body in order to decide what we shall do next.

During most of the long run of this earthly experience of third density, which my spiritual sources tell me is about a 76,000-year-long cycle of repeated incarnations, lifetime upon lifetime, we have been working to learn how this energy body works, how to keep its chakras unblocked so the Creator's infinite energy may run clean and clear straight through the open heart and the upper chakras, exiting through the top of the head in loving radiation which, like a lighthouse, blesses all who may feel or sense its light. Naturally, we want to keep that energy body clear.

In red ray we block the passage of energy through worries about whether existence is good and through problems with sexuality.

In orange ray we can block the flow of energy by refusing to accept ourselves or others.

In yellow ray we can block our flow of health and well-being by having unresolved difficulties with our family, our marriage, our work or other groups.

In green ray we can block this energy by having trouble finding our hearts, our compassion, our capacity for forgiveness.

In blue ray we can find ourselves blocked because of problems in communication.

In indigo ray we find ourselves blocked because of a lack of faith. Since many of us find ourselves in the position of a "Doubting Thomas," quite often, indigo-ray blockage is very common and it is the rare person indeed who is able to open his indigo ray fully.

Let's look a bit more closely at this lack of faith. It involves a feeling of unworthiness, as does blue-ray blockage, but it is not simply an unworthiness as a human being. It is the feeling of unworthiness at the level of the self as Creator.

How difficult it is, in one's ordinary, everyday frame of mind, to see the self as the Creator! And yet we are all sparks of that Creator, made in the Creator's image. That image is the Logos or unconditional love. That is our nature. Finding that nature is the work of this lifetime. Allowing that nature to be transmitted through our being, our thoughts and our actions is our main mission here on Earth. As we love unconditionally we fulfill the main purpose of our being here.

Naturally this ray is opened only through much work in consciousness. This is the ray of the magical being who has come to see the whole of himself and from that standpoint, to accept his power, his beauty and his ability to make changes in himself and in his consciousness.

All the work of consciousness and transformation is done in this ray. When you have cleared the lower chakras and dwelt in the sacred precincts of your own open heart, you are ready to meditate, contemplate, pray, open the self to nature and its many resources from the spirit world and do all other kinds of work in consciousness which lead to your transformation into a more true and deep version of yourself.

Of all the work and play of a lifetime, my favorite play so far is the sacred play of the indigo ray. How I love to spend time here! My Christ lives in these regions, dwelling in silence and perfection. All the saints and angels await me here. My own true heart awaits my discovery here.

Here I can enter into the gateway to what my channeling sources call "intelligent infinity". From this point the universe opens like a flower and we may tread it with unfettered foot.

Here the resource of steadily held silence of mind and emotion has its rightful place. Take a walk in nature and listen to the natural creation's somewhat noisy silence. Enter into its muscularity and sense the unified, loving, living nature of the Creator. We are all connected in this silence; we are all one. When you fully realize this unity, this oneness and the infinite worth of both it and yourself, you have begun to activate your indigo ray.

I open my arms and embrace your spirit. Know and rest in your being a part of the Creator this day. Have faith in your infinite worth and the worth of all of Creation! See what glory spins itself out, lazily, naturally and inevitably, when your heart rests here!

We have looked at the activities of the lower three chakras, that red-orange-yellow triad of energy centers which deals with issues of survival and sexuality (red), personal relationships (orange) and group relationships (yellow). We have dwelt in the precincts of the unconditional love of the opened green-ray heart chakra, investigated the power of the throat or blue chakra to communicate clearly and studied the infinite possibilities of work in the brow or indigo-ray chakra.

In this article we focus upon the violet ray of our energy pipeline. Physically, its connection to the body is at the brow or pineal gland center of the forehead. Activation of this chakra is expressed by a throbbing of that center, as if in orgasm. When the area of the brow is tingling or "buzzing" the indication is that the center is trying to open but that resistance to its opening, through either blockage or over-activation of a lower chakra, is holding that gateway partially shut.

I include this chakra in our consideration of the energy body even though one cannot work within this chakra to improve the tuning or balance of it. Although it would seem that this consideration means that we need not look closely at this ray, in point of fact violet-ray energy is very important to the way our energy bodies work, in a number of ways.

Firstly, what does it look like? This crystallized energy center spinning at the brow is sometimes called the "thousand-petalled lotus" by Eastern teachers. It is "the sum of the energy fields", the least changeable of all the centers. It represents a read-out of our total energy system, red through violet. It is a quiet center, as no energy can come in to that center and no blockage can occur at the violet-ray level. In the words of the Ra group, it is constant, "the mark, the register, the identity, the true vibration of an entity". This energy center also represents what the Eastern sages call the Buddhic body or that body which is complete. Says the Ra group, "within it lies a sense of wholeness which is extremely close to unity with all that there is".

This ray carries several layers of energy, unlike the other centers. As the summation chakra, it contains the spectrograph of rainbow energies unique to each spirit or soul. Surrounding this read-out of the individual's energy system is the pure violet color. This is coated over with a "skin" of color made up of the blending of pure red ray with pure violet ray. This mixing of the beginning and ending colors of the energy system of the body is a natural way of protecting the individual mind, body and spirit of that individual and the energy system of that person.

And surrounding that, if the entity happens not to come from Earth but, instead, is a traveler from another planet who has come here to incarnate and help with the Harvest, is the true color for the native density of that "Wanderer."

Each person's violet ray is unique to that person, since the ray is a readout of the whole energy system. There is no "right" configuration for this center. Each person's unique vibratory system is right for that person when that system is able to pull itself into an overall balance. "The balance," say the Ra group, "is what is necessary for work to be done."

How do we achieve this balance? The answer is unexpected, for you would think that you would use the faculty of the will to open each center as widely as possible. However, while the will can, indeed, open and get a powerful spin going in individual energy centers, these sometimes magnificently brilliant centers are locked away from their own power as long as the energy pipeline as a whole is significantly blocked or over-activated anywhere along the line.

The usual error of seekers is to have a wonderful time working on the higher energy centers without giving sufficient respect and honor to the lower centers. Clearing the whole system daily by means of thinking about the thoughts you have had and the actions you have done this day is greatly recommended by my channeling source. This balance is especially important when you consider your desire to move, upon death, from this life to what we have been trained in this culture to think of as "the kingdom of heaven". The Ra group calls this heaven world fourth density or The Density of Love and Understanding. (Our Earth world is called by them "The Density of Choice".)

Without being able to achieve a sturdy balance of the energies in our energy pipeline, we will not only suffer from a lack of joy and an inability to do metaphysical work like meditation, but also we will not be able to graduate into fourth density because we "will not be capable of sustaining the impact of the love and light of intelligent infinity to the extent necessary for Harvest."

Harvest in no way resembles the classic after-death scenario of our culture, with its pearly gates and Judgment Day, unless one can imagine the pearly gates set at the division between third density and fourth density along what the Ra group calls the "steps of light," and unless one can accept that one's own self is the only judge. The spirit, after going through physical death, moves in the indigo-ray body to a position in the so-called "inner planes" where it is determined by the soul itself whether or not it is ready for Harvest.

The spirit, if ready to walk the steps of light and ascertain "harvestability," moves into its violet-ray body and walks along these ascending steps, with each step containing a more densely packed version of the love and the light of the infinite Creator. When the spirit is at its most comfortable in this intensifying light, it stops. If it has stopped before the "pearly gates," which the Ra group calls "the gateway to intelligent infinity," the spirit's next incarnation will continue to be in a third-density environment. If the spirit's vibrations are such that it can enjoy a more intense light and it stops on a fourth-density step, then it has graduated. That spirit's Harvest to fourth density is complete. Then the spirit moves back into the indigo-ray body to move on into the next placement within incarnation or within the inner planes, if that has been chosen as the next path of service.

The violet-ray position is the place from which all invocations and evocations occur, whether the activity is considered "good," as in the case of channeling inspired material, or whether the activity is considered "evil," as in the case of psychic greeting. The Ra group says that they used my violet-ray center to come through the gateway of intelligent infinity and work with me to produce their channeled material, coming down into and resting in my blue-ray center, the communication and inspiration chakra, to do their work with our research group.

In other positive contact through violet ray, some sources move to the green-ray heart center to offer healing vibrations through a channel and other sources work with the spirit itself within indigo ray as it enlarges its faculties of faith and hope. I open my arms and embrace your spirit. Rejoice this day in your uniqueness and feel the power of your energy body flexing as you move through your day, dealing with humor and patience as you encounter the inevitable unkindnesses of this day in such a way as to transmute them to responses full of genuinely felt love and light! You are the light of the world!

In this series, which concludes with today's column, we have been looking at the energy body of chakras or rays that comprise our electrical body, that body which, though unseen, forms the physical body and throughout our lifetime, affects our state of mind.

What a powerhouse the energy body is! This living, rainbow-colored pipeline of energy runs along our physical spines and contains seven main rays or colors, also known as chakras or energy centers. The energy may be thought of as electrical.

When the infinite supply of the Creator's energy is flowing easily through our pipeline, we feel good. That energy contains love and light, and as it flows through our chakras it takes on our colorations, exiting at the top of the head's violet-ray chakra in a radiating, glowing vibration that is like a candle flame. The halos of the saints catch this palpable glow of blessed and released light, which in turn blesses all whom its energy touches.

By keeping that energy pipeline clear, we become a living lighthouse. We glow with joy and a steady wellness which has everything to do with our emotions and spirit and almost nothing to do with our physical health.

If you have read through this series of articles on the energy body, you will have a good idea of how to work with this resource and its chakras, rays or energy centers skillfully. You will know that it takes only a moment of intention to take hold of the process of choosing how to respond to incoming "catalyst."

The primary challenge is to notice what is occurring when something happens momentarily that makes your energy body contract. This step is difficult because we are not used to valuing our own thoughts, for the most part. Yet we need to create the habit of doing so.

The contraction of the energy body is manifested, usually, by a clenching of the physical body in some way and a similar "clenching" of the emotions as they contract around something that feels as if it ought to be avoided or is to be pursued.

I feel fairly sure that my husband's energy body was contracted this morning, for instance. He runs a lawn service. He has a certain number of customers' lawns to mow before quitting time today. A light rain was falling when we made our Morning Offering and the forecast is for heavy weather this afternoon and evening.

He is not contracted in red ray, the root chakra at the base of the spine, because his survival does not depend on getting those lawns mowed.

He is not contracted in orange ray, the "gut" chakra, because getting the lawns mowed does not involve any personal relationships. He is happy with himself and he works alone, so the Creator's infinite energy is running clearly though that ray.

He is, however, contracted in yellow ray, the solar plexus chakra. The energy of this chakra has to do with interaction with groups. The group which is causing my husband anxiety as he sets out to mow this morning is his work environment. Since he pays our bills by mowing lawns, he is very focused on doing the very best job he can for each customer. If he has to cut wet grass, clumping may occur and this would not be his best work.

Is it a killing crime to be anxious about this? Not at all! It is, however, fairly certain that Jim's yellow-ray chakra is partially blocked.

I, too, am partially blocked in yellow ray today. This morning's work is sheer pleasure, as I have been working my way through a discussion of the issues relating to the study of each chakra and this is my chance, in today's column, to sum up this area of consideration, which I feel to be extremely valuable. However, tomorrow's scheduled creative work is on a book I am writing. The material I am working with right now is on the new developments in science. I am not a scientist. So my solar plexus chakra also is partially blocked because I am anxious about doing a first-class job with this material.

My husband and I have already begun the process of clearing those blockages, for we are old hands at this work by now. In the first place, we very intentionally start the day with a Morning Offering, a time of thanksgiving, praise, prayer, song and the study of inspired writings.

We asked for help during the prayer which ended our Morning Offering today. We enumerated those areas where we knew we were blocked and we asked for the spirit's help in smoothing out those concerns.

We then thanked the Creator for these challenges and concerns. Such challenges are the grist for our mill of learning and service. If there is nothing to take us aback or disturb the even tenor of our daily life, we may be very comfortable. However we are not in a growth environment. So when catalyst comes knocking, as it does most days, Jim and I try to remember to give thanks for it. There is great wisdom in being grateful for the aggravations of the day and seeing them as the Beatitudes that they are!

At the end of the day, as we prepare for bed tonight, we will take a while to snuggle with each other and our cats. We will discuss those things which have challenged us today. If we can, we will help each other to look at the things that moved us today, one way or the other.

And finally, as we both go to sleep, in the privacy of our own inner thoughts, we will take the time to sit with these concerns. This "sitting-with" process is about balancing our energy body, not judging some parts of it good and others bad.

Take Jim's and my concerns about our livelihood and work. To balance the feelings we have had about that today, we will look at our concern that we will not be able to do a good job. According to Confederation channeling, the most skilful process of balancing any issue involves three steps.

The first step we will take is to find a comfortable, quiet spot in which to clear the mind and bring back those anxious feelings. When we have a good focus on just how that felt, we will allow the emotion to intensify. We will amplify the emotion until it is pure and clear.

The second step we will take is to allow that intensified emotion to fade away until we begin to feel the opposite emotion, which is confident assurance that all is well. We will intensify that emotion, as it naturally arises, until that sense of confident and fearless expectation of good is equally pure and clear.

The third step we will take is to hold both extremes of emotion, on this one bit of catalyst we have observed in ourselves, and place them side by side in our minds, asking them to come into a dynamic and harmoniously unified balance that is right for us.

The goal is not to erase all catalyst and have effortless lives. The goal is to clear the energy pipeline so that the spontaneous health of the spirit may flood our senses, yielding a natural joy and peace that one can obtain no other way. No outer toy or possession can accomplish the stable sense of "all is well". Only inner work returns us to this natural balance, when we have become contracted around something we fear too much or love too much.

The right use of the faculty of will is the issue here. It takes an act of will to pay attention to what is going on with our mood and reactions today. However, if we can pay attention to our thoughts and feelings and give them honor and respect today, remembering what moved us out of the flow, then as the day winds down, we can find some quiet moments and restore this energy flow to its balance. And what a difference it makes to our well-being and sense of joy when we do!

I open my arms and embrace your spirit. May you go forth rejoicing and may your candle flame of love and light bless all whose lives you touch today.