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crazycatsiren · 1 year

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Chakras - What they really are

(I managed to salvage this post written by @rue-cimon from an old deactivated account. I copied it down here because this was too good a post to lose.)

Chakra literally means "wheel" or "circle" in Sanskrit. The concept of chakras originates from Hinduism in ancient India. These are focal points used in a variety of ancient meditation or yoga practices. These practices are collectively called "tantra".

Although the concept is frequently found in early traditions of Hinduism and are often mentioned in the Vedas, beliefs around chakras differ between various Indian religions. Buddhist texts consistently mention 5 chakras, whereas Hindu texts and sources speak of 6 or 7 chakras.

Early Sanskrit texts speak of them both as meditative visualizations combining flowers and mantras and as physical entities in the body. Within kundalini yoga, various breath exercises, visualizations, mudras, kriyas, and mantras are focused on manipulating the flow of subtle energy through chakras.

Chakras are also present in Ayurvedic traditions.

The belief behind chakras is that human life simultaneously exists in two parallel dimensions, one is the physical body and the other is psychological, emotional, mind, non physical (the subtle body).

The aforementioned subtle body is energy, while the physical body is mass. The psyche or mind plane corresponds to and interacts with the body plane, and the belief holds that the body and the mind mutually affect each other. The subtle body consists of energy channels connected by nodes of psychic energy called chakras.

The chakras - in Hindu and Buddhist texts - are said to be arranged in a column along the spinal cord, from its base to the top of the head, connected by vertical channels. Tantric traditions strive to awaken, master, and energize these chakras through yoga and often with the help of a teacher.

The esoteric traditions in Buddhism generally teach four chakras. In some early Buddhist sources, these chakras are termed as manipura (navel), anahata (heart), vishuddha (throat), and ushnisha kamala (crown). However, a system of five chakras is common among classes of tantra in Tibetan Buddhism. These five chakras are basal, abdominal, heart, throat, and crown, and each chakra corresponds with an element, a Buddha, and a bija mantra.

The more common and most studied chakra system incorporates six major chakras along with a seventh center generally not regarded as a chakra.

The chakras are traditionally considered meditation aids. The yogi starts from lower chakras and progresses to the highest chakra located in the crown of the head, in the journey of spiritual ascent.

In the Hindu kundalini and Buddhist candali traditions, the chakras are pierced by a dormant energy residing near or in the lowest chakra. in Hindu texts she is known as Kundalini, while in Buddhist texts she is called Candali or Tummo.

Some terms and definitions:

Tantra: Esoteric traditions in Hinduism and Buddhism that developed in India mainly during the middle of the 1st millennium CE. The term tantra, in the Indian traditions, also means text, theory, system, method, instrument, technique, or practice. A key feature of these traditions is the use of mantras.

Kundalini yoga: A type of yoga focused on channeling energy through the chakras.

Mudra: A symbolic or ritual gesture or pose in Hinduism, Jainism, and Buddhism. Mudras have meaning in many forms of Indian dance and yoga. In hatha yoga, mudras are used in conjunction with pranayama (yogic breathing exercises), generally while in a seated posture, to stimulate different parts of the body involved with breathing and to affect the flow of prana and is associated with consciousness in the body. Mudras are also used in tantric practices.

Kriya: Practice within a yoga discipline meant to achieve a specific result. The Yoga Sutra of Patanjali defines three types of kriya, namely asceticism, study, and devotion. Such yoga is called kriya yoga. Kriya is a Sanskrit word that literally means "to do" or "to work".

Mantra: A sacred utterance, a sound, a syllable, word, or phonemes, or group of words in Sanskrit, Pali, and other languages. They hold spiritual and religious significance. At its simplest, the word "om" serves as a mantra. It is believed to be the first sound which was originated on earth. It creates a reverberation in the body which helps the body and mind to be calm. In more sophisticated forms, mantras are melodic phrases with spiritual interpretations such as a human longing for truth, reality, light, immortality, peace, love, knowledge, and action. Not all mantras have literal meanings but rather are simply uplifting.

Ayurveda: An alternative medicine system with historical roots in ancient India.

#chakras #hinduism #buddhism #witches of color #asian religions #eastern spirituality #ancient india #asian witches #buddhist witches

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sunshines-child · 4 months

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Circe, Witch of Aiaia

I have drawn Circe so many times and i've finally settle on a design that is largely different but I like a lot

#on that note who the fuck thought Aiaia was a good name #it sounds like an asian parent when they look at your report car and see an A-#aiyahh repeated twice #like what were they doing #"I've created this cool character she's a witch and she's part of Odysseussy's journey!#okay Homer where does she live?#Uhhh Aiaiaiaiiaiaiaiaiaia #Oh Aiaia? Smart #...yeah #epic the circe saga #odyseussy #circe #circe saga #epic the musical #odysseus #the odyssey

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toiletpotato · 1 year

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The 2023 American Girl Doll of the Year is Kavi Sharma, a South Asian American theatre kid who loves Wicked SO SHE HAS A REPLICA ELPHABA COSTUME. I am absolutely ecstatic that kids get this.

edit: SHE ALSO HAS A GLINDA COSTUME