The chakra system is often introduced through the seven major energy centres located along the central axis of the body. These seven chakras provide a familiar map for understanding the relationship between the physical body, emotions, mind, relationships, expression, intuition, and spiritual awareness.

The seven primary chakras can be understood as the principal centres through which we experience embodied life. The higher and transpersonal chakras add another dimension to this embodied journey. These extend the map beyond the physical body, connecting our awareness with the Earth beneath us and with our higher consciousness, the soul, the cosmos, and the Source.

Different Reiki, Hindu, Buddhist, Western esoteric, and contemporary energy-healing traditions use different energy systems, colours, locations, names, and correspondences. The purpose of this model is therefore not to establish one universal system, but to provide a meaningful map for meditation, self-reflection, and spiritual practice.

The thirteen centres can be explored as follows:
1. Earth Star Chakra
2. Root Chakra
3. Sacral Chakra
4. Navel Chakra
5. Solar Plexus Chakra
6. Heart Chakra
7. Higher Heart Chakra
8. Throat Chakra
9. Third Eye Chakra
10. Crown Chakra
11. Causal Chakra
12. Soul Star Chakra
13. Stellar Gateway Chakra

Together, they form a vertical energetic axis that begins beneath the feet and extends beyond the crown.

1. Earth Star Chakra

The Earth Star Chakra is placed approximately six inches, or 15 centimetres, beneath the feet. It is sometimes visualised as black, although some systems associate its activated state with magenta or deep violet. The Earth Star represents our deepest relationship with the Earth. Before reaching toward higher consciousness, there is a need to establish a connection with the ground beneath us. Its symbolism is therefore closely associated with grounding, embodiment, nature, ancestry, renewal, and our experience of physical existence.

The Earth Star can be contemplated as the energetic foundation of the entire energy system. It reminds us that spirituality does not require leaving the physical world behind. We live through a body, within a natural environment, and through the cycles of birth, death, change, and renewal. For those working with the higher chakras, grounding becomes particularly important. Expansion without grounding can sometimes leave a person feeling scattered, disconnected, or overly absorbed in spiritual experience.

The Earth Star offers the opposite movement. It brings awareness downward, toward the Earth and toward the body.

2. Root Chakra

The Root Chakra, or Muladhara, is located at the base of the spine and pelvic floor. Its associated colour is red. It represents our most fundamental relationship with physical life: safety, stability, nourishment, home, belonging, survival, and the ability to inhabit our body.

The Root Chakra is concerned with the question, Can I feel safe enough to be here?

When we are grounded in our physical existence, we have a stronger foundation from which to explore emotional, intellectual, and spiritual dimensions of life. The Root Chakra also reminds us that spiritual development does not eliminate ordinary human needs. Food, shelter, rest, physical movement, financial stability, family, community, and a sense of belonging are all part of an embodied life.

The Root Chakra forms the first major gateway between the Earth Star and the rest of the energetic system.

3. Sacral Chakra

The Sacral Chakra, or Svadhisthana, is located in the lower abdomen and pelvic region. It is commonly associated with orange, although in my practice, I often represent it with a pinkish-orange tone. This centre is associated with emotions, sensuality, creativity, pleasure, relationships, adaptability, and the movement of life force.

Where the Root asks whether we are safe to exist, the Sacral asks whether we are able to experience life.

Creativity belongs here because creativity requires movement. Emotion also belongs here because emotions are not static. They move through us, change, rise, and eventually pass. The Sacral Chakra can therefore be contemplated whenever we are exploring our relationship with pleasure, emotional expression, creative energy, intimacy, or our ability to adapt to change.

4. Navel Chakra

The Navel Chakra occupies the area around the navel, between the Sacral and Solar Plexus centres. It is often represented as golden orange. The navel has held considerable symbolic importance in many Eastern traditions. In Japanese philosophy, for example, the Hara is regarded as an important centre of physical and energetic presence. The Navel Chakra is associated with digestion, assimilation, emotional equilibrium, personal strength, courage, protection, and empowerment.

There is also an interesting physical symbolism here. The digestive system takes what we receive from the outside world and transforms it into something the body can use. In a similar way, the energetic symbolism of the navel concerns our ability to receive experiences, process them, and transform them into usable strength. The navel therefore becomes a place of integration.

It asks: What am I able to take in? What am I able to digest? What do I need to release? What becomes nourishment once I have processed it?

5. Solar Plexus Chakra

The Solar Plexus Chakra, or Manipura, is located in the upper abdomen and is traditionally associated with yellow. It is commonly connected with personal power, confidence, will, discernment, motivation, boundaries, and the capacity to take action. The Solar Plexus represents the development of individuality. We begin to understand that we are not merely responding to the world around us. We possess the ability to make choices, establish boundaries, and direct our lives.

Healthy personal power is different from domination. It does not require control over other people. It is the ability to stand within ourselves and act from conscious choice. In spiritual work, this distinction becomes particularly important. A person can become highly sensitive and intuitive while still struggling to exercise personal authority. The Solar Plexus reminds us that spiritual awareness must eventually become lived choice.

6. Heart Chakra

The Heart Chakra, or Anahata, is located in the centre of the chest and is traditionally associated with green. It represents love, compassion, connection, forgiveness, generosity, and the capacity to experience relationship without losing oneself. The Heart occupies the centre of the seven major chakras and can therefore be viewed symbolically as a bridge between the lower and upper aspects of human experience. Below it are the centres concerned primarily with embodiment, emotion, digestion, identity, and personal power. Above it are expression, intuition, and spiritual awareness.

The Heart brings these dimensions into relationship.

This is why many spiritual traditions place such importance on compassion. Awareness without compassion can become detached. Personal power without compassion can become domination. Spiritual knowledge without compassion can become intellectual rather than transformative.

The Heart gives consciousness a human dimension.

7. Higher Heart Chakra

The Higher Heart Chakra is found in the upper chest, around the region of the thymus, between the Heart and Throat Chakras. Its colour correspondences vary between turquoise, aqua, rose, and soft green. The Higher Heart can be understood as a bridge between the personal Heart and the higher centres of expression and awareness. Where the Heart is associated with love, relationship, compassion, and emotional connection, the Higher Heart represents the expansion of love beyond personal attachment. It is associated symbolically with forgiveness, acceptance, empathy, gratitude, compassion, and a broader sense of connection.

The Higher Heart asks us to consider what happens when love becomes less dependent on whether another person behaves according to our expectations. Can we remain compassionate without abandoning discernment? Can we forgive without denying what happened? Can we love without needing to possess? Can we hold another person’s humanity while still honouring our own boundaries?

In this sense, the Higher Heart does not replace the Heart. It represents a further unfolding of what the Heart already begins. The movement from Heart to Higher Heart can therefore be understood as a movement from experiencing love to embodying compassion. The Higher Heart also creates an important bridge toward the Throat Chakra. What we hold in the Heart and Higher Heart eventually seeks expression. Compassion becomes something we communicate, demonstrate, and live.

8. Throat Chakra

The Throat Chakra, or Vishuddha, is located at the throat and associated with blue. It governs symbolic themes of communication, truth, expression, listening, authenticity, and the ability to give voice to what exists within us.

Expression is more than speaking. It includes the ability to communicate honestly, to listen deeply, to create, to write, to sing, and to allow our inner experience to find an appropriate form in the external world. The Throat Chakra also invites discernment. Speaking one’s truth does not mean saying everything that passes through the mind. Authentic expression requires awareness of timing, intention, responsibility, and the effect of our words. The movement from Heart through Higher Heart to Throat is therefore significant. What we feel must eventually find a conscious way of being expressed.

9. Third Eye Chakra

The Third Eye Chakra, or Ajna, is located between the eyebrows and associated with indigo. It is connected with intuition, perception, imagination, inner vision, discernment, symbolic understanding, and the ability to perceive patterns beyond the immediately visible. The Third Eye is often misunderstood as a centre that simply gives a person psychic abilities. Its deeper symbolism concerns seeing clearly. Intuition without discernment can become projection. Imagination without grounding can become fantasy. Spiritual perception therefore benefits from a stable foundation in the body and a willingness to question what we believe we are seeing.

The Third Eye represents the development of inner perception while retaining the capacity to distinguish insight from assumption.

10. Crown Chakra

The Crown Chakra, or Sahasrara, is located just above the crown of the head and associated with violet, white, or sometimes gold. It represents spiritual awareness, transcendence, contemplation, connection with the divine, and the recognition that consciousness extends beyond the individual personality. The Crown is traditionally regarded as the highest of the seven principal chakras. The Crown signifies that the journey has reached the point where individual consciousness begins opening toward something greater than itself.

11. Causal Chakra

The Causal Chakra is placed approximately three to four inches, or 8 to 10 centimetres, behind the centre of the head. It is associated with white and with qualities of purity, compassion, intuition, creativity, and higher wisdom. The word causal relates to cause and origin. In an esoteric context, the Causal Chakra can therefore be contemplated as a centre concerned with deeper patterns behind our experiences rather than merely the experiences themselves. It represents the movement from reacting to life toward observing the larger pattern.

This is where intuition becomes particularly important. Intuition can allow us to perceive relationships between seemingly unrelated experiences, to recognise patterns, and to understand a situation beyond its immediate details. The Causal Chakra is consequently associated with the capacity to see the larger picture. Rather than asking only, What is happening?, we begin asking, What is this experience showing me?

12. Soul Star Chakra

The Soul Star Chakra is positioned approximately six inches, or 15 centimetres, above the crown of the head. It is commonly visualised as magenta in this particular system. The Soul Star represents the connection between individual consciousness and what many spiritual traditions describe as the soul or higher self. It is sometimes described as a repository of spiritual memory and as a point through which consciousness can access wisdom beyond the ordinary personality.

The concept of the Soul Star invites us to consider an important question: What remains when I look beyond the identity I have constructed in this lifetime?

Our names, occupations, roles, relationships, achievements, disappointments, beliefs, and histories all contribute to our sense of identity. The Soul Star symbolically takes us beyond those layers and toward a larger understanding of self.

13. Stellar Gateway Chakra

The Stellar Gateway is described as the highest chakra, positioned approximately twelve inches, or 30 centimetres, above the crown of the head. It is visualised as gold. The term stellar refers to the stars, while a gateway suggests an opening or passage. Symbolically, therefore, the Stellar Gateway represents a threshold between individual consciousness and the greater cosmos. It signifies the sixth-dimensional centre and is associated with the access to Source, cosmic consciousness, spiritual evolution, and the accumulated wisdom of the soul across lifetimes. The Stellar Gateway represents the furthest expansion of consciousness. At this point, the journey is no longer primarily about understanding the individual self. It becomes an exploration of relationship with something larger than the self.

Activating the Stellar Gateway is also associated with the concept of Oneness.

The Soul Star and Stellar Gateway work together. One connects with the deeper identity of the soul, while the other opens toward the greater field of Source and cosmic consciousness.

The symbolism behind the chakras is one of return. We begin beneath the feet with Earth. We move through the body. We enter the heart. We expand the heart. We develop awareness. We move beyond the personality and eventually, we look toward the stars.

It is tempting to think of the chakras as thirteen separate points that must be opened one by one. I find it more useful to see them as a continuum and balance across all these points. One cannot activate without activating the other, each is interconnected and cannot be seen as separate. Only when all are active and balanced that we can experience wholeness.

The Earth Star grounds us. The Root allows us to inhabit physical life. The Sacral allows us to feel and create. The Navel teaches us to digest and integrate experience. The Solar Plexus develops personal power. The Heart opens us to relationship and compassion. The Higher Heart expands our capacity for unconditional compassion, forgiveness, and acceptance. The Throat gives expression to what lives within. The Third Eye develops perception. The Crown opens toward spiritual awareness. The Causal expands our ability to perceive deeper patterns. The Soul Star connects us with the mystery of the soul. The Stellar Gateway turns consciousness toward Source and the greater cosmos.

Seen this way, spiritual development is not a process of escaping the body in order to reach the heavens. It is a process of becoming increasingly conscious throughout the entire spectrum of existence. The movement is both upward and downward. We reach toward the stars while remaining connected to the Earth.

That balance matters.

There are many ways of working with a chakra system, including meditation, Reiki, breathwork, yoga, sound, visualization, prayer, contemplative practice, and crystal work.

The purpose should not be to force a chakra open. An energetic practice is most useful when approached as an invitation to awareness rather than an attempt to manufacture a particular spiritual experience. If a practice leaves you feeling scattered, excessively activated, detached from your body, frightened, or unable to function normally, stop the practice and return to ordinary grounding activities. Eat, rest, walk, breathe naturally, spend time outdoors, and reconnect with the physical environment. Spiritual practice should ultimately support our ability to live well in the physical world.

Reiki Meditation

For Reiki practitioners, the thirteen chakras can be incorporated into a meditation using the symbols and practices appropriate to one’s level of training. One may begin by connecting with the Higher Self or simply setting an intention for guidance and protection. Then, rather than rushing through the entire system, spend several minutes with each centre.

The following colour sequence may be used as a contemplative visualization:
Earth Star -> Black
Root -> Red
Sacral -> Pinkish orange
Navel -> Golden orange
Solar Plexus -> Yellow
Heart -> Green
Higher Heart -> Turquoise or rose
Throat -> Blue
Third Eye -> Indigo
Crown -> Violet
Causal -> White
Soul Star -> Magenta
Stellar Gateway -> Gold

There is no requirement to see these colours perfectly. Visualization is a practice of attention, not an examination. Simply imagine each centre surrounded or filled with its associated colour. Breathe naturally and allow your attention to rest there. After completing the thirteen centres, bring your awareness back down through the body and finish once again at the feet and Earth Star. This closing movement is important because it returns an expansive meditation to embodied awareness.

Another way to do this is to just allow the energy to flow where it needs to. Reiki energy is intelligent enough to know what the body needs. Let go of control and just let it flow. Become aware of where the energy goes. You may notice colors associated with each of the chakras indicating what is being worked on, activated or balanced.

I would encourage you to recognize your body's openness and capacity to receive what it needs. By doing so, you are allowing yourself to connect better to these centers with more understanding than forcing each to activate without fully embodying what it represents.

Working With Angels and Archangels

In traditions that work with angelic consciousness, each chakra may also be explored through the qualities traditionally associated with particular angels or Archangels. There is no single universal system of angelic correspondences. Different Reiki, angelic, Western esoteric, and contemporary energy-healing traditions may assign different beings to the same chakra. The correspondences below therefore belong to a contemporary symbolic framework rather than a fixed spiritual hierarchy.

The purpose of working with an Archangel is not to force an experience or to assume that an external being must appear. The angelic figure can serve as a focus for contemplation, prayer, intention, and the qualities one wishes to cultivate. The following correspondences can be used as a contemplative map:

Earth Star | Archangel Sandalphon | Grounding, Earth connection, embodiment, nature, renewal
Root | Archangel Uriel | Stability, safety, practical wisdom, grounded presence
Sacral | Archangel Gabriel | Creativity, emotional movement, receptivity, expression
Navel | Archangel Gabriel and Hope | Courage, strength, protection, empowerment, integration
Solar Plexus | Archangel Jophiel | Confidence, discernment, clarity, personal radiance
Heart | Archangel Raphael | Healing, compassion, love, balance, forgiveness
Higher Heart | Archangel Chamuel | Unconditional love, acceptance, empathy, reconciliation
Throat | Archangel Michael | Truth, courage, authentic expression, protection
Third Eye | Archangel Raziel | Mystery, intuition, inner wisdom, higher perception
Crown | Archangel Metatron | Spiritual awareness, sacred knowledge, divine connection
Causal | Archangel Christiel and Malory | Higher wisdom, intuition, creativity, subtle perception
Soul Star | Archangel Zadkiel and Amethyst; Archangel Mariel and Lavender | Spiritual memory, forgiveness, soul wisdom, higher consciousness
Stellar Gateway | Archangel Metatron | Source, cosmic consciousness, spiritual evolution, universal awareness

A simple practice is to select one centre and spend several days or a week becoming familiar with its symbolism rather than attempting to work with all thirteen at once. Begin by bringing your awareness to the chakra you have chosen. Visualize its associated colour and invite the qualities represented by its corresponding angelic presence.

You might begin with a simple prayer: May the highest wisdom and loving guidance available to me support my understanding of this centre. May I receive only what I am ready to understand, and may I remain grounded, discerning, and present in my body.

You may then sit quietly and observe what arises. There is no need to force an image, hear a voice, or experience something extraordinary. Sometimes spiritual practice is simply learning to become quiet enough to notice what has already been present.

The angelic correspondences can also be approached through sleep meditation. Before resting, one may set an intention for guidance, healing, clarity, or understanding connected with a particular chakra. The practice is ultimately less about seeking supernatural confirmation and more about cultivating the qualities represented by the archetype. To work with Raphael, for example, one might contemplate healing and compassion. With Michael, courage and truthful expression. With Sandalphon, grounding and connection with the Earth. With Metatron, expanded awareness and sacred order. In this way, the Archangel becomes both a spiritual presence and a mirror for qualities we are learning to embody.

Working with Crystals

Crystals are also used in many contemporary energy practices as symbolic tools for meditation, intention, visualization, and ritual. As with angelic correspondences, there is no single universal crystal assigned to each chakra. Different traditions and practitioners work with different stones according to colour, mineral composition, historical symbolism, personal experience, or intuitive association.

The following correspondences provide one coherent set of possibilities for the thirteen-chakra system.
Earth Star | Black | Black Tourmaline, Obsidian, Smoky Quartz
Root | Red | Red Jasper, Garnet, Bloodstone
Sacral | Pinkish Orange | Carnelian, Orange Calcite, Sunstone
Navel | Golden Orange | Citrine, Golden Calcite, Amber
Solar Plexus | Yellow | Citrine, Yellow Jasper, Tiger’s Eye
Heart | Green | Green Aventurine, Jade, Emerald, Rose Quartz
Higher Heart | Turquoise / Rose | Rose Quartz, Pink Opal, Turquoise
Throat | Blue | Blue Lace Agate, Aquamarine, Sodalite
Third Eye | Indigo | Amethyst, Lapis Lazuli, Labradorite
Crown | Violet / White | Clear Quartz, Amethyst, Selenite
Causal | White | Moonstone, Clear Quartz, Labradorite
Soul Star | Magenta | Angelite, Rainbow Quartz, Amethyst, Moonstone
Stellar Gateway | Gold | Golden Healer Quartz, Herkimer Diamond, Clear Quartz

The Chakra Journey Is a Journey of Remembering - Grounding Before Ascending

One of the most important principles in working with higher chakras is often overlooked: the higher we reach, the more important grounding becomes. It is easy to become fascinated by the Soul Star, Stellar Gateway, multidimensional consciousness, cosmic wisdom, past lives, angels, guides, and other forms of spiritual experience. Yet consciousness also has to live in a body.

We still have to eat breakfast. We still have relationships to tend. We still have bills to pay, dishes to wash, children to raise, work to complete, difficult conversations to have, and bodies that require sleep and nourishment. A spiritual practice that helps us become less present to our actual lives is worth examining carefully.

The purpose of expanding consciousness is not to become less human. It is to become more fully present to being human. The Earth is not the opposite of the spiritual. It is part of the journey. The body is not something we have to transcend before we can become spiritual. It is where we learn how to embody what we understand.

The most meaningful way to approach the thirteen chakras is not as thirteen switches waiting to be activated, but as thirteen dimensions of awareness that invite us to remember different aspects of ourselves. The Earth Star reminds us that we belong to the Earth. The Root reminds us that we are embodied. The Sacral reminds us that we are capable of feeling and creating. The Navel reminds us that we can transform what life gives us. The Solar Plexus reminds us that we possess agency. The Heart reminds us that we are relational beings. The Higher Heart reminds us that love can expand beyond personal attachment into compassion, forgiveness, acceptance, and a wider sense of connection. The Throat reminds us that our truth needs expression. The Third Eye reminds us to see beyond appearances. The Crown reminds us that consciousness can open beyond the individual self. The Causal reminds us to look for the deeper pattern. The Soul Star reminds us that our identity may be larger than the personality we know and the Stellar Gateway reminds us to look beyond ourselves toward the vast mystery from which all of this arises.

Whether one understands these centres as subtle-energy structures, archetypal symbols, meditation points, or a spiritual map, the invitation remains the same. Become more conscious. Become more grounded. Become more discerning. And allow whatever you discover in the higher realms to become something you can actually embody here on Earth.

That, ultimately, is where the journey becomes real.