Healing Your Chakras with Help from The Orishas

You may already know that our chakras manage, maintain, regulate, and store fast and slow-moving information. Slow moving information is the stuff you can hear, feel, sense, smell, and taste. Fast moving information is psychic information – information that moves faster than the speed of light.

Each energy center corresponds to a color, a symbol, and aspects of our lives and our physical and mental health. If a chakra is compromised or unbalanced, crystal healing, a special diet and even owning a macuto can help.

The word “chakra” may be Hindu, but African spirituality also recognizes the concept of energy centers. Each center corresponds to a deity. There are many versions of Yoruban/chakric associations.

I’d like to share my version with you:

The root chakra deals with survival, family, safety, and security. It helps us move into into fight-or-flight mode in a crisis. When we are afraid, we are not able to improve ourselves and act with wisdom. Healing the root chakra means understanding and submitting to our fears, discarding the ones that do not help us survive, and moving forward.

Ogun is the ruler of the root chakra. Ogun is the Orisha of iron, the metal that makes our blood red and forms the tools humans use for survival.

The sacral chakra deals with intimacy, creative self-expression, sensuality, and reproduction. It is governed by water, and strongly tied to our emotions. When compromised, we may feel possessive over our lovers, lack compassion, and become preoccupied with fulfilling our physical desires. Healing the sacral chakra means freeing ourselves from shame. Feeling guilt after doing something wrong helps us learn to do better. Feeling shame helps no one.

As a water chakra, it is governed by Yemaya. As the mother of saltwater rivers, she governs the fluid of the womb. She brings things from the unseen world into reality, and so embodies releasing negative emotions to allow us to live our best lives.

The solar plexus chakra governs courage, confidence, self-esteem confidence, control, and vitality. When compromised, we may feel angry, impulsive, or timid. Healing this chakra means letting go of false pride, giving of ourselves, and working to create a positive identity.

As a fire chakra, is it governed by Chango. He represents power, vitality, and embodies the self-assured nature of an unblocked solar plexus chakra.

The heart chakra holds the love for ourselves and others, compassion, and forgiveness. When compromised, we may hold onto grief, or fear opening to other people. Healing this chakra helps us seek balanced, healthy relationships, exercise self-compassion, and allowing our hearts to be open to others.

This chakra is governed by Oshun, the Orisha of the sweet water, the goddess of love. When she left earth and took all her waters with her, life withered and died. A life without love — for yourself and for others — is no life at all.

The throat chakra governs communication. It is the seat of our ability to make choices and express ourselves. If the creativity and impulse of the lower chakras do not have an outlet, we can make choices that do not honor us or lie to ourselves and others. Healing this chakra means speaking our truth, even if it frightens us, and opening ourselves to reason and logic.

This chakra is governed by Obatala, who represents purity, calmness, and a dedication to the truth. When we have the courage to speak the truth, we can experience this calm, too.

The third eye chakra governs psychic awareness, intuition, and our sense of insight. When it is compromised, we fall prey to delusions or illusions. We may consider ourselves cut off from the rest of the world. Healing this center means dissolving this illusion and allowing ourselves to experience interconnectedness.

Orunmila rules this chakra, governing the concept of omniscience, the state of being all-knowing. Orunmila speaks to priests during divination, granting them some of his knowledge.

The crown chakra is the seat of inspiration and higher consciousness. If the root chakra connects us to the earth, the crown chakra is what connects us to the Divine. It needs the lower chakras unencumbered to function and can become compromised by excessive earthly attachments. Healing this chakra means recognizing the Divine in ourselves and those around us.

This chakra is embodied by Ori. Ori is the divine self, destiny, and spiritual intuition.

When all of your chakras are healthy, you can grow into your destiny. Living a physically and spiritually healthy life is about balance. When you decide to work on healing your chakras, you can invite balance, heal your chakras and live our best life with the support of each Orisha’s macuto.

Macutos are amulets created with seed beads and cowrie shells. They are designed to be carried – not worn. They help you take the love, power and protection of your Orisha with you. You can also keep your macuto on your altar the appropriate herbs, powders or waters as offerings.

Try working with your chakras through an Orisha.

Tip: Even if you have blond hair and blue eyes, we are ALL of African descent. Because of this, the Orishas work with all of us.