The seventh chakra, also called the crown chakra, is located at the top of the head and is represented by a thousand petalled lotus. The primary part of the body it is associated with is the cerebrum, and the gland that it is commonly linked to is the pineal gland. Here, at the top of the head, we can learn to open the lotus, feel connection to Source and sense the surging of Universal energy as it courses down into each of the lower chakras. In a newborn, the top of the head, the fontanel, is open for the first year or so of its life. The infant remains in connection to Source in its early months, unindividuated from its Divine Self and from the Divine. Wow! What an incredible start we have when we come in! And on a cellular level, we remember how that connection felt – and strive all through our lives to return to that feeling. That could be one reason we do our spiritual work- to re-experience that openness to our Creator and feel the uninhibited flow of cosmic energy revitalize and rejuvenate our bodies and souls.

The seventh chakra encompasses all the colors of the rainbow, but vibrates primarily in the violet range. In the other lower chakras, we work to balance the energies there, to clear them, and unblock them. But the crown chakra has no blockages or imbalances. Once it is open, there are only levels of higher development, of raising to a more vibrant frequency and attuning more clearly. When the crown is open to the Source, the energy flows in and fills the Being, feeds the chakras and increases the vibration until the crown begins to radiate its own energy, in unity with the Divine. In the lower chakras, we activate the energies to utilize their power, but in the crown chakra, we have to surrender to the inflowing energy, without control or influence over it. The connection to the Universal energy is one with ours and in that, we allow manifestation to happen. We offer ourselves up to the Divine Will and the flow of the Universe and reach a state of “being”, no longer needing to be in a state of “doing”. The lower chakras run the energy, organize the intellect, intuit what is best, ground us and help us create. But once we bring that energy to the crown, we arrive in bliss and are present to everything without being attached to anything. We are truly in the present moment, living the “Be Here Now” concept.

In the seventh chakra is there no longer a sense of division. The macrocosm becomes the microcosm and all is in unity. The feeling of separation from spirit, from God, from fellow man becomes a realization that separation is an illusion and that there can be no loneliness or disconnection, because we are everything and everything is within us. We become a part of the whole Being and everything that is contained in the Universe. Our personal ego is supplanted by a Universal ego, our consciousness by a cosmic consciousness.

It is in the seventh chakra that we sit in prayer and meditation. The sound of the seventh chakra is silence and in this silence we can hear the voice of God. The consciousness is quiet, the Being is still and calm and we are open to receive. With the thousand petalled lotus fully open we are in unity with the Divine. Essential oils that aid in meditation and that quiet the mind are always the high frequency oils such as frankincense, sandalwood, jasmine, rose, elemi, rosewood, neroli, patchouli, myrrh, ylang ylang, galbanum and vetiver. These can be burned in an aroma lamp during meditation. In prayer, we often petition the god we pray to for help or support. We can never fully open the seventh chakra unless we release the fears, guilts and the sense of unworthiness that initiate the prayers. Oils that assist in the release of negative thoughts and emotions are clary sage, cypress, juniper, cedarwood, bergamot, chamomile, geranium, pine and melissa.   Often before meditation it is customary to cleanse oneself and the area. Oils that help purify and cleanse are all the oranges (sweet and bitter orange, petitgrain, neroli), lavender, clary sage, frankincense, geranium, pine, rose, tea tree, cedarwood and lemon.

The crown chakra takes us beyond intellect, beyond intuition, beyond belief and third eye awareness. It brings us to complete comprehension and connection. And as it is the point of entry into the body, it is also the point of departure when we leave the body behind. In many religions it is the belief that we gather up our energies and exit from the top of the head, through the 1,000 petalled lotus of our crown, back to the infinite and the oneness of all.