The Third Eye Chakra is at the center of your forehead (also referred to as the “brow”) and connects us to our intuition, imagination, and clear seeing.  

The Sanskrit name for the sixth chakra is “Ajna” which means “to perceive” or “to command”.  This means that the third eye chakra has both the capability to see and to create –or visualize. Although we cannot change the images that we perceive with our eyes, holding an image in our mind’s eye and letting the light of consciousness shine on it, increases the possibility that it will materialize.

Sanskrit – Ajna

Purpose – Pattern Recognition, perception

Color – Indigo

Location – Center of the head slightly above the eye

Identity – Archetypal

Orientation – Self-reflection

Demon – Illusion

Function – Seeing, intuition

Element – Light

Sense – Touch

Symbol – Lotus with 2 petals

Animals – Owl

Celestial Planet – Jupiter, Neptune

Corresponding Verb – I See

Yoga Path – Yantra Yoga

Gods + Hindu Deities – Shakti Hakini, Paramasiva (form of Shiva), Krishna, Themis, Hecate, Tara, Isis, Iris, Morpheus, Belenos, and Apollo

Glands – Pineal

 

The Third Eye lies within the very center of the inside your head, within the cavity of the brain called the “cave of Brahma”.  A tiny, light-sensitive organ, the pineal gland is actually a third eye during the early stages of the human embryo and in some species of reptiles. The pineal gland acts as a light meter for the body, translating the variations of light that the body perceives through the autonomic nervous system.

 

• Intuitive
• Perceptive
• Imaginative
• Good memory
• Good dream recall
• Able to think symbolically
• Able to visualize

DEFICIENT 6TH CHAKRA –

• Poor vision
• Insensitivity
• Poor memory
• Difficulty seeing future
• Lack of imagination
• Difficulty visualizing
• Poor dream recall
• Denial (can’t “see” what is occurring)
• Monopolarized (one true right and only way)

 

EXCESSIVE 6TH CHAKRA –

• Hallucinations
• Delusions
• Obsessions
• Difficulty concentrating
• Nightmares

 

PHYSICAL MALFUNCTIONS –

• Headaches
• Vision problems

NEEDS + ISSUES –

• Image
• Intuition
• Imagination
• Visualization
• Insight
• Dreams
• Vision

 

Patterns reveal the identity of a thing – what it is, what it’s for and how to relate to it.

As our third eye opens, we see beyond and perceive even deeper patterns and meanings.

While each of the chakras brings us information, it is the mission of the 6th chakra to gather all of that information into meaningful patterns.  This self-reflection eventually leads us to self-knowledge, the task of the 7th chakra.

 

Like a roll of film, we store images of almost everything we have ever experienced, even when we think we have forgotten them!  There are some practices such as hypnosis, therapy, dreams, or emotionally triggering events that can bring these hidden traumas to the surface.  These unhealed images of the past can and do affect your third eye.  When there are painful memories from your past that you have buried in your unconscious, the effort of keeping those images or thoughts hidden can sometimes block the 6th chakra.

What images persistently replay in my head?

 

Learning Basic Rights – To See

Developmental Stage – Adolescence // Puberty

Developmental Tasks – Establishment of personal identity and the ability to perceive patterns

TRAUMAS + ABUSES –

• What you see doesn’t align with what you’re told
• Invalidation of intuition and psychic occurness
• Ugly or frightening environment (war zone, violence)

In the sixth chakra, we transform the individual “I” into something transpersonal.  Our personal story is now seen as an event in a larger story.  

We enlarge our understanding of SELF as we find our own life themes reflected in fairy tales, mythology, movies and news stories.   We experience self-reflection in the larger system.  We realize we are players in a much larger drama, riding the waves of the cultural tide’s ebb and flow.  As we mature at this chakra, we consciously embrace the evolution of the archetypal symbols that speaks to us. 

The archetypal identity is gained through the recognition of images and symbols that appear in our lives through dreams, imagination, art, relationships, or situations. 

Recognizing the archetypal significance of these symbols brings us into a larger spiritual framework and cosmic understanding. We gain a deeper recognition of who we are and what our purpose is, which is the essential work of developing our archetypal identity.

Learn more about the archetypal identities here

• Create visual art
• Visual stimulation
• Meditation
• Psychotherapy (Coloring and drawing, art therapy, working with memory, connecting images with feelings, dreamwork, hypnosis, guided visualizations, past life regression therapy)

 

 

Do I experience headaches?

Do the headaches happen at certain times?

Is there a pattern?

Do I suffer from poor vision?

Do I remember that point in time I started losing my vision?

If the answer is yes, now ask yourself –

Is there something I don’t want to see that is happening in my life?

Are there buried memories from my past that are trying to resurface?

Do I sometimes try to see everything all at once – winding up feeling confused and overwhelmed?