Who put the Ram?

In the past two months, I have been very drawn to the color yellow. After finding a yellow, wooden ring yesterday afternoon, I thought that perhaps I should look into the significance and symbolism of the chakra associated with the color yellow.

When my husband arrived home from work, he commented on the large ring on the index finger of my right hand. This kind of decoration is not his style.

Four euros! I told him with pride ( I really love a good bargain!).

I then proceeded to regale him with information I had learned from Wikipedia (Note: Wikipedia is a fun source of information but not a source I would cite were I writing a true research paper on chakras or any other topic).

The yellow chakra is called Manipura, I read from the site.

It sounds like money poor, my husband responded.

Yes, well, that’s appropriate, I said (2017 has not been kind to my bank account).

And it’s connected to the feet, I continued.

It’s the Ram mantra if I were to chant: Ham Yam Ram Vam Lam.

So, it’s not the ram a lama ding-dong that made my baby fall in love with me? my husband asked.

Ha! I snorted. That’s going in my blog post, you know.

He started laughing. I continued my explication of the yellow chakra.

Manipura is associated with the fire and the power of transformation. If you meditate on Manipura, you have the power to create, save, or destroy the world, I read aloud from Wikipedia.

Well, be careful, my husband said.

He was sitting on the couch diagonal from me, firming up a 90-plus page pdf file for me.

I shifted in my seat, and something popped.

I think that was my hip or something attached to it, I said.

Careful of that root chakra, my husband responded. Or was it sacral chakra?

Manipura, I said. The sacral chakra is orange and connected with sexuality and creativity. The red chakra is the one that broke my foot.

As a child, I was always drawn to red shoes. My theory is that I innately understood that I needed grounding, which is one of the purposes of the root chakra, which is represented by the color red. Of late, I have felt a similar need for grounding as a result of the actions of many people whose choices have affected me in a very negative way but over whom I have little control.

I have been searching for red shoes for this very reason for some time but didn’t want to spend the money since we are on a very limited budget now that my husband is a doctoral student and I am the part-time editor “breadwinner.” I even painted my finger and toenails red.

I was very excited to find reasonably priced, red Birkenstock sandals on our recent foray to Germany, so excited that I wore them several days in a row and wound up not being able to walk at all. It’s possible that this physical grounding was a literal interpretation for the root chakra I had been calling for, the grounding energy telling me that I so desperately needed grounding that I needed to sit still and hardly move for a week.

Careful with those chakras indeed!

When my dad came to visit this past spring, we went to Bruges for a day trip. On our walk around town, I found a little shop owned by a family from Nepal. I prefer to spend the money I do spend to support locally owned shops. My dad let me pick out a chakra pendant with all of the colors attached to a silver spiral. I wore it for a week before feeling completely overwhelmed by the energy spiraling out from the pendant.

Perhaps, we should just set it somewhere on a shelf? My husband had suggested when I noted the overabundance of energy in my system.

Good idea! I responded, relieved.

I am learning to be cautious with the energy I invite into my home. Furthermore, I am working on doing research to better understand the nature of the symbols I bring home and/or wear on my person.

In addition to different colors, I have been finding myself drawn to different creatures for the energies I sense from them: sloth for peaceful, unrushed energy; elephants for their grounded way of being; snail for their unhurried but unrelenting, methodical perseverance. Last night while meditating, I found myself focusing my attention on my cat, who has mastered the art of being at complete, unabashed peace.

My advice to you: Think carefully about the energies and beings you to invite into your life, and never underestimate their power or sphere of influence!