How did the rose ever open its heart
and give to this world all of its beauty?
It felt the encouragement of Light against its Being.
Otherwise we all remain too frightened.
- Haviz
Oh Wise Women,
As always, I will be totally honest with you. The past two weeks have been very intense. Without a doubt the awakened energies of the root, sacral and solar plexus chakra have been flowing upwards into the heart. This surge of grounded energy and solid sense of self into the “feeling” centre of my heart has been both liberating and terrifying…and, at times, incredibly messy.
So I guess it should come as no surprise that I am floundering in my attempts to convey a coherent message in this Treasure Trove. I have numerous passages to share, intellectual teachings I could offer, and the beautiful words my daughter has compiled, however, my attempts to weave them together are falling short and it seems that the harder I “try”, the more resistance there is.
Over the past three hours, while sitting at my computer writing to you, I have felt extreme tightness in my chest, I have cried and felt immense sadness, and I have also experienced waves of spaciousness and lightness in my heart. Though the spaciousness is very difficult to explain, there is a falling sensation and it feels absolutely wonderful, ecstatic even…until fear comes in and tells me to “get control” and I land with a “thud” back to tightness.
And herein lies the message.
Anahata, the sanskirt name for the heart chakra, means “infinite, unhurt or boundless.”
As we know, it takes courage to face our wounds. It takes courage to restore the boundless energy of the heart and it takes courage to reclaim its true nature which is unhurt, unharmed and limitless.
Yes, it takes courage to rise into love.
But it also takes courage to fall into love.
Let us fall together, and as always let us hold limitless space for each of our experiences.
Love Patti
As the earth and life-force energy rise up through the body, they unlock each gate of the three base chakras. Moving through the grounded root, the sensual sacral, and the empowered solar plexus, this energy arrives at the tender and beautiful heart.
The heart chakra, Anahata in Sanskrit is the center of love and connection in the body. It is located in the chest (the physical heart is on the left side, but the energetic heart is in the center), is traditionally associated with the color green but is also often represented as pink, and is connected to the element of air, given its anatomical proximity to the lungs.
Anahata is the middle chakra of the whole system and bridges the connection between the lower and upper energy centers. The element of air surrounding the heart is a key part of this sacred bridge, as it completes the circuit of the base chakras (earth, water, fire, air), and simultaneously breathes down the heavenly energy being received from above. The chakra system as a whole is truly a magic alchemical process, where the base three chakras draw up the strong, mystical, divine feminine power of the earth and the upper three chakras draw down the heavenly, celestial, divine masculine energies. These cooperating life forces then meet in the heart, bridging heaven and earth, feminine and masculine, transmuting it all into love.
The heart center is a place of polarities. It is incredibly strong and resilient, yet tender and gentle. It can be radiantly open, but also tightly closed. Unfortunately, much of the conditioning in today’s world teaches people to close their hearts, shut down their emotions and disconnect from others. In a world that lacks kindness and compassion, it can feel frightening and vulnerable to dare to live with an open heart. Yet that is exactly what this world needs. Every human has a precious, exquisite heart that is longing for connection, longing to feel love, longing to be broken open. While it can be very tempting to ignore this call due to stories of fear, hurt, unworthiness, etc., choosing to open your heart and follow the call for connection despite these things is so brave, beautiful, and liberating. The heart was made to feel love and is inherently worthy.
The heart chakra is intimately connected to all kinds of rose medicine and can be imagined as a rose itself. The rose’s opening process is gradual, and it is the same for the heart; deep healing and trusting is an ongoing ever-unfolding expansion. The rose does not bloom until it is ready, and so it is with the human heart. The rose is one of the highest vibrational plant medicines and holds much of the same gentle, soft, and tender frequencies of the heart. Working with rose quartz, rose oils and teas, and the flowers themselves are lovely ways to connect with the energy of the heart, as well as trusting that the rose-heart blooms exactly how and when she is meant to.
- Ayla Wardlaw
“Sacred Heart Chakra” by Roberta Orpwood
Our hearts open; our hearts close. We dive in love, we fly in love, we fall in love, we burn in love, we cry in love. We strip ourselves naked in love fearlessly bearing our souls. Then we get hurt and decide it’s not safe to love, we learn to protect our precious hearts - so soft, so delicate. We develop protective psychic armour, which is sometimes useful, but mostly not.
Opening the heart chakra requires letting go of energetic density and physical armouring created by loss of love, mistrust, abandonment, aloneness, hatred, unexpressed sadness, grief, pain resistance and fear of surrender. We open by feeling these uncomfortable feelings. It sounds so simple! Why can it be so difficult?
It can be difficult to feel because we may think that we will lose ourselves and fall apart, becoming dysfunctional in our lives. But there is a way to break down with awareness that a healing process is taking place. Although it can be challenging, we can celebrate these waves of emotional release as a way of creating more space for divine love.
If we are courageous enough to dance with our demons and feel our pain, the jewel of the heart can shine again in its full brilliance.
~ Leyolah Antara, “Kundalini Dance, Sacred Alchemical Evolutionary Keys”
Falling into the “Great Love”
In Greek, there are many words for love. In fact, in most languages, there are more words for love than there are in English, which can leave us English speakers bereft of language to express our deepest feelings. The four main types of love expressed in the Greek language are eros, romantic love; philia, sisterly and brotherly love; storge, maternal love; and agape, or love for all.
Agape love is the Great Love that is larger than you. It is the Great Self, the God Self. It's not something you do. It's something that you learn to live inside of.
This love is unconditional, always present, and comes without any stipulations except the falling itself.
We will only allow ourselves to fall into love when we give up control, consciously or unconsciously. It will often feel like a falling and a faltering, an ecstatic humiliation.
We have to take breathing lessons and develop larger lungs to live inside of such a new and open horizon. It does not come naturally until we draw upon it many times, and then it becomes the only natural, the deep natural, the true natural. You have then returned home and can even practice the other kinds of love with much greater ability and joy.
~ Father Richard Rohr
Absolutely Clear
Don’t surrender your loneliness so quickly.
Let it cut more deep.
Let it ferment and season you
As few human
Or even divine ingredients can.
Something missing in my heart tonight
Has made my eyes so soft,
My voice so tender,
My need of God
Absolutely
Clear.
~ Hafiz
