Written by Beth Hovis, ND, MH, CCII, and a Trinity Instructor
 

For God has not given us a spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7 
 

Every good and perfect gift is from above coming down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow or turning.  James 1:17 
 

I like to consider myself both a woman of faith and a woman of science.  One of my greatest joys was teaching physical science to high schoolers.  Lab days were always the best days.  I lectured the students at the beginning of labs, “safety first”, every single time.  Once that message was given, I loved jumping into whatever experiment we were conducting that day.  Chemistry day – lighting the different elements on fire to see what color they burned.  Oh yeah!  Physics day – building pully systems and exploring how to do more work with less effort. That was exciting, too.   
 

Another great joy is studying.  I like words.  I like breaking open my Bible and the Strong’s Concordance and looking up the Hebrew and Greek words to peer beyond the surface meaning of those words.  Some people adhere to the King James Version of the Bible only.  If that’s you, that’s great!  That translation is rich with depth and meaning.  But I enjoy exploring different translations and getting to the root of the words.  
 

You may wonder why I’m starting off with the verses I did and with explaining that I loved teaching science.  You might even think I’m a bit of a nerd to admit that I love to study.  That’s okay.  The verses I’ve shared and the points I will make come together in my mind when discussing chakras from a Biblical, Christian point of view.  I will explain how, but first I will acknowledge these points when it comes to talking about Christians, the Bible, and chakras:  
 

• As far as we see in any English translation of the Bible, the word “chakra” is nowhere to be found.   

• When we search the internet for information on chakras almost all of the information we come across is written from what many people would call a New Age point of view.  Many of the websites themselves call themselves "New Age." That’s pretty convincing.

• When we search the internet for a Christian’s perspective on chakras, most all of them tell us that chakras are not to be messed with because of their roots in religions other than Christianity. 

• Because chakras are unseen, there has been very little scientific exploration into the possibility of their physical existence, and therefore, have been left in the metaphysical world. 

If we stop right there, then the discussion is over and every Christian needs to slam the door on understanding chakras.  But before we slam and lock that door, let’s do a little exploring.  We’ll start with the science of chakras.  Instead of heading to the field of quantum physics though, let’s talk biology. 
 

We all accept the energy of the body that moves along the nerves.  Electrical impulses happen at the cellular level, and the sparks of life, move from cell to cell and up and down a huge information highway that, collectively, we call the Nervous System.  Quick, unthinking responses (you just touched a hot stove) happen in what we call "a split second."  We don’t even think about it, we just react.  When that happens, nerve impulses move 330 feet per second bypassing the thinking processes.  Some of these nerve impulses are called "extra fast responses" and move at 390 feet per second.  When we do put thought into movement or into studying and thinking, those nerve impulses slow down to 70 to 100 feet per second.  Pain impulses travel at around 2 feet per second, but touch impulses travel at around 250 feet per second.  In other words, you know you touched the edge of the couch much quicker than you feel the pain of stubbing your toe on the couch [1]. 
 

We have this huge communication center via the Nervous System that travels from the top of our heads to the tips of our toes.  We have the Central Nervous System made up of the brain and the spine, and we have the Peripheral Nervous System which connects the brain and spine with the rest of the body. 

We also have another amazing body system called the Endocrine System that works very closely with the Nervous System.  Where the Nervous System is responsible for electrical communication throughout the body, the Endocrine System is responsible for chemical communication throughout the body. Communication by and through the Endocrine System is essential for the health and well-being of the body. Hormones secreted from the endocrine glands are carried through the bloodstream to various organs and tissues of the body [2].  The most important glands of the endocrine system and their connection to the chakras are: 
 

1. Pituitary - spirituality 

2. Pineal - intuition 

3. Thyroid - communication 

4. Thymus - love 

5. Pancreas - power 

6. Ovaries/Testes – sexuality 

7. Adrenals – survival [3]

If you notice, there are seven main glands, and yes, there are seven chakras.  Most websites and books on chakras define them as “wheels of energy” or energy centers.  These wheels of energy were first described in ancient Sanskrit writings known as The Vedas, the Hindu Scriptures. The seven wheels of energy are located near major endocrine glands and are thought to correspond to different states of mind and personalities.  Chakras are known to be transmitters and receivers of energy at the seven glandular points throughout the body.  

One thing that many Christians have against chakras is the teaching of opening up and balancing our beings beginning at the root because the Hindu religion is part of the teaching.  Remember when I said I started off all our lab classes with the lecture, “Safety First”?  It’s time to remember that now.  For our safety, God tells us not to worship Him the way that the other nations worship their gods [4].  And I am not telling you to ignore His warnings.   
 

When we look at the teachings of some websites and books, opening up the root chakra begins with the kundalini spirit. In fact, according to Power Thoughts Meditation Club, “The Kundalini is the ancient description for the energy (or shakti) present within our bodies. It is said that the kundalini stems from the base of the spine and winds its way up to the top of the head, and is often compared to a snake or a serpent" [5]. 
 

We know that the enemy of God, the devil or Satan, is represented as a serpent. So, it is completely understandable that as Believers in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and in His son, Jesus the Messiah, who came to earth to defeat this enemy, that we would want nothing to do with this kundalini spirit.  
 

Is chakra a dirty word then? Are the wheels of energy that God created suddenly evil? Or have others taken what God has created, twisted it and made it something else? 
 

While chakras aren’t mentioned specifically in the Bible, we can see that it is possible that just as God created our bodies with pathways for energy to flow (nerves, blood, lymph, meridians). He also created these energy centers throughout the body to receive and transmit energy messages.  
 

We are more than merely physical beings.  We are also spirit and soul.  Proverbs 20:27 says, “The spirit of man is the lamp of the LORD, Searching all the innermost parts of his being.”  The same word for lamp used to describe the spirit of man is Strong’s H5216 and is the word used to describe the lights of the lampstand (menorah) in the Tabernacle. “And thou shalt make the seven lamps thereof; and they shall light the lamps thereof, that they may give light over against it" [6]. 
 

The Lampstand in the Tabernacle of God is a seven branched menorah.  Oil was used to keep the lights burning continually. When pure light is refracted through clouds or a prism, we get different colors, or colored lights. We see these in rainbows and sunrises and sunsets. The energy centers located at the seven main glands of the body respond to, or are activated by, different color lights. Remember that we said that God is the Father of lights?  Not just the Father of light, but lights…. Plural. 
 

In the beginning, in Genesis, God shares with us the process of creation.  The first thing that happened when God created the heavens and the earth was the Spirit or Breath of God moving over the face of the waters.  That word moving may really be better defined as vibrated (Hebrew word rachaph meaning flutter, move, shake) [7]. 
 

Then God said or thought everything into existence. “And God said, ‘Let there be light: and there was light’” [8].  The Hebrew word “amar” is translated “said”, but also means “think”.  Thought is electromagnetic light and energy which contains all the colors and their frequencies [6].  Before there was language, there was spirit and there was light [6].  From the same energy which vibrated upon and through the waters, everything else was formed, including mankind [9]. 
 

There is another very interesting and very similar ancient word which came before the Sanskrit word for Chakra and that is the Hebrew word “shachar’it”.  Shachar'it means to balance or center, as in the Hebrew morning shachar’it prayers, which centers one for the day. Shakar in Hebrew means “dawn” so the understanding is at the beginning of the day, when the light first appears, we seek God’s light in order to bring balance to our day [10].  
 

The patterns of light and God’s order in creation are everywhere, not just in the colors of the rainbow, or the seven branched menorah (a tangible image of God’s light), but in the chords of our music, the seven days of the week, etc.  Why, then is it so hard to believe that He would not put seven centers of energy that respond to light, His light, within us when he formed us?   
 

At this point perhaps, you are in agreement and think, “Yes.  It is very possible that when God formed us in our mother’s wombs, not only did he give us brains, and hearts, and eyes, and livers, and kidneys, and nerves, and blood vessels, and glands, but He also created energy centers around our glands. After all, everything that was created and is, was created and designed by Him.”  But maybe you’re still thinking that messing around with chakras should be avoided. 
 

Isn’t it funny how we number the chakras from 1 to 7 beginning at the head, but when dealing with the chakras and opening the chakras and getting them to be in balance, we are told to start at number seven, the root chakra?   
 

We know that the root chakra connects us to the earth and grounds us.  But if we look at the scripture that I first shared, we see that God is the Father of lights and every good and perfect gift comes down from above. If we receive life and life-giving words from the Father who is spirit and light, then we receive from the top down, rather than from the root or the ground up.  I know that this may cause everyone who already understands chakras to disagree with me.  We do need to be grounded, but as believers we are to be rooted and grounded in love[11] which comes from being strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man (our own spirit and soul) where Christ dwells in our hearts by faith [12].  

Before someone thinks that I am dismissing the very real need for our feet to connect and ground with the earth, I am not.  We do need to be grounded and in connection with the earth. However, that is another topic and not the point of this conversation, and we don’t have room here to cover it. 

My thought on chakras is, “what if we receive the blessings of the Light of God starting at the top and from above?”  When the priests and kings were anointed with oil in the bible, they were anointed beginning at the top of the head, and the oil would flow down the rest of their being. (Please see below and read the verse that goes with the third energy center and footnote 13.)   

What if the light from God - His anointing, His Spirit, His Power - comes down into the first chakra, and flows down and in and through us? As it travels down through all seven energy centers, His Spirit brings wisdom, revelation, communion, love, power, fruitfulness, and life. 

The first two energy centers that are referred to as spirituality and intuition would be known after the Spirit as wisdom and revelation which can be equated to a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7).  The third energy center would be communion – unity with our community [13].  The fourth and fifth would be love and power (2 Timothy 1:7). The sixth, rather than just being sexuality would be fruitfulness and creativity, while the seventh would be more than survival it would be life and that more abundantly [14]. 

Our table will now look like this: 
 

1. Pituitary – wisdom, sound mind 

2. Pineal – revelation, sound mind 

3. Thyroid – communion (not just communication, but unity through communication) Psalm 133:1 

4. Thymus – love 

5. Pancreas – power 

6. Ovaries/Testes –  not just sexuality, but richer and deeper: creativity and fruitfulness 

7. Adrenals – life: more than mere survival, but real life and that more abundantly, John 10:10 

While there is no one verse that links these different attributes to something called chakras seen in the Bible, we can see the potential for Chakras being true, not new.  I wasn’t even looking for a verse that connected chakras and attributes together in the Bible when I came across our theme verse that tells us that God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of love, of power and a sound mind. These three spirits (love, power and sound mind) or attributes matched perfectly with the areas of the body represented in images of chakras.   

Footnotes:
1 Parizh, D. (2002). The Speed of Nerve Impulses. In The Physics Fact Book: Encyclopedia of Scientific Essays. Retrieved from https://hypertextbook.com/facts/2002/DavidParizh.shtml 
2 Cherry, K. (2019, October 23). The Nervous and Endocrine System. In Very Well Mind. Retrieved from https://www.verywellmind.com/the-nervous-and-endocrine-systems-2794894 
3 Please note:  different charts and websites and teachings will assign a bit different attributes to each chakra center, but these particular attributes were specifically chosen to make a connection further on in the discussion.  
4 Deuteronomy 12:4 
5 Joshi, R. (2015, July 15). The Science Behind Chakras. In Power Thoughts Meditation Club. Retrieved from http://powerthoughtsmeditationclub.com/the-chakras/ 
6 Exodus 25:37 
7 Genesis 1:2 
8 Genesis 1:3 
9 Genesis 2:7 
10 N. Moshe, The Wounded Heart from Chakra, Sukkot 2016 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3q7NTw8txo&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR1Z5-IHAWwDUBU2sRQpYe2qEoP8c27cjeWNDmu5MvpFF2ohXWLKd4yQWLI 
11 Ephesians 2:17 
12 Ephesians 2:16-17 
13 Psalm 133:1 
14 John 10:10 

About the Author:
Beth Hovis has been in the natural health field for over twenty years. Introduced to natural health by her midwife at the birth of her third child, she began her journey on discovering how to help her family and others through natural choices. She raised her three children using natural health options. Beth obtained her ND, MH, and CNHP from Trinity School of Natural Health. She is a Certified Comprehensive Iridology Instructor (CCII) through the International Iridology Practitioners Association,  and she currently teaches the Master Iridology and Certified Master Herbalist programs as well as being a Core instructor in the CNHP, CHHP, and CNC programs at Trinity. 

She started her career in teaching by becoming a homeschool mom. When her youngest reached high school, she then became a physical science teacher for Paragon Cooperative Learning Academy. She has taught at churches, women's retreats, senior centers, and at her own herb shop located in Fayetteville, GA. Beth and her husband, Rob, live in McDonough, Georgia, and are blessed with three children, two daughters and one son, and seven grandchildren, all of whom are the joy of her heart.