Ritual

Jung states that in the process of what he terms individuation,
the psyche becomes 'whole' when balance among the four
'functions', thinking, feeling, sensing and intuiting, is achieved. If
we draw a parallel between Jung's ideas and the system of chakras
we find that at each energy vortex a new element is encountered in
ascending order, earth, water, fire, air, ether. The five vortices each
manifest a new sense which is a limitation and possibility of the
others. Thus, at the root centre, associated with the element earth,
the attributed quality is cohesiveness and inertia, a level in which
one may remain content without having any desire to change or
expand into any other state. At the same time, just as the root of a
tree implies the possibility of its growth, the earth centre also
denotes an opportunity to expand awareness. Likewise the energy
of the second chakra, associated with water, like its corresponding
element, tends to flow downward in order to contract. The third
chakra, which is associated with fire, like its flames implies an
upward movement in order to consume. The fourth chakra is
associated with air, and like its element is characterized by a
tendency to revolve into different directions in order to relate itself
with other possibilities. Finally, the fifth chakra, corresponding
with the element of ether, is like a receptacle within which all
elements operate.
The process of becoming is not unilinear, moving in one
direction either up or down, but it is dialectical, with pulls and
pushes at every level. The Kundalini does not shoot up in a straight
line, but at each stage of its unfolding it must undo the knots of
different energies. With each successive untying a specific
transformation occurs. The element-symbols associated with the
vortices convey something about the positive and negative
polarities functioning within the personality of an individual.
When the Kundalini ascends through the psychic centres it
assimilates the different energies released from the centres, and the
sadhaka experiences manifold interplay of visionary experiences
and sensations of sound, light, colour, etc. At the etheric level of
Ajna Chakra, the centre between the eyebrows, the lower half of
the dialectical functioning of the personality can be perceived and
controlled. At this level, one sense predominates, the experience of
awareness or the power to command, which can harmonize the
energies.
In Jung's patients the process of individuation transcends the
barriers of polarities interacting within their personality with the
help of a therapist; similarly, the tantric initiate, through a long
process of apprenticeship under the strict guidance of a guru, learns
XV Kali as visualized by a
Sadhika, Sudha Ma, while in
trance. Calcutta, contemporary,
based on traditional form. Gouache
on paper.
XVI The psychic centres and
their related symbols, detail from an
illuminated manuscript page.
Nepal, c. 1761. Gouache on paper.
161