The Journey of the fifth chakra

One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began...

The Fifth Chakra, at the throat, represents our Voice - in every sense. This chakra moves the energy of the heart up from the Fourth Chakra to the throat where it is expressed in songs and poetry; it reminds us of the power of our words. 

Our thoughts guide our Will and the paths we choose on a personal, environmental and global level. From this chakra, we learn about the connection between our choices and the consequences that lead to them. According to Medical Intuitive Carolyn Myss, even our illnesses are connected to the Fifth Chakra.


though the voices around you 
kept shouting
their bad advice-
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
“Mend my life!”
each voice cried.

Choose your words and thoughts mindfully, says the Fifth Chakra and keep your own voice strong. How often have we let others direct our path when we knew it wasn’t the right one?

Speeches
Voices in song
Written articles
Books
Lectures
Debates
Cries of Freedom
Calls for Peace

...all these, and more, move culture and when many voices speak in unison, they change laws and create history. Think of what is happening now, as young voices unite and speak out against the senseless violence of guns in our society, coming together as one voice. This is the power of the Fifth Chakra speaking loudly. At its best, it can move mountains, corporations, lobbyists and politicians. At it worst, it can create evil.


But you didn’t stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations,
though their melancholy
was terrible.


On a physical level, the Fifth Chakra holds the color blue - like the sky. It is the home of the throat, thyroid, trachea, cervical spine, mouth, teeth, gums, esophagus, parathyroid and hypothalamus. The dysfunctions that block this Chakra from functioning at its best like, Graves Disease or Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, chronic sore throats, mouth problems, TMJ pain, laryngitis and swollen glands all participate in blocking our ability to express ourselves.


It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,


About thirty years ago, trying to heal the wounds of a broken heart, I attended a year end retreat on the Central Coast of California organized by a medical doctor and healer named Brugh Joy. Each year, he invited spiritual and thought leaders to teach for five days with the intention of releasing the year ending and welcoming the new year ahead. Among the several leaders that were there, scholar Jean Houston, Ph.D, was asked to teach for an entire day. We learned that before her capacities as a scholar and writer in the Humanities, she was a Shakespearean actor who knew how to use her voice on stage - without a microphone.

At one point, she had us all walk around the room, stop and partner with the person we were closest to. We were instructed to “be there” for our partner without words. My partner was a young man who volunteered to go first. As Jean Houston spoke using her powerful voice, he started to weep. I sat with him, without saying a word, as I watched him transform. By the end of that session, he no longer looked like the same man; his face and body relaxed and the pain he was obviously feeling was gone. In that moment, I witnessed how someone with spiritual depth and knowledge, combined with control of the Fifth Chakra could change lives.

At the end of that day with Jean Houston, I returned to my cabin and began writing - the kind of writing that comes through you without thinking. Having worked in the music industry during the years when the Beatles were dropping acid, I knew what being “altered” felt like. During that day with Jean Houston, I was clearly in an altered state without having used drugs to get there. I looked in the mirror as I used to when I was tripping on acid to watch my face change from one expression to the next and I saw the same plasticity, one expression jumping to the next as my mind expanded like the stretching of a rubber band. 

I wrote for hours and when the entire group met once again, Brugh Joy reiterated how the amazing Jean Houston knew how to use the Fifth Chakra in ways that were both healing and transforming. There were many of us in the room that day in awe, changed for the better by the power of her voice.

As people were leaving the retreat, gathering and piling luggage in cars, the young man I had partnered with approached me. We had never spoken, even though I had clearly shared a significant moment that may have changed him. “Thank you,” he said, “I’m grateful”. We hugged before he walked away and I never saw him again.

I have made choices in my life that haven’t made me popular or rich, usually followed by statements like:

”Why haven’t you moved to Florida!”
“Get married already!”
“Have the baby and I’ll raise it!”
“You quit your job??”.

When my throat closes or it’s hard to speak, I know it’s time to take a look at my decisions and allow the Fifth Chakra to flow again. How about you?


and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do -
determined to save
the only life you could save.
​
-Mary Oliver

 

---

Fifth Chakra books:

The Courage to Create by Rollo May
Mystical Dogs by Jean Houston
Thoughts are Things and Words that Heal Today by Ernest Holmes
Anatomy of the Spirit by Caroline Myss

---