Amulets by Merlin's Blog

A few years ago a friend of mine decided to have an amulet created that reflects her perceptions of the chakras.

The chakras in classic yoga are a series of seven places in the body considered as energy centers. Each place is a kind of akashic organ imbued with certain qualities. When trained properly, one may tune and strengthen them to achieve health, balance and spiritual clarity.

For example is the heart chakra, located approximately where the physical heart is in the body, only more in aligned with the spine. The heart chakra’s quality is compassion, healing and love of all things. Illustrated in Hindu art as well as renaissance paintings of Christ (the sacred heart) the heart chakra is recognized in many cultures. Those who naturally have powerful heart chakras are healers and peacemakers.

In chakra lore, it is best to train each of them equally so they may balance naturally. Doing this often requires practice in concentration, visualization and breathing techniques accompanied with a physical training that stimulates the chakra centers.

Beyond traditional Yoga, many people have harnessed the studies of the chakras by adapting the knowledge to their own traditions. My friend’s vision encompassed her love of nature and infused the imagery into a series of sketches and renderings. The ultimate design transcended beyond a conglomerate of simple geometric shapes into an almost story book mural of metal and stone.

A raven flies overhead symbolizing transcendence, wisdom and knowledge just beyond reach. Stones aligned by the chakra formation down the trunk of the tree, each stone of the kind associated with each chakra as per her choosing. The amulet is four and a half inches made of silver (the leaves, secondary branches and roots) and bronze (main trunk and primary branches). The rough bark extended into the settings give a feeling of the stones being in the tree itself, the top two chakras (third eye and the crown) in contrast made smooth to accentuate the concept of the higher level of consciousness. Leaves extend the growth of the tree into the chain. Below is an opal symbolizing the pool of consciousness, much akin to the Star Card of the Tarot.

The Chakra Tree Amulet was made as a one of a kind, special commission and now resides in a private collection.