Cakras: The version you know isn’t the original
A radical remembering of the Tantrik body. Beyond colour, psychology, or upward ascent
You’ve heard it before:
“There are seven chakras, each a spinning wheel of coloured light.” “They correspond to your glands, your emotions, your wounds.” “To grow spiritually, you must open and align them, from root to crown.”
Cakras (Sanskrit: चक्र cakra, pronounced chuh-kruh), often visualised today as spinning wheels of rainbow-coloured energy climbing the spine, have become yoga poster icons, chakra crystal kits, and psychological self-help diagrams.
This system is everywhere: yoga studios, social media, energy healing courses.
But it is not ancient and it is not Tantrik.
In early Tantrik visualisations, each cakra is described as a living shrine, not a colour-coded wheel, but a ritually constructed maṇḍala.
“The body is a shrine. Not a ladder. Not a staircase. Not a spectrum to fix or ascend. It is a mystery, made of sound, breath and starstuff.”
In this blog, we’ll explore:
What the classical Tantrik cakras really were
How the modern rainbow system evolved
What the correct bīja mantras are (and aren’t)
How cakras were actually used in Tantrik ritual
What we’ve forgotten, and what we can remember
A powerful, simple Tantrik practice of descent
And finally, we’ll compare the modern Western model and the Tantrik ritual body visually, for clarity. As a bonus we have included a comparative view of cross-cultural energy maps and serpentine forces.
A note before we journey deeper: This is not written to dismiss or devalue the modern New Age cakra model. For many, it has offered real comfort, insight, and transformation, and we honour that. It’s the very framework we ourselves were taught, and for many years, shared with others in good faith.
But like all sincere practitioners, we are on a path of remembering, of unlearning, and of deepening into the roots of what we offer. This is about getting our history clear, not to draw lines in the sand, but to speak more truthfully about where these teachings come from, and what they were originally meant to reveal.
We believe it matters: how we speak, what we share, and what we pass on. That’s why we’re committed to sharing what is authentic, aligned, and true to the traditions we love, and to doing so with a spirit that is discerning, honest, and open.
If something here feels mistaken or incomplete, we warmly invite you to reach out. We are always listening, always learning. ❤️
