(Image via Google)
Energy is what animates us and gives us life. Everything (including every thought, word, and deed) is made up of energy and carries an energy field with it. In nature, there are five primary subtle energetic elements: Ether, Air, Fire, Water, and Earth. Ether is equated with Space, inner as well as outer. In this last post in my series of five, I will discuss the elemental energies of Ether, both its Chakra and its Vibrational Levels within the body, as the Negative Pole of the Fundamental Field, the magnetic pattern of Life-Energy.
It has been said that the Ether Chakra is a container, which “holds the space” for the other elements to express themselves. Emotions and other stresses often get clogged here, and we need to free up the space, one way or another, to get the energies flowing again. We’ve all experienced getting a “lump in our throat”, having a “pain in the neck”, or “needing our space”. That’s no coincidence. Even art looks more balanced when you create a little empty “negative space”. It’s just better when we don’t try to fill everything up. And I mean everything. But most of us are often very uncomfortable with empty space and quietude, but we have a habit of not liking things that are good for us. That doesn’t make it right. 🙂
Ether energies arise from the 5th Throat Chakra as it spins, carrying a negative electrostatic charge. This Ether/Throat Chakra is located in the region of the throat, with reflex areas at top of the head, midline, hair, face, ears, body cavities (i.e. lungs, bladder, mouth), thyroid, neck, skin, joints, thumbs and big toes; it also associated with addiction, environmental and other sensitivities, psychological and auto-immune disorders. With auto-immune problems, you basically have a situation of “self attacking self”, when your own system doesn’t recognize itself. This attack by your immune system on your own cells, tissues and organs causes inflammation and damage which leads to auto-immune diseases, which may be a primary or contributing factor in cases of: arthritis, alopecia, asthma, celiac disease, chronic fatigue syndrome, diabetes, endometriosis, fibromyalgia, hepatitis/cirrhosis, inner ear disease, lupus, multiple sclerosis, psoriasis, and ulcerative colitis, to name a few.
Issues that also pertain to the Ether/Throat Chakra are in the spectrum of: Space, spacial relationships, coordination (i.e., quick reflexes vs. clumsiness), boundaries, travel, time, organization of items and information (i.e., such as with classwork, office files or computer work; also, being a “neat-nick” vs. “clutter-bug”); and ambiance (being aware of and appreciating subtle nuances). Also, how you perceive and deal with yourself and others in terms of identity, acceptance, acknowledgment, self-expression, and communication (speaking and hearing in the truest sense; also, being shy or excessive talking). If we are having challenges with issues such as these, they are usually old ones, being triggered by new ones. We are unconscious of many of the traumas we carry around with us. Those past thoughts and emotions often get disassociated and “thrown off” for our physical body to hold, and deal with. With Ether it could be that extreme grief gets held in your joints, causing joint pain. When you deal with the grief, the pain in the joints goes away, at least that’s what happened for me. Because Ether has to do with boundaries, or lack thereof, Ether depletion makes one more open to “letting everything in” (such as viruses, or environmental contaminants) and “inviting it in for tea” :), creating a hospitable environment for it to thrive. Our psychological proclivity to taking in things which are not ours, at sacrifice to our own self, is also what’s at play here. If there’s any kind of problem, we tend to blame ourselves first (with depression, anger turned inward, and thoughts of suicide).
Any depletion or excess in this Ether/Throat Chakra, be it emotional, mental or physical (whether you are consciously OR unconsciously aware of it), will affect these areas in particular, as well as your entire system. In the examples given here, those with Ether weakness are of course the most vulnerable, and these areas/issues are usually the first to show up in times of stress. As we know, the mind/emotions can affect the body. For example, if you are in a situation in which you feel you “trapped” and you feel like you can’t speak or are not being heard, it may show up physically as insomnia and/or neck pain. Your physical body can also affect your emotional body. So, if you are stressing your body by living or working in constant proximity to people and noise, or you get a virus, this can destabilize your emotions around feelings of self-worth, wanting to be acknowledged, needing time alone and wanting to retreat or sleep, and if that doesn’t happen it could make you more stressed out, creating a feedback loop of mind-body-mind-body stress. This is partly how the connection works. Of course, each person and situation is different, and the interactions can be a little more complex than that, but Dr. Metz and I have a handle on that in terms of helping you to figure it out. That’s our job. 🙂
Dividing our energetic body into these Elemental components and approaching them in this way, helps us to organize and understand its features better. But when it comes down to it, there is a lot of overlay, interplay and interaction going on between the Chakras and their Levels that is not so cut and dry. This is true especially since each of the five Elements are associated with their respective Chakras (#1 Earth/Root Chakra, #2 Water/Sacral Chakra, #3 Fire/Solar Plexus Chakra, #4 Air/Heart Chakra, and #5 Ether/Throat Chakra), and then each Chakra is comprised of five Vibrational Levels (#1 Earth/Structure, #2 Water/Biochemistry, #3 Fire/Physiological Motivations, #4 Air/Motion, and #5 Ether/Psychology). This is part of what makes us “fractal” (having the same configuration at all scales of measurement).
Per Dr. Metz:
“A good analogy here is to see each Chakra as as a musical note. The five Chakras are part of a scale of seven Chakras and there are five overlayed octaves, referred to as the Vibrational Levels. Therefore each Chakra vibrates five notes, each an octave above or below the other. For example, each Chakra vibrates five notes, a note from each Vibrational Level, or octave. In the body these “notes” are: Ether (Psychology), Air (Motion), Fire (Physiological Motivations), Water (Biochemistry), and Earth (Structure). In other words, each elemental Chakra vibrates at each of the five elemental Vibrational Levels, each note with their own attributes.”
In the Ether/Throat Chakra, the attributes of the five vibratory levels are: 1.) Psychology = grief, jealousy and joy; 2.) Motion = expansive and enlongated; 3.) Physiological Motivation = getting sleep (i.e., dream cycles, restorative cycles, insomnia, apnea, or oversleeping, etc.); 4.) Biochemistry = the bodily fluid of saliva, as well as interference from food, supplementation, drugs, allergies, sickness, and disease (including cancer) that affect the Ether reflex areas/organs; 5.) Structure = hair and teeth.
Thus, based on our fractal nature, you will find something you can relate to in all of the Chakras, but some might stand out to you more than others. That has been the case for me. Since my most basic trauma occurred in Ether, I’m all too familiar with the ramifications of its disruption. I think it’s part of what makes me so engaging and empathetic, as well as easily overwhelmed. It’s not so much that I absorb other people’s energy, as I react within myself to certain patterns that people present. The exception is when I am giving a treatment. I can maintain very clear boundaries and can easily distinguish “who is who”. And in this case, I don’t feel responsible for solving their problems…”You’re not responsible for everything on God’s Green Earth”. When a acquaintance told me that once, it really hit home, and I listened. For me, I didn’t know it at the time, but I was unconsciously recapitulating a childhood pattern – that it was up to me, and me alone, to fix the problems I saw and to make it all better. With lots of inner work on my self, I’m slowly outgrowing that compulsion, and becoming more balanced around what I do/don’t do. My only responsibility now is to stay connected to my authentic self which helps me to better serve and to be a healthy role model, which enables me to do well at my job. I now realize that is ultimately up to the client to take the ball and run with it, with me cheering and offering support from the sidelines. I am seeing these healthy skills becoming tangible in other areas of my life as well. It is, and has been, quite a journey…getting reacquainted with all my disassociated parts. Fundamental Field Therapy is what made it possible for me; that special integration of mind-body awareness that comes from the bodywork, and the “awareness dialogue” that happens as a result.
These are some of the ways you can keep your Ether energies balanced: Surrounding yourself with, or wearing, the color blue; listening to the sound of silence; connecting with Spirit via meditation or prayer services; engaging in the arts of music and Feng Shui (getting organized and creating ambiance); traveling; focusing on the sense of hearing; getting a facial or a neck massage; practicing yoga or tai chi; eating foods that are artfully presented and eaten in beautiful and calming atmosphere. You can also contact any of the aforementioned Ether reflex areas on your own. For example, when I’m trying to fall asleep at night, I automatically hold my hands to my throat, or grasp my thumbs. You often see Babies doing this too, sucking their thumbs that is, to self-soothe and maybe even drift off to sleepyland. 🙂
The general rule for keeping everything in balance is not to over-do or under-do anything. “Everything in moderation” is sometimes easier said than done, but it’s important to at least keep ourselves reminded of that fact, and to have fun exploring the various possibilities that come our way. Finding what works best for us is a journey of discovery. (Since everyone is unique and different, I’m a big fan of “whatever works”! :)) As dynamic energetic beings, we are not fixed entities. It is necessary, therefore, to re-evaluate ourselves on a continuing basis, and to make the needed adjustments as we proceed on our path.
Copyright © 2011 – Present by Maggie Begley
