The lotus flowers, or chakras, are the 7 spiritual organs of the etheric body. As such, they are not created by the physical body. Their real essence originates from primal thoughts, the power of the father. The 7 seals of the Apocalypse represent the 7 lotus flowers.
The method for the development of the lotus flowers differs between Eastern teachings and Western esoterism. The former method aims at awakening the chakras, such as they are, from the lowest to the highest by vibrating certain sounds, or mantras. The latter method aims at the Christianisation of the centres, thereby changing their very nature, by a process of descent.
The seven I-am sayings are the mantras for this process (see Chart below).
The higher three lotus flowers are organs which the spirit uses in the case of revelation from above. They represent wisdom, so that man becomes the knower. The lower three lotuses
Concerning the heart, i.e. the twelve-petalled lotus, it participates in the two kinds of vision or, if you wish, it possesses a thin/kind of clairvoyant perception, which is the synthesis of the other two.
The 8 petalled Lotus (Saturn)
This lotus flower is located above the head and creates the connection with the spiritual world. It may appear as a thousand sparks or petals, shining violet, because of its intense scintillation. That is often characteristic of saints, and is represented by a halo.
This crown centre is a “natural gift” to each human being and every normal person possesses it. The “thorns” of the crown centre function as the “nails” of objectivity, which give conscience to thought. It contains all the results of positive human karma. Negativity is forgotten because sins are forgiven and their effects are burned away.
It carries in itself the eternal name of man, which is the secret of every man; it also reveals his special task, mission, or destiny. Every man is a thought of God, and therefore every man has his own task to fulfill in life. That is why the eight-petalled lotus is the centre of wisdom. Adam was able to name the animals because he understood their essences. God knows your eternal name because He knows your essence. That must be revealed to you.
Energy flows in two directions: the upper stream leads into the spiritual world and connects man with his angel. This angel is man’s heavenly image, so they are the same individuality living in two worlds, in heaven and on earth.
The lower stream descends through the 2 petalled lotus and ultimately to the feet as a purifying stream. One after the other these lotus flowers withdraw from the influence of human arbitrariness and immerse themselves in “divine repose”, becoming organs of pure revelation.
After its transformation, the wisdom revealed by the eight-petalled lotus will cease to be abstract and transcendent: it will become full of warmth like the fire of Pentecost.
The 2 petalled lotus (Jupiter)
This lotus flower is intellectual initiative. Every concentration, every thought initiative comes from this lotus flower. If you have very few questions about the world, the result is a weak lotus flower. If you have many questions, a strong 2 petalled lotus flower develops.
The eyebrows are the expression of their currents in two directions: to the right and to the left. The flow to the right is Ahrimanic, the flow to the left is Luciferic. Consciousness is in the middle and is dual. If one succeeds in redirecting the currents from the horizontal direction into the vertical, it becomes a stream of spiritual knowledge and goes through the 8 petalled lotus flower into the spiritual world.
Its shape at rest is horizontal. Concentration strengthens the 2 petalled lotus flower. When it is vertical, a ray goes up and the answer from the spiritual world descends. The Hermetist needs to make use of both directions, since human initiative is often as necessary as the divine. Although he can turn his gaze to what is caused from above, he also needs to understand what causes are active in the world.
After its transformation, intellectual initiative will become “compassion-filled insight” into the world.
The 16 petalled lotus (Mars)
This is the lotus flower, located near the larynx, of the creative word, both in the physical and spiritual sense.
After its transformation, the creative word will become magical with the faculties of illumining, consoling and healing.
The 12 petalled lotus (Sun)
This is like a sun and has 12 petals or rays. The 12 petalled lotus flower is healed by a stream of love; from it love and good flows out. It is especially effective because it is not tied to one to the organism, but can go out and enter other people by the exteriorisation of its petals.
When this lotus flower is awakened, it becomes the “sun” of the planetary system in the microcosm. The three lower lotuses begin to conform to the solar law. The man of the heart has regained his humanity.
The heart participates in the two kinds of vision: intellectual and imagination, i.e., their synthesis.
The 10 petalled lotus (Mercury)
This is the lotus of the conscious and of the subconscious. It is the centre of all knowledge, including science. With this knowledge, it is mostly the case that the 10 petalled lotus is directly connected to the 2 petalled lotus excluding the intervening 12 and the 16 petalled lotuses. That is why many scientific people cannot work convincingly with the word, nor are their hearts in it.
The shape of this lotus flower consists of two pentagrams lying one atop of the other, pointing in opposite directions. Clairvoyance takes place through this lotus flower.
- Outwardly, it results in clairvoyance in colours and shapes.
- Inwardly, it forms the memory that transforms everything that the other flowers have into shapes, colours and images. It is the human archivist.
The development of this lotus flower is classical. First there is the training of the imagination, then inspiration, and finally intuition. The path of this training also goes through the middle, more precisely through the psychological technique of analysis with the aim of synthesis. The way of life of this chakra increases analysis, strongly developing the joining of the parts without losing sight of the whole, e.g. Thomas Aquinas’ way of thinking and knowing, recovering, always starting from a fixed point in order to relate everything around it to this. Fuzzy mysticism makes this lotus flower unhealthy. It has one movement forward and one backward, towards the spine.
Man understands something with the 2 petalled lotus. With the 16 petalled lotus he summarizes everything, with the 12 petalled lotus he advances the moral inner life, in order to bring it to life in the 10 petalled lotus.
After its transformation, the science of the ten-petalled lotus will then become conscience, i.e. the servant of God and neighbour.
The 6 petalled lotus (Venus)
The 6 petalled lotus is that of harmony and health, as well as great peace. It has the property of having a harmonizing effect on polarities, of bringing them into context. It is the lotus of the free alliance of body, soul and spirit.
Through them there is the ability to harmonize the character of other people. It also works in the intercourse with spiritual beings in the soul area and regulates the intercourse between the spiritual and the physical world.
After its transformation, the six-petalled lotus, the centre of health, will become that of holiness, i.e. harmony between spirit, soul and body.
The 4 petalled lotus (Moon)
This lotus is the source of the creative force (libido, in the Jungian sense). It is the place of procreation and the lotus flower of man’s negative karma. At the same time, it is the organ that recognizes the evil in the subterranean spheres of the earth.
The “serpent power” (kundalini) is found in the 4 petalled lotus. Now, this “serpent power” can be awoken and directed either above (yoga) or below and outside (arbitrary magic).
After its transformation, the creative force of the four-petalled lotus will then serve as a source of energy and inexhaustible elan for the long path of the itinerant hermit, who is a man of heart, i.e. a man who has regained his humanity.
Chart
| Petals | Name | Planet | I am saying |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | Crown | Saturn | The resurrection and the life |
| 2 | Third eye | Jupiter | The light of the world |
| 16 | Throat | Mars | The good shepherd |
| 12 | Heart | Sun | The bread of life |
| 10 | Navel | Mercury | The door |
| 6 | Sacral | Venus | The way, the truth, and the life |
| 4 | Root | Moon | The true vine |
Note: Here Tomberg follows Steiner in reversing the positions of Mercury and Venus, but that is only a nominal change:
that which is called Mercury to-day — but which is esoterically called Venus; then Venus — which is Mercury in the esoteric sense
References
Chakra Werk, Section ST3.1 by Willi Seiß (with material from Tomberg)
Meditations on the Tarot by Valentin Tomberg
Tantra Vidya by Oscar Hinze