Third eye chakra

Origin and meaning

Ajna means "to perceive, to command, to know": it is the centre of inner vision, of the wisdom that knows beyond the rational. It is the seat of the "third eye" (a metaphor present in many cultures for the direct, intuitive vision of reality). Its element is light; its symbol is a two-petalled lotus (the two wings of intuitive duality, or also the meeting of ida and pingala) with the seed mantra OM.

Anatomically, it is associated with the pineal gland — small endocrine gland in the centre of the brain, which Descartes identified as "seat of the soul" and that modern esoteric tradition relates with the third eye. The pineal gland produces melatonin (regulator of sleep cycle and dreams) and other compounds connected with altered states of consciousness. Its activation is the central goal of many advanced spiritual practices.

Healthy and unbalanced functions

Healthy third eye: developed and reliable intuition, mental clarity, capacity to "see" beyond appearances, deep meaningful dreams, vivid creative imagination, capacity to visualise and meditate clearly, intuitive discernment in important decisions, mature spiritual perception. The mind is calm but alert, the inner gaze is sharp.

Imbalanced third eye: by deficiency = lack of intuition, mental confusion, difficulty visualising, learning blockage, denial of subtle perceptions, headaches in the front, ocular problems. By excess = overload of psychic perceptions without filter (typical of the unprepared empath), hallucinations or dissociations, paranoid fantasies disguised as intuition, abuse of psychedelic substances seeking "vision", grandiose spiritual delusion. Education that ridicules intuition ("stop fantasising"), traumas that force "to see" too soon, very rationalist environments often deactivate this chakra.

How to balance it

Practices: regular meditation (especially mindfulness and visualisations), trataka (fixing the gaze on a candle flame to develop concentration), dreams journal, conscious dreaming (lucid dreaming), studying complex symbolisms (tarot, astrology, sacred geometry), indigo blue stones (azurite, sodalite, blue lapis, blue sapphire), violet foods (blueberry, purple grape, eggplant, plum). Mantra: chant OM. Conscious breathing focused on the point between the eyebrows.