Kimberly Moon - 15 Jan

Around the time 3,000 BC, ancient Indians were beginning to speak and write about kundalini. Little coiled one is what it meant to them in their language, Sanskrit, but it meant a lot more than just the image of a little snake residing at the base of ones spine. To these ancient Indians, kundalini was their connection to the sacred and divine energy of the universe and of creation itself. They called that source or creation energy prana, and prana-shakti (or shakti) was how it manifested in lifeforms like humans and animals on earth.

For humans, shakti lies at the base of the spine, infusing the body, mind, and soul of the individual with life and passion and verve. Kundalini is a vehicle for spreading shakti throughout the body, and when kundalini that small coiled snake that sleeps at the base of all our spines is awakened, it will make the individual a vessel for source energy in a myriad of ways. While this original practice and acknowledgment of kundalini was not attached to any religion or dogma in particular, it was attached to ancient Indian spiritual tradition and became linked with its gods and goddesses to a certain degree.

Kundalini didnt just exist in ancient India, however, which is absolutely fascinating to me. With different names and different gods and goddesses attached to its understanding, kundalini also existed in ancient Egyptian civilizations. Have you ever wondered what the ankh symbol represents in Egyptian symbology and history? Essentially, it signifies the coming together of masculinity and femininity, the divine male and female energy, for the purpose of creation (or source recreation).

Egyptian rulers would then carry the ankh as a talisman of spirituality and alignment with source potential in their day-to-day rulings and other actions. In ancient Indian culture, too, kundalini was symbolized by the lingam-yoni, another combination of masculine and feminine energies in physical form. This similarity and more reveal that these two ancient cultures were on the same page about a force so intense and impactful.

Then, there is ancient China, where the concept of chi arises, bearing incredible resemblance to prana, shakti, and kundalini awakening in India. Once again, however, the wording is totally different from country to country its what theyre talking about thats so fascinatingly the same. For these ancient Chinese people, chi was essentially the life or source energy that exists within all of us, but not many of us are very in control of this energy.

Chi can affect the health and ones physical energy level generally, but when its aligned with sexuality, chi can do even more unbelievable things. Just as kundalini-oriented sexual practices focus on the reversal of orgasm energy (see Chapter 3 for more details) to the crown rather than out ones base, ancient Chinese people knew that sending orgasm energy back to the brain could lengthen life, reverse the effects of aging, and more. This awareness of a central channel inside the body that directs energy from place to place also harkens kundalini from ancient Indian culture, too.

Kundalini arises again in world history with the onset of alchemy as a practice in the Middle Ages. Once more, with different names and terminology, kundalini came to the people through a practice in which the followers claimed they were learning it so they could turn base metals into gold. The real purpose was a little more complicated. These alchemists were really just working on spiritual awakening. And the story about turning base metals into gold? That was really more of a metaphor about the personality practice they were engaging in to find a more spiritual self-alignment.