Each of the seven chakras has a front and back aspect to it, one side of the chakra reaching out the front of the body from points in front of the spine, the other reaching out the back of the body from points at the back of the spine. Some texts say the front aspect of the chakra is what is given outward from the person, and the back aspect of the chakra is what is being received by the person. However, the back aspects are considered the will centers by Barbara Brennan.

The function of the seven chakras are, according to Barbara Brennan's book Hands Of Light (1988):

1. To vitalize each auric body, and thus, the physical body.


2. To bring about the development of different aspects of self-consciousness. Each chakra is related to a specific psychological function.


3. To transmit energy between the auric levels.

Each auric layer has its own set of seven major chakras, each located in the same place on the physical body... These chakras appear to be nested within each other like nesting glasses. Each chakra on each higher layer extends out farther in the auric field (to the edge of each auric layer) and is slightly broader than the one below it. Energy is transmitted from one layer to the next through passageways in the tips of the chakras. In most people these passageways are sealed. They open as a result of spiritual purification work...

The following are a few comments by various authors:

Man, Myth & Magic, Vol. 6 (1985), by editor in chief Richard Cavendish, claims that in yoga, "These junctures where the physical and subtle bodies meet and interact are known as chakras, or wheels." These subtle bodies are auric layers. Auric layers are the levels of the human aura which pertain to each chakra. We will discuss these in the next section of this material.

In The Chakra Handbook (1999), Shalila Sharamon and Bodo J. Baginski say, "The chakras... act as active receivers, transformers and distributors of the various forms of prana [life force]... Through the nadis the chakras take vital energy from many subtle energy bodies, surroundings, the cosmos and the basis of all manifestation, and transform them into the frequencies needed by the various areas of the physical or subtle bodies further sustenance and development. Beyond this they give off energy into their surroundings. By means of this energy system the human being is therefore in a state of continual exchange with the powers at work at diverse levels of the environment, the universe, and creation."

The flow of energy from each of the chakras, (the metabolic path of incoming energy), according to Barbara Brennan in Hands Of Light (1988), is in a certain order. It moves first into the nadis (the shushumna, ida and pingala energy paths in the body) then the nervous system, the endocrine system and finally the blood.

The chakras, or "wheels," are said to "constantly spin in a circular motion" by Helmut G. Sieczka in his book, Chakra Breathing (1994).

Ted Andrews in How To See & Read The Aura (2000) says this of the chakra system: "The chakras mediate all energy within, coming into and going out of the body. They help distribute energy for your physical, emotional, mental and spiritual functions. The seven major chakras are points of greater electromagnetic activity within the auric field."

Shirley MacLaine writes in Going Within (1989) that the three lower chakras, in women and men, operate with yang (male, light) energy relating to the physical, Earth plane of existence. The three higher chakras, in women and men, operate with yin (female, dark) energy, which relates predominantly to issues of the spirit. She also says that the heart chakra, located in the center is androgynous and that "it is the seat and home of the soul, or Higher Self, and it is perfectly balanced in its yin and yang expressions." (Yin and Yang are Oriental names for the polar opposites in the universe, light/dark, good/bad, known/unknown, etc