Ajna is the center of our awareness and intuition. It is our spiritual home and where we come to know who we are. Our intuition, fantasy and the power of the mind in terms of visualisation are all themes related to Ajna. The word Ajna itself means “to know or perceive.” This chakra is often called the third eye chakra and is depicted as a flower with two petals facing each other. This duality, representing yin and yang or male and female, is in balance and when we truly understand and experience Ajna, even this duality melts away. Think of it in the sense of the ‘I’, separate to the external environment that we perceive everyday. When we experience Ajna, this separation dissolves and we realise we are all one, that we are all connected and part of the whole.
The Sanskrit syllables ham and kham are ascribed to the petals and are the sounds of Shakti (creative life power) and Shiva (universal or cosmic awareness). Shakti and Shiva are the two dualities to the deity Ardhanarishvara, the half-male and half-female. United in this chakra, all duality dissolves as one attains enlightenment. An upside down triangle and the lotus flower within are the symbol for Anja.
Colored dark blue or a violet blue, Ajna is associated with platinum, the vowel sound of ‘i’ and the planet Uranus. Blue saphire or opal are its gemstones and lemongrass, bay leaf, St. John’s Wort and spruce are all attributed to it. The third eye chakra is closely related to the pituitary gland which is the control center for the entire endocrine system.
This chakra is the fabled portal through which we experience enlightenment or through which we experience the spiritual world. This 6th chakra is different from the 5 previous chakras because it is not connected to the spinal cord. Awakening this eye is a cornerstone of many cultures and traditions and it is also the journey that has been lost with the imposition of modern religions. Only by knowing ourselves can we awaken this chakra and meditation is one way of achieving this. When we experience intuition or we are able to see why a past event happened to us, this is the energy of Ajna awakening within us. Known as the ‘seat of the soul’ the third eye chakra acts as a gateway to other worlds and planes of existence which are freely available to all of us, but only if we choose to journey within ourselves.

When energy flows freely through the third eye chakra, we find our imagination is keen and we are able to ‘see’ our decisions clearly. We are able to sense and see the manner in which we are kept in a delusional state.
The other side of the sword is that we begin to get carried away now that we consider ourselves enlightened. Greed, a lust for power and selfishness are are all signs that this chakra is being mis-used. A weak forehead chakra means we may have difficulting translating our plans into action – we know what we need to do but find ourselves unable to visualise ourselves doing it. Another sign of a weak ajna is when we flit from one thing to another, unable to really concentrate on what we are currently doing. Almost as if the energy in this chakra is too weak to allow us to gather our thoughts coherently.
Owing to its spiritual gateway status, people with weak forehead chakras may feel that life is lacking in purpose. In a physical sense, problems with headaches, sinusitis, poor eyesight and colds all highlight a weak ajna chakra.