My brother is working on a stained glass cartoon (which means full-size mock-up drawing in stained glass lingo) of Jesus at the Ascension, or something to that effect. Anyway, he was just telling me how he had noticed that whenever he has to draw a halo around somebody, he uses a compass, and the center or pivot point of the compass is the middle of the forehead, which in Hindu and other traditions is the third eye.

Actually, in Hinduism, it is called the ajna chakra (here’s another thing about it). It is the sixth chakra. Some things about the sixth chakra:

This energy center is important to developing “traditional” knowledge: the ability to study and retain facts, to function with a clear mind, to think rationally and make decisions based on logical input. It also fuels our “ethereal” side: our intuitive nature, clairvoyance (ability to see the future), our aptitude to perceive information about people and things by non-logical methods, (as in, “I just had a good feeling about her”) to interpret our dreams and to visualize the future we’d like for ourselves. This chakra is a true synergizing point for all kinds of intelligence.

…Development of true “third eye” vision, that uncommon ability to see from great distances, to know secrets about people without being told, to predict the future or to see the truth about past events, takes a willingness to face the truth without fear. Some persons appear to be born with this faculty.

…People who have an over-active sixth chakra and tend to be a little spacey, unable to accept the reality of the world they live in. They may also suffer from paranoia, hallucinations, or nightmares. Ungrounded by the rest of their energy system, they do not seem to be able to shield themselves from an abundance of psychic stimuli or to respond appropriately to their highly developed intuition. They may be hypersensitive, assuming that everyone else’s emotions are targeted at them, (”He’s angry. I must have done something wrong,” ) or reacting to situations that exist only in their imagination, (”They hated me; I knew they would, so I left early.”)

On the other hand, people who’s minds are blocked, or have under-nourished sixth chakra energy, tend to be insensitive, unaware of anything that is going on around them. They may need to be told bluntly what’s happening right in front of them, or how their behavior is hurting or offending another person. They frequently have no ability to imagine new ways to do things, to find creative solutions to problems, or to believe in anything intangible and mythical. They may have little faith in the future or in their own ability to empower their lives.

There’s tons of stuff about this, from opening the third eye, to the idea of Christ consciousness and a bunch more.

I found a nice article with lots of image references about the history of halos in art from the Egyptians, to the Christians to the X-men. Not terribly detailed textually, but a great starting point for connective thinking on the subject.

But anyway, I was reading and remembering things read, and I think according to tradition, that it’s actually the 7th chakra (the crown chakra or Sahasrara) which is the one which when activated is supposed to correspond to people glowing with a sort of spiritual nimbus or halo. But anyway, it’s still an interesting connection.

Then we started talking about different things we had read and heard regarding kundalini yoga and christianity. Things like the layout of medieval cathedrals, the stations of the cross representing the rising of kundalini energy, and the holy spirit as representing the illuminated corpus callosum, or connective tissue between the hemispheres of the brain. All stuff that I want to look back into and find more links and information about later on.

Also, this mechanism of the cross thing looks interesting.

And so does this thing, its about the brain and spinal column and different images of the Bible corresponding to something like kundalini being raised and released.