Glossary · chakra
Svadhisthana
Also written the sacral chakra
Svadhisthana (‘one’s own seat’) is the sacral chakra, in the lower belly, below the navel. Its element is water, it is drawn with six petals, and its seed sound (bija) is VAM. It is the second of the seven chakras.
It is about flow: pleasure, creativity, ease in the body, and the ability to receive without guilt. Where the root asks am I safe?, the sacral asks can I enjoy this?
In balance and out of balance. In balance, life feels generous: making things feels like play, rest is allowed, and good things can be taken in. Out of balance it either tightens, so enjoyment has to be earned and creativity has to justify itself, or it floods, so pleasure turns into excess and appetite outruns need.
Its planet is Guru (Jupiter), the planet of growth, children, blessing and plenty. Jupiter changes sign about once a year. When it passes through its good houses from your birth Moon (the 2nd, 5th, 7th, 9th and 11th, by classical gochar), this centre tends to open; when Jupiter is retrograde, the growth turns inward and asks what is really worth having. This pairing of planets and chakras is a modern bridge between yoga and Jyotish, not a rule from the classical texts, and the familiar rainbow colours are modern too.
A simple practice. Make slow circles with the hips for a minute, then sit and sound VAM five times, attention in the lower belly.
Questions
Which planet rules the sacral chakra?
In the pairing used by withAshoka, Jupiter (Guru) rules the sacral chakra, Svadhisthana: the planet of growth and plenty for the centre of pleasure and creation. Other modern systems pair it differently, often with Venus or the Moon; none of these pairings is classical.
What is the seed mantra of the sacral chakra?
VAM, sounded softly with attention in the lower belly.
What blocks the sacral chakra?
Read through the planets, a tight sacral often coincides with Jupiter under strain in your chart or in transit: growth that has to be earned, guilt about rest or pleasure. The remedy is small and regular: let yourself enjoy one thing fully each day.
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