John and Lisa's Blue Skies Blog – Soaring with God

“On that day, a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse,
and from his roots a bud shall blossom.
The spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him:
a spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
a spirit of counsel and of strength,
a spirit of knowledge and fear of the LORD,
and his delight shall be the fear of the LORD.”
(Isaiah 11:1-3a)

This passage is the source of the traditionally taught Gifts of the Holy Spirit:
* wisdom
* understanding
* counsel
* knowledge
* fortitude
* piety
* fear [awe] of the LORD

When I first learned of these Gifts as a teen, I was perplexed by wisdom, understanding and knowledge – because to me, they all seemed like the same thing.  Eventually, it occurred to me that maybe knowledge is in the head, while understanding is more in the heart – and wisdom uses both knowledge and understanding, yet transcends them.

Now I’m wondering if they’re connected to the chakras (energy centers) in the body.  They would fit like this:
1st chakra (the center of security) – awe of the LORD
2nd chakra (the center of creativity/connection) – piety
3rd chakra (the center of power) – strength/fortitude
4th chakra (the center of love/compassion) – understanding
5th chakra (the center of communication) – counsel
6th chakra (the center of knowledge/intuition) – knowledge
7th chakra (the center of transcendence/spirituality) – wisdom

This seems like a good fit, except I’d put piety and awe of the LORD in all of the centers rather than only the first two.

Our Lord Jesus, as prophesied by Isaiah, was filled with all the Gifts of the Holy Spirit; he was fully developed in all the energy centers.  We, on the other hand, find that we are lacking in one or more of these areas.  So we pray (and work) toward wholeness/holiness, letting the LORD do His work in us.