Heart Chakra (Anahata) Tattoo Meaning
Anahata — the green lotus of love, compassion, and connection.
The Heart Chakra, Anahata, is the fourth chakra and the center of the seven — seated at the center of the chest, depicted as a twelve-petalled green lotus holding a six-pointed star, the element of air. It is the bridge between the lower, earthly chakras and the higher, spiritual ones: the center of love, compassion, connection, and the union of body and spirit. To carry Anahata is to carry the heart — love, compassion, and the connection that joins all.
Anahata — "unstruck" or "unhurt" — is the fourth chakra, at the center of the chest, and its name carries a beautiful meaning: it refers to the "unstruck sound," the celestial sound that is produced without any two things striking together, the cosmic vibration heard by the heart at peace. It is depicted as a green twelve-petalled lotus holding a six-pointed star (two interlaced triangles), the symbol of the air element and of the meeting of the upward and downward forces. As the central chakra, Anahata is the bridge between the three lower chakras of the body and the three higher chakras of the spirit.
Anahata governs love, compassion, forgiveness, connection, and the capacity to give and receive love freely. When it is open, a person loves without condition, feels deep compassion, and is connected to others and to all life; when it is closed, grief, bitterness, or isolation take hold. As the heart center and the bridge of the system, it is where the human meets the divine in the form of love. The Hindu Anahata is the chakra of the heart: love, compassion, connection, and the unstruck sound of a heart at peace.
The Heart Chakra is among the most beloved chakra tattoos, inked as its green twelve-petalled lotus and interlaced-triangle star, worn for love, compassion, and healing of the heart. It may be worn alone or at the center of the full chakra column. In tattoo symbolism it speaks to love, compassion, connection, forgiveness, and the open heart.
Heart Chakra (Anahata) across cultures
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