The Chakana: A Universal Symbol of Wholeness

“The sacred cross is the foundation of everything within this world. It is the organizing principle, where in the Divine, the Eternal, can manifest here on Earth.”

The chakana is our namesake: an ancient symbol that contains the guiding principles for Chakana Medicine. The chakana (referred to as the “Incan cross” or “stepped cross”) is an ancient, multifaceted symbol widely used by the Inca of present-day Peru as a way to understand and orient their universe. For the Inca, the chakana represents the tawantisuyu – the four quarters of the Inca empire that at one time stretched down the entire span of the Andes mountains from Ecuador to Chile. Its likeness was reproduced in ceremonial sites built throughout the Incan empire, including the sacred city of Machu Picchu.

The chakana is also a symbol of the cycles of life: the stages of initiation that we must each pass through as we walk a soulful journey through life. Each point represents one of the four cardinal directions (South, West, North, East), and each stair-step in between represents a transition point between these phases.

Each direction has a theme, an energy, and a time of life associated with it: South is the place of beginnings, and stepping upon one’s personal path to Spirit. West is the place of the journey into the darkness of the Soul, and the trials of self-discovery. North is the place of wisdom, the ancestors, and the giveaway, where we dedicate ourselves to a life of service. East is the place of Spirit, of the end of life and also of birth.

The chakana also has an energetic dimension and meaning. Like the Mer-Ka-Ba, the chakana maps the essence of our energetic field as humans. It reminds us that we are a spark of the Divine incarnated here on the Earthly plane. The chakana, and other symbols of the cross found in cultures throughout the world, represent the whole, intact, harmonized and thus healthy energetic state of all beings. It symbolizes the sacredness of life, and the meeting of masculine (vertical) and feminine (horizontal) which creates all existence.

There is medicine in the chakana. When the horizontal and vertical planes of the stepped cross meet, a portal is opened: the open space at the center, which symbolizes the portal of our hearts. Light and possibility pours from this open center. Thus, the chakana not only shows us a way to understand the physical world and the stars, but also connects us to our own divinity and to that truth deeply understood by the indigenous people of the Andes: that we are all children of the stars.

When we open the doors of our heart, and listen to the pulse of the universe that is always moving through us, we have access to all wisdom and love. We honor the portal of the heart by polishing our inner mirror, by seeking and bringing forth our soul’s gifts, and by living a life guided by Love.

To cultivate our innate capacity to receive teachings, guidance, and Light from the ever-present Divine is to walk the path of Direct Revelation.