The Rainbow Chakra System

Christopher Hills · Nuclear Evolution (1977)

First attested

1977Introduced by Christopher Hills in Nuclear Evolution (1977) and popularized by Anodea Judith in Wheels of Life (1987).

The modern 7-color optical spectrum mapping red-to-violet onto the Indian chakra system.

The ubiquitous modern alignment of the seven chakras with the visible light rainbow spectrum (Muladhara as Red, Svadhisthana as Orange, Manipura as Yellow, Anahata as Green, Vishuddha as Blue, Ajna as Indigo, Sahasrara as Violet) is not an ancient Indian teaching, but a 20th-century Western synthesis. Classical Sanskrit Tantric treatises (such as the 10th-century Kubjikamata or the 1577 Sat-Cakra-Nirupana) ascribed varied hues—smoky grey for Ajna, golden yellow for Muladhara, vermilion for Anahata. In 1977, New Age author Christopher Hills published Nuclear Evolution, mapping Newton's seven rainbow frequencies directly onto the chakras, a model popularized globally by Anodea Judith in Wheels of Life (1987).