Sacrum - the holy bone

Credit: http://prenatalyogacenter.com

Your sacrum is the large, triangular bone at the base of your spine. It consists of usually five initially separate vertebrae which begin to fuse at about age 16–18, and are usually completely fused by your mid-30s. The sacrum sits like a wedge between your two hip bones (ilium), forming the sacroiliac joint (SI-joint). Below the sacrum is your tail (coccyx).

The whole sacro-iliac area is incredibly interesting when it comes to movement, yoga, and our energetic system. But have you ever thought why the sacrum is called that? I certainly hadn't until I heard someone the other day refer to it as our sacred bone. Wow, of course! – sacrum, sacred. Is this a true connection, or just a coincidence? Why would the sacrum be sacred??

A very brief Wikipedia search shows that the name "sacrum" originates from the Latin os sacrum, a translation of the Greek hieron (osteon), meaning sacred or strong bone. So it does come from the word sacred...

In this paper researching this history of the term (yes there's even a paper on the subject!), Oscar Sugar found that in European/Middle-Eastern tradition the sacrum is associated with resurrection, identifying it as the "almond" or luz of the Hebrews and the ajb of the Arabs. The idea goes that the sacrum is the last bone in the body to disintegrate after death (it's one of the hardest bones in the body) and is therefore necessary for resurrection – it seems there are a few mentions of this in the Bible, for example in Psalms 34, 21 it says "He watches over all the bones; one of them shall not be broken". He concludes that the word ultimately derives its conceptual meaning from the ancient Egyptians who associated it with Osiris, the god of the afterlife, the underworld, and the dead.

Interestingly, according to this paper, some Mesoamerican Indian languages also named this bone using words referring to sacredness and deity, meaning that they must have independently come up with this concept. So it's not just the Europeans!

Another reason given in a few studies why it's called 'sacred' is that it's located next to the reproductive organs, which are obviously historically, culturally and symbolically highly significant! It looks like their proximity has led to people thinking that they share similar life-giving or spiritual qualities. Several cultures around the world (including the ancient Egyptians and some Indian cultures) have even believed that the sacrum channels seminal fluid through the spinal column to the penis (apparently because spinal fluid and semen are very similar in form). The great Leonardo da Vinci looks like he might've made a similar wrong assumption when he drew a seminal duct leading from the sacrum at the bottom of the spinal cord to the penis in his drawing of a man (I can't find the actual drawing on the internet though).

On a purely physical level, the sacrum bone forms the centre of support for the human bodily structure, and as such is well designed to take great physical stress. Unfortunately, if we put too much stress on it or move badly this area can be the source of much lower back pain. One of the things we work on in our yoga practice is the opening and stabilising the hips, sacrum and the SI-joint so that we can sit comfortably. This stability allows us to sit still for long periods of time, as we do in meditation.

In Indian spiritual practices, the area around the sacrum is seen as the seat of Kundalini. The word kundalini comes from the Sanskrit word 'kundal' meaning coiled up. It is seen as the primordial dormant energy present at the base of the spine in the sacrum – often visualised as a coiled snake. According to the texts, Kundalini is associated with the Divine Mother (Shakti, or the earth). One of the primary goals of traditional yoga practice is the uncoiling (release) of this feminine energy at the base of the spine, which can then travel up the central energy channel (susumna) to unite with the masculine energy of Divine Father (Shiva/Shakta, or the universe) in the seventh (crown) Chakra. This union of opposites is the essential meaning of yoga (to unite or yoke, bring together), and is a powerful symbol in pretty much all cultures.

"The word Kundalini is derived from a Sanskrit word 'Kundal' meaning coiled up. It is the primordial dormant energy present in three-and-a-half, coils at the base of the spine in a triangular bone called the Sacrum - See more at: http://www.adishakti.org/subtle_system/kundalini.htm#sthash.XV2FJOBC.dpuf"The word Kundalini is derived from a Sanskrit word 'Kundal' meaning coiled up. It is the primordial dormant energy present in three-and-a-half, coils at the base of the spine in a triangular bone called the Sacrum

"The word Kundalini is derived from a Sanskrit word 'Kundal' meaning coiled up. It is the primordial dormant energy present in three-and-a-half, coils at the base of the spine in a triangular bone called the Sacrum - See more at: http://www.adishakti.org/subtle_system/kundalini.htm#sthash.XV2FJOBC.dpufjjjjjjjjjjjj

In East Asian practices, the sacral area is associated with the lower Tan Tien (or Dan Tian; Chinese, Tanden; Japanese) literally translated as "field of elixir", and your 'hara'. They use the word 'elixir' to refer to the same kundalini energy. In practices such as Qigong, Taoist yoga, and Zen, instead of awakening that energy and just allowing it to rise up the spine, they practice balancing both the rising and descending energies (yin and yang) by learning how to move it up the back and down the front of the body in a complete circle (the snake swallows its tail). This is known as the microcosmic orbit.

So there we have it. In all our modern scientific medicalisation of our bodies we have, in our name for the sacrum, a persisting shadow of our past beliefs and spiritual practices. Our sacred bone: made of 5 fused vertebrae, the physical centre of support for our body and often the source of lower back pain when we move/lift/strain badly, necessary for resurrection, and the seat of our feminine kundalini or elixir energy.

I teach Zen yoga and mindfulness at the ZenYoga studio in Camberwell, London. See my website for my class schedule and more details.

I'd love to hear from you

Got another take on the sacrum bone and why it's called that? I'd love to hear from you! Leave a comment below, join the discussion. 

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