THE CHAKRAS ARE UNIQUE AND NEED TO BE DIRECTLY OBSERVED BY EACH INDIVIDUAL MEDITATOR. They may be experienced differently at different times and many descriptions of their nature have resulted. A popular view from the Hindu tradition is that each resembles a lotus flower, with different chakras composed of varying numbers of petals. Each energy center might appear as a world or reality unto itself with its own rules and setting. Observing the function of the chakras, they can each be seen as a vortex of energy, like a cyclone. The vortex of the first chakra spins clockwise, the second, counterclockwise, and the third, clockwise. The direction of spin alternates as the spine is ascended. As the meditator becomes more at home within their chakra awareness, they notice qualities inherent to the direction of spin. The clockwise spinning chakras are dynamic in the sense they tend to project out into reality, like the sexual nature of the first chakra, the expulsion of breath of the third chakra, speaking at the fifth chakra and so on. For this reason, they are thought of as having more masculine traits. The counterclockwise chakras are more receiving, like the nourishment received from the mother through the umbilical cord at the navel chakra, the love received through the heart chakra, and the stimulus received by the third eye. These chakras are thought of as being more feminine in nature.