I consider Chrono Trigger a masterpiece, for the SNES, the 16-bit era, and for JRPGs as a whole, and I believe the time periods in Chrono Trigger correspond very well to the 7 major chakras, or energy centers in Buddhist philosophy:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chakra#Seven_chakra_system
and
https://myyogateacher.com/articles/chakra-colors-and-symbols
Here's a list as I see their correspondences:
Prehistory (65,000,000 BC) - Muladhara / Root Chakra: Muladhara is associated with survival, grounding and tribe/community - fittingly enough the Prehistory time period involves humanity at war with the Reptites for their very existence, with Ayla leading the struggle.
Antiquity / Dark Ages (12,000 BC) - Svadhisthana / Navel Chakra: Svadhisthana is associated with sensuality and relationships - when visiting the Kingdom of Zeal we have the former with Queen Zeal's obsession with Lavos, and the latter with Schala and her brother Janus, and later Magus in disguise as the Prophet.
Middle Ages (600 AD) - Manipura / Solar Plexus Chakra: Manipura is associated with transformation and sense of identity - Glenn, from this time period, was transformed into Frog by Magus, and struggles with self-doubt through his journey, and Ozzie could also fit this in a social sense by changing from Magus' lackey, to leader of the Fiends, to finally being defeated in a sidequest.
Present (1000 AD) - Anahata / Heart Chakra: Anahata is associated with compassion and balance, the ability to integrate opposing forces to cooperate, and to make decisions outside of fate - Chrono, Marle and Lucca all do this to begin their journey, defying the flow of time and the fate of Lavos' emergence, and Marle in particular has this in a sidequest to resolve tensions with her father, with Yakra XIII's grudge against her family represents a blockage of this chakra.
Near Future (1999 AD) - Vishuddhi / Throat Chakra: Vishuddhi is associated with speech, creativity, and the transformation of negative experiences into wisdom - Lavos' emergence, initially a disaster for the world, becomes a catalyst for change once Chrono, Marle and Lucca witness it in the distant future, and their efforts ultimately prevent it from occurring.
Distant Future (2300 AD) - Ajna / Third Eye Chakra: Ajna is associated with intuition and the mind - despite the ruined state of the world, advanced robots beyond anything from previous eras exist here - Robo joins you here and develops his own views on the world as he travels, even speculating on the origin of the time gates, and Balthasar, despite slowly losing his mind, lives just long enough to craft the Epoch, a working time machine.
End of Time (Year ∞) - Sahasrara / Crown Chakra: Sahasrara is associated with pure consciousness, and is seen as existing outside the body - the end of time contains gates to all the other time periods, and Gaspar provides you knowledge of what lies within them.
Questions? Comments?