Color Your Life and You Color Your Future

From the holistic viewpoint, color is the first indicator of differentiation in assessing one’s health. When people have “sugar,” or a diabetic condition, the extremities, especially the feet, may have a dark or greyed skin tone due to lack of circulation and the onset of necrosis. When it is quite cold outside, people with lighter hued skin may have reddish cheeks, as the capillaries are revealed while the facial derma has contracted.

Being black-and-blue, for pink- or yellow-colored skin, usually means one has been bruised, not at all that one possesses inner pride about alignment with the universe—this is a melanin pigmentation concept espoused by some African metaphysical workers such as Dr. Africa. Black and blue are the same shade in some cultures, and if located on the third eye area, this indicates spiritual submission in the muslim religion. As a child I saw human-shaped energy forms that would come into my tiny bedroom through the door, go around the bed, then go right into the wall. They were green, orange, yellowish and blue, and combinations of all of these. I was initially afraid but then sat up in my bed staring, in awe of their beauty and movement, like a parade of spirits. I was young enough to be in a crib or child’s bed with the bars up so I couldn't fall out, and I know I also saw these shapes when these crib bars were no longer there. I didn’t have language to describe what I saw. As I learned to express myself, I do not recall sharing it, yet must have at least once. I somehow got the message from my parents or the neighbors who took care of me that my experiences were not to be pursued. I didn't for a long time. These visions remained submerged in my psyche until, as an adult, I gained more understanding of what I had seen.

Were the colors significant? I don’t really know. I was called a dreamer as a youngster. Teachers told my parents that I liked to daydream. I probably wanted to return to all those beautiful tones and light-forms.

Whether primary, complementary, tinted or shaded, most cultures agree on the following chart of hues and attribute similar meanings to them:

WHITE

Unseen, spiritual energy, ghosts, spirit world, purity

YELLOW

Sunshine, happiness, power to grow, intelligence

RED

Courage, magnetic, sensation, vigilance

BLUE/BLACK

Water, abundance, possibility, concentration, flow, acceptance

GREEN

New, young, nature, optimism, vibrant

Whereas one nation, the Akan of Ghana, may use red and black for funerals, another, China, may use red for weddings and black for wealth. Both are lucky colors in China. Traditional uses of colors have been incorporated into national flags, with red, black and green, for example, signifying the African American liberation flag promoted by Marcus Garvey’s Back to Africa movement in the 1930s. Red stands for the blood that was shed, black for the people’s ancestry, and green for the land as well as hope for a new tomorrow. Some metaphysicans, in particular the owner of the oldest African shop in New York City,have said that these three shades are actually oppressive taken together, and that the African Diaspora really does need a different flag.

Here’s a sampling of the uses of this knowledge:

1. Association with sun signs--Aries through Pisces

2. Association with directions--N, S, E, W

3. Association with numbers, 1 through 9

4. To set moods in interiors with paint and lighting

5. To heal through specially colored lamps

6. To imitate daylight through the full spectrum lamp

7. To make people dance or sleep

8. As a code for business and economic recovery (in the black/red)

9. To separate people and value one over another

10. To unify people

11. To make people buy and spend

12. To let you know there is a sale (LOL!)

Chromotagraphy, or color therapy, is closely associated with stones and crystals, and has informed the first three uses above. Here is a good holistic color site, which tells you how to use different shades to heal. My friend sent me a packet of the powders to bathe in, and they really work. As the site says, “Light is the only energy we can see, and we see it in the form of color.” An excellent analysis of chromotagraphy covers the overlapping issues of energy, kinesis, kirlian photography, physics and matter and can be made available by request. If you would like more information about this, ask about it using the contact form.