Color and Clothes

Living in Colour - your clothes, colour and you.

For most of us, our awareness of color begins and ends with our clothes (and for some of us, our make-up). However color contributes a lot to the healing process and often the one you choose to wear depicts how you feel. When you feel down there is a tendency to wear dull and dowdy colours. It is at times like these that you can introduce colors that will lift your spirits and make you feel better; it will also help to change the situation you find yourself in. Do not wear purple or violet if you feel depressed for it will make you more depressed. You would need green or pink to lift you and help you to feel better.
When chosing clothes try not to follow fashion just because it is the "in" color, rather for your own health and well being find the colors that suit you (the ones you feel happiest in are those that you already have in your aura) and make you feel good and wear them. See Defining your Coloring.
If you are drawn to yellow, you more than likely feel good about yourself, for yellow is to do with identity and ego. Quite a lot of successful businessmen and women are drawn to this color - they have strong personalities and make their presence felt. Those of you who are drawn to and wear a lot of blue, please do wear other colors as well. Wearing warm colors will earth and ground you.
There might also be certain colors that you do not like, however these are more than likely the ones you need most for your well being and it will, over a period of time, change your attitudes and feelings. It is important to choose the correct color for the correct occasion.
You might not like green but take into account that green has many different shades and tints, and it is one of the few rays where the darker shades can give you more energy in the way of strength.
However, when your mind is overactive, I suggest that you get yourself a scarf with apple green in it, use silk or cotton for it must be natural fibre to be most effective. Place this scarf on the back of your chair and then put your head back; you will find it soothing and calming. In all cases it is advisable to wear natural fibres because they allow the body to breathe. This not only refers to the exchange of air, but also to the exchange of the finer color energies in and out of the body.
As far as your make-up or lack thereof is concerned, certain cosmetic psychologists claim that a woman can feel better about herself by adding particular colors to her face, and so begin a cycle of well being. Using cosmetic colors can appear to alter the dimensions of your face by changing the color of your hair, skin, lips and eye make-up. Real confidence, of course, springs from within and a naturally glowing face is the result of good health and diet, as well as happiness and wellbeing - the inner harmony on which color practitioners work.

Defining your Colouring

REDHEAD TYPES

• Green eyes, copper-bronze complexion and brown hair with red or golden highlights.
• Teal-blue eyes, peach complexion and dark auburn hair.
• Topaz-colored eyes, copper complexion and auburn hair.
• Amber-colored eyes, freckled complexion and carrot-red hair.

Your complementary colors are the warm earth tones of terracotta, amber, russet, bronze, olive and forest-green, and softened with cream and ivory.

BLONDE TYPES

Pale Blondes

• Green-blue eyes, pale skin, flaxen blonde hair.
• Teal-blue eyes, pinky complexion, darkening blonde hair.
• Light blue eyes, ruddy complexion and brown-blonde hair.

Your complementary colors are soft and subtle like mushroom, pink, camel, sand, apricot, mauve and blue as well as dark colours such as burgundy, imperial purple and junior navy blue.

Golden Blondes

• Blue-green eyes, peach complexion and strawberry-blonde hair.
• Turquoise-blue eyes, creamy complexion and golden hair.
• Hazel eyes, golden complexion and dark blonde hair.

Your complementary colors are soft but rich like coral-pink, peach, beige, mid-purples, blues, yellows and chocolate-brown.

BRUNETTE TYPES

Light-Skinned Brunettes

• Blue eyes, pink complexion and brown-black hair.
• Hazel eyes, whitish complexion and jet-black hair.
• Grey-blue eyes, beige complexion and silver-grey hair.
• Brown eyes, light olive complexion and medium-brown hair.

Your complementary colors are rich and vibrant like bright red, orange, pink, purple, green and silver. White looks crisp and fresh on you.
Dark-Skinned Brunettes

• Dark brown eyes, brown complexion and black hair.
• Brown eyes, golden-brown complexion and brownish-black hair.
• Grey eyes, light brown complexion and dark brown hair.
• Dark hazel eyes, mahogany complexion and brown hair.

Your complementary colours are the rich and vibrant shades of cobalt-blue, red, pink and lavender as well as the soft, subtle shades of lemon-yellow and pale blue.

The Color of Life

Celebrate Life... in full color!

Color is a vital force, it is a manifestation of the Divine Mind, the original cosmic vibration. We relate to color through sensation and translate what we can see by how we feel and react towards a specific color. With every word, thought and action you enrich your life with colors.

The way you love and learn is color itself.

Throughout life we use them as a cues for interpreting what we see, grey hair tells us of middle age; grey landscapes speak of cities; a red apple tells us of ripeness; a red traffic light brings us to a halt.

The spoken word is perhaps our most creative expression.

Color is also strongly linked with emotions, the emotions add color to the words and often render the literal meaning useless while managing to get the message across clearly. By describing people as "green with envy", "purple with rage", "yellow with cowardice", or "seeing red", we are using common color associations that may have more truth than we realize. These associations are only a small part of our lifelong relationship with colour.

We live by the rhythm of color.

We live by the rhythm and tempo of color changes indicating the passage of time and the cycle of the seasons. For instance as the day passes, the daylight colors change, the deep blue of the sky before dawn gives way to the paler blue light that permeates mornings, this is followed by the more yellow hue of the afternoon and then the red light of the evening when the sun sets. These changes can be so gradual and steady that they are barely noticeable, but nonetheless they color our awareness of the passing day.
However, many of us live in houses that offer light at any time of the day or night, and heat or coolness throughout the year, and so to some extent we lose contact with the natural rhythms of the daily and yearly cycle.

Each day you are touched by the color of humanity and nature.

The air you breathe, the ground under your feet, the Sun, the Moon and the stars - all are vibrating their own particular color essence that both sets them apart and unites them with you as one, in the essence of life itself. Being able to use colors consciously and harmoniously can help you create spectacular results on all levels. Visualizing and meditation with color is very powerful if it is worked with regularly.
Even seasons highlight very different colors, with the fresh, brand new greens of spring darkening as summer progresses, and then providing an inferno of orange, yellow and gold as autumn settles in only a few months later. Winter launches into an austere note, with few remaining vibrant colors, and sometimes a smattering of snow that eradicates the lingering green, reducing the outlook to a simple contrast between darkness and light.

Colour is the celebration of life!

If you travel to any part of the world you can see this celebration in action. People from all walks of life are creating a colorful existence in all manner of ways: painting their faces, performing rituals, telling stories, creating statues and monuments, designing costumes and fashion clothes, staging theatre and musical productions, inventing objects, enhancing their environment and so on.
History too tells colorful tales through archaeological sites, architecture, art and literature. Today we marvel at the cleverness of people who created the Pyramids and the Parthenon thousands of years ago.
Light and its constituent, color have a strong effect on physical, mental, and emotional levels whether we realize it or not and color can be used to help heal many aspects of your life.

Celebrate life, celebrate color!

How does Color work in healing?

 

The way color energy works in healing can be likened taking vitamins. Color is like vitamins, if you had a vitamin E deficiency for instance, you would increase your intake of vitamin E. On the other hand if you had an excess of vitamin E then you would decrease your intake of vitamin E. You would do the same with color energy.
For example, if you need to lose weight, you need more blue energy, increase the blue in your life or do you suffer migraine headaches? Not enough red or indigo energy, increase the red or indigo in your life. This can be very successfully done by visualization and meditation with color.
To further explain how healing with color works, is that the eyes convert light into energy, which travels through our nervous system, and affects all bodily functions. When light strikes the human eye, the wavelengths do so in different ways, influencing our perceptions. In the retina, the wavelengths or colors are converted into electrical impulses which is directed to the hypothalamus gland (link between the nervous system and the endocrine system). It then goes to the pineal gland, which directs it to the pituitary gland. The pituitary governs and regulates hormone production. The brain processes this information, which causes the cellular and hormonal changes to occur.
Studies have shown that when color is introduced to the human system it causes cellular and hormonal changes. This can bring the cells into synchronization or balance.
Color is energy and the fact that it has a physical effect on us has been proved many times in experiments. One of these experiments is done with blind people and when they were asked to identify colours with their fingertips they were all able to do so easily due to the stronger the underlying physical effect of the shorter wavelengths.
You can positively affect many areas of your life and health, through color therapy. The chart below is based on the findings of colour researchers such as Theo Gimbel, Dr. Morton Walker, Dr. Max Luscher and Dr. Howard Sun. They found that consistent exposure to a color (in clothing, décor, etc.) can be very helpful emotionally and psychologically.

Color Chart - Emotional and Psychological Effects

Color	Positive	Negative (too much exposure)
Red	Stability; Vitality; Courage.	Insecurity; Anger; Stubbornness.
Scarlet	Passion; Emotional response.	Pre-occupied with sex; Weakness.
Orange	Confidence; Sociability; Fun.	Fearfulness; Dishonesty; Untidiness.
Yellow	Optimism; Joy; Originality.	Pessimism; Greed; Slyness.
Lime	Tidiness; Generosity.	Tiredness; Over-exertion.
Green	Balance; Rejuvenation.	Doubt; Hesitation.
Blue	Peace; Clarity; Innovation.	Insensitivity; Power-seeking.
Turquoise	Tranquillity; Refreshment.	(no side effects found)
Indigo	Inspiration; Purpose; Insight.	Apathy; Sadness; Depression.
Violet	Inspiration; Creativity; Art.	Arrogance; Superiority.
Purple	Serenity; Depth; Mysticism.	Mistrust; Negative about self.
Magenta	Emotional balance; Love; Truth.	(no side effects found)
Pink	Softness; Delight; Compassion.	Weakness; Over-sensitivity.
Brown	Earthiness; Denseness; Nature.	Heaviness; Too grounded.
Black	Protection; Roundedness.	Dark; Lacking in compassion.
White	Spiritual guidance; Light.	(no side effects found)
Gold	Opulence; Divinity; Power.	(no side effects found)
Silver	Acceleration ("quick silver")	(no side effects found)

What is Color?

Finally... Color EXPLAINED!

 

Color comes the spectrum of light (the dispersion of light energy versus wavelength), as it is reflected or absorbed in other words when light hits an object, some of the wavelengths are absorbed and some are reflected, depending on the materials in the object and the reflected wavelengths are what we perceive as the object's color.
Color is light and most of this light comes from the sun. This visible light which is part of a wider spectrum of energy that surrounds us, interacts with our eyes which in turn translates the energy of light into signals - nervous impulses - that the brain then interprets as "seeing".
Visible light is split into seven wavelength groups vibrating at different speeds and different frequencies. To further explain - the long wavelengths are the reddish colors, the greenish colors are the mid-size wavelengths and the short wavelengths are the bluish colors, see color wheel diagram here.
These wavelenths of energy, to us, appear as color due to the potential and capabilities of objects to either absorb (objects that ABSORB all wavelengths and DO NOT reflect any of these wavelengths, will be seen as black) or reflect (objects that REFLECT all wavelengths in other words reflecting everything, will be seen as white) the energy.
It is between black and white that COLOR lies. These are the colors you see in a rainbow known by the mnemonic ROYGBIV or in England is most commonly refered to as "Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain" which references the colors in order i.e. red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.

Colors affect us in numerous ways and is active on all levels of our being - mental, emotional, physical and spiritual. A strong red color has been shown to raise the blood pressure, while a blue color has a calming effect.
Being able to use colors consciously and harmoniously can help you create spectacular results on all levels. Visualizing and meditation with color is very powerful if it is worked with regularly.
The chemistry of color involves pigments and combinations.

Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Colors

Primary Colors Primary colors are sets of colors that can be combined to make a useful range of colors. For human applications, three primary colors are usually used and they cannot be made up from any other colors: Blue, Red and Yellow	Secondary Colors Each secondary color is made from the two primary colors closest to it on the color wheel and are formed by mixing equal parts of the primary colours as follows: Red + Blue = Violet, Blue + Yellow = Green and Yellow + Red = Orange	Tertiary Colors These are formed by mixing a primary colour with a secondary on a ratio of 2 to 1 and are: Blue-Green, Yellow-Green, Yellow Orange, Red-Orange, Red-Violet and Blue-Violet
Complementary Colors These are those which, when mixed together in the same proportion produces grey and are opposite one another e.g. as follows: Red - Green, Violet - Yellow, Blue - Orange. etc.	Warm Colors Warm colors are vivid and energetic, and tend to advance in space. They tend to make you think of sunlight and warmth and are in the color range of Red, Orange and Yellow.	Cool Colors Cool colors give an impression of calm, and create a soothing impression. They might make you think of cool and peaceful things, like winter skies and are in the color range Blue, Green and Violet.

Color - Energy Messenger of the Universe

 

We are born into a world of color, bathed in color all our lives. It is a sensory experience, there is no escaping it, it is visual and more often than not our first point of reference, even if it is sub-conscious... it is ever-present.
Early in our lives we learn to interpret our environment as much by color as by shapes or sounds. To give you an example... our response to colour is so basic that, until the age of about five or six, sometimes even later, if asked to sort out shapes we would automatically divide them according to color, rather than their shape. We grow up surrounded by color not only in our homes but also in the environment.
We make choices that are intuitively influenced by color everyday. Color coding guides our travels, our administration and such practical details as electronic wiring. It gives us information about much of our environment; it even helps us to locate ourselves geographically, by the hue of the local stone, for example, or the tones of the colors in the landscape.
We dress in colorful clothes, eat colorful foods... color not dominates our senses but that of the animal kingdom as well. How many different animals or birds can you list that select their mate on color?
Are we as humans that different? Think of women when deciding whether to go blond or brunette, applying their make-up, with all colors carefully considered and chosen to make them attractive and to make them feel good, not much different is it?
How many of you have experienced the joy and wonder when looking at a magnificently glorious sunset maybe even felt depressed on a grey cloudy day or felt a sense of peace, calm and relaxation when gazing across the great expanse of a tranquil deep blue lake surrounded by the rich, vibrant green of mother nature?

These feelings are your reaction to the different vibrational energies of color. In our universe everything is defined by color, right down to our moods. (Ever been in a black mood?)
Even though we tend to think of color as a purely physical phenomenon experienced by our sense of sight alone, as a form of energy, color is active on all levels of our being - mental, emotional, physical, spiritual - and because different colors vibrate at different frequencies it plays an important role in many energy healing modalities.
Due to the importance of color in our lives and in the Universe, color healing is part of most energy healing techniques.

• Angel Healing - Archangels vibrate to different color rays.
• Aromatherapy Healing - Each aromatherapy oil projects its own unique colour vibrations.
• Aura Healing - Your Aura colors not only reflect your emotions but also has significance on a physical, mental and spiritual level.
• Healing with Candles - Coloured candles have a great influence upon our health, thoughts, and actions.
• Chakra Healing - Chakras act like doorways through which emotional, mental and spiritual force flow into your physical expressions and each chakra vibrates to a color.
• Crystal Healing - Qualities like; the chemical make up, the structure, shape, hardness and luster focus the energies of crystals in certain ways, but color is one of the keys as to how a crystal heals, hence the flexibility of colored gemstones.
• Color Healing - There are numerous ways to heal with color for example Coloured Lightening, Coloured Silks, Colour of Clothing, Coloured Sheets, Solarized Water, Colour Breathing, Coloured Scents, Aura Soma, Coloured Foods, Coloured Candles, Crystals and Colour, Healing Colour Touch and Visualization and Meditation with Color.
• Reiki Healing - A safe, gentle, non-intrusive hands-on healing technique for use on yourself or with others, which uses spiritual energy (universal life force energy, white or violet light) to treat physical ailments without using pressure, manipulation or massage.

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Candles and Healing Lay-outs

Using candles the following lay-outs are some examples you can use in a healing room, either for yourself or others, together with any other holistic system or you can use it, as is, for self-healing.

The Triangle is an amplifier, it increases the power of healing force of whatever colour you are using.	The Square stabilizes the entire physiological system of an individual, calming, settling, grounding and focusing the basic life force of the colour being used.
The Cross balances and aligns.	The Pentagram strengthens.
The Six-rayed Star links the mind and heart for overall healing.	The Seven-rayed Star is the most healing of the layouts and is especially good for children. It balances and aligns the Chakras so that the healing colour can do its work most effectively.

Healing with Coloured Candles

 

Coloured candles have a more meaningful significance than simply a decorative value. Their therapeutic and healing effects must never be underestimated. The various colors have a great influence upon our health, thoughts, and actions. The proper choice of color is of the utmost importance for one's success (see list below) when burning candles and when combined with prayer and faith, lighting and burning coloured candles can produce miracles.
The colour of the candle and it's vibration is activated, released and amplified when it is lit. As the candle burns, the colour is released into the surrounding areas and affects those in this area. For instance lighting a candle in a healing room, during a healing, will enhance all the energies; both in the room as well as in the patient. You can also light a candle in remembrance of someone that passed on or to light their way to the next world.
Two examples jump to mind here, the Catholics as well as the Jews light them for the departed, secondly in times past the wife of a sailor would put one in the window to light the way home for her husband.
You can light a candle to power up any intention following the simple rules for their use. The colour of the candle that you use, is determined by your intention or the kind of healing needed. For example lighting a white candle for love, light and gratitude in your life or lighting a green one for more abundance and prosperity in your life. Consult the list on which coloured candles corresponds to different conditions and intentions given below.

Coloured Candles and Colour Therapy

Red

The red coloured candle are a symbol of love and health and the attainment of ambitions. It is the colour of passion and sexual potency which are expressions of our primal life force. It also helps to create a new reality.

Pink

Its a symbol of love and stimulates forgiveness of self or others. It awakens a consciousness of clean living and honor and helps you come to terms with emotional vulnerability. It stimulates purity of intention and it can awaken a vision of truth and success.

Orange

Orange coloured candles are a joyful and magnetic and a symbol of joy and creativity. It can help to attract new people, resources, animals, and other things you want in your life. When looking for the right connection as far as your career or a healing treatment is concerned orange is a good colour to use.

Yellow and Gold-Yellow

Yellow strengthens the mind and gives us the power to "hang in there" when all odds are against us. In it we can learn to see the fulfillment of our desires. The gold shades assist in understanding and stimulating dream activity.

Green

This is the candle of growth and movement. It balances the energies of the body and mind. Green triggers past-life recall and is therefore very advantageous to locating the true source of an ailment. It can stimulate greater youthfulness, abundance and fertility.

Blue

Is a symbol of spiritual understanding. It awakens our innate abilities to perceive and helps to balance and align ones ethics. It is essential for those in business. It is also a symbol of life, and it awakens within the consciousness a greater faith in life's processes. Blue is powerfully healing for children. It has also been known that blue candles have been burned in various rituals to bring in quick money.

Violet and Purple

These are symbols of spirituality, power and mastery. They awaken success, elevation and attainment of spiritual desires. These candles help develop inner peace. When burned with a silver candle it facilitates communication with the deceased.

White

Its a symbol of purity and power. It amplifies the effects of any other colour it is burned with. It promotes purity and stimulates balancing, cleansing and progressive change. Unless it is an extremely cheap one, when a white candle smokes, it indicates that the negativity in the area is being burnt off. When the smoking ceases, the area is cleansed.

Black

Is very powerful. It helps to protect you from negative thoughts. It is very useful when you are going through a divorce or difficult time at work and is most effective when burnt with a white one. Too much black can manifest depression, however if burnt with a white or yellow candle it will help avoid the deepening of depression.

Grey and Silver

Is a symbol of clarity and stimulates intuitiveness related to past lives. You can meditate upon it to see how best to initiate new activities. It awakens that level of the subconscious mind that is aware of how the wheels of life are turning for you. It awakens our most innate primal intuition.

Brown

Brown is neutral. Its grounding and provides certainty in life. It can awaken greater discernment and certainty. It can also be meditated upon to help uncover lost articles. It is a colour associated with St. Anthony who is the patron saint of lost things.