Color Meaning and Symbolism

Color is fundamental to human

perception: therefore a knowledge of
color meaning is one of the primary
elements necessary to understanding
the symbolic dimension of the created
world.
We are accustomed to speak of the seven
colors of the rainbow. This is in line with the
many other "sacred sevens", all of which
have their fount and origin in the seven
fundamental Powers of being.
However, upon immediate examination, it
seems apparent that we should really speak
of six colors, as demonstrated by the color
wheel shown here
!ed, "range, #ellow, $reen, %lue and &iolet.
This se'uence is made up of the three primary colors plus the three secondary colors.
(fter purple, the circle naturally returns to red.
The seven)color rainbow is made up by adding to the three primary and three
secondary colors a single tertiary color indigo.
*ogically, however, if tertiary colors are to be
introduced at all, the se'uence should be one
of twelve colors including all primary,
secondary and tertiary colors.
+s the traditional notion of seven colors, then,
in error,
-ertainly not. "ne fundamental division of
seven is ./0 as exemplified in the six
directions of physical space 1the four
compass)points plus up and down2 plus the
seventh, transcendent or non)spatial
"direction" which gives rise to all space and
which is the passage beyond the world of
space.
+n terms of color meaning or symbolism, the six directions are represented by the six
natural colors while the seventh "color" is the pure white light from which the colors
are differentiated.
The "seventh color" may also be seen as black, or the darkness from which all color
proceeds. (nd this is not a contradiction with our previous statement, for if we see the
six colors arrayed as a six)spoked wheel 1which is precisely the Wheel of Werde or the
samsaric world of time)space2, then we see the three dimensional world in a two)
dimensional figure, while the axle, or axis, that passes through the centre of the wheel
exists in a dimension outside material space.
This axis is "black" or "white" depending upon whether one considers the portion of it
"below" our world 1leading in the tamasic direction toward inferior domains2 or that
portion "above" our world 1leading in the sattwic direction toward our 3other $od and
the superior domains2.
4onetheless, all seven Principles influence the manifest world and it is necessary for
each to be represented hence a certain ambiguity in the traditional six5seven
color schema
*et us, then, comment briefly on each color meaning
Yellow is the nearest color to pure white light. +ts color meaning is representative
of 6ai !aya the 6un. +t is the non)metallic representation of gold, and thus the symbol
of the 6pirit Herself. Where the three gunas are represented by the primary colors
1rather than white, red and black2 yellow is sattwa.
Orange mixes the pure light 1pure insofar as a this)worldly reflection can be pure2 of
yellow with the fiery tendency of red. +t represents 6ai 3ati, the 7ivine +ntelligence. +n
some symbolic systems orange becomes the symbol of 6ai !aya 1who combines heat
and light ) red and yellow2 and yellow of 6ai 3ati. This corresponds to the patriarchal
perspective which makes Woden the king of the gods or to %uddhism, which makes the
avatar of budhi, the 7ivine intelligence 1from the same root as Woden, with b for w5v2
its primary principle, dressing its acolytes in saffron robes.
Red is the color of fire. +t denotes the extreme of activity and thus is at the furthest
remove from the non)action of heaven, expressed in the dictum "8arth moves but
Heaven is still". Where sattwa and tamas are symboli9ed by white and black
respectively, red may signify ra:as, for red is, in a sense, the epitome of color, being of
all colors the most vivid ) that which produces the maximum of vibrations in the eye.
6ince conflict is the nature of the material world of continual flux and change, it is
natural that red should be the color of 6ai &ikh;
Violet combines the hotness of red with the coldness of blue. +ts color meaning
connects it with that world of duality which is the lunar and psychic domain ) moon
standing between sun and earth, soul between spirit and body. +t is the color of the
$reat 3ediatrix, 6ai -andr<
lue is the color of heaven. +t is the color of =uno and of 3ary, >ueen of Heaven. +t is
the color of e'uilibrium and impartiality 1being the color devoid of all "heat"2. +t is the
color of rule, :udgement, order and measure, thus its primary color meaning is clearly
the principle of 6ai Tham;
!reen is the color of generation. +t is the color of 6ai 6ushuri and, as we have
explained in &enus, $oddess of *ove, there is a deep connexion between the
generation of all things and the primordial *ove)Principle.
Color Meaning and Symbolism continues after break
With green we naturally return to yellow on the color wheel. The color that is "left out"
is the tertiary color indigo the color of 6ai !hav;. This is in keeping with the
mysterious and extra)worldly character of that =anya, whose colors are also brown,
black, dark gray and all relatively "colorless" colors.
This is a brief summary of the fundamental principles of color meaning. 3uch more
might be said on each of the colors as well as on many intermediate shades.
However, the present survey should be sufficient to indicate the metaphysical character
of color and the nature of color meaning.
6ee also
The 6even $oddess)Principl