by Diantha Harris | April 2017
Detail from Indian Sari, Great Thaar Desert, photographed by Diantha Harris
(Originally published in Conscious Design Ezine for March 2017)
In this month of leprechauns and rainbows, two colors seem to emerge that represent this month of March: gold and green. Green is of course the signature color of St. Patrick and leprechauns, whereas gold is that color we seek at the end of the Rainbow! So let us take a moment to explore these two happy colors that accompany the anticipation of spring.
Green is, of course, the color we most associate with nature. It represents growth, life force, and movement forward. It is also the color of the heart center and is the fulcrum in our body’s energy system. There are three warm color centers below the heart (red/base, orange/sacral, yellow/solar plexus) and three cool color centers above it (blue/throat, indigo/third eye, purple/crown). It is from the heart that we seek to live our lives, but we often get pulled upward and live in our heads, or downward and live in our bodies. Still, it is a worthwhile effort to settle into living from our hearts for when we do, we can more easily assimilate our mission in life and live out our life’s purpose.
The challenge side of green is envy. When green is out of balance it can cause us to have feelings of envy and jealousy. It can cause us to be inflexible and bitter. It can cause us to waver off our path and be distracted from our purpose.
To keep a color in balance you can wear it, eat it, see it, smell it (essential oils), or hold it. Green is easy as it is readily available in all these ways. A nice green oil is cedar, which will also keep your space smelling fresh and clean.
Gold is a color that lies between our sacral center (orange) and solar plexus (yellow) and so contains both of those colors in its makeup. Orange contains yellow and red so we have a heavy dose of yellow in gold along with a dash of red. Yellow is the color of happiness but gold is the color of deep joy. Yellow is also the color of the ego while gold is the color of our soul’s purpose. Red is the color of energy and passion while gold is the color of dedication to our soul’s reason for being as it brings the energy in to fulfill that purpose.
Gold is the area of the body, which, in color therapy, we refer to as the Dan Tien or center of the body. It is that area that holds the treasure of who we are in the very depths of our being. It is the “gold” or treasure of who we are.
In the gold is our worth, our value. It is indeed a treasure, for each of us is unique and each of us has something of value to contribute to this world. In its challenge it can mean unexplained fear, but when it is in balance it is deep, gut knowledge, that knowing that we get that is also unexplained but we just “know”. We must pay attention to this “knowing” for when we do not, we always pay a price.
When you are unbalanced in the gold you may have a feeling of worthlessness, or be disconnected from your soul and your “knowing”. You may be deeply worried or fearful of something. To rebalance the gold you can do as outlined above in green. A nice gold oil is mandarin but I also love using frankincense.
When we mix these two colors together we get a brownish color that reminds us of our foundation, or being grounded and practical. Using these two colors in March will enhance our entire lives as the green will keep us heart centered and on track, and the gold will keep us connected to that deep knowing and to the core of our being.
Enjoy this prelude to spring and reinforce your life and your mission by using these two wonderful colors in concert with each other.
by Diantha Harris | October 2016
Fall Colors
“How beautiful leaves grow old,
How full of light and color are their last days.”
John Burroughs
Even though we are now full time Floridians, there is still anticipation in my heart for fall, my favorite season. I have so many wonderful memories of fall and fall colors while growing up and then while raising our family. I always loved the return of cooler temperatures, the chance to wear a sweater again, the bright cheerful fall leaves, the crunch of walking through fallen leaves.
One of the best things is, of course, the colors of the leaves as they change from green to both vibrant and subdued colors. These color changes inspire people to travel to northern climes to take “color tours”. When we lived in Northern Michigan we saw scores of tour buses meandering the area taking in the colors, stopping to purchase apples of all colors and bright orange pumpkins, and sipping cider to wash down delicious warm apple doughnuts fresh from the kitchens of the roadside stands.
Some of the most vibrant colors of fall are in the red-orange-yellow part of the spectrum. The Evergreens provide a beautiful backdrop for these vivid colors and the brown of the oaks and other trees provide a lovely counterpoint to the vividness of their more showy neighbors.
The explosion of color in fall, this effusive display of color, comes just before winter, when things are quieter, the colors muted into whites, grays, dark browns and blacks. But most people greet fall with an excitement inspired by this array of warm colors that appeals to the eye and the soul as well.
Have you ever thought about why this is? The colors themselves, being in this warmer end of the spectrum, are indeed imbued with the ability to excite our nervous system. Our bodies literally react to these bright colors with an increase in heart rate, and a rise in our body temperature. The warm colors speed up our systems and elevate our spirits. It is no wonder that many people say fall is their favorite season. For the most part we feel more alive thanks to the effect warm colors have on our bodies.
FALL COLOR FAMILIES:
As you yourself experience fall, think about what each color family in this warm spectrum means:
Reds: This color connects us to the earth, helps us to ground, assists us in manifesting, inspires passion, and excites our systems more than any other hue. There are many shades of red in fall colors from deep reds even into purples and into the bright, bright reds of sugar maples.
Orange: This color against a cobalt blue fall sky is one of my favorite sights. I can’t tell you how many hundreds of photos I have taken over the years of orange leaves against a clear, deep blue sky. Perhaps that is because over the years I have learned to love orange, the color of community, creativity, connection as well as the color we use to heal trauma and overcome challenges. It is a juicy color that just makes me happy, and rightly so as it is the color of bliss, very Joseph Campbell like.
Yellow: This hue is associated with fall in my mind as the color of school buses and goldenrod. As a child I hated to see goldenrod bloom because it meant those carefree summer days were coming to an end and we would soon be back in school. I liked school, but I loved summer. Yellows make us happy too and they help us assimilate things from foods to knowledge. Adding yellow to a student’s environment will help them remember what they are studying.
Green is not strictly a fall color, but it is present in the fall as the backdrop for the bright colors. Green is the bridge from the warm to the cool colors and in our chakra system it is also the color of the heart, the center of our energy centers. As such, I decided to include it here as I find it a great part of the Divine plan that in the background of all the fall’s feverish colors, green provides the base, the grounding if you will, for all this energy. Green provides the heart beat of the season, the steadying influence. In spite of all the frivolity of fall colors, green is still there, still steady, still the frame for the scenes in front of our eyes.
We may as well speak to Brown as well for fall colors do contain this earth color. They may not take center stage but brown is even earthier and more grounding. It doesn’t scream for attention but rather goes about its job as being the anchor and the more serious influence doing its job well but quietly. It is friendly and doesn’t care if the colors around it create a fiesta, for it knows well enough that those colors need their quiet backdrop in order to shine more brightly. Just as a star or a politician needs a quieter partner, someone to steady them, someone to keep them grounded and anchored, so, too, do browns provide this for their showier sisters and brothers. After all, if everything were a bright vibrant hue, with no contrast, we could not appreciate the liveliness in those colors. And if everyone were a star or politician, there would be no one to watch or hear him or her. Our friend brown provides this contrast brilliantly.
With this in mind, then, I hope you enjoy your fall and seeing the colors as you move through each day.
© Diantha Harris
October 2016
