SHEN DAO

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The use of colour

We perceive light in two ways, direct or indirect (reflected) and it is predominately the brains translation of reflected light that gives us the ability to see objects around us. The brain translates the frequencies of those light waves (fast, slow and in-between) to give us the illusion of colour.

People tend to think of colour as being 'attached' to the thing they are looking at, however, if you think about it the vibrations that we translate as colour must be in the space around us (i.e. travelling through the air) in order for us to receive them. Therefore, we live in a constant sea of differing vibrations that affect us in differing ways, whether as sight, taste, smell or touch, all of them are energy vibrations.

Herein lies another interesting idea. Someone once asked me if colour was important in a home if you are blind. The answer, based on the above, is definitely yes! As a blind person your brain may not be translating those frequencies that we associate with light into images, but the frequencies are still there and the blind person is still immersed in them. Similarly, deaf people may not be able to hear sound yet they can 'feel' it, try going to a 'drum and base' gig and you will feel the music just as much as you will hear it.

The ancients tried to understand colour in relation to their world view, at that time the Five Element modality. They looked at how the vibrations that make up colour interact with each other and they placed them, accordingly, on the wheel of life.

The model on the left is part of the Chinese Five Element understanding of energy. Here you can see five colours arranged in a wheel, the arrows show how one affects the other in a never ending dance of life. This wheel has a multitude of associated attributes that govern everything from the directions that energy comes from to the flow of energy through your vital organs. So, for a Feng Shui practitioner colour is not only important to the balance of a room but to the very well being of the individuals involved.

Feng Shui identifies within a room a 'principal' function that governs how we use the colour wheels, so, the principal function of a bathroom is to 'drain', but the function of a kitchen is to 'feed'. Accordingly, based upon the compass directions of the room we may well drain an easterly bathroom with yellows and yet feed a westerly kitchen with the same colour. As such, the importance of direction should never be overlooked in invoking the correct colour balance for a room.

The use of colour in Feng Shui is enormous and isn't restricted to your home. The cycles can be applied to anything that has colour, like your clothing and is also used in many types of therapeutic healing. So, the next time you pick up a tin of paint think about what those vibrations will be doing!