The Magic Therapy of Colours: Holistic healing through colours

By A. R. Hari

In vogue since ancient times, colour therapy has now come of age as a holistic method of treatment. Global research justifies the application of colour in many disorders. Administered by a trained practitioner, colour therapy is safe, complementary to other systems and relatively inexpensive in India. Modern man spends most of his life cooped up within homes, offices or automobiles. Thanks to the odd hours they keep, some people even spend a few months without being exposed to sunlight. The body and mind are casualties when we miss out on the invigorating colour vibrations present in nature. The good health of the ancients was partly because they allowed all colours in nature to energise their bodies by being outdoors during the day. Having a proper balance of healthy colours in the interiors of our homes and offices can partly rectify this shortcoming. The Magic Therapy of Colours outlines the history of colour therapy, modern methods of utilising colour and the areas it is beneficial in. The book is an invaluable guide for those seeking holistic benefits from colour therapy.

• Language: English
• Publisher: V&S Publishers
• Release date: Apr 1, 2012
• ISBN: 9789350573112

A. R. Hari

A.R. Hari is a qualified engineer and an author. He has written books on Vaastu, Feng, Shui, Pyramids and Pendulum. The application of subtle forces for improving health has been an important principal and in his books, the author has discussed how Vaastu, Feng, Shui Pyramids and the Pendulum can contribute in their own way towards improving and maintaining goods health.

Book preview

Chakras

The History of

Colour Therapy

White colour consists of seven different colours and can be split into its constituent colours by using a prism.

The seven colours that make up white light are:

Violet

Indigo

Blue

Green

Yellow

Orange

Red

The ancient Egyptians believed that their God Thoth was the one who developed healing with colour. The ancient Greeks were also using colour to treat various diseases. They had come to the conclusion that the human body contained various coloured fluids - like bile (yellow), blood (red), phlegm (white) and so on. They thought that these were connected with the functioning of the spleen, the heart, the liver and the brain and believed that good health resulted when these humours were present in the right proportion.

In an effort to cure a person of his illness, they used coloured garments, coloured plasters and the like.

In the first century AD, Aurelius Cornelius developed the doctrine of medicine established by Hippocrates where he mentioned the use of coloured ointments and coloured flowers in medicine.

Arab philosopher and physician Ibn Sina (AD 980-AD 1037) expounded the theory of colour healing in his book Canon of Medicine and was the first to indicate that red colour improved the quality of blood, white colour purified it and yellow colour reduced pain and inflammation. Known as Avicenna in the West, Ibn Sina recommended potions of yellow flowers to cure bile disorders and red flowers to cure blood disorders. He also gave contraindications for colour usage, wherein he advocated a ban on red colour in case of haemorrhoids.

Theophratus Bombastus von Hohenheim - a renowned healer, popularly known as Dr Paracelsus (1493-1541) - openly confessed he had gained his knowledge about the laws and practices of colour medicine from conversations with witches. In medieval times, witches were strongly dealt with by the Church and ordinary citizens were forbidden from having contact with them. Dr Paracelsus regarded light and colour as very essential to maintaining good health and used them therapeutically by exposing herbs and preparing elixirs to treat various conditions. He was successful in treating a variety of ailments by his methods and people from all over Europe visited him seeking cures.

During the Middle Ages, colour therapies lost credibility with the rapid strides made by science, which placed colour therapists in a difficult situation since they could not satisfactorily explain how colours achieved healing.

Rationalism, reason and appraisal became critical factors for the acceptance of a finding. Only what was certain and evident was accepted and whatever was doubtful was rejected. Gradually, the emphasis changed from the spiritual to the material. Medicine concentrated on the physical body, entirely ignoring the mind and spirit. Advances in surgery, the discovery of powerful antibiotics such as penicillin and their phenomenal success simply pushed healing systems like colour therapy into the distant background.

All the same, research in colour healing continued to survive in odd pockets, although it had lost much of its significance and no longer attracted public interest.

In 1876, the Frenchman Augustus Pleasanton published a book, Blue and Sunlight, in which he claimed that grapes grown in greenhouses with alternate blue and transparent panes of glasses increased the yield. He also claimed that blue light could treat disease and pain in humans. He credited colours with other attributes such as increased fertility in animals and physical maturation.

Another distinguished physician of the times, Dr Seth Pancoast published Blue and Red Lights in 1877, wherein he endorsed the findings of Augustus Pleasanton. In 1896, the book Principles of Light and Colour, published by Edwin Babbitt, became one of the most popular books of the time. Babbitt identified various colours with the organs and systems that they primarily affect. For example, red colour was identified as a stimulant of blood and yellow and orange as nerve stimulants. Blue and violet were identified as soothing and anti-inflammatory. Based on these qualities, red colour was recommended in chronic rheumatism, yellow as a laxative, blue in inflammatory conditions, etc.

He developed various devices and named them Thermolume', which used colour glasses to produce coloured light, and ‘chromo-disk', which centred a coloured light beam on desired parts of the human body. Babbitt also developed the method of exposing water to various coloured lights and claimed that consumption of this water could cure various diseases. This method of treatment is still in

Reviews for The Magic Therapy of Colours

[mehranerezvani · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I read this book and believe is one of the best books about color therapy