THE SEVEN COLOURS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 83, 8 April 1933, Page 3 (Supplement)

THE SEVEN COLOURS.

Even the names of the seven colours of the rainbow have a magical sound, so it was inevitable that ,with time, special meanings should have been given to each, violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange and red —the seven fundamental colours, each having a separate significance.

Black and white are apart, and cannot be made from the seven primary colours. All others are merely a blending of the seven tints of the rainbow.

The ancients classed the colours with the seven planets, and each was symbolic of a precious stoVie and a mineral. As colours have impressed all races with very much the same ideas, their meanings may be considered universal.

Most nations have chosen white as the emblem of purity. Red for war and tumult. Black for death, though not always for the mourning. Black as a colour signifies prudence, wisdom and constancy. It stands for the planet Saturn, its metal is lead and its stone the diamond. Only in art does black" ■signify evil, and in the terrible pictures of the Middle Ages the devil is painted black, sometimes with a red tail.

White is the .colour of the moon, silver is its metal, and it signifies truth, hope and purity. The pearl, which has been treasured as a jewel from the beginning of time, represents white.

Blue is the colour of chastity and fidelity. It is represented by the sapphire, its metal is tin, and it stands for the planet Jupiter, or Deity.

Green is the colour of joy, hope, youth, Jove and eternity. It is represented by copper, and it stands for the planet Venus. The emerald „is its stone. In

Christian church ornaments green means gladness and resurrection. . Red is the colour of the planet Mars, its stone is the ruby, and it is believed to have extraordinary effects on the emotions. It has been said that previous to many wars red has been the dominant and fashionable colour, stirring up the passions of the.people and inciting them to rebellion. It is the colour of discord, and has always been the emblem of the dissatisfied, the resentful. It is the danger signal, too, just as green— ! erroneously called the "unlucky" colour —is the symbol of safety. Gold, orange and yellow are the colours of intellect and wisdom, and they represent the sun. Violet and purple are the colours of the planet Mercury, and signify royalty; these colours are supposed to have a psychic influence on' mankind, and are also used in the church. There is a theory that each human being creates colour in the form of an aura or halo, similar to those pictured round the heads of saints, and the character of the person shows in the colour of the aura which some people actually sec. The reason why some people are antagonistic to certain colours is supposed to because these colours do not blend with their temperaments. However that may be, there arc few women who will deny the fact that they "feci better" in some colours than in others. A pompous individual went into a school to put the children through their paces in geography. He began: "What is the capital of 'Olland ?" "H!" was the crushing rejoinder from someone in the back row. j