The 11 Basic Colors

 

The 11 basic colors have fundamental psychological properties, which are universal. Each of them has potentially positive or negative psychological effects, and which of these effects is created depends on the relationships within color combinations.

There are four psychological primary colors: red, blue, yellow, and green. They relate respectively to the body, the mind, the emotions, and the essential balance between these three. There are also seven colors relating to the chakras. 

RED: Root Chakra

Element: Earth

Psycho-spiritual level: This color gives us courage and strength and relates to stability and security.

Positive Aspects: Physical courage, strength, warmth, energy, basic survival, “fight or flight',
stimulation, masculinity, and excitement.

Negative Aspects: Defiance, aggression, visual impact, and strain.

General Aspects: Being the longest wavelength, red is a powerful color. Although not technically the most visible, it has the property of appearing to be nearer than it is, and, therefore, it grabs our attention first. Hence, its effectiveness in traffic lights the world over. Its effect is physical—it stimulates us and raises the pulse rate, giving the impression that time is passing faster than it is.

It relates to the masculine principle and can activate the "fight or flight" instinct. Red is strong and very basic. Pure red is the simplest color, with no subtlety. It is stimulating, lively, and very friendly. At the same time, it can be perceived as demanding and aggressive.

Healing Properties: It is said that red is warm and stimulating. It can be used in anemia or whenever you are feeling cold and pale with chilled extremities. It is also said to be good for ultraviolet and x-ray burns and frostbite. Red is also said to be a liver stimulant and a counterirritant (to bring internal inflammations to the surface).

Nutrients: vitamin B12, acidity.

Blue: Throat Chakra

Element: Ether

Psycho-spiritual level: This color relates to self-expression—speech, communication, and the ability to communicate our needs and requirements. Spirit of truth and purpose.

Positive Aspects: intelligence, communication, trust, efficiency, serenity, duty, logic, coolness, reflection, and calm.

Negative Aspects: coldness, aloofness, lack of emotion, and unfriendliness.

General Aspects: Blue is the color of the mind and is essentially soothing. It affects us mentally, rather than the physical reaction we have with red. Strong blues will stimulate clear thought, and lighter, soft blues will calm the mind and aid concentration. Consequently, it is serene and mentally calming. It is the color of clear communication.

Blue objects do not appear to be as close to us as red ones. Time and again in research, blue is the world's favorite color. However, it can be perceived as cold, unemotional, and unfriendly.

Healing Properties: Blue is said to be cooling, strongly anti-inflammatory, and antiseptic. It is also said to be good for stopping bleeding and reducing fever and pain. Blue is also said to be good for relaxing, slowing the pulse, and reducing high blood pressure, and it is valuable for underweight and overactive people.

YELLOW: Solar Plexus Chakra

Element: Fire

Psycho-spiritual level: Yellow relates to self-worth—how we feel about ourselves and how we feel others perceive us. This is the area of the personality, the ego, the intellect, and the self-confidence.

Positive Aspects: Optimism, confidence, self-esteem, extraversion, emotional strength, friendliness, and creativity.

Negative Aspects: Irrationality, fear, emotional fragility, depression, anxiety, and suicide.

General Aspects: The yellow wavelength is relatively long and essentially stimulating. In this case, the stimulus is emotional. Therefore, yellow is the strongest color, psychologically. The right yellow will lift our spirits and our self-esteem.

It is the color of confidence and optimism.

Too much of it, or the wrong tone in relation to the other tones in a color scheme, can cause self-esteem to plummet, giving rise to fear and anxiety. Our "yellow streak" can surface.

Healing Properties: Yellow is said to be a strong stimulant and energizer for muscles and nerves, for nerve building, and in nervous exhaustion. It is said to be good for energizing the alimentary tract and stimulating digestion, the flow of bile, gastric juices, pancreatic activity, the lymphatic system, the heart, indigestion, constipation, eyes and ears, and diabetics. It is also said to generally activate all bodily functions, except those of the spleen, which is sedated.

Minerals: magnesium, molybdenum, and sodium.

GREEN: Heart Chakra

Element: Air

Psycho-spiritual level: This chakra relates to love/self-love—that is to say, the ability to give and take unconditionally. When balanced, we are able to give love and also to love and nurture ourselves, warts and all.

Positive aspects: harmony, balance, refreshment, universal love, restoration, reassurance, environmental awareness, equilibrium, and peace.

Negative aspects: boredom, stagnation, blandness, and enervation.

General Aspects: Green strikes the eye, in such a way as to require no adjustment whatsoever and is, therefore, restful. Being in the center of the spectrum, it is the color of balance—a more important concept than many people realize.

When the world around us contains plenty of green, this indicates the presence of water and little danger of famine, so we are reassured by green, on a primitive level. Negatively, it can indicate stagnation and, incorrectly used, will be perceived as being too bland.

Healing Properties: Green is said to be good for stimulating the pituitary gland and encouraging muscle and tissue building. It is said to be good as an anti-congestive, germicide, and disinfectant. It is also said to be a help for ulcers, wound healing, skin improvement, burn pains, headaches, and neuralgia.

VIOLET - Crown Chakra

Element:  None

 

Psycho-spiritual level: Violet relates to self-knowledge and spiritual awareness. It is the union with your higher self, with spirituality and your higher consciousness. It is the highest color in the visible spectrum. It has a very calming effect on us and is, therefore, very helpful for those experiencing sleep difficulties or stress. However, it can be contraindicated for those suffering from depressive disorders.

Positive aspects: Spiritual awareness, containment, vision, luxury, authenticity, truth, and quality.

Negative aspects: introversion, decadence, suppression, and inferiority.

General Aspects: The shortest wavelength is violet, often described as purple. It takes awareness to a higher level of thought, even into spiritual values.

It encourages deep contemplation, or meditation. It has associations with royalty and usually communicates the finest possible quality.

Being the last visible wavelength before the ultra-violet ray, it has associations with time, space, and the cosmos. Excessive use of purple can bring about too much introspection, and the wrong tone of it communicates something cheap and nasty faster than any other color.

Healing Properties:

Violet is said to be soothing and good for relaxation. It is said to stimulate the spleen and build white blood cells. Violet is also said to sedate the heart and muscle activity, calm hyperactive people, and suppress the appetite. It is said to be a help for overactive kidneys, bladder (bed-wetting), nerve disorders, and insomnia.

Pink: High Heart Chakra

Element: Air

Psycho-spiritual level: This color is the giver of love in the material realm. It helps to transform old fears, negativity, and insecurities that hold one back from opening the heart.

Positive Aspects: Physical tranquility, nurture, warmth, femininity, love, sexuality, and survival of the species.

Negative Aspects: inhibition, emotional claustrophobia, emasculation, and physical weakness.

General Aspects: Being a tint of red or pink also affects us physically, but it soothes rather than stimulates. Pink is a powerful color, psychologically. It represents the feminine principle and survival of the species—it is nurturing and physically soothing.

Too much pink is physically draining and can be somewhat emasculating.

Healing Properties:

Pink is said to be beneficial for general health and healing, i.e., bones, joints, kidneys, the uterus, and physical heart issues.

ORANGE:  Sacral Chakra

Element: Water

Psycho-spiritual level: Orange relates to self-respect, that is to say, having the ability to give ourselves the freedom to be ourselves and to respect our own boundaries and requirements and, by the same token, having respect for the boundaries of others. Orange is the color of creativity and we should give ourselves the space to have creative time, just for us.

Positive Aspects: Physical comfort, food, warmth, security, sensuality, passion, abundance and fun.

Negative Aspects: Deprivation, frustration, frivolity and immaturity.

General Aspects: Since it is a combination of red and yellow, orange is stimulating and the reaction to it is a combination of the physical and the emotional. It focuses our minds on issues of physical comfort - food, warmth, shelter, etc. - and sensuality. It is a “fun' color.

Negatively, it might focus on the exact opposite - deprivation. This is particularly likely, when warm orange is used with black. Equally, too much orange suggests frivolity and a lack of serious intellectual values.

Healing Properties: Orange is said to be a good respiratory stimulant, useful for weak lungs and overweight and under active people, with an under active thyroid (energizes thyroid and sedates parathyroid).

Orange is also said to be good for relieving spasms and cramps, stimulating stomach and digestive disorders, relieving flatulence and distension, stimulating the bladder, kidneys, liver, pancreas and rheumatism during non-painful periods.

Minerals: boron, calcium, copper, selenium and silicon.

INDIGO : Brow Chakra

Element: Light

 Psycho-spiritual level: Symbolizes intuition, meditation and deep contemplation.

Positive Aspects: Highly intuitive, a faithful sense of unity, a fearless devotion to duty, articulate and a practical idealist.

Negative Aspects: Separateness, fearful, intolerant, impractical, judgmental, inconsiderate and easily depressed.

General Aspects: Indigo relates to responsibility to oneself, to follow the soul's path and needs and trusting one's own intuition. The ability to see things from a “higher' viewpoint, rather than purely for satisfaction of the ego or one's material comfort.

Healing Properties: Indigo is said to be a good sedative, pain reliever and astringent. It is also said to stimulate the parathyroid and sedate the thyroid. Indigo is also believed to be helpful for hemorrhoids, varicose veins and improving the immune system, during infections.

 

 

Basic Color – GREY

Psycho-spiritual level: Grey is the only color that has no direct psychological properties. It is, however, quite suppressive.

Negative Aspects: Lack of confidence, dampness, depression, hibernation and lack of energy.

General Aspects: A virtual absence of color is depressing and when the world turns grey, we are instinctively conditioned to draw in and prepare for hibernation.

Unless the precise tone is right, grey has a dampening effect on other colors used with it. Heavy use of grey usually indicates a lack of confidence and fear of exposure.

Healing Properties: Grey is the only color that is said to have no direct healing properties. However, when used with other colors, it can reduce their effect, if required.

Basic Color – BLACK

 Although red is the most accepted color associated with the root chakra, energy healers believe that the root chakra may also be associated with the colors black, brown and grey.

Healing Stones: Black stones (ie all dark colored stones - Black, Brown and Deep Grey) are all associated with the root chakra. Some stones used being: Black or Red Onyx, Garnet, Smoky Quartz. Dark colored stones are very grounding; they deepen our connection to all things physical.

Psycho-spiritual level: It creates protective barriers, as it absorbs all the energy coming towards you and it enshrouds the personality.

Positive Aspects: Sophistication, glamour, security, emotional safety, efficiency and substance.

Negative Aspects: Oppression, coldness, menace and heaviness.

General Aspects: It communicates absolute clarity, with no fine nuances. It works particularly well with white. It communicates sophistication and uncompromising excellence.

Black is essentially an absence of light, since no wavelengths are reflected and it can, therefore, be menacing - many people are afraid of the dark.

Healing Properties: Black is said to be helpful for relieving pain, stomach ailments, foot and intestinal problems.

Basic Color – WHITE

Psycho-spiritual level: It activates clarity of thought, mental discipline and focus. It is an excellent color for those who are too ethereal and for those involved in business, or any decision-making process.

Positive Aspects: Hygienic, sterility, clarity, purity, cleanliness, simplicity, sophistication and efficiency.

Negative Aspects: Sterility, coldness, barriers, unfriendliness and elitism.

General Aspects: just as black is total absorption, white is total reflection. In effect, it reflects the full force of the spectrum into our eyes. Thus, it also creates barriers, but differently from black - and it is often a strain to look at. It communicates "touch me not!'

White is purity and, like black, uncompromising - it is clean, hygienic and sterile. The concept of sterility can also be negative. Visually, white gives a heightened perception of space.

Healing Properties: White is said to be good for the relief of pain and for strengthening the bones.