William B Stoecker
The colors
September 5, 2012 |
4 comments
Image Credit: CC 2.5 Wing-Chi Poon
Color, more than any other one thing, is what makes the world beautiful. And colors have an emotional effect on people, and, over the years, human beings have come to assign symbolic, even magical meanings to certain colors, although not everyone agrees on what meaning to give each color, nor which ones are more beautiful...most of us have a favorite color. Nowhere is this more obvious than in the flags of various nations. Various symbols adorn many of these, and some of the symbols have magical or religious significance. But the main factor distinguishing one flag from another is the color. Most flags have two or three, often brilliant primary colors; a few have four or more colors. Flags, especially in a military setting, are often referred to simply as "the colors."
Some of the more common meanings assigned to various colors are, for red, courage, battle, lust, pain, rage, rebellion, fire, and danger. Notice that red, like most colors, has both positive and negative meanings. Proceeding through the spectrum, orange can signify energy, excitement, joy, and wisdom. Yellow often means fear, joy, intuition, knowledge, or warmth. Green connotes calm, freshness, generosity, relaxation, or reproduction. For blue some of the meanings are calm, authority, dignity, faith, peace, or depression. Purple is the color of royalty or aristocracy, but also fantasy, femininity, homosexuality, and spirituality. Black can signify elegance, power, mystery, or evil, and for white some of the meanings include cleanliness, purity, peace, innocence, or sterility.
Plato said that the buildings of Atlantis were constructed of white, black, and red stones. Jet black stone, like the volcanic glass known as obsidian, is rare (and obsidian is hard to work), but another and more common volcanic stone is basalt, which is typically a very dark gray. Other volcanic stones have a reddish color, as does some sandstone if it contains iron oxides (like much of the sandstone in America’s Colorado Plateau region). Some volcanic stone is whitish, but the most common white stone is limestone, or marble (metamorphosed limestone). I point all of this out because the German Nazi flag was red, white, and black, with a swastika...an ancient magical symbol. It was perhaps inspired by the pre-Nazi North German Confederation flag, adopted in 1866, which, in turn, derived its colors from the black and white Prussian flag and the red and white Hanseatic League flag. Yet the Nazis were obsessed by the legend of Atlantis and its "Aryanized" version, the myth of Ultima Thule (for which the occult Thule Society was named...and they created the Nazi Party). In the Nazi flag white symbolizes nationalism, and red the Nazi revolution, and black would have to symbolize power...and, secretly, evil.
Roughly 25 of the world’s flags are red, white, and blue, including the US flag and those of England, Russia, France, the Netherlands, and Chile. A few others are mainly red, white, and blue, with other colors as well. In the US flag, red is commonly assumed to mean valor; white means purity; and blue signifies perseverance and justice. Note that the stars on the US (and many other) flags are pentagrams, an ancient magical symbol for the astrological connection between human beings and the stars. The stripes represent the thirteen colonies, but thirteen is also the number in a coven of witches.
Among the nations with red, white, and green flags are Italy, Algeria, and Mexico, although the Mexican flag, with its cactus and eagle, has other colors as well. Egypt and some four other countries have red, white, and black flags, like the Nazis, and most of them are rather repressive Middle Eastern countries. This may or may not be significant.
And, sometimes, some things may be less of a mystery than they seem at first. I began my research for this article convinced that the color blue had some very special and truly magical meaning. Not only is it one of the three colors on the US and many other flags, but the Masons use the term "true blue," which may actually have originated with seventeenth century Scottish Presbyterians, who used it to connote loyalty. The first three degrees of Freemasonry are often referred to as the blue degrees. The French have the phrase "sacre bleu," meaning "sacred blue," and a blue ribbon is given as a first prize. A few Hindu gods and demons are sometimes depicted in paintings with blue skin. And of course, aristocrats are often referred to as "blue bloods." There have been several attempts to explain this, but one of them makes sense. The term seems to have first been applied to the Spanish nobility who had never interbred with Jews or Moors, and were so pale skinned that the blue of their veins could be seen. So much for my suspicion that blue skinned aliens or demons might have inspired all of this.
Yet, nevertheless, the color blue has real significance...as do all the colors.[!gad]Color, more than any other one thing, is what makes the world beautiful. And colors have an emotional effect on people, and, over the years, human beings have come to assign symbolic, even magical meanings to certain colors, although not everyone agrees on what meaning to give each color, nor which ones are more beautiful...most of us have a favorite color. Nowhere is this more obvious than in the flags of various nations. Various symbols adorn many of these, and some of the symbols have magical or religious significance. But the main factor distinguishing one flag from another is the color. Most flags have two or three, often brilliant primary colors; a few have four or more colors. Flags, especially in a military setting, are often referred to simply as "the colors."
Some of the more common meanings assigned to various colors are, for red, courage, battle, lust, pain, rage, rebellion, fire, and danger. Notice that red, like most colors, has both positive and negative meanings. Proceeding through the spectrum, orange can signify energy, excitement, joy, and wisdom. Yellow often means fear, joy, intuition, knowledge, or warmth. Green connotes calm, freshness, generosity, relaxation, or reproduction. For blue some of the meanings are calm, authority, dignity, faith, peace, or depression. Purple is the color of royalty or aristocracy, but also fantasy, femininity, homosexuality, and spirituality. Black can signify elegance, power, mystery, or evil, and for white some of the meanings include cleanliness, purity, peace, innocence, or sterility.
Plato said that the buildings of Atlantis were constructed of white, black, and red stones. Jet black stone, like the volcanic glass known as obsidian, is rare (and obsidian is hard to work), but another and more common volcanic stone is basalt, which is typically a very dark gray. Other volcanic stones have a reddish color, as does some sandstone if it contains iron oxides (like much of the sandstone in America’s Colorado Plateau region). Some volcanic stone is whitish, but the most common white stone is limestone, or marble (metamorphosed limestone). I point all of this out because the German Nazi flag was red, white, and black, with a swastika...an ancient magical symbol. It was perhaps inspired by the pre-Nazi North German Confederation flag, adopted in 1866, which, in turn, derived its colors from the black and white Prussian flag and the red and white Hanseatic League flag. Yet the Nazis were obsessed by the legend of Atlantis and its "Aryanized" version, the myth of Ultima Thule (for which the occult Thule Society was named...and they created the Nazi Party). In the Nazi flag white symbolizes nationalism, and red the Nazi revolution, and black would have to symbolize power...and, secretly, evil.
Roughly 25 of the world’s flags are red, white, and blue, including the US flag and those of England, Russia, France, the Netherlands, and Chile. A few others are mainly red, white, and blue, with other colors as well. In the US flag, red is commonly assumed to mean valor; white means purity; and blue signifies perseverance and justice. Note that the stars on the US (and many other) flags are pentagrams, an ancient magical symbol for the astrological connection between human beings and the stars. The stripes represent the thirteen colonies, but thirteen is also the number in a coven of witches.
Among the nations with red, white, and green flags are Italy, Algeria, and Mexico, although the Mexican flag, with its cactus and eagle, has other colors as well. Egypt and some four other countries have red, white, and black flags, like the Nazis, and most of them are rather repressive Middle Eastern countries. This may or may not be significant.
And, sometimes, some things may be less of a mystery than they seem at first. I began my research for this article convinced that the color blue had some very special and truly magical meaning. Not only is it one of the three colors on the US and many other flags, but the Masons use the term "true blue," which may actually have originated with seventeenth century Scottish Presbyterians, who used it to connote loyalty. The first three degrees of Freemasonry are often referred to as the blue degrees. The French have the phrase "sacre bleu," meaning "sacred blue," and a blue ribbon is given as a first prize. A few Hindu gods and demons are sometimes depicted in paintings with blue skin. And of course, aristocrats are often referred to as "blue bloods." There have been several attempts to explain this, but one of them makes sense. The term seems to have first been applied to the Spanish nobility who had never interbred with Jews or Moors, and were so pale skinned that the blue of their veins could be seen. So much for my suspicion that blue skinned aliens or demons might have inspired all of this.
Yet, nevertheless, the color blue has real significance...as do all the colors.
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