Giving Us the Blues: A Soul's Journey Through Hue and History
Taking a more personal approach on the "Color Coping" series. This week? Blue.
Hi friend,
I wanted to take a different approach on the way I have been studying colors and it’s only necessary that I look at them in a way related to my own life and experiences..
The Enigma
Blue is a color that's everywhere but nowhere. It's in the sky stretching forever above us, in the depths of oceans that seem to swallow light whole. Blue is something that I can't quite wrap my head around…it's omnipresent yet so damn elusive.
I find myself staring into the hues of blue, wondering what makes it so captivating. Is it because it's rare in nature, only showing up in fleeting glimpses? A butterfly's wing, maybe a scattered petal here and there? Or is it something deeper, more primal, like it's connected to the very essence of our souls?
Blue in My Life
There’s this book, "Journey of Souls" by Michael Newton, and it talks about blue being one of the most developed soul spirits. A student of that spirit may emanate a more intense yellow, while a younger soul will glow with a brighter white light. That idea resonates with me…the wise harboring a blue hue that vibrates at a higher frequency than others, but is lower in intensity. Calm. It’s like when I'm gazing into deep waters or losing myself in a cloudless sky, there's this magic, this ethereal quality that just... calms the storm inside me.
But blue it's full of contradictions! It's the color of authority…cops in their uniforms, the whole "blue lives matter" thing, those stark WWII soldier outfits. But then it's also the color of the oppressed with the indigo-dyed clothes of sharecroppers, the "black and blue" marks left by violence. It's like blue can't decide which side it's on!!
Blue speaks to this duality in me: a burning desire for freedom and the crushing weight of existence.
Looking to the Past
The history of blue is actually quite mysterious. Our ancestors, painting their stories on cave walls, didn't even have a word for this elusive hue. It was the last basic color to be added to the English language! The ancient Egyptians were so obsessed with capturing the essence of sky and divinity that they created the first synthetic blue pigment. Even in ancient Greece, Homer described the seas as "wine-dark." That phrase haunts me, you know, because the ocean is pretty terrifying considering its depth. It's so rich with…uncertainty.
Maybe that's why blue hits me so hard. It's a color of becoming, of transformation. It's gone from being associated with barbarians in ancient Rome to symbolizing royalty and divinity in Western culture. It's like blue's gone through this metamorphosis that mirrors our own evolving consciousness.
Through art and culture, blue puts on an epic saga of human striving. Imagine grinding lapis lazuli into Cleopatra's eyeshadow, or the painstaking creation of ultramarine for religious icons. Each step is like a testament to our need to capture and control this elusive hue. It's beautiful and a little tragic.
Effects of Blue
Lately, I've noticed this new emotion that comes when I stop listening to the spirit within me. It’s like a lost connection and I want to say I feel numb, but it's something that feels much worse. Is this what it means to have "the blues"? To be lost in a sea of emotion so vast and deep that it swallows all other feelings? Or even thoughts?
In our modern world, blue is everywhere—uniforms of authority, logos of tech giants, the fabric of our everyday clothes. It's supposed to speak of trust, professionalism, and calm. But I can't help but wonder if in this spread of use, we've lost something of its mystery, its power to evoke the beyond.
I take mental note of people who seem “normal”. The ones living in between extremes. Personally, I could never live like that. I need to walk on a tightrope, with a net of fire underneath to feel something, or to fill something. Blue, in its intensity and its subtlety, offers this tricky balance.
As I sit here reflecting on blue, I'm amazed by its ability to hold contradictions. It's a color of sadness and serenity, of the divine and the mundane. It suppresses our appetite yet nourishes our soul (yes, avoid it when cooking…or not). It's the color of fidelity in love and the hue of infinite possibility.
Thoughts
In the end, maybe blue isn't just a color, but a state of being. A space between breaths, the moment before dawn, the depth of emotion that defies words. It's a reminder that even in our most rocky moments, there's a vast world within us, a sky of infinite possibility. In embracing the blue within and without, perhaps we can find a harmony between the depths of our emotions and the boundless supply of our potential.
I pray you find comfort in the blue spaces…both literal and metaphorical. For in the end, we're all part of this grand, blue marble spinning in the unbounded limbo of space, each of us a unique shade in the infinite spectrum of being.
And you know what? Maybe that's okay. Maybe being a bit blue, a bit uncertain, a bit lost in the vastness…maybe that's what makes us human.
Artist Spotlight: Delita Martin
Blue Across Different Cultures:
West: calm, tranquil, trustworthy, harmony, wisdom, spirituality; representing water, sky and infinity
India: the color of Krishna, a deity; seen as divine, truth, and eternity; religious ceremonies
Japan: water and wisdom
Egypt: sky god horus, both masculine and feminine; creation, rebirth, protection, harmony; blue worn by royalty
Islam: transcendence, heaven, divine truth. blue mosques and tiles remind worshippers of the divine + spiritual realm
Judaism: heavens, divine truth
Christianity: heaven and divine purity, the Virgin Mary, hope and fidelity, humanity of Jesus Christ, God’s healing and grace
Fun Facts:
Blue flowers don’t exist, but are a combination of plant pigments and minerals mixed with light. They are actually purple, lavender or a cool red.
Blue clothing was a status symbol in the Middle Ages because of lapis lazuli’s high price. The stone look like it held a miniature world inside.
Lapis lazuli was purchased by art patrons because it was so expensive.
Michelangelo’s “The Entombment” is unfinished because the Virgin Mary is to be ultramarine, but he didn’t have enough money.
Blue light suppresses the production of melatonin; it promotes alertness and makes it hard to sleep.
Indigo dye made from the indigo plant was the main source of blue until the19th century; it was very labor intensive and costly.
Indigo is associated with the third eye and throat chakra.
Blue is also associated with Monday and the moon.
Homework
Books are the past, present, and future, holding knowledge for generations to come. They can’t continue to rewrite history forever.
Check out these libraries on Are.Na I’m saving:
xoxo,
Daleicia <3