What does your favourite colour (or least!) say about you?
When my son was 2 we decided to paint his bedroom. I asked him what colour he wanted his walls to be and before the question had left my mouth, he had the answer: Orange.
I admit, I was at a personal impasse. Orange is my least favourite colour and after staring at paint swatches of all shades of orange, I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I chose a bright baby blue instead. I figured he was 2, he wouldn’t notice or remember.
Boy, was I wrong. He had a tantrum that matched the hot orange of his desire and remained angry on the topic for a good year. Orange was and still is his go-to colour. He’s 9 now and will still choose orange t-shirts, shoes and if I let him, walls to sleep within.
I find it fascinating that he loves orange with such certainty, and that I disdain it with equal clarity. Especially since its close neighbour, red, has always been my best loved colour.
There is no doubt that there is a universality to the meaning of colour that guides cultural traditions, trends and encompass healing modalities such as chromotherapy, otherwise known as colour therapy. But I also believe our colour preferences tell us something about our unique personality, what makes me me and you you.
One thing that is unique to each of us and is often described with colour is our energy body, otherwise known as our auric field.
In our foundational course, Level 1, we work with students to develop their intuitive gifts, such as clairvoyance and clairsentience, coaching them on how to perceive an aura. It’s important to note that auras are rarely one fixed colour, typically they move and change, often compared to what we see in the Aurora Borealis. Having said this, many people have colours that appear consistently in their aura, which may tell us about that individual’s unique energy signature.
Instead of looking in a “aura colours” book, I decided to use my intuitive gifts to get a sense of my aura colours. After all, there are nuances in colours that are important to address. We say “orange” and “red”, but any painter or designer will press you to be more specific: The difference between burnt orange and creamsicle orange, or fire-engine red and burgundy!
In meditation, I tuned to the energy around my body with my clairsentience. I resonated with the feeling of certain colours and mapped out what I sensed in my aura: lilac purple, pearlescent pink, flickers of canary yellow and….what?! ORANGE! My aura was filled with orange! Bronzy, molten orange! And no sign of red! Fascinating.
Could it be that I have an aversion to the colour orange because I already have so much of it in my energy field?! And maybe I love red because it brings me balance and nurtures what is not innately within me? What an unexpected result of my research!
So what do these colours actually mean? In the traditional Eastern system of Energy Chakras, which describes 7 key energy centres of the body, each chakra has a designated colour. The first two chakras are the colours in question: Red for the root chakra, whose focus is passion and grounding and orange for the second chakra, which is for relationships and creativity.
I’m an artist, relationships and creativity are a huge focus in my life, it makes sense that there is so much orange in my energy. And red – I am for sure a passionate person – but anyone who knows me will tell you I can always use a bit more grounding!
As mentioned before, there are nuances in colour and my exploration into what the colours of my aura really signify will continue in my meditation practice. There are lots of great references out there, but doing the research within first is always the best place to start.
Respond in the comments: what does your favorite (or least!) say about you?