By Linda Wiggen Kraft
The living colors and shapes of flowers send powerful beauty and energy into the world. Although a flower’s main purpose is to attract pollinators, humans are also attracted to and caught in a flower’s allure.
A large part of a flower’s attraction is the fact that flowers create living colors. Yes living colors. The colors in our homes mostly come from synthetic color pigments. Perhaps a few objects are naturally colored, but most likely the only living colors are the plants and flowers.
Because flowers are living, they share the energy of life. They have the ability to change light into chemicals that produce colors. Plants get their colors from pigment molecules in their cells. These molecules are chlorophyll, carotene, flavonoids and betalains. They produce all a plant’s colors. These molecules are part of the seemingly alchemical process of photosynthesis.
Flower colors speak to us on physical, emotional and spiritual levels. We know from science that colors have an impact on our bodies. Babies often develop jaundice, indicative of liver malfunction. The cure is blue light phototherapy. Sunlight, containing all color wave lengths, shines on our skin and vitamin D is produced.
The emotional power of a flower’s colors and shapes is known by our reactions to a flower’s beauty. We love flowers in gardens or in the wild. Even grocery flowers in their plastic wrap can set our hearts aflutter. All flower colors have emotional power. It’s not a random occurrence that red roses are the flower of Valentine’s Day. Red is the color or passion, fire and heat. The association of red roses goes back to Aphrodite, the Greek Goddess of love and divine beauty. She later became the Roman Goddess Venus. In ancient Greece a person could summon Aphrodite’s power by envisioning oneself in Aphrodite’s mirror of transformation, which was adorned with red roses. The shape of the spiraling overlapping petals of a rose, matches the movement of Venus and Earth around the sun. In floral arrangements the meaning of other colors can convey a emotional message. According to some florists, pink speaks of love and gentleness. Blue is a color of serenity, truth. Yellow is happiness. Purple means grace and refinement. Orange is passion for life. Green is youth and optimism. White is humility, purity and innocence.
The spiritual colors of flowers relate to those energies unseen by most eyes. The subtle energy of chakras has become common cultural knowledge. They are where matter and consciousness meet. The seven chakras are aligned from the base of the spine to the top of the head. Each chakra has a specific energy of consciousness and color association. The rainbow colors travel up the body starting with red at the base of the spine and ending with violet at the crown. Colors have a unique vibrational essence that corresponds to the vibration of each chakra. Red is the color of the base chakra, which carries the energy of groundedness, security and stability. Having a red flower nearby strengthens the root chakra’s vibrations of these qualities. Flowers with colors of corresponding chakras enhance vibrations, energies and qualities of those chakras in our lives. Orange is the color of the sacral second chakra with its energy of creativity and manifestation. Yellow is the color of the solar plexus third chakra with its qualities of will power and self-esteem. The heart chakra is the central chakra that bridges the lower chakra of matter with the upper chakras of spirit. Its power is love and color green. The fifth chakra is the throat chakra. It is blue, the color of communication of the highest truth. The sixth chakra with deep indigo color is the home of intuition, the third eye. The highest chakra is violet, located at the crown of head. It carries the energy is enlightenment and spiritual connection.
Let their living colors of flowers enliven and enhance body, mind and spirit year round. Be with them in bloom times outdoors and bring them indoors in cold of winter.
Linda Wiggen Kraft is a landscape designer who creates holistic and organic gardens. She is also a mandala artist and creativity workshop leader. Blog and website are: www.CreativityForTheSoul.com. (314) 504-4266.