Blue is the color that symbolizes the spiritual. Since blue
is the color of the sky, it is, likewise, the color of heaven.
In ancient Egypt it was associated with the God of heaven,
Amon Ra. It is considered a color of stability, which explains
why Zeus and Jahve stand on an azure. Blue amulets are believed
to neutralize "the evil eye". The Nordic God Odin's
cape is blue and so is Virgin Mary's cloak. Virgin Mary has
been called the Blue Lily in the poetic language.
In the bible, Blue signifies the celestial love of truth,
because blue is the color of the sky and is thought to signify
truth from a celestial origin, which is truth from God.
In Indian mythology, Lord Vishnu is blue in his incarnation
as Krishna. Jesus is often depicted wearing blue cloths. Blue
is the symbol for God's truth and eternity, and because of
that it will always be the sign for immortality.
In ancient China people had different views about the blue
color. Traditional art creatures with blue faces are either
demons, ghosts or the god of literature, "K'ui-hsing",
who once committed suicide due to an unfulfilled ambition.
Originally there was no word for the color blue in Chinese,
except for "ch'ing" that stood for all the shades
from dark gray through blue to green. The word "ch'ing"
was even used for the "life/way of life" of a scholar
or learned man. The modern Chinese word for blue, "lan",
means indigo, which is prevalent color for work uniforms in
present day China.
In contrast to the popular red rose of the new world, in
Europe the blue flower is romantic and associated with high
spirits of the human mind. In traditional symbolism for Central
Europeans, the blue color stands for fidelity and also for
something that is mysterious. For example, the tale of "the
blue light" is deceptive and unsafe.
In French, the word "bleu" is used as a substitute
for the word "Dieu", which means God, as swearing
was punishable in the Middle Ages by death. As such, swear
words such as "morbleu", "sacrebleu" and
"parbleu" become popular substitutes. The French
royal family was associated with the color blue, because blue
was associated with a celestial origin, and the royal family,
like many royal families, also claimed to stem from this origin.
As such the royal family was referred to as "de sang
bleu" or godly blood. Even today, a substitute expression
for aristocracy is "blue blood".
In Israel the color blue has special meaning. It is displayed
prominently in the flag of Israel as a reminder of the sea
which reflects the sky. It suggests that the protection of
the Almighty is always over us.
In ancient Mexican scripts with drawings, turquoise and water
are given a light blue-green color, but in the symbolism for
heaven, the blue color has no function.
There are sayings related to the blue color, like "it
came out of the blue", about something that was not expected.
This can be linked to the mysterious aspect of the blue color
or to the sky, as "it came out of the blue" can
be as if something did fall from the sky, implying that the
causal force was "beyond" anything visible or predictable
- literally out of the Heavens.
Blue can symbolize the universal or collective unconscious
or the power of the conscious mind. Dull blues can be linked
to depression - a.k.a. 'the blues'. Blue can be associated
with willpower or the control of self. At an advanced level
of mystical or spiritual awareness, blue could represent the
primal energy from which the universal life-force stems. Jung
says that blue has a positive meaning of nobility or tranquillity
and a negative meaning of depression.
When we wish to emphasize the honesty and integrity within
another we refer to them as TRUE BLUE.
Further, the arcane expression BLUE BLOOD, used to describe
a Royal or Aristocratic authoritarian, indicates "special
- untouchable" - therefore "totally protected".
Consider our propensity to formally uniform our peace and
law enforcement personnel in the color BLUE. It is a modern
day substantiation that we do subtly understand how to make
visible those that we have entrusted to protect us, and uphold
the most highly esteemed of our values - integrity and honesty.
|
