It has been proposed that each of the various colours identified in the spectrum of sunlight possesses a distinctive remedial attribute, capable of influencing the physical system of the human body. A principal belief of the colour therapist is that, for each major organ of the body, light of a specific colour or intensity is able to stimulate or inhibit or heal its functioning.
Some 1,500 years ago, coloured gems were used therapeutically, and it is believed that 'colour halls' were in use for such purposes in ancient Egypt, China, Indian and Greece. The physiological influence of colour in one's surroundings was discussed at some length by J.W. von Goethe (1749-1832) in his 'Theory of Colours' (Zur Farbenlehre), first published in 1810.
A pioneer of modern colour therapy was Niels Finsen 1860-1904). Following the discovery (in 1877) of the bactericidal action of solar ultraviolet energy, Finsen studied the possibility of assisting the healing of wounds with visible light. He subsequently founded a Light Institute in Copenhagen for the photo-treatment of tuberculosis.
The artist Fernand Leger (1881-1955), the educator Rudolph Steiner (1861-1925), and the surgeon Charles Iredell (1877-1961), later became enthusiastic participants in the search for a 'cure through colour'. After the First World War, Leger proposed 'green and blue wards for the nervous and sick, others yellow and red to stimulate the depressed and anaemic'. Steiner lectured the medical profession, praising the virtues and safety of colour healing in harnessing natural defences within the body. Iredell, a consulting surgeon at Guy's Hospital (1907-17) published a book, Colour and Cancer (1930) documenting many cures using coloured lights only, either singly or in sequence.
Regarding changes that might be experienced by observers, in red illumination, and perhaps to a lesser extent in orange or yellow light, one might well experience an increase of muscular tension. As a consequence of the release of various hormones into the bloodstream, including adrenalin, blood pressure may increase and the heartbeat quickens. Increased oxygen intake (following a faster rate of respiration) coupled with an increase of haemoglobin in the blood cells will in turn raise body temperature.
Conversely, on exposure to green, or especially blue and violet light, one may tend to experience a release of muscular tension, a slowing of heartbeat and a slight lowering of body temperature. After a period, which will vary between individuals, the activity promoted by a specific colour tends to be reversed: blood pressure increased by red light becomes more than normally depressed, and blood pressure lowered by blue light may subsequently register an abnormal rise, before the body regains its equilibrium.
While the major function of the eye and brain would appear to be the sensing of light to distinguish objects, a small proportion of retinal nerve endings have been isolated the function of which seems not to be related directly to vision. Fibres lead directly to the pineal and pituitary glands, and it would appear that the presence of non-visual pathways may represent a biological trigger which influences significantly the release of hormones and other organic substances within in the human body.
RO
References
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Faber Birren (1969), Light, Color and Environment. New York.
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Copyright © 1998 Roy Osborne. 