Color has long been recognized for its therapeutic value and for the effect it has on human emotions and physical well-being. Color therapy, or chromo therapy, draws upon the therapeutic value of colors to heal and provide relief from emotional and physical ailments. Alternative treatment therapists apply color through visualization and suggestion to heal and balance energy related to physical, spiritual, mental or emotional imbalances.
History
Ancient Egyptians and Greeks attributed the healing power of color to the god Thoth who was believed to use color in healing. These ancient people used color in a wide variety of ways to promote healing. Salves and dyes, made from colored minerals served as remedies for physical and emotional ailments. Gems, stones and crystals placed strategically were thought to promote healing. Treatment rooms painted in various colors designed to heal specific ailments adorned sanitariums. The belief that health required a proper balance and that illness signified an imbalance triggered the use of color to restore the proper balance to the body.
Effects
The practice continued until the Middle Ages when Christianity denounced it as paganism and forbade Christians from participating in such practices. Those who practices color therapy faced persecution, but the tradition survived by oral tradition passed on in secrecy.
Time Frame
During the Renaissance, healing with color revived. Paracelsus (1493 to 1541) regarded as a great physician throughout Europe focused on color as vital to healing. After the Middle Ages, an emphasis on scientifically proven methods caused a decline in color as a therapeutic tool. By the early nineteenth century, medicine focused on the physical body and dismissed treatments designed to meet the needs of the mind and spirit. In 1876, Augustus Pleasanton published his works on the use of color on the growth of grapes in a green house with alternating clear and blue glass. He claimed the size, yield and flavor improved with the addition of blue light. He also reported cure of disease and pain with the use of blue light. His work was dismissed as unscientific. In 1877, Dr. Seth Pancoast advocated the value of color in healing in his book, "Blue and Red Lights." In 1878, Edwin Babbit's publication of "The Principles of Light and Color" received worldwide attention.
Function
Pancoast identified red as a stimulant, blue and violet as soothing with anti-inflammatory properties and yellows and oranges as nerve stimulants. He invented the Chromo Disk to funnel and localize light to specific parts of the body. He also used colored glass to produce colored light. He filtered light through colored lenses to create therapeutic water reported to have healing properties. By the end of the century, red light was used to prevent scarring from smallpox and TB patients were treated with sunlight and ultraviolet rays.
Theories/Speculation
The use of color therapy to heal and to promote well-being continues to be shunned by the medical profession, but is practiced as a form of alternative medicine with remarkable success.
Tags: blue light, color healing, Middle Ages, promote healing, proper balance