Chromatherapy - Healing with Colour

   by Catherine M.

Colour is visible light...energy. Different colours represent different energy waves, each vibrating at a different speed and frequency.

Things that absorb all wavelengths and reflect none are black. Those that reflect all and absorb none are white. The colours run the spectrum between these two extremes. The ability of each to absorb and reflect energy determines where the colour falls on that spectrum.

The idea that colour can heal is based upon the idea that energy affects the body - change the wavelengths you are receiving to resonate with a particular colour and you will heal an illness, injury or disease. You might find yourself more drawn to one colour than another - it may be that you need healing along the lines represented by that colour. It may be psychic, emotional, intellectual or physical. Long term preferences for a colour possibly indicate a psychic or emotional need for the balancing effects caused by that particular energy wavelength.

There are many ways to use colour in healing/balancing. It starts with focus and concentration. If you focus and meditate upon a particular colour you can alter your own energy flow to resonate with that colour. If you surround yourself with that colour, you will create longlasting alterations in your own energy.

Using colour to treat disease is called chromotherapy. Used in conjunction with diet, rest, exercise and lifestyle management, it is founded on the idea that imbalance can be repaired by applying colour to the body. It is an ancient technique, referred to by Pythagoras 2,500 years ago, given modern life. In 1877 scientists discovered that solar ultra-violet light had a bactericidal action. Visible light could measurably assist in healing wounds. A Danish scientist, Niels Finsen, continued this study and found that red light inhibited the formation of scars from smallpox. He founded the Finsen Institute of Copenhagen which began with treating tuberculosis through phototreatment. He later received a Nobel Prize in recognition of his work in pioneering the treatment of disease (in particular lupus vulgaris) with light. Sunlight is crucial to healing. Recovery in many chronic diseases is aided significantly through the touch of the sun. Digestion and nutrition improve with exposure to the sun, blood and lymph circulation increase and waste elimination through the skin becomes more efficient.

Below are some of the traditional associations our society makes with colours:

• Red
  Associated with blood. The positive feelings are energetic, exciting, passionate or erotic. The downside of red evokes aggressive feelings, suggesting anger or violence.
• Orange
  The color of flesh, or the friendly warmth of the hearth fire. The positive implications of this color suggest approachability, informality. The negative side implies a lack of discrimination or quality.
• Yellow
  The color of sunshine. This color can be optimistic, upbeat, modern. The energy of yellow can also become overwhelming.
• Green
  Nature and growth. In its positive mode, green suggests nature, life, stability, restfulness, naturalness. On the other hand, green can also suggest decay, toxicity, artificiality.
• Blue
  pirituality and reserve. It suggests coolness, distance, spirituality, reserve. In its negative mode it implies sadness, passivity, alienation, or depression.
• Violet
  Creative and psychic. It is the color of fantasy, playfulness, impulsiveness, and dream states. In its negative mode, it can suggest nightmares, or madness.

Crystal Healing and Magic - Using Elixirs

   by Angus

In your studies you have probably come across references to crystal elixirs. What are these? How do we make them and what do we use them for?

Elixirs are made by infusing water with the energy of a crystal. When a crystal is exposed to light or sound it resonates with the energy of the light or sound. If you place a clear crystal - such as quartz - within sunlight you can see how it refracts the light, creating rainbows. Every crystal affects the light that enters it - and each family of crystals, each individual type, affects light in a specific fashion. The light energy that exits the crystal is thus changed by the crystal. Scientifically we know that light has healing properties, and depending upon where upon the spectrum it falls, the healing qualities differ. So ultraviolet light is very helpful with certain immune system diseases such as lupus which red light helps heal skin damages such as scarring.

We also know that sound affects the body and mind - certain tones induce relaxation, healing, concentration...and meditative states. When sound is directed through a crystal, the structure of the crystal alters the sound waves and thus the sound energy.

Crystal healing involves utilising the sound and light changing ability of specific crystals to affect the mind and body.

Crystal elixirs do the same thing.

To make an elixir you simply need a crystal, water, and a natural material container. Some recommend using glass but I find that glass's ability to refract light and sound can interfere with the process. So I like to stick with rock or clay. Like glass they can affect the light or sound energy, but their thicker, non-translucent quality reduces this effect. I also recommend avoiding metal for exactly the same reasons.

Make sure your bowl and crystal are clean and your crystal has been cleansed and charged for maximum effect. Use fresh drinkable water - not mineralised, and preferably distilled or filtered. Choose your crystal based upon need (check a good crystal correspondence) and personal preference. I like to use rough ones rather than tumbled or cut. Points are very effective. If you only have access to tumbled or cut crystals, you can help increase the strength of the elixir by using light and/or sound - more on that later.

It is important that you use crystals that are not water soluable. Talc (selenium) for example is not a good elixir crystal while quartz is wonderful. It is also crucial that you avoid any crystal that is toxic to ingest. Research is important - make sure that the crystals you use are safe for consumption (again, the quartz family is perfect). There are many crystals that are perfectly safe to handle but highly toxic to consume - malachite being a good example of this.

Place the crystal in the bowl and cover with the water. If you wish you can add your own energy and healing intent or blessing to the elixir at this point. Then leave the bowl in an open area for 5-10 hours. You don't want to leave it much longer as the water can go stale or off. Make sure it's not sitting in a closed or close area.

To add additional light or sound energy is easy. Place the bowl in sunlight and the crystal will refract the sunlight into the water. Play music - specifically music that supports your healing intent - near the bowl.

Bottle the water and place in the fridge. It will keep as long as refrigerated water normally does. Use an eye dropper to add a few drops to food, drinks, or straight into your mouth or on your skin if using for healing purposes three times daily. This also makes a powerful addition to spell components.

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