There are many ways in which colour can be used in therapy. From the previous articles you will have discovered how the pioneers in this field created and built instruments, and formulated ways to transmit colour to their patients. Some of these techniques have become obsolete, whilst others, with varying degrees of modification, have stood the test of time.

One way frequently used to transmit colour is by passing light through coloured filters. Through trial and error, it has been discovered that the best material to use here is stained glass. Unlike plastic gels which are used by some practitioners, stained glass contains the complete vibrational spectrum of its given colour. This enables a person to absorb the correct shade and vibration of the colour needed to bring the body back into harmony.

When working with colour in this way, it has proved beneficial to use the prescribed colour in conjunction with its complementary colour. The reason for this is that the combination of the colours stabilizes the condition. Take for example the treatment of high blood pressure. A person treated for this condition only with blue, showed an initial lowering of their blood pressure, but a short time after treatment it rose again to a dangerously high level. The same condition was then treated with blue together with its complementary colour orange. This time the blood pressure fell, but then remained stable after treatment.

Methods Of Colour Diagnosis

In order to be able to treat a person with colour, a means has to be adopted whereby the required colour can be ascertained. There are several ways of doing this, some of which are very simple whilst others are more complex but render a great deal more information.

Two simple ways of finding the treatment colour are kinesiology and dowsing.

Applied Kinesiology

Applied kinesiology is based on special muscle testing techniques through which weaknesses are identified and treated, thereby correcting imbalances in the body's energy system. When this method is used to determine which colour is needed, the patient holds up each of the colours of the spectrum in turn at eye level with their left hand. Meanwhile, their right arm is held horizontal to the body. As each colour is looked through, the therapist applies gentle downward pressure to the patient's right arm. If there is no resistance to this pressure, it indicates that the person needs the colour which they are holding.

Dowsing

When used in healing, dowsing is normally performed with a pendulum on a length of string. By relaxing the mind, a person is able to contact their intuition or higher self and receive answers – in the form of 'yes' or 'no' – through the movement of the pendulum. Before working with this method, the operator must learn the specific response of the pendulum to their 'yes' or 'no'. This can take various forms such a clockwise or anti-clockwise rotation, or a vertical or horizontal swing. Once this art has been mastered, it can be very accurate.

Dowsing can be traced back to shamanism. When a shaman experienced difficulty in entering into communication with the spirits, or when the spirit messages were unclear, he would employ a primitive form of pendulum, a pebble hung on a thread. He would then ask it questions. The way the pendulum moved in response to these questions, whether back and forth or sideways, clockwise or anti-clockwise, provided him with the answers. When using this method to find the appropriate colour, the therapist lists the eight colours and asks which one is needed.

Colour Diagnostic Chart

One of the more complex methods employs a colour diagnostic chart. This method is taught at the Hygeia College of Colour Therapy.

The diagnostic chart shows the thirty-two vertebrae of the human spine, and these vertebrae are divided into four sections of eight. To the eight vertebrae in each of the four sections is attributed one of the colours of the spectrum. Starting from the cervical part of the spine and working downwards to the coccyx, the first eight vertebrae constitute the mental aspect of a person; the second section constitutes the emotional aspect; the third section the metabolic aspects; and the fourth section the physical body.

When a patient attends for treatment, they are asked to write their signature on the back of the chart, along the spine. Their signature contains their vibration and acts as a 'witness'. From this 'witness', the practitioner is able to dowse the spine in order to establish which of the vertebrae transmit a vibration. These 'active' vertebrae are marked and filled in with their correct colour. From these active vertebrae, the practitioner is able to discern what is happening to the patient on a mental, emotional, metabolic, and physical level.

On the chart, opposite the spine, are a line of thirty-two corresponding boxes. Into these are put the complementary colour to the marked and coloured vertebrae. A specific technique is then carried out from which the required colour and complementary colour can be established. This technique takes time to learn, but during the time I have used it I have found it to be very accurate and also a very useful tool in counselling.

Methods Of Colour Treatment

The Hygeia Colour Therapy Instrument

In order to treat a person with colour transmitted through stained glass filters, a colour therapy instrument has been devised by Theo Gimbel at the Hygeia College of Colour Therapy. This is approximately five feet in height, and comprises two large compartments, each of which is fitted with a pure daylight bulb. The stained glass filter needed for the treatment colour, slides on to the front of the top section, and the complementary colour slides on to the front of the lower section. These two colours are then automatically administered to the patient in a rhythm which is based on the Fibonacci series of numbers in which each number is the sum of the previous two. In this rhythm, the treatment colour is initially given for a very short duration of time, while the complementary colour is given for a longer duration. During the course of the treatment this process is reversed, ending with a long exposure to the therapy colour and a short exposure to its complementary. When research was being carried out with this instrument, it was discovered that if the treatment colour and the complementary colour were each administered for periods of two minutes throughout the length of the treatment, after a short time the body 'switched off, no longer absorbing the colours transmitted. By basing the time changes of the colours on the Fibonacci series of numbers, a surprise element was introduced, and the colours continued to be absorbed by the patient, thus allowing the body to receive the maximum benefit from the therapy.

Masks are used with this colour therapy instrument. These are based upon the forms and complementary forms of the five platonic solids and are placed in front of the stained glass filters. The five platonic solids are the tetrahedron which has four faces and is related to the colour red; the octahedron which has eight faces and is related to the colour yellow; the hexahedron which has six faces and is related to the colour green; the icosahedron which has twenty faces and is related to the colour blue and the pentagondodechahedron which has twelve faces and is related to the colour violet. If we look into the cell structure of minerals, plants, animals and humans, we discover that they all follow the structure of the five platonic solids. Therefore, by using masks aligned with these structures, the whole treatment is improved. The total colour treatment lasts for just under twenty minutes.

This method is always given in a darkened room to prevent the colours from being diluted by daylight. The person receiving the treatment must be dressed completely in white so that there is no distortion of the colour being given. If someone is being treated with yellow light and they are wearing blue clothes, the colour which they receive will be a combination of the two, namely green.

Solarized Water

Stained glass filters can be used to solarize water or cream which is then administered to the patient in the dosage required.

To solarize water, one can either use stained glass bottles or a water solarizer. Spring water is put into the bottles or solarizer and left in the sun or strong daylight for several hours. The theory behind this method is that, in passing through the stained glass, the sun transmits the vibration of the colour into the water. This method of treatment is being successfully used by a medically qualified doctor and colour therapist in India.

During a summer school which I attended, a very interesting experiment was conducted by the students. Water was put into eight different coloured solarizers and left in the sun for the best part of the day. Towards evening, each of the students was asked to taste the eight glasses of colour-solarized water and to report their findings. Each student independently noted that the eight glasses of water, each solarized with a different colour, had a distinct taste. Some were sweet, some sour, smooth, rough, and so on. Note: when working with this, or any of the other methods described, it is always advisable to seek the advice of a qualified colour practitioner.

Solarized Cream

Solarized cream works on the same principle. The cream must be pure, free from perfume, chemicals or preservatives. The ideal cream would be home made, although unfortunately this must be kept in a refrigerator, has a short life span, and does not take kindly to being left in the sun under stained glass. When a suitable cream has been selected, the desired amount is placed into a white container and the correct colour stained glass filter is placed over the top. This is then left in the sunlight for several hours. Solarized cream is used primarily for skin conditions.

Other Methods of Colour Treatment

Small stained glass filters can be used to concentrate colour on to a specific part of the body. For a finger infection, for example, a light can be shone through a turquoise filter which is held over the finger. For a cyst, a piece of green glass is used in the same way.

Another way of transmitting colour to a patient is by allowing it to be channelled through one's own physical body. One method of doing this is taught by the Maitreya School of Healing and is called 'Mental Colour Therapy'. A second method, taught by the Hygeia College of Colour Therapy, is called 'scanning'. The method which I use with most of my patients is derived from the teachings of both schools.

A Colour Treatment Session

Once it has been sensitized to colour, the physical body becomes a beautiful and accurate instrument. Through it colours can be channelled which as yet have not become manifest on earth.

There are many ways in which we can work to sensitize our body but it is important that we work at our own pace, allowing ourselves to unfold gently, like the petals of a flower. I always teach my students to learn to feel colour through nature. The abundance and richness of nature's colours present a living energy, unlike the synthetic dyes used to colour man-made fibres. Next time you are in the country, by the sea or in the garden, be aware of the wonderful spectrum of colour which surrounds you. I am sure that your eyes will be opened to things that were previously unseen.

When working as a channel for colour healing, I have found it to be very important to dedicate myself to the Universal Spirit or God, and to ask that I may be a good channel in order to help the person I am about to treat.

After taking down the patient's particulars, medical history and current state of health, I make a colour diagnostic chart. This gives me insight into the mental, emotional, metabolic and physical state of the person, as well as providing the colour needed. This is followed by counselling and treatment.

For the treatment, the patient has the procedure explained to him/her and is then asked to lie on a therapy couch. They are then put into a state of relaxation. So many of today's illnesses are caused by stress, and to teach a person how to relax is a step towards helping them to help themselves. Also, tension in a patient can prevent them from receiving the full benefit of the treatment.

When the patient is relaxed and comfortable, the treatment starts with the technique known as 'scanning'. This entails sensing and feeling the aura through the hands. In the palm of each hand is a minor chakra or energy centre which, when open, act as eyes through which the therapist can see or feel energy blocks. When we discussed the aura, we learnt that it is here that disease starts and if not eradicated manifests in the physical body. With this technique, knowledge can also be gained as to whether or not the chakras are functioning correctly. I have frequently found that due to emotional trauma or stress, these can be partially or completely blocked. When these blockages are detected, the therapist endeavours to clear them. This may not be possible in the first or second treatment; the longer the problem has been established, the longer it takes to clear.

After the aura has been scanned, and blockages worked with, the physical body is treated through touch. It is at this stage that colour is channelled through the therapist's hands and into the patient. Starting with the head, the therapist works down the body, gently touching it and visualizing the colours to be channelled. This can only be learnt through undertaking the necessary training. Sometimes the colour visualized will not be the colour which comes through. If one has dedicated oneself to be a channel for colour healing, one has to accept that God or the higher powers know better than we do and will channel through us the colour which is most beneficial for the patient.

The treatment ends by placing the palms of the hands on the soles of the patient's feet and visualizing gold energizing light streaming through their body. The therapist then asks that any negative or unwanted energies may be dispersed and that the auras of patient and therapist be separated. When one is working in this way, the auras of patient and therapist become intermingled, and if they are not separated at the end of treatment, it is possible for the therapist to remain in contact with the patient on a psychic level. This is not good for either.

The Colour Crystal Torch

With the above technique, a practitioner will sometimes use what is known as the 'Colour Crystal Torch'. This is a device in which light is shone through stained glass discs into a quartz crystal point. When this torch is used with the appropriate colour, it is able to balance the chakras or transmit colour to specific areas of the body. There is also a smaller version of the torch which is used in reflexology. When the torch is used, the patient must be dressed in white for the same reasons given when using the colour therapy instrument. I have white gowns which patients wear for this kind of treatment.

Use of Silks and the Colour Space Illuminator

When one treats with scanning, there are ways in which the therapy and complementary colour can be relayed to the patient during treatment.

The two methods which I use are: 1. by using lengths of pure silk material which have been dyed with natural dyes; and 2. with the aid of a lamp called the 'colour space illuminator'. This lamp can be tuned to flood the room with the desired colour. If the treatment colour needed is blue, the colour space illuminator is turned on to blue and floods the therapy room with this colour during treatment. When treatment is finished, the patient is left to rest for ten to fifteen minutes in the complementary colour, orange. Again, when using this lamp, the room has to be darkened to prevent the colour being diluted by the daylight.

If one is using silks, the patient is covered with the silk, corresponding to the treatment colour. This is then changed to the complementary coloured silk, after treatment. When using silks, the patient should be treated in a bright and, if possible, sunny room in order that the light transmits the maximum amount of colour into the patient as it passes through the silk.

It is also possible to use both the silks and the colour space illuminator during a treatment. Each practitioner determines what they use by what they feel will be most beneficial for the patient.

Aura Soma

This is a completely different form of colour therapy from those already mentioned. It was the invention of Vicky Wall, a pharmacist and chiropodist. When she went blind, her 'inner' sight developed, enabling her to see people's auras clearly.

Aura Soma combines aspects of herbal medicine, aromatherapy and mineral supplementation with colour therapy. It consists of pairs of coloured oils, forming an upper and lower layer within a set of bottles. Vicky Wall referred to these as 'balances'. When a patient came for treatment, she would ask them to choose a bottle, believing that the colour they chose related to their own energy field and that their attraction to certain colours meant that they needed its reinforcing power. She would then ask the patient to shake the bottle. From the turbulence created in the oils, she was able to read the state of the patient's energy field. She believed that in healthy people, the oils quickly regained their respective layers, while in unhealthy people, a cloudy effect was produced which took time to clear.

To discover which parts of a patient's body lacked harmony, she herself would shake the chosen bottle at specific points in the patient's aura. According to whether the oils went cloudy or stayed opaque she knew if there was disease in the corresponding part of the physical body. At the end of treatment, the patient was instructed to take the chosen bottle home and to look at it daily in order to absorb its vital energy.

These oils that she created can be used as massage or bath oils. Using the oils in either of these ways again allows their vital energy to be absorbed into the physical body.

Sadly for us, Vicky Wall is now in spirit, but Aura Soma lives on.

Reflexology And Colour

Colour can also be used in conjunction with other therapies. I use it with both reflexology and yoga.

Being both a qualified reflexologist and colour practitioner enabled me to do two years' research into the effects of combining both these therapies. To begin with I would carry out a normal reflexology treatment, this being very valuable both as a therapy and also as a diagnostic tool. After this I applied colour to the reflexes which were painful and those which related to the problem which had caused the patient to seek help. In cases where the feet were too painful to touch, I treated with colour alone. The results were truly amazing. This encouraged me to run courses for reflexologists who wished to use colour to support the therapy which they were already practising. I asked those who attended the courses to report their findings to me. They were all favourable and we realized that colour used in this way treated a patient on all three aspects of their being; body, mind and spirit. One reflexologist reported that one of her patients had told her that colour reaches the parts that a therapist cannot! For further information read my book The Reflexology and Colour Therapy Workbook published by Element Books.

Yoga And Colour

Having taught and practised yoga for many years, I quickly realized that apart from being a discipline and a path in life, it could also be categorized as a holistic therapy. When working with asanas (postures), one also works with the chakras, which in turn affect the endocrine glands. As already explained, each chakra radiates a dominant colour. Knowing this and knowing the important part that the ductless glands play in the harmonization of the physical body, I introduced to my students the idea of visualizing the appropriate chakra and its dominant colour whilst holding a posture. From this we worked with colour in breathing, visualization and meditation. I found this to be an exciting venture with beneficial results. A deeper insight into this can be obtained through reading Sixteen Steps to Health and Energy which I co-wrote with Theo. Gimbel and which is published by Quantum.

Gem Stones

The techniques for transmitting colour are ones which I have personally experienced or worked with. There are many more, such as the use of gem stones. Each stone resonates to its own sound and is illuminated with its chosen colour. When used in healing, these stones are laid in precise patterns on the physical body. They can also be used to align and balance the chakras. In order to do this, the correct coloured gem is placed on each of the seven chakras. For example, lapis lazuli or sapphire is placed on the throat chakra, both vibrating to the blue ray.

If one does not have the correct coloured gems, it is possible to solarize quartz crystal. A piece of quartz is placed on to a lamp, which is fitted with the correct stained glass filter and left for thirty to sixty minutes. If this technique is used, the crystal must be cleansed after use by placing it in salt water for twelve hours or by leaving it in a free-flowing brook. All gems that are used in therapy should be cleansed in this way after each treatment.

If you wish to know more about gem therapy, there are many excellent books on the market written by people who are both experienced and qualified in this field.

Conclusion

When a patient attends for treatment, they are always advised of ways in which they can help themselves with colour. If we stop and look around us and also take note of the colours of the clothes which we are wearing, we will realize that we are, in small potencies, continually being treated with colour.

Having said this, may I close this article by saying that if you have a problem, it is always advisable to seek the advice and help of a colour practitioner rather than try to treat yourself.

Matthew Bakewell

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