Читать книгу The Element Encyclopedia of Birthdays - Theresa Cheung, Theresa Cheung - Страница 22

According to color analysts or chromatherapists, every color is believed to vibrate with its own energy and to have specific effects on individuals. Seven colors in particular—red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet, the colors of the rainbow—have carried religious, occult and mystical significance since ancient times (see box on page xvi). In the late nineteenth century color theory began to receive attention in the West; in 1878 Edwin Babbitt published The Principles of Light and Colour, highlighting ancient Pythagorean correspondences between music, color, numbers, and sound.

Today modern science is able to provide evidence for some of the ancient claims about color. In the 1980s it was shown that colored light can trigger biochemical reactions in the body. Later research confirmed that blues and greens have a soothing effect, helping to lower stress, brain-wave activity and blood pressure. Warm colors such as orange and red have been shown to have a stimulating effect. Given the research, it is small wonder then that many psychologists use color to produce beneficial effects in the home, workplace and hospitals.