THE OLD LANGUAGE OF RED
“The Holy Grail, rose-red, with beatings in ’t, as if alive.”
TENNYSON.
Considering first the colour red as being the lowest in the spectrum,
how is this correspondence manifest? Red is the colour of the blood;
hence, is it surprising that red is the colour denoting life and
action, cheerfulness and enthusiasm? Red is used by healers as a
powerful stimulant and tonic, thus it has the meaning of health
and vigour. This is why nearly all red stones are said to have
health-giving and disease-preventing properties. The ruby in China
and Japan is said to give long life, health, and happiness. All the
imperial decrees of China have to be written or printed in red as
a sign that there is the power behind to force them to be carried
out. Children’s clothing must contain some part of red. Usually this
consists of a piece of red material twisted together with a pig’s-tail,
thus making a talisman of great power against sickness.
In India and Persia the garnet is said to bring deep, abiding health to
its possessor. The Romans used the red coral as a talisman to protect
their children from all manner of diseases; while in India, China,
and Japan it is used to-day as a safeguard against cholera. The red
carnelian was used by the Hebrews to prevent attacks of plague, and in
China it is worn to prevent stomach troubles.
Again, we find the healthy man is inclined to be more cheerful than the
sickly man; so we instinctively think of Mr Greatheart as a man with
rosy cheeks. The garnet has nearly always been said to bestow the gift
of cheerfulness upon its wearer.
Then we find that the healthy man is usually more courageous and daring
than the weakling; hence red often means courage. In fact, the lack
of red in the face is taken as a sign of the lack of courage--as in
_Macbeth_, where the page-boy is told:
“Go prick thy face and over-red thy fear,
Thou lily-livered boy.”
Courage was said to be the gift of Mars, the god of war; hence red is
the colour of war, whether in its most barbaric, cruel form or in its
chivalrous form.
Astrologers assign this colour to the planet Mars from its symbolic
value, and not merely because Mars looks red in the heavens. Mr Alan
Leo writes thus:
“The planet Mars, which is known by its red colour, is said to be
hot and exhaustive in its influence. It presides over all adventure,
enterprise, and heroic acts. It makes the mind daring, combative,
courageous, fearless, and venturesome. In everything where pluck,
force, and energy are required, the Mars man will be foremost. He
will be first in any acts of bravery, and often regardless of his life
and of the consequences of any noble act where courage is required.”
So it is that the brave man is known as the man of self-sacrifice.
Thus the colour of red takes on this added meaning of self-sacrifice,
sorrow, or suffering, which at first seem contradictory meanings to
those of enthusiasm, life, and cheerfulness.
In art the martyrs are often clothed in red as a sign that they have
suffered, and also as a sign that they had the enthusiasm for the
cause, so that the sorrows and cruelties they endured were accounted
by them nothing; for red is pre-eminently the colour of enthusiasm, of
the fire which inspires a man to fight his way through all obstacles
or perish in the attempt. It is thus most fitting that Moses should
receive his life work when near the burning bush, which is surely
the most appropriate symbol of the quality necessary before one can
become the leader of a nation or change it from one of slaves to one
of freemen. Red is the colour of the leader, the colour of the kingly
robes.[5] Then we may remember that pretty legend of the Christmas
Rose, when the shepherd’s little daughter, having no other gift to
offer the infant Christ, gave him a fragrant white rose, which was
no sooner touched by the Babe than it became a deep glorious red,
emblematic of his future suffering.
[5] In ancient Wales red robes showed honourable rank.
Red is also the colour of the flame of love. As Robert Burns sings
gaily:--
“Oh, my Love is like a red, red rose,
That’s newly sprung in June.”
Perhaps you remember that picture of Rossetti called “Dante’s Dream,”
where Beatrice lies cold and still, clad in white, while Love is seen
clothed in rose-red robes leading Dante to her side:--
“Then Love said, ‘Now shall all things be made clear;
Come and behold our lady where she lies.’”
Based on very much the same thought there was an old legend that a
red carbuncle was placed at the prow of Noah’s ark to give light and
guidance. This legend no doubt grew out of the appropriateness of red
as a symbol for the burning love that directed the boat and brought it
safely to Ararat, and also from the fact that the carbuncle gives off a
faint phosphorescent glow in the dark. Psychics see this very clearly
indeed, but it is visible also to persons of normal vision.
Among nearly all primitive nations red berries, such as those of the
mountain ash, symbolise the Spirit of God. They have been called by
such names as “holy seed” or “fructifying honey dew.”
In front of the high altar of a church or cathedral is seen the red
lamp burning perpetually as a sign of the deep, intense, sacrificial,
all-enduring love of the Creator.
The communion wine also partakes of this mystic symbolism, when the
joy, the fervour, and the uplift of the spiritual life is imparted to
man. There is a beautiful passage in Tennyson’s “Holy Grail,” when this
mystic cup is seen by Sir Percival’s sister floating down into her
convent cell on a shaft of silver light, making wondrous melody in its
passage:--
“And down the long beam stole the Holy Grail,
Rose-red with beatings in ’t, as if alive,
Till all the white walls of my cell were dyed
With rosy colours leaping on the wall;
And then the music faded, and the Grail
Passed, and the beam decayed, and from the walls
The rosy quiverings died into the night.”
Or we may like to call to mind the esoteric order of Rosicrucians, in
which all the glorious symbolism of the Rose and the Cross blended.
Or again, we may think of the red carnelian buckle of Isis which was
attached to the neck of the deceased while these words were chanted:--
“The blood of Isis, and the strength of Isis, and the words of power
of Isis shall be mighty to act as powers to protect this great and
divine being, and to guard him from him that would do unto him
anything that he holdeth in abomination.”
* * * * *
You will find that in all symbolism there is an exalted meaning given
to the symbol and a debased meaning; _e.g._ a dog may mean all that is
noble and full of devotion, or it may give the meaning of all that is
mean, low, and despicable.
In the case of red it may, as we have seen, be the sign of the
sublime, strong love of the Creator; but at the same time it can refer
to debased love and carnal passion, _i.e._ love without the sacrificial
element. Thus we have in Revelation xvi. 3 “the great red dragon who
seeks to destroy the woman clothed with the sun,” _i.e._ the woman
or soul who is clothed with the Sun of Righteousness. The dragon is
frustrated in his attempt by Michael, whose name means “Like unto God,”
for what is ignoble must ever yield to the noble.
Sometimes red may be used as a sign of exuberant animal spirits, _e.g._
in the expression “to paint the town red.”
Lastly, let us remember that the name Adam means red, and so he
symbolises man unregenerate, _i.e._ of the earth, earthy.
* * * * *
Perhaps it would be wise to consider the colour pink next. Pink is
hardly a colour so much as a tint; but as it has a definite symbolism,
I have placed it next to red. It is a most useful colour in healing. In
the human aura it often denotes the healer. Certainly in its esoteric
meaning it denotes the man who wishes to use his life for the healing
of others, and the man who receives inspiration how he can help to
uplift humanity. Unfortunately, our poets do not often use the word
because of its ugly sound.
When Buddha sat under his Bo-tree (_Ficus religiosa_) to meditate
how he could save the world, it is said that his whole body became
enveloped in a most radiant blush-rose colour. Edwin Arnold describes
this scene:--
“There flew
High overhead that hour five Holy Ones
Whose free wings faltered as they passed the tree.
‘What power superior draws us from our flight?’
They asked,--for spirits feel all force divine,
And know the sacred presence of the pure.
Then looking downward, they beheld the Buddh
Crowned with a rose-hued aureole, intent
On thoughts to save; while from the grove a voice
Cried, ‘Rishis! this is he shall help the world.
Descend and worship.’ So the Bright Ones came
And sang a song of praise, folding their wings;
Then journeyed on, taking good news to God.”
The colour pink is said to be the esoteric colour of the mystic number
five, which is the number of power, inspiration, and love-healing;
_e.g._ five is the number of points in King Solomon’s seal, which was
a talisman of power and inspiration. The Pool of Bethesda, we may
remember, had five porches, and it was there that the sick were healed.
We see from this connection that similar truths are wrapped up in other
groups of symbols. In fact, we find that whether we take colours, or
numbers, or trees, or animals, or mountains, or rivers, we learn the
same deep truths. The mystics knew that each was an expression of the
heavenly mind:--
“Earth’s crammed with heaven
And every common bush afire with God,
But only he who sees takes off his shoes.”[6]
[6] E. B. B., _Aurora Leigh_.
Carlyle used pink in its debased sense when he speaks “of the rose-pink
hue of sentimentality,” meaning a hue that lacks full virility.
* * * * *
When we come to the colour orange, however, we find that the ancients
hardly ever refer to it. If it had very much red in it, it came under
the symbolism of red. If it had very much yellow in it, then the
symbolism of yellow was considered to embrace it. They did not know it
as a primary colour.