THE OLD LANGUAGE OF WHITE
“Oh! what a power has white simplicity.”--KEATS.
It is to be remembered in studying ancient colour symbolism that it
was not realised that white was the sum of the seven colours of the
rainbow. To us, because we know this fact, white is more naturally the
colour of unity than yellow. Thus Shelley writes:--
“Life like a dome of many-coloured glass
Stains the white radiance of eternity.”
White, in fact, symbolised not so much unity as purity, innocence, and
the great joy of the man who has fought the good fight and attained
the spiritual life. It is to symbolise this joy that the souls of the
Redeemed in Revelation are clad in white robes. For the same reason
Dante sees the souls of the blessed in Paradise in form of a white
rose:--
“In form then of a white rose
Displayed itself to me the saintly host
Whom Christ in His own blood had made His bride;
Faces had they all of living flame,
And wings of gold, and all the rest so white,
No snow unto that beauty can attain.”
Tennyson, in “St Agnes’ Eve,” uses white in the same way to convey the
ecstasy of St Agnes:--
“Make Thou my spirit pure and clear
As are the frosty skies,
Or this first snowdrop of the year
That in my bosom lies.”
The Archangel Gabriel is usually known in pictures from the fact
that his emblem is the lily--sometimes called the “lily of the
annunciation,” as a sign that a pure soul is necessary before Christ
can take possession of it. Gabriel is usually said to be the Angel of
the Moon, to which the colour white and the metal silver were given by
astrologers and mystics.
It was the custom of Roman ladies to wear white. The wearing of
bright colours was looked upon as portraying a lack of virtue. The
word “candidate” tells us that integrity was expected of all persons
desiring office.
Hesiod the poet sees Modesty and Justice in white robes:--
“And those fair forms in snowy raiment bright
Leave the broad earth, and heavenward soar from sight;
Justice and Modesty, from mortals driven,
Rise to th’ immortal family of heaven.”
Hermas sees the Church as a virgin in white:--
“Behold there met me a certain virgin, well-adorned, and as if she
had just come out of her bride-chamber--all in white, having on white
shoes, and a veil down her face, and her head covered with shining
hair. Now, I knew by my former visions that it was the church.”
The Japanese use white as symbol of death, and a bride wears white as
her parents consider her dead to them and belonging only to her husband.
In Revelation there is a curious statement: “To him that overcometh
will I give the white stone.” It was the custom to give the victor in
the games a white stone, so that the sentence seems a truism, as “To
him that overcometh will I give the sign of victory”; but when we dig
more deeply into the meaning of the white stone we find that it is a
sign of deity, of the Spirit of God marking out His chosen one. In the
Amaravati tope at the British Museum Buddha is seen sitting on the
white stone, and sometimes the white stone is used in place of Buddha.
In Ireland, until recent times, white stones were placed in a coffin
and called “God’s stones.” Hence “To him that overcometh will I give
the white stone” means that to the victor shall be given the joy of the
presence of God, the joy of harmony, the music of the spheres--
“When the morning stars sang together,
And all the sons of God shouted for joy.”
There was a similar idea among the Egyptians. In the papyrus of Ani
you will note that when he is justified he is shown with white hair.
Similarly, Christ in Revelation has hair[19] as white as wool.
[19] Revelation i. 14.
In Revelation Christ rides on the white horse. St George is nearly
always depicted on a white horse. Castor and Pollux were said to ride
on white horses. A horse, as I have said before, means knowledge. Thus
to ride on the white horse means to have all heavenly counsel to aid
you in gaining the victory and in obtaining the reward. It is said that
there will be one more incarnation of Vishnu, when he will carry the
sword of justice and ride the white horse, like Christ in Revelation.
We must remember that the horse was used by the Hindoos instead of
the Ram. Now as Aries or the Ram is the constellation in which the
sun starts his zodiacal journey each year, the ram or horse means the
opener of new thought, the dawn of a new era. Hence to ride the white
horse means to begin a new kingdom on earth of joy and happiness and
purity. When Mahomet comes again he will ride the white horse Alborac.
In ancient Rome the white horse was sacred to Jupiter, and once a year
the consul, clad in white robes, rode to the Capitol to adore Jupiter
as the Sun-god.
Buddha is said to have been borne to earth on a white elephant, _i.e._
on Divine Wisdom or the Holy Ghost. In some of the old Buddhist zodiacs
the elephant takes the place of the sign Capricorn or the goat.
Capricorn is the sign governing from 21st December to 19th January, and
this is the time during which all world-saviours are said to have been
born.
Osiris and Zeus are spoken of as white bulls, for the bull betokens
cosmic energy and creative force. When Yasôdhara dreams that Siddartha
or Buddha is escaping from the palace, she sees “a white bull with
wide branching horns.”
The Druids proper of Wales wore white robes. It may be mentioned that
it took twenty years to train a Druid, so that surely the white robe in
their case was a sign that the wearer had laboured much and conquered
many things. The work of a Druid is given in the Triads:--
1. To keep his word.
2. To keep his secret.
3. To keep the peace.
It must be remembered that he was a bard previous to being a Druid.
Druidship was the last stage of initiation, and what he learnt in this
was not to be given out directly to the world but to be expressed only
in the inward power that accrued to him. He kept the peace because he
knew that the arts flourish in times of peace and are destroyed during
war. Still we must remember that when war came he was ever ready to
lead the people, and many a Druid died in the forefront of the battle,
for to him death was the gate of life and the entrance to the joy of
the Mighty Hu.
The symbolism of silver is related to that of white, for silver is the
colour of the moon, of chastity, and the ability to radiate purity and
joy, however dark the night and difficult the circumstances. Artemis
and Diana are both virgin goddesses of the moon, punishing evil deeds
and immorality.
Solomon speaks of the “silver cord.” It is the bond between the mortal
and the everlasting: when it is loosed then the soul is released and
regains the music of the spheres.
Sir Walter Raleigh writes:--
“My soul like quiet palmer
Travelleth toward the land of heaven,
Over the silver mountains
Whence spring the nectar fountains.”
In the Paradise of the Brahmins, Brahma has his being in the heart of
a silver rose (Tamura Pua); that is, in the heart of all fragrance,
sweetness, beauty, purity, and joy there is God.
* * * * *
In its opposite symbolism white means lack of courage and sometimes
deceitfulness--_e.g._ “whited sepulchres.”