The Theory Of Color Therapy
There are certain indispensable needs for the existence of humans. Two of those vital needs are the prevention of diseases and a permanent cure for them. How did diseases develop? Who was the first ill person in human history? Who first thought of curing the sick? All kinds of physicians have expressed their views on it according to their own knowledge, even though a similarity is found in some.
Hippocrates and Galen believed that the search for a cure is divine; Abu Jaber Maghrabi, and the intellectuals of his era, who approved of him, described the knowledge of medicine as a revelation upon seekers by God through His angels. Practicing medicine was also common during the times of renowned wise-man Luqman, Prophet Dowd (David), Prophet Solomon, Prophet Moses and Prophet Isaiah (May God remain pleased with him). It already existed in the era of Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him). His method of treatment is still common among Muslims.
For Mankind, the cure (treatment) is a necessity that constantly moves between life and death. Humans have always sought for various techniques to cure themselves. These techniques resulted in shaping new theories and these new theories became the fundamentals of new philosophies. The fundamental approach of the knowledge of medicine is to make ailing beings well.
As there are several causes for diseases, so are there methods of cure. Every method of treatment is advised through a different philosophy. As other philosophies and ideologies progress, so do those of medicine. Theories that emerge are well criticized and then fade away. New ideas then replace them. The point is that only the ideas, which coincide with human nature and the laws of nature, manage to survive and consequently, replace other treatments.
Colors are the material portrayal of cosmic energy and this energy guarantees the existence of life. Our knowledgeable ancestors, the Seers of the unseen, the clairvoyants, the men of wisdom and hard work, outlined the brilliant principles that reveal the knowledge pf colors. The Babylonians, Egyptians, ancient Greeks and Persians took complete advantage of this knowledge in their times. The sermons of the famous Greek scientists and philosophers describe how the ancient Greeks and Egyptians built backyards where they received sunlight all year round.
Abu Ali al-Hussain Ibn Abdullah Ibn Sina (known in the West as Avicenna) was a Persian Physician and philosopher born in 980 A.D. In his book, Al Qanun, (known as Canon in the West), expressed his views about the significance of light and color. He made the important observation that, “if the perception of light is due to the emission of some sort of particles by the luminous source, the speed of light must be finite.” In 500 B.C. in the era of Pythagoras, the Greek mathematician, people sought cures in light and colors.
In the past, just visiting the holy churches cured countless sick and disabled people; the stained glass windows of the churches emitting healing red, green and yellow rays. The flow of sunlight through these colors onto the sick healed many. Although Egyptian physicians were the first to use color for healing, the Greeks were the first to document both the theories and practices of solar therapy. Heliopolis, the capital of the 15th Nome of Lower Egypt, and the seat of worship of the Sun God ‘Ra, was famous for solving medical problems using colors and light. In Heliopolis they built great halls of colors in many of the temples. Sunlight shining in these halls dispersed into a colorful spectrum and each hall was attunes to a color frequency of its own. Herodotus, the father of heliotherapy, a medical therapy involving exposure to sunlight, also emphasized the use of color and light therapy as a permanent cure for the ills of mankind. Mayans used light for healing. In ancient Mayans, at the near center of Stonehenge once erected was beautiful green colored 16 feet tall attractive sandstone was not positioned at the precise center of Stonehenge, as its geometric symmetry was less important than its position in which it was erected. This position enables the energy of Sun and Moon light to pass through the stone with a required angle to be used for healing purposes.
This is not a newly introduced method of healing; early documents from Egypt, India and China have recorded complete systems of color healing, Color, being the manifestation of light, held a therapeutic as well as divine meaning for historic cultures.
The Ancients understood that colors in the body work as generators. The Sun, being an eternal source of comic vigor, is a treasure that supplies energy to all living beings in the world. Minor errors in this system can trigger complete darkness on our Earth, causing the extinction of all flowers, plants, greenery and other living things. We shouldn’t ignore the interaction of sunlight in our food. Our daily food and all the things around us are full of colors. Dr. Jacob Liberman, a renowned author and scholar says, “Since sunlight powers the body and guides its movement and physiological function, it’s fair to say that light and life are inseparable. For this reason, rejecting any portion of the visible spectrum decreases the flow of our life force, diminidhing our innate healing ability and our capacity to experience happiness. This is where color therapy can have a profound effect. By expanding our receptivity to colors, we can heal our ‘allergic’ reactions to light and life, alleviating stress and redefining health and wellness in the process.”
Most of the health related problems and diseases are directly related to air, water, food and light. In recent times we have become aware that we are constantly ingesting pollutes air, unhealthy food and unclean water, but the most important and obvious nutrient, light, has far the most part been overlooked. Attempts to deal with air pollution, water pollution and malnutrition have become major issues within our society. What about mal-illumination? As an improper diet of food many cause mal-nutrition, so would an improper “diet of light” may cause mal-illumination, with a similar potential for adverse effects on health. Incomplete and poor light significantly affects every aspect of human existence. Since most of us spend our waking hours indoors, eliminations sunlight from our daily diets, it is important to discuss this indoor environment in relation to our health, productivity and general well-being. Sun light skills bacteria even after passing through glass windows. Patients in the hospital with well sunlit rooms recover sooner than in room with no or little sun light. The fourth major cause of death, after cancer, stroke of heart disease, is lack of exposure to the increased bacteria level in the less illuminated hospitals. The importance of Sun and its curative powers was recognized by Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaton, who believed in sun that it had a powerful connection to life and its constituents required to sustain and continue life on earth.
One study on the effects of light as well as other factors on human functioning and development is discussed in the work of Dr. Darrell Boyd Harmon, The Coordinated Classroom. In 1938, the Texas Department of Health initiated a long-range comprehensive program of child development to protect and promote the health of children in school.
“In discussing these environmental factors, the preliminary report of the director pointed out that, in a significant number of children, a relationship could be demonstrated between the combined forces of restraining seating equipment and improper distribution of light or other light deficiencies, and functional visual difficulties, postural defects, or other health problems from which the children were suffering. A similar relationship was demonstrable between either or both of these groupings and children’s distortions of writing , drawing, and other educational performance.’…
The Coordinated Classroom, Part-1 (p/1).
Selected health problems revealed in the beginning of the six-month study, when re-evaluated at the end of the study, were substantially reduced as shown below:
| Health Problems | Reduction in Health Problems |
| Visual Difficulties | 65% |
| Nutritional Problems | 47.8% |
| Chronic Infections | 43.3% |
| Postural Problems | 25.6% |
| Chronic Fatigue | 55.6% |
In addition to the above, a significant improvement was seen in the children’s academic achievements. In the late 1930’s, a foundation established by the researchers and scientists such as Neils Finsen from Copenhagen, Denmark, who successfully treated tuberculosis with ultraviolet light (holder of the First Nobel Prize Award for Medicine and Physiology in 1903, also the researcher on light-induced inflammation and parts of the solar spectrum), Din Shah (1873-1966 -inventor of the spectro-chrome) and Dr. Harry Riley Spitler (an optometrist/physician and the modern father of the use of colored light phototherapy through the events pushed light therapy behind the scenes of many years. Gerhard Domagk, a German biochemist, won the Nobel Prize for positive treatment of bacterial infections with sulfanilamide. The discoveries of the medicine, in an era of pharmacological dominance, paid no homage to the non-intrusive discoveries of the era. Light therapy, once considered a miracle cure by many, became regarded as witchcraft. Overshadowed by the new wonder drug (Sulfa), therapy with colors and light became nearly obsolete, temporarily only practiced underground.
It is a shame that we didn’t realize then that our lifestyles, rather than bacteria, are the cause of most diseases. Waging a war against bacteria is like waging a war against ourselves, as many bacteria normally exist in accordance within us and only contribute to an ongoing combat against gaining diseases as a result of our own imbalances.
Another way of looking at this is to realize that we give life to anything we pay attention to. It doesn’t matter whether the attention is positive or negative. Any type of attention given to something brings it to life, exaggerates its size, and in general acts like fertilizer. Bacteria, like humans, respond in the same way. In reaction to antibiotics, they become stronger, gradually develop resistance and finally evolve into new strains that we can neither identify nor fight against. A point to understand is that all the resistant strains of bacteria and highly evolved viruses have developed since Denmark’s discovery in 1939. Perhaps, once again, we need to look inside ourselves rather than outside for the causes of diseases in our lives.
What does nature say about all this? Research papers don’t seem to address the fact that the human race has evolved under natural sunlight. Are we supposed to dismiss five million years of evolution because science doesn’t understand the supreme wisdom of nature? In modern times, ultraviolet light is considered dangerous and to be avoided at all costs. We live in houses with no ultraviolet light. When we leave our houses, we put on our glasses, contacts or sunglasses, which block most of the UV light. We drive in cars that also block UV light. We work all day in offices and receive no UV there either. At night we switch on out man-made lights. When we finally take a break to go out under the sun, what do we do? We out on our sunglasses and cover our skin with sunscreens just to make sure we are not exposed to these hazardous rays. A lot of people are now scared to go out in the natural sunshine without some form of protection.
Similarly in today’s society, humans are burring themselves deep in the darkness of ignorance, selfishness, bias and bigotry. The light of awareness and knowledge is disappearing continuously. Nevertheless, all humans possess that attributes of research, curiosity, invention and the quality of examining and analyzing things. When someone explores the creative traits from within themselves and utilize them, in order to discover new phenomenon, the cosmic laws of creation are revealed. Ignorance in the use of light has caused people various permanent, physical and psychological diseases such as cancer, AIDS and insomnia. There are two major categories for the causes of diseases:
- Place of work and residence in untidy, dark and small places with inproper sources of fresh air and water.
- A continuous emotional, sexual, mental and nervous tension. One can also say insecurity, materialism, fear and lack of knowledge about the difference between body and soul.
Colors carry a curative energy that provides complete health and fitness to the sufferers of both categories. Colors are the basis to eradicate the tediousness of our sentiments, emotions and bodies. Our soul is the source that cascades the sprinkling colorful lights to nourish our bodies. This is done to such an extent that all of the body’s parts function effectively and to their fullest capacity. Color therapy renews the light in our bodies, minds and souls. It is a vehicle to the truth if you embrace your natural human inclinations.
A Great Sufi of the modern time, Al-Shaikh Muhammad Raheem Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (Ral.) (unknown – 1986), in a book he authored “THE MAP OF THE JOURNEY TO GOD” – Fellowship Press Publisher – from chapter 2, “Knowledge Unlike Anything We Have Studies Before” Bawa calls upon the readers and his followers to ponder upon an old argument, what is light? What Light this Great Saint is referring to in this book? This Great Sufi, voyaged From the savage wilderness of northern Sri Lanka, spread the divine wisdom in the modern world, and buried in Pennsylvania meadows, laid down an inciting thought provoking question, before common men!
“Gnanam means to understand the aspects of Light… What is light? What Light are we referring to? Is it this light electric light? There is magnetic light. There is the sound-light of demons, the light of fire, the light of sun, the light of moon, the light of stars and the light of lightning.” He says, “There is even the light of thunder, the glittering light of demons, the light of mirrors, the light of candles, of lamps, the light of paint, the light of the glittering of leaves, the light of gems and the light of rocks. Like this, there is light in the eye. There is light in the face. There is light in the body. There are glitters and lights everywhere. But the Light we are reffering to is not these lights. Gnanam, divine wisdom, means to understand this and to search for the Light of Truth, incomparable, eternal, endless Light, Light which does not perish, Light which does not end, Light which never diminishes, Light that exists everywhere, Light of perfect purity, resplendence without beginning or end”. (pg. 26-27)
…All the glitters that are seen, all the perceived lights, all the lights and glitters seen in the gems, in this and in that, in electricity and in magnetism – none of them can be called Light. Not all light is Light…… All light that can be changed is temporary”. (pg.28) In another great book “THE TREE THAT FELL TO THE WEST” – Autobiography of a Sufi, by M.R.Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (Ral.)”, Al-Shaikh Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Beseeched to The Lord Almighty, “O my God, may You live in the heart of each and every child, may You protect and sustain them. O my God, grant us the grace of being Light within our heart. May You be Light and sound always shining, pulsing and resonating in the heart. ….Protect and safeguard them with the light of Your Grace, destroy all sickness and diseases. Let them exist in the form of Light, protect and sustain them. (pg.184)