But what if colour does more than just please the eye?

For centuries, spiritual traditions have associated colours with particular qualities and states of consciousness. One particularly detailed interpretation comes from the I AM teachings, established by Guy and Edna Ballard in the 1930s and associated with the teachings of Saint Germain.

In The Voice of the “I AM” of August 1937, Edna Ballard presented “Perfection in Colours”, describing the effects she believed colour could have upon life, health and supply.

The principle is simple: colour is light, and different colours represent different frequencies. According to these teachings, surrounding ourselves with clean, clear and luminous colours can influence our emotional and spiritual environment.

These are spiritual teachings rather than scientifically established medical claims, but they offer a fascinating way of looking at something that surrounds us every day.

WHITE - Purity, balance and healing

White represents purity, cleanliness, balance and harmony and is regarded as one of the most important colours.

It is associated with purification and healing and with creating feelings of peace, happiness and lightness. White is also considered a foundation colour because white light contains the spectrum of colours within it.

For health, it represents purification, healing and balance; in life, clarity, harmony and peace.

GOLD - Abundance, peace and divine love

Gold occupies a particularly important place in the teachings. Associated with the light of the Sun, it represents Divine Love, wisdom, peace, comfort, happiness and abundance.

It is also strongly connected with supply — not simply money, but having the physical things necessary for a comfortable and happy life.

Gold is considered soothing and harmonising, encouraging peace, confidence and balance, while attracting abundance and material provision.

YELLOW - Illumination, wisdom and clarity

Clear, luminous yellow is associated with light, illumination, intelligence and wisdom.

Just as sunlight can transform the atmosphere of a room, yellow is regarded as uplifting and connected with optimism, mental activity and clarity.

Yellow and gold are closely related, although gold carries a stronger association with Divine Love and supply.

The important distinction throughout these teachings is clear yellow rather than muddy or dirty yellow. Purity and clarity of colour are repeatedly emphasised.

Credits: envato elements; Author: NAudigie;

PINK - Love, compassion and emotional healing

Pink represents Divine Love and Compassion.

It is regarded as one of the gentlest and most soothing colours and is particularly recommended in the teachings for children and highly sensitive people.

Pink is associated with forgiveness, kindness, tenderness, happiness and emotional harmony. Its benefit is therefore less about material prosperity and more about creating an abundance of love, goodwill and harmonious relationships.

VIOLET - Purification and Transformation

No colour is more closely associated with Saint Germain than violet.

Violet represents purification, transformation and freedom. Within the I AM tradition, the Violet Flame is regarded as a spiritual fire capable of transforming discordant energy and helping us release unwanted patterns and influences.

Rather than simply covering something negative, violet represents transmutation — changing one condition into something higher.

It is therefore associated with purification, spiritual strengthening, freedom and the removal of obstacles to a more harmonious life.

GREEN - Growth, prosperity and supply

Look outside and one colour dominates much of the natural world: green.

For this reason, the teachings associate clear greens — particularly apple, emerald and jade green — with life, growth and supply.

Green represents Nature’s extraordinary ability continually to renew itself. It is therefore associated with vitality and growth, but particularly with prosperity, material supply and manifestation.

BLUE - Energy, strength and protection

Blue represents energy, strength, power and devotion.

It is particularly recommended when energy is low or when someone is facing a difficult period and needs additional strength and determination. Blue is also associated with faith, protection and devotion to the Divine.

Interestingly, the teachings emphasise clear blue. Even a dark blue should remain recognisably blue rather than becoming so dark that it appears black.

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The rainbow rule

Perhaps the easiest way to understand the philosophy comes from a later teaching attributed to Saint Germain, published in The Voice of the “I AM” in 1950.

The rainbow is presented as the standard against which colours should be judged. Clear, luminous colours are regarded as constructive, while muddy, dirty or dulled colours are discouraged.

Nature itself provides the example: brilliant flowers, green leaves, blue skies and sunsets filled with gold, yellow, pink and violet.

The colours to be wary of

Black is particularly discouraged. Within this spiritual philosophy it is regarded as restricting or shutting out light, and people are advised against surrounding themselves excessively with it.

Strong red is also specifically discouraged. Interestingly, pink is regarded as having an entirely different quality rather than merely being a weaker red.

Grey and brown are discouraged because they lack the clear, luminous quality the teachings favour and do not appear among the colours of the rainbow.

Perhaps the strongest warning, however, concerns muddy, dirty or dulled colours. Even normally beneficial colours are considered less desirable when greyed, murky or unclear.

The philosophy can therefore be reduced to one remarkably simple rule:

Choose colours that are clean, clear, luminous and alive.

Whether or not we accept all the spiritual claims made for individual colours, the underlying message is worth considering. Our surroundings affect us. Light affects us. Beauty affects us.

And colour is one of the simplest things we can change.

So the next time you choose what to wear, paint a room or buy some flowers, perhaps ask not only, “Does this colour look good?” but also, “How does this colour make me feel?”