Why We Prefer Certain Colors The current Food and Drug Administration concern that artificial food dyes

could increase hyperactivity in children and cause other health hazards raises a simple question: Why do we put these things in our food These artificial chemicals have no food value! They are not added for the chemical reactions they produce! They are added to food simply "ecause the chemicals are colorful! The e#planation for this "ehavior must "e rooted in "iology or psychology! Would you drin$ "rown tomato %uice &f given a choice' most li$ely you would refuse the "rown tomato %uice in favor of the same stuff doped with an artificial chemical that stains the %uice "right red! (ven though you $now that the "rilliant red color of tomatoes fades with time after caning' and you $now the red colored artificial chemical does nothing for taste or nutrition' you can)t help yourself from consuming the adulterated %uice instead of the faded colored %uice in its natural state! &s this rational Color preferences are deeply rooted emotional responses that seem to lac$ any rational "asis' yet the powerful influence of color rules our choices in everything from the food we eat and the clothes we wear to the cars we "uy! For some people' owning a green car is unthin$a"le! These shoppers will gladly pay hundreds of dollars more to o"tain the vehicle in a different color' or they will re%ect the green car and select an entirely different automo"ile in a color they favor! We all do this even though the color has a"solutely no influence on the performance of the automo"ile! *et oddly' someone else will feel e#actly the opposite a"out "uying a green car! These individuals will gladly pay a premium to purchase a vehicle in the shade of green they adore! We li$e to thin$ of ourselves as "eing rational' "ut in fact we are ruled "y the unconsciousand mysterious power of color! Where do our color preferences come from &n an essay in +,-.' /iologist Theodosius Do"zhans$y' famously o"served that 0nothing in "iology ma$es sense e#cept in the light of evolution!0 Psychologists 1tephen Palmer and 2aren 1chloss of 3C /er$eley' apply this viewpoint to the question of color preference in an article pu"lished in 45+5 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science! They tested the theory that human color preference is adaptive6 that is' people are more li$ely to survive and reproduce successfully if they are attracted to o"%ects with colors that 0loo$ good0 to them' and they will avoid o"%ects with colors that 0loo$ "ad0 to them! The idea is that the more e#perience7"ased feed"ac$ that a person receives a"out a particular color that is associated with a positive e#perience' the more the person will tend to li$e that color! They proposed that in general' people should favor colors associated with clear s$y and clean water 8"lue and cyans for e#ample9 and "e repulsed "y colors associated with negative reactions 8"rown' for e#ample' which is associated with rotting food and feces!9 To test this' they studied :; participants who were as$ed to rate .4 colors in terms of how much the participant li$ed the color! The results showed that "rightly saturated colors were preferred over the same hues that were muted or pastel' "ut not all colors were equally favored! /rown and olive green were significantly less preferred than orange or yellow! /right reds' "lues' and green' were the most higly favored colors! The results of the study produced a sort of 0color wheel0 ran$ing of the .4 colors' "ut it)s not the color "rown that repels us from drin$ing "rown tomato %uice! /rown colored chocolate mil$ does not evo$e the same psychological revulsion! The pro"lem with this test is that the colors were not associated with o"%ects! The researchers then showed -: su"%ects each color swatch against a gray "ac$ground and as$ed them to write as many descriptions as they could a"out o"%ects that typically have this color! /rown might "e associated with dirt' or red associated with an apple' for e#ample! This now produced an association "etween 444 o"%ects and their colors! ,; other participants then read the 444 o"%ect descriptions in "lac$ te#t on a white "ac$ground and were as$ed to rate how appealing each o"%ect was to them! <o color was mentioned! For e#ample' an apple might rate higher in appeal than dirt! <ow the researchers had a ran$ing of how appealing 444 o"%ects were from one group' and a ran$ing of colors that had "een associated with the o"%ects "y an independent group!

<ow the researchers showed .+ new o"servers the written descriptions of the o"%ects together with a color to which that o"%ect had "een given' and as$ed them to rate the strength of the match "etween the color and the descri"ed o"%ect on the screen! The 0color wheel0 preferences produced "y deriving the colors from the relative preferences for the o"%ects that had these colors' matched perfectly with the first group)s 0color wheel0 preferences that were produced on the "asis of loo$ing at pure swatches of color without any o"%ect associated with them! The conclusion is that color preferences derive from our preference for the o"%ects that typically have these colors! /ut is this color preference hard7wired "y evolution or learned &nterestingly' the researchers found that =apanese color preferences were different from American preferences' suggesting a cultural influence on color preference! Colors influence o"%ect preferences in many situations in modern life' for e#ample house paint' clothes' and furniture! >ur individual preference for a particular color associated with these o"%ects 8a living room wall or an automo"ile9 will "e produced and reinforced "y the positive feed"ac$ associated with the o"%ect and the color it has! (veryone has a somewhat different life e#perience' and so as people increasingly e#perience pleasure in something they "ought in a particular color' they will tend to chose similar o"%ects in the future with the same color! This leads to a self perpetuating situation! 1o if you had never seen anything "ut "rown tomato %uice' these results predict that you would shun the red7stuff in favor of the "rown! &n fact' you would welcome the food manufacturers doping your drin$ with an artificial chemical to ma$e it even "rowner! 1. Introduction to how colours affect us spiritually We all ma$e choices on a daily "asis with regard to colour! An e#ample is choosing the colour of the clothes that we will wear for the day! From time to time we may need to choose the colour of the ne#t set of "ed linen that we purchase! 1ometimes we have to choose the colour of paint for the walls in our home! Through spiritual research' we have found that depending on the colour we choose 8"e it clothes or our surroundings9' we will "e affected accordingly at a spiritual level! &n this article' we share some of our spiritual research on the many ways colours affect us so that our readers are "etter equipped to ma$e decisions that will enhance their lives! 2. How colours affect us spiritually? The entire 3niverse' at a su"tle intangi"le level' is made up of three su"tle7components of Sattva' Raja and Tama! We have e#plained this in detail on our we"site and urge you to familiarise yourself with this concept' so as to gain a "etter understanding of this article! Colours are also categorised as sttvik' rjasik or tmasik depending on their predominant su"tle7

components! Sattva stands for ?spiritual purity@ while Raja and Tama stand for ?action@ and ?spiritual ignorance@ respectively! When we wear clothes that are of sattvik colours' it helps us with our spiritual practice' while colours that are Raja-Tama in nature are detrimental towards ma$ing spiritual progress! Wearing clothes that have a RajaTama predominance increases the negative spiritual vi"rations around us! Aence we are also more li$ely to attract negative energies as they too are Raja-Tama predominant! The following is a list of colours and their effect on our spiritual state! When a colour is descri"ed as "eing ?Aelpful@' as mentioned in the chart "elow' it means that the colour helps to attract spiritually positive vi"rations and repel negative

vi"rations! ?Aarmful@ indicates the a"ility to attract negative vi"rations whilst simultaneously alienating us from spiritually positive vi"rations!

As you can see from the chart a"ove' colours such as white' yellow and "lue assist in increasing the spiritual purity around us! The colour "lac$ on the other hand' has harmful vi"rations which not only attract negative energies "ut repel any positive spiritual energy!The two drawings "ased on su"tle7$nowledge "elow show the difference in spiritual vi"rations "etween the colours white and "lac$' when worn! &n particular' the drawings "ased on su"tle7$nowledge focus on the energies that the colours attractBrepel and their effect on the person wearing the colours! The drawings "ased on su"tle7 $nowledge have "een drawn "y Cs! Priyan$a Dotli$ar' a see$er with an advanced si#th sense of vision! The drawings "ased on su"tle7$nowledge have "een authenticated and verified "y A!A! Dr! Athavale! Through spiritual research' "oth the drawings' depicting the spiritual vi"rations of "lac$ and white were found to "e ;5E accurate! FTop

/oth drawings "ased on su"tle7$nowledge show' in isolation' the su"tle7vi"rations attracted and emitted "y the colours "lac$ and white! The final vi"rations emitted or attracted "y a person is the sum of myriad factors such as spiritual level' personality defects' state of mind at that time' whether negative energies are affecting him' the type and colour of clothes' etc! 3. Reasons why we like certain colours At a physical level: A person generally li$es a certain colour "ecause it matches his s$in tone! At a psychological level: An individual@s taste or distaste for a certain colour can change with his mood! These mood changes are often situation7"ased' for e#ample:

According to event: People prefer to wear vi"rant colours while going on outings! According to the event and culture: During a funeral in some cultures' "lac$ is worn' while in others' people dress in white! Gefer to the article on what colour should one wear for a funeral

According to tradition: Dawyers in some countries wear "lac$ "ecause it is a tradition to do so! According to age: People in their teens and early adulthood may have a passion for pin$! With advancing age the interest in this colour can wane!

As the colour stands for so ething:

The colour and style of clothing worn "y a cele"rity most often can influence the choice of attire of his fan following!

&t is in fashion People may disli$e a colour "y its association to a certain section of society that they disli$e

At a spiritual level:

!ue to "asic nature: The most pertinent factor in why a person li$es a certain colour is "ecause it closely matches his "asic nature! A sattvik person would prefer sattvik colours such as white or light "lue! &f the "asic nature of a person is tamasik' they would prefer more tamasik colours such as "lac$!

!ue to the effect of negative energies: A person under the control of negative energies usually perceives good vi"rations even from the colour "lac$! All the four "odies namely physical' mental' intellectual and the su"tle7ego can "e spiritually impaired when an individual is possessed "y negative energies! &f the distress persists for a long time' the person slowly "egins to lose his own identity! The character of the possessing entity comes to the fore and plays a dominant role in e#ercising its li$es and disli$es which are reflected in the person@s "ehaviour! This means that the person@s consciousness gets completely controlled "y the negative energy possessing him! 1ince the negative energy is Tama7predominant' the person also ta$es a li$ing to Tama7predominant o"%ects such as "lac$ garments! #ey finding through spiritual research: The trend to wear "lac$ formal wear or to wear "lac$ in our day7to7day lives has "een largely instigated "y negative energies which have "een and continue to insidiously and su"tly influence the minds of people! Gefer to the article 7 What percentage of the world@s population is possessed The wearing of the colour "lac$ affects people in the immediate vicinity too! &f two people are affected "y negative energies and they wear "lac$' this only assists in the e#change of su"tle "lac$ energy "etween the two negative energies! Aowever if there is a person who is honestly trying to ma$e efforts in his spiritual practice in the area' he too is prone to "e adversely affected "y the increase in the Tamacomponent due to another person wearing "lac$! This is "ecause negative energies focus their efforts on trying to dissuade people from doing serious and intense spiritual practice!

!ue to past life i pressions: &f an individual was harmed "y a person who was wearing green clothes in a previous "irth' the individual will most li$ely have an aversion to the colour green in the ne#t "irth "y su"tle7 association!

$hange due to the level of spiritual practice: A see$er who e#periences a sustained state of spiritual emotion 8bhv9 may prefer the colour "lue! This is "ecause in the spiritual dimension' the su"tle7colour of spiritual emotion is "lue! %. &eneral spiritual perspective while choosing colours for clothes 'he colour of clothes should "e sattvik: 1elect sattvik colours such as white' yellow' "lue and shades of these colours! There is a +B+555 part effect of colours on an average person! This seemingly small proportion will in most cases

significantly affect a person@s physical and psychological state! <otwithstanding this small proportion' wearing SattvaRaja predominant clothes "enefits a person "y either:

complementing his Sattva-Raja personality or lessening the Raja-Tama predominance in him &f a person li$es wearing "lac$' he may loo$ for reasons or e#cuses to continue wearing "lac$ even after reading this article! &t is strongly recommended that the use of one@s intellect in this instance will only "e detrimental! This is "ecause there is no spiritual upside to wearing "lac$ and it can only adversely affect one@s well7"eing! $olour of clothes should not "e gaudy: Haudy colours have a greater predominance of the su"tle Tama component! An individual wearing clothes with gaudy colours also "ecomes Tama7predominant over a period of time!$lothes should "e unifor in colour: Clothes with a plain' single spiritual colour' without any print or design are indicative of transparency and hence' are considered more sttvik from a spiritual viewpoint!$olours of clothes should "e co ple entary to each other: &f a top and a "ottom with different colours are to "e worn' then the colours should complement each other' that is' they should "e compati"le with each other to an e#tent of at least 45 percent! For e#ample' a com"ination of two sattvik colours is spiritually more appropriate! /elow are some e#amples of sattvik colour pairs:

White and pale "lue Pale "lue and dar$ "lue 'here should not "e too uch of a contrast in the two colours of clothes: &f two contrasting shades of colours are put

together' they generate negative vi"rations! Therefore there should not "e too much of a contrast "etween the two colours! For e#ample' avoid a com"ination of yellow 8a sattvik colour9 and green 8a rajasik colour9! Aowever' a shade of green that "lends well with yellow will do! This is "ecause it has more yellow in it and hence is more sattvik!At many formal functions we see people wearing a "lac$ and white com"ination such as a tu#edo! The world sees this type of formal wear as the epitome of elegance and social grace! Aowever at a spiritual level the story is very different! The su"tle7vi"rations from a very sattvik colour such as white and a very tamasikcolour such as "lac$ actually fight each other! This fight leads to the creation of distressing vi"rations which only increases the possi"ility of "eing affected "y negative energies! From a spiritual perspective it is therefore not recommended to wear clothes' such as a tu#edo' with a "lac$ and white com"ination! (roportion of sattvik and rajasik colours in fa"ric: &f the proportion of sattvikand rajasik colours in a cloth is such that the proportion of the rajasik colour used is much less' then the spiritual vi"rations from the cloth are "etter! &f a white cloth has a red floral design' then good vi"rations are e#perienced from the cloth! &t means that when the percentage of the sattvik colour in the cloth is more than that of the rajasik colour' the effectiveness of the rajasik colour reduces! &n short' the vi"rations from the colours in a cloth depend on what percentage of sattvik and rajasik colours have "een used in the cloth!As a result of a person@s spiritual practice and after attaining a spiritual level of a"ove I5 E' the effect of colours on his mind and intellect is minimal! This effect diminishes as a person@s spiritual level increases! Aowever it can still affect him physically as the "ody is gross 8tangi"le9 and higher level negative energies can easily affect something that is in the physical realm! ). In su ary

We hope this article has provided you with an insight at a practical level to the spiritual effect of colours on your life! The "asic rule of thum" to $eep in mind is to increase the Sattva component in your life and reduce the Raja-Tama su"tle7

component in your life! /y understanding and putting this spiritual principle into practice and not "eing swayed "y any tamasik trend however popular it may "e' will only add a higher level of well7"eing in your life!