[Red vs, White] A discussion of color

[Moon Sedai]

Throughout literature, film, and day-to-day life, we have come to accept that colors often have symbolic meanings.

To make sure you understand what I’m talking about, here are a few examples of colors

 

Green often means growth, life, money, “Go,” greed, jealousy, or pro-environment causes.

Blue can represent sadness, loneliness, boys, nobility, and loyalty.

 

Red represents Blood, Passion, “Stop,” a warning, courage, Communism, anger, sin.

 

Yellow is often used to describe the sickly or the cowards, but also represents gold when in artwork.

 

White is a color used to denote purity, clarity, heroism, and in some cultures, Death. {The White in the WoT are the only Ajah to mourn in Black.}

The List goes on. Pick a color for an Ajah,{even the Black Ajah} and there is some sort of symbolic significance in Real Life culture.

 

 

It is clear that Robert Jordan picked specific colors to represent the Ajahs while ignoring other colors. I’ve heard many joke about the Purple ajah {myself included}, and the Purple are a popular fake-Ajah.

 

So, my question is this. . . . How do you Ladies and Gentlemen see the color Pink?

If Red is Strong Emotions, and Passion, and, White is cool, pure Logic, what is the intermediary between the two colors?

 

Is Pink White tinged with Red, or is a lighter shade of Red? {My husband calls it “blood tinged bone.”}

 

Is Pink Logic with a Hint of Passion or Passion with a Hint of Logic?

 

Or, is Pink a color sent by the Dark One himself?

 

 

Edit: Feel free to talk about any of the combination colors you want: Purple (red and blue) Orange (Red and Yellow) are open for discussion as well. Or, do you think that the symbolic meanings of the colors used for the Ajahs are appropriate for the ajah focuses, in the Books or in DM?

[Daruya]

Well, if you ask Myst, pink is a color sent by the Dark One himself . . .

 

It's an interesting question, though. A color study is a good topic and it might actually be one that is pursued further with the other colors, especially the actual Ajah colors.

 

Pink, though . . . I don't think that all Reds are passion without logic and all Whites are Logic without passion. Pevara is a good example of a Red with excellent logic skills, for example, and while I can't think of the name of a White that exhibited passion I know there had to have been one (even if it was only exhibited through spots of color on her cheeks! LOL!). But if I think of a mix of the two, I tend to picture roses but not pink ones. You know the roses that are one color but tipped with others? That's how I see a Red, for example, who is very logical, or a White who has passion.

 

When I think of pink I think of girlie stuff - princesses, castles and frou-frou stuff.

 

I think it also depends on the color of pink. A deep pink, almost fuschia, is a passionate color, I think. A pastel pink goes back to the frou-frou, though.

 

I'm going to cogitate on this some more and come back to it. I have a thought I want to put in here but am having trouble formulating it! LOL!

[Panchi]

I forgot the name of White who liked to write poetry. I would call her passionate even if she doesn't think so.

[Charis alAslan]

Even though I'm a White, I would probably have to concede that passion would win the day over logic 9 out of 10 times. I mean, you see the wacky things people do in a fit of rage or if they're crazy in love. Logic doesnt enter into it. When I was in high school, I remained in a semi-abusive relationship out of my blind love for my boyfriend, even though I KNEW "logically" that it was unhealthy and that I couldnt ever change him. It took a long time to break out of that cycle. Even the most logical person is not a robot and if the right buttons are pressed, passion can come straight to the surface overruling everything else.

[Ithillian Turambar]

I agree that most times for me, when emotions are involved, red for passion will always come before white for logic. So I guess if I were pink it would be a deep hot pink colour - strong and vivid.

 

I recently ran a Foretelling Room using an oracle based on colours. The guide for this states that Red is the colour of Passion, Intensity, Ardent Enthusiasm, Heightened physical and emotiona energy. It goes on to say that White is the colour of Insightful awareness, Realisation, Protection and Understanding reached through clear and positive thinking.

 

It does actually provide a specific reading for what happens when both Red and White are linked, saying that you can recognise that a high level of emotion can be a cause of stress. Well I guess we have all been in that situation at some point in our lives.

 

With regards to Pink. It says that it is the colour of Tenderness, Gentle love, Sensitivity, Vitality and Maintenance of health. If that's the case - then I think that Pink might be the colour for me after all :-)

[Charis alAslan]

Ithi, that makes Pink sound so much nicer than I usually think of it. I normally HATE pink. Since I gave birth to a girl last yr, everyone insisted on buying PINK clothing!! I steer clear of that color. Unfortunately, people still ask me whether she's a boy or girl even when she's dressed in pink from head to toe. Since I'm in Chinese circles most of the time, and the elderly could care less what color the child is dressed in, they always assume she's a boy until I correct them. Sigh.

[Moon Sedai]

I can understand that frustration, Charis.

 

We often assume Pink is girly and Blue is boyish, but in the early 1900s, pink was used for boys and blue for girls. ( I read this somewhere, I just don't remember where).

I'm not sure when it switched.

To me, I see pink as a Muted red, Pink is all the emotion of Red toned down a bit.

 

Though, like I may have said earlier, my husband says that Pink is White tinged in Blood.

 

Okay, what about Orange? WHat do ya'll think about that?

 

Orange is not a common "favorite color."

In some shades, it looks like a sickly red, or a bruised yellow.

 

But I think Orange, like Purple, is a color that Demands to stand out.

[Senexx]

I wish I could add something but Ithi sold me on Pink

 

As for Orange, it's Red+Yellow, so passionate healers? In fact given Nynaeve's temperament in the books I think this describes her precisely.

[Ithillian Turambar]

Isn't orange meant to stimulate creative thought or something - for example if it is painted on office walls or in the workplace.

 

I also agree with Charis and Sennex - I always thought that pink was a bit insipid and weak, but I love the description in my book too and now I'm a definite fan.

[Charis alAslan]

I can understand that frustration, Charis.

 

We often assume Pink is girly and Blue is boyish, but in the early 1900s, pink was used for boys and blue for girls. ( I read this somewhere, I just don't remember where).

I'm not sure when it switched.

 

Interesting. Guess the confusion on the part of the elderly makes more sense now. Thanks for that factoid!

 

I wish I could add something but Ithi sold me on Pink

 

As for Orange, it's Red+Yellow, so passionate healers? In fact given Nynaeve's temperament in the books I think this describes her precisely.

 

I agree with this.

 

 

[Naked~Frog]

Green often means growth, life, money, “Go,” greed, jealousy, or pro-environment causes.

 

I find this fascinating since I have a very mild form of Synesthesia so sometimes when I taste something (for me the flavor has to be very strong) I will actually see a flash of color. Certain powerful emotions will also make me see colors, sometimes they project outwards and I still see everything around me but its all the same color or i see nothing but the color for just a few seconds. I also have a thing with shapes and lines, letters and numbers, all that stuff but I don't really feel like getting that into it at the moment.

 

The color I have decided to comment on is green because whenever I feel extremely relaxed or completely at peace I see all green. It strikes me as strange that the color would then be considered something greedy or vain by others.... very interesting.

 

...

Edit Time:

 

I just went and read what everyone else said and it really was interesting considering that I see colors when I experience emotions and a lot of those went over emotion. Though different people like me see different colors for different things so there is no definite answer, that really stuck me as thought provoking. Mainly since logic appears to have been used in the deduction of what each color stands for when for me my mind just... made it.... I guess. For emotions attached to colors I would think it's an emotional response, but then tastes have colors as well. Fish tends to taste brown. Strawberries, if they are light colored and more tangy, will taste bright orange and then more of a greyish orange. Darker and more juicy strawberries without the tang are blue or purple... purple is usually when they are still slightly tangy... but it isn't blue and orange combined like you might think, it is blue and red but more bluish normally. So taste also enters the picture but I probably just sound crazy there.

 

Emotions... let's see here...

 

Love has never brought on red or pink or anything along those lines. It has always struck me as weird that those things are connected. I think of red as angry. Frustrated. That kind of thing. But I only see if I am very throughly furious. People used to think I was crazy because in books they will say things about people seeing red or flashes of red when their mad and it took me a long time to realize that people normally do not. But I do. A very dark, dark red.

 

Pink.... Not sure what to say about pink. I only recall seeing it a few times and my emotions were pretty mixed so I guess that fits... no red though. I wasn't angry at all. Each pure hue has a meaning and sometimes they are mixed and I know they are and sometimes it's just a hue thats in between but isn't anything mixed. Not easy to explain. I just know. Even murky colors can be counted as pure to me. The relaxed green for example, is very bright. Not like a shining light type bright, but just a light and bright shade of green and it darkens near the end and I feel so calm and nice. A murky green however, is extremely unpleasant. I have seen a particular murky green on a few occasions as a result of heart break. So it isn't just the color but the type of that color and I probably just made this conversation extremely complicated... I think I should stop now... Sorry I'm crazy.

[Charis alAslan]

I've never heard of Synesthesia before, NF. Is it genetic? And thanks for your response!

[Naked~Frog]

They're still doing lots of studies on it but I'm pretty sure it is. I'm also pretty sure that it's pretty common but most people don't notice it because the colors aren't strong enough or only extremely powerful things will bring it out. I've always wondered... if one of you, who aren't known to have this go into a room with food and sit in one place without moving with your eyes shut for a long time so that the light on your eyelids doesn't effect what you see and then place food in your mouth, preferably something with strong flavor, will you see a color?

 

Also we tend to have a color for every letter. I don't so much... but I do think of them as having personalities which is also a part of it. Shapes and colors will also steal my vision for a bit in response to certain things... but never complicated shapes like I would never see a dresser as a result of Synesthesia.... but maybe I would if I was having a flashback or something though that would be a boring one. I might see a square, my shapes are always 2D, though I don't know about other people with Synesthesia.... they might see more complicated shapes... I don't know...

 

I'm glad that you seem interested, most people write it off as crazy and I'm okay with that. To each their own.

 

Actually, as a side note, I probably am crazy because it's caused by a cross wiring of my senses. Not a drastic one but some sort of one... I don't really understand it... Probably extra weird but it never struck my interest. It's just that I see colors, shapes, and lines that aren't there and other people don't tend to. Not really that special. I love circles by the way, but not ovals. Poorly drawn circles make me uncomfortable... Just kind of how it is.

[Elgee]

I think that must make your world so much more interesting! You have more senses than most people, which just adds to your experience of things.

 

Interesting that you like circles more than ovals, or in fact that you prefer any shapes over others. I love interesting shapes - a square is my least favoured shape. For instance, if I look at houses, the more unconventional the shape (ie NOT square), the more I'm attracted to it. This filters through to everything else, from furniture to shoes to clothes to ... well, anything.

[Naked~Frog]

Creativity is always key, and I actually dislike squares but sometimes I need them too. They are order. Triangles I sometimes love and sometimes hate but it differs all the time. Houses are boring unless they have a lot of detail.

[Charis alAslan]

if one of you, who aren't known to have this go into a room with food and sit in one place without moving with your eyes shut for a long time so that the light on your eyelids doesn't effect what you see and then place food in your mouth, preferably something with strong flavor, will you see a color?

 

Must experiment with this some time!

And I agree with Mother - it must make your life so much fuller to see these things. =)

[Naked~Frog]

I guess, we are getting off topic though. What colors should we evaluate now?