To continue our look at the role colour plays and what it signifies in our emotional bodies, we can delve further into the characteristics displayed by the three categories of people we have previously outlined. If we look at a developed person, they have five rates of vibration in their emotional body: an ordinary person shows at least nine rates, with a mixture of various shades in addition. Many people have 50 or 100 rates, the whole surface being broken up into a multiplicity of little whirlpools and cross-currents, all battling one against another in mad confusion. This is the result of unnecessary emotion and worries, the ordinary person in modern society being a mass of these, through which much of their strength is frittered away.
An emotional body, which vibrates fifty ways at once is not only ugly but also a serious annoyance. It may be compared to a physical body suffering from an aggravated form of paralysis, followed by tremors, with all its muscles jerking simultaneously in different directions. Such emotional effects are contagious and affect all sensitive people who approach, communicating a painful sense of unrest and worry. It is just because millions of people are unnecessarily agitated by all sorts of foolish desires and feelings that it is so difficult for a sensitive person to live in a big city or move amongst crowds. The perpetual emotional disturbances may even react through the etheric web and set up nervous diseases.
The centres of inflammation in the emotional body are to it what boils are to the physical body — not only acutely uncomfortable but also weak spots through which vitality leaks away. They also offer practically no resistance to evil influences and prevent good influences from being beneficial. This condition is painfully common: the remedy is to eliminate worry, fear and annoyance. The student of esoterics must not have personal feelings that can be affected under any circumstances whatever. Easier said than done.
Only a young child has a white or comparatively colourless aura, the colours begin to show only as the qualities develop. The emotional body of a child is often a beautiful object — pure and bright in its colours, free from the stains of sensuality, avarice, ill-will and selfishness. In it may also be seen lying latent the germs and tendencies brought over from their last life, some of them evil, some good, and thus the possibilities of the child’s future life may be seen.
The yellow of intellect, found always near the head, is the origin of the idea of the nimbus or glory around the head of a saint since this yellow is the most conspicuous of the colours of the emotional body and the one most easily perceived by a person on the verge of clairvoyance. This is also the colour associated with the navel chakra, which is the site of clairvoyant activity. Sometimes, owing to the unusual activity of the intellect, the yellow may become visible even in physical matter, so as to be perceptible to ordinary physical sight.
We have already seen that the emotional body has a certain normal arrangement, into which its various portions tend to group themselves. A sudden rush of passion or feeling, however, may temporarily force the whole, or almost the whole, of the matter in an emotional body to vibrate at a certain rate, thus producing quite striking results. All the matter of the emotional body is swept about as if by a violent hurricane so that for the time being the colours become very mixed. Coloured examples of this phenomenon are given in Man Visible and Invisible:—
This image shows a sudden rush of affection. A mother snatches up her baby and covers it with kisses, the whole emotional body in a moment is thrown into violent agitation, and the original colours are for the time almost obscured. Notice the swirls of rose-coloured matter in the envelope. This image shows the emotional envelope of a nun, as feelings of devotion surge through her emotional body. The colour blue is associated with devotion. By contrast, this image is one of intense anger. You have the swirls again but you can see sparks flying as well. These will impact others nearby. When you experience shock and fear each band of emotional essences seem to shudder. Finally, look at this plate, which shows a person experiencing a sudden upward rush of spiritual aspiration. You have the lilac band over the head and the intense lemon yellow of the intellect being engaged. You can see a clear band of blue devotional energy, with a large band of rose-coloured affection, supported on a base of green vitality and sympathy. This is what we should be aiming for.
Analysis of images like these highlight four separate effects: —
(1) Certain coils or vortices of vivid colour are to be seen, well-defined and solid-looking, and glowing with an intense light from within. Each of these is in reality a thought form of intense affection, generated within the emotional body, and about to be poured forth from it towards the object of the feeling. The whirling clouds of living light are indescribably lovely, though difficult to depict.
(2) The whole emotional body is crossed by horizontal pulsating lines of crimson light, even more difficult to represent, because of the exceeding rapidity of their motion.
(3) A kind of film of rose colour covers the surface of the whole emotional body so that all within is seen through it, as through tinted glass.
(4) A sort of crimson flush fills the entire emotional body, tinging to some extent the other hues, and here and there condensing itself into irregular floating wisps, like half-formed clouds. In an undeveloped person, their aura looks like a real mess.
When a particular band of emotions sweeps across an aura, it probably lasts only a few seconds, and then the body rapidly resumes its normal condition, the various grades of matter sorting themselves again into their usual zones by their specific gravities. Yet every rush of feeling adds a little to the crimson in the higher part of the oval and makes it a little easier for the emotional body to respond to the next wave of affection, which may come. Similarly, a person who frequently feels high devotion soon comes to have a large area of blue in their emotional body. The effects of such impulses are cumulative: and in addition, the radiation of vivid vibrations of love and joy produce good influences on others. With the substitution of blue for crimson, a sudden access of devotion, surging over a nun engaged in contemplation, produces an almost identical effect.
In the case of intense anger, the ordinary background of the emotional body is obscured by coils or vortices of heavy, thunderous masses of sooty blackness, lit up from within by the lurid glare of active hatred. Wisps of the same dark cloud are seen defiling the whole emotional body, while the fiery arrows of uncontrolled anger shoot among them like flashes of lightning. These terrible flashes are capable of penetrating other emotional bodies like swords and thus inflicting injury upon other people. In this instance, as in the others, each outburst of rage would predispose the matter of the entire emotional body to respond more readily than before to these very undesirable vibrations.
A sudden shock of terror will in an instant suffuse the whole body with a curious livid grey mist, while horizontal lines of the same hue appear, but vibrating with such violence as to be hardly recognisable as separate lines. The result is ghastly: all light fades out for the time from the body and the whole grey mass quivers helplessly like a jelly.
A flood of emotion does not greatly affect the mental body, though for a time it may render it almost impossible for any activity from the mental body to come through into the physical brain, because the emotional body, which acts as a bridge between the mental body and the brain, is vibrating so entirely at one rate as to be incapable of conveying any frequency which is not in harmony with it. This is why when someone is in a rage, logic goes out the window.
Just described are examples of the effects of sudden and temporary outbursts of feeling. There are other similar effects of a more permanent character produced by certain dispositions or types of character. Thus, when an ordinary person falls in love, the emotional body is so completely transformed as to make it scarcely recognisable as belonging to the same person. Selfishness, deceit and avarice vanish, and the lowest part of the oval is filled with a large development of animal passions. The green of adaptability is replaced by the peculiar brownish-green of jealousy and the extreme activity of this feeling is shown by bright scarlet flashes of anger which permeate it. But the undesirable changes are more than counterbalanced by the splendid band of crimson, which fills a large part of the oval. This is, for the time, a dominant characteristic and the whole emotional body glows with its light. Under its influence, the general muddiness of the ordinary emotional body disappears and the hues are all brilliant and clearly marked, good and bad alike. It is an intensification of life in various directions. The blue of devotion is also distinctly improved and even a touch of pale violet appears at the summit of the ovoid, indicating a capacity to respond to really high and unselfish ideals. The yellow of the intellect, however, has entirely vanished for the time — a fact which the cynical might consider as characteristic of the condition!
The emotional body of an irritable person usually shows a broad band of scarlet as a prominent feature, and, in addition, the whole emotional body is covered with little floating flecks of scarlet. In the case of a miser, avarice, selfishness, deceit and adaptability are naturally intensified, but sensuality is diminished. The most remarkable change, however, is the curious series of parallel horizontal lines across the oval, giving the impression of a cage. The bars are deep brown, almost burnt sienna. The vice of greed seems to have the effect of completely arresting development for the time and it is very difficult to shake off when once it has gained a firm hold. Deep depression produces an effect in grey, instead of brown, very similar to that of the miser. The result is indescribably gloomy and depressing to the observer. No emotional condition is more infectious than the feeling of depression.
In the case of a non-intellectual person who is religious, the emotional body assumes a characteristic appearance. A touch of violet suggests the possibility of response to a high ideal. The blue of devotion is unusually well developed, but the yellow of intellect is scanty. There is a fair proportion of affection and adaptability, but more than the average of sensuality deceit and selfishness are also prominent. The colours are irregularly distributed, melting into one another, and the outline is vague, indicating the vagueness of the devotional person’s conceptions.
Extreme sensuality and devotional temperament are frequently seen in association: perhaps because these types of people live chiefly in their feelings, being governed by them instead of trying to control them by reason. A great contrast is shown by a scientifically inclined person. Devotion is absent, sensuality is much below the average, but the intellect is developed to an abnormal degree. Affection and adaptability are small in quantity and poor in quality. A good deal of selfishness and avarice is present also some jealousy. A huge cone of bright orange amid the golden yellow of intellect indicates pride and ambition in connection with the knowledge that has been acquired. The scientific and orderly habit of mind causes the arrangement of the colours to fall into regular bands, the lines of demarcation being quite definite and marked.
If you wish to study this in greater detail, look no further than Leadbeater’s books on the subject. As we have been dealing here with colours in the emotional body, it is worth mentioning that the means of communication with the elementals, which are associated so closely with humanity’s emotional body, is by sounds and colours. It is worth noting that the language of colours was known to ancient Egyptians and used extensively in their sacred manuscripts. To elementals, colours are as intelligible as words are to us.
All things considered, don’t ever try to communicate with elementals. That is the job of the devas. They know how to handle them. We tried this experiment on the Moon Chain and the whole chain had to be aborted, so be warned.
See you in the next presentation.