Colour And The Light Spectrum
Sir Isaac Newton “discovered” the colour spectrum & explored how each colour is defined by a different wavelength of light. He then developed the colour wheel in 1704.
What we perceive as colour is light being reflected off an object. Colour carries what we call a vibration, so perceiving it makes us feel a particular way. This is the basis of colour psychology
The colour spectrum we see in the rainbow is represented in the 7 main chakras or energy centers in the human body. These are part of the subtle body, the aura or the electro-magnetic or energy field that surrounds our bodies. These become relevant when we talk about the colours of the fabrics we wear for prayer & worship.
Amabhayi or Amahiya, the printed cloths worn as head or body wraps, and Amajazi, robes either in plain colours or prints and iziphika, capes reveal the nature of your spirit guides. This is because our African ancestors wore skins and feathers of their clan totems or to symbolise positions of authority as a king, a chief, a healer or a soldier. These were replaced by the prints and plain fabrics which are worn today.
Basic Colour Psychology
There are 3 primary colours: red; yellow and blue.
Red is reflected from an object when most of the colours of the light spectrum are absorbed by it.
Orange is a secondary colour, being a mixture of two primary colours: red and yellow. It is reflected when the rest of the colours of the light spectrum are absorbed by an object.
Green is a secondary colour being a mixture of yellow and blue.
Indigo is a secondary colour, being a mixture of purple, being red and blue with a greater proportion of blue than red.
Violet is a secondary colour, being a mixture of red and blue with a greater proportion of red.
White is a combination of all the colours. The material reflects all the colours of the light spectrum hence an object appears to be white in colour.
Black is the absence of colour. A black object absorbs all the colours in the light spectrum.
Fabrics & prints use colour psychology and the metaphysics of colour to facilitate change & transformation in our lives, a process known as alchemy. Alchemy was the name given in Latin Europe in the 12th century to an aspect of thought that corresponds to astrology, which is apparently an older tradition. Both represent attempts to discover the relationship of man to the cosmos and to exploit that relationship to his benefit.
Colours of Amabhayi: The Esoteric Meaning
The following outlines the colours, their symbolism and their correspondence to the energy centres in the electro-magnetic field surrounding the human body known as the subtle body, etheric body the or aura.
White stands for light, purity, innocence & inspires others for protection against evil. It corresponds to the upper crown chakra, above the head and connection to the Divine. Metaphysically, white absorbs energy. It is commonly used in churches particularly for altars and favoured by angelic guides.
Red symbolises protection in conflict worn by warriors & healers. It is the colour of blood. corresponds to the root chakra. The root chakra is located in the three lowest vertebrae of the spine. The root chakra is associated with physical safety, security, belonging and financial stability.
Orange symbolises creativity and optimism and corresponds to the sacral chakra, located below the navel. It governs creativity, sexual energy and fertility.
Yellow symbolises energy, passion and inspires action. It corresponds to the solar plexus chakra located below the rib cage. It is the seat of self- confidence, self-esteem and courage.
Green symbolises life, healing, growth, money, luck and corresponds to the heart chakra, located in the chest. It governs the ability to give and receive love.
Blue symbolises calm, serenity and stability. It corresponds to the throat chakra which includes the throat and the ears and governs communication.
Indigo symbolises spiritual connection abs imagination. It corresponds to the 3rd eye chakra located between the eyes. It enables dreams, visions and other psychic gifts that allow one to see beyond the tangible material world.
Purple or violet symbolises royalty, connection to the divine. It corresponds to the crown chakra where we communicate with deities & spirit guides & the higher self.
Black symbolises darkness and power. It is preferred by elders, chiefs, priests, sorcerers & dark magicians. Metaphysically black repels energy and is worn for protection.
Grey is a mixture of white & black, the colour of ash, what is left after a fire. It symbolises invisibility- being neither innocent nor powerful. It is the colour of the hermit, one who prefers seclusion for spiritual contemplation.
Brown has s a mixture of red, blue and yellow. It symbolises structure, predictability and stability, being the colour of the earth.
Esoteric Meaning of Fabrics in African Spirituality
These fabrics or garments were either worn by your ancestors who are now your spirit guides or are given to you to wear to activate your spiritual gifts. They can indicate the type of gift you have and or the ancestor you walk with. These gifts are assigned to a family or clan so if you are gifted, or have a calling you would have inherited that gift from someone in your bloodline or lineage.
There is a difference between a spiritual gifting which is the ability to manifest something physical from a non-physical source such as a healing or psychic ability and a calling where one is tasked with using their spiritual gift to serve their family or community. Not everyone who is gifted is called. The difference is that your ancestral and angelic guides will guide and teach you either through dreams & intuition or through another gifted person as your teacher and guide to help you to heal and operate your spiritual gifts.
If you dream of plain or printed garments, either wearing them or being shown people wearing them, you should research your background and see which ancestors attended those churches or worked with those kinds of spirit guides. Get the fabric, the cape, the gown or the head wrap & pray with it to connect to your spirit guides.
White garments, whether plain or as the dominant colour in a print are associated with different spiritual guides. Commonly these include inzuza amaNdau, abaLozi and oManono. They can help you to connect with many different types of spirit guides because white carries the highest vibration of all the colours.
Predominantly these garments or fabrics are worn either at the start of your journey in many traditions including churches as they symbolise innocence, purity & a need for protection. Alternatively you may wear white when you graduate or have been purified and are ready to start work as a spiritual healer.
White garments are are worn in the white garment or African apostolic churches because of their association with water spirits. The members and leaders of these church congregations pray outside in the veld or by the river & work with water for cleansing.
Black is associated with dark magic or sorcery. In the church, black is worn by priests of different denominations. It is a power colour & when worn with white symbolised authority.
Among African spiritualists, it is worn by people whose spirit guides are inzuza. They are very powerful so they rarely wear it in public. They are able to connect to different spirit guides including umNguni, umNdau, umNdika umLozi etc. Inzuza is a water spirit & the spirit shapeshifts because it’s associated with water & can appear as an old man or a young child. It is very secretive & there are few people that possess it. This spirit requires purity. It works predominantly with water & the people who walk with this type of spirit guide need to go to a river, a lake or a waterfall to connect. They can self-initiate. They can also help initiate other spiritually gifted people by taking them to the waters for cleansing.
Red is associated with Nguni spirit guides. They originally came from the West in the Niger – Congo basin. The Mandinka are also among the ancient blood ancestors of the Nguni and the ancestral spirit is known as umNdika. Dreaming of a red cloth can either indicate a calling as a diviner – isangoma or as a prophet or prayer warrior. The dominant elemental energies are earth & fire. If you are guided by a Nguni spirit you need to go to the veld, bush or mountain or cave to connect to your spirit guide. Spirit animals include the lion, a cow or other land animal or if you have the gift of prophecy or prayer warrior (umthandazi) a dragon.
Blue is associated with both mountain and water spirit guides. If you see this in your dreams worn by you or someone else, go there to connect to your guides. They give the ability, to prophesy, to heal with by praying over water and salt. They also confer gifts of leadership, preaching & teaching and singing. Spirit animals include the snake, the dragon, the crocodile and the hippo. Sometimes birds too like the peacock & Guinea fowl. It also depends on your family. Blue is associated with the throat chakra which enables us to speak our truth, to praise and to worship.
In Isaiah 50:4-9, of my favourite Old Testament prophets, he says the Lord has opened his ears, wakes him up to listen to him & instructs his tongue well. All these are the workings of a highly active throat chakra and depictions of ancient and modern prophets show them wearing blue.
Blue is associated with spiritual guides on the paternal side of your family. These spiritual gifts are assigned to a family or clan so if you are gifted, or have a calling you would have inherited that gift from someone in your bloodline or lineage.
Yellow is associated with the spirits of the river and the ocean. To connect with those spirit guides you need to go there. They confer psychic gifts that work beyond your physical senses including clairvoyance, clairaudience, clairalience, clairgustance , clairsentience & claircognisance. They know what is hidden. They see things others do not see. They operate best with prayer and fasting. Spirit animals include the leopard & the cheetah.
Yellow is associated with the solar plexus chakra which powers our self- confidence and self-esteem and manifesting your desires. Your guides will make you wear yellow to boost your confidence because it is an energetic and optimistic colour associated with the sun. It is associated with the elemental energy of fire so praying with a candle is important.
Yellow garments are associated with spirit guides from your maternal side and spirit guides associated with the water, including rivers and the ocean.
Green symbolises new life, fertility and healing. It is associated with the feminine and elemental energy of water & earth. These are gifts from ancient ancestors and spirit guides with an affinity to water. Green in the Bible is associated with life, nature, plants and healing particularly in the books of Genesis, Psalms & Revelation. The associated ancestral gifts & calling include healing with herbs, water and laying on hands. The latter needs someone to be spiritually adept because you are taking the negative energy that causes the illness & exchanging it with your own positive healing energy. You need to be able to discharge that negative energy otherwise you will be unwell.
Green robes or capes are also for Nguni guides, abaLozi – those from the mountains, angelic spirit guides associated with the mountains as well ax also spirit guides or izithunywa of the various Zion churches. Maybe you have an ancestor who was a member of the church. They confer the gifts of prayer and prophecy and are very direct & accurate. They go to the mountains, can summon great prophetic spirits of the mountains & high places and they invoke the Spirit by dancing.
Purple garments are associated with angelic guides who confer the gift of prophecy from ancient ancestors.
Colour Combinations
There are also combinations of colours in robes and capes as well as headdresses. These include symbols in different colours such as crosses and stars either five, six or eight pointed stars. Some people have both ancestral and angelic spiritual gifts and will wear both plain and printed garments.
Blue & yellow garments means you have angelic Spirit guides from both sides of your family, maternal & paternal and both need to work together for you to realise your calling.
Blue and white garments are for prayer warriors with Angelic guides. Their power lies in prayer.
Grey and blue garments are for those with angelic guides that have an affinity to the open veld/bush and they confer the gift of prophecy .
Animal Prints
Ancient ancestors appear as animals in our dreams. They give you clues as to the type of guides you have, the nature of your healing. Not everyone dreams of printed fabrics because this is a specific cultural reference. Your ancestors can appear as the animal, not necessarily wearing the print because not all of us come from a culture where we know or wear animal prints.
Animals can have a special significance in a clan or a family. Land animals usually have the associations with particular clans or rank.
Chiefs and kings (Amakhosi) or those with royal ancestry will see lions in their dreams or be shown the prints. They will also see leopards which are also associated with Ndau spirit guides from certain royal clans, as well as cheetahs, particularly for healers.
Antelopes, these were associated with healers, particularly those who were hunters of KhoiSan origin. Antelope bones are particularly powerful for divination and protection.
Birds are associated with AbaLozi. Other ancestral spirits will also present in dreams as birds or present a bird print, including the Ndau and Nguni. There are certain spiritual lineages that revere the cockerel, the peacock and Guinea fowl. The prints come in various colours, black, blue, maroon and red, depending on whether your ancestral guide is a male or female or has an affinity to water or earth.
Water creatures that are common family or clan totems include the crocodile, the snake, fish, the hippo and crab. These animals appear to those who are born into clans or have ancestral guides that were born into clans who have an affinity to water.
Other patterns of prints include the lotus, known as njeti. The tartan known as sisambe, the blue and white Paloo or palu print and the retso with the red, black and white pyramid design.
You can identify your spiritual lineage and the type of gift or calling you have from the fabrics that healers wear or display. You may find there is a blood relationship between your guides & theirs. Check out their clan names (izibongo lezithakazelo) and those of their spirit guides to get an understanding of your own gifts.
Ancestral fabrics are not only for spiritually gifted people or trained healers. They can be worn by anyone and are even prescribed by healers for people to keep, wear or carry with them to help them to connect to their ancestral guides, amplify their gifts or heal certain conditions arising from ancestral trauma. They help awaken people to their lineage, heritage and aid them in manifestation and personal transformation.
PrincessPearlManzini 