The Symbolism of Scale & Colors
Comparing the Rainbow Body, the Seven Circuit Labyrinth and a Seven Level
Mandala, all belong to the symbolism of color and of scale.
In the East,
understanding of this symbolism goes back at least 4,000 years to the
ancient Vedic texts of India. Within the Judaic-Christian tradition
it is reflected scripturally beginning in Genesis’ seven days of creation,
throughout the Old and New Testaments, and ending with John’s Revelation
which is based on a symbolic structure of seven times seven. John even sees
the Christ enthroned and surrounded by a rainbow. In the Gospels, Jesus
casts out seven demons and says forgiveness is to be seven times seventy,
and so on and on.
In symbolism
three relates to spirit and four to matter with seven the sum of both or the
merging of spirit and matter. Our bodies are alive because they are
temporarily inspirited. Our souls are eternally alive because they are
eternally inspirited. The Rainbow Body is labeled according to the Eastern
concept of this, but the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus
reflect the same symbolism.
As our
mandalas are built one level upon another, our awareness expands as we move
through the stages of our lives. Seeing our lives as a whole helps us see
the wholeness of all of creation and our interconnection with and to the All.
This joining
of the parts into a whole is the essential symbolism of the Mandala.
The
Systematic Symbolism of Seven
Levels & Seven Colors
Level One –
The Physical Body
Red in the spectrum,
physically dense in form,
temporal in duration.
In the labyrinth it is the outermost circle. In the mandala it is the
foundation upon which the other levels are constructed. In this life the
physical surroundings support and nurture its growth.
Note: Existence is
holographic. Every color, every level, contains every other, and the
juxtaposition of seven colors on seven levels and according to eight
possible arrangements creates an infinite variety of visual effects which
could even be called illusions.
Level Two –
The Etheric Body
Orange in the rainbow spectrum,
of a finer vibrational substance, only somewhat less temporal than its
physical replica.
In the development of the personality its reference is to the early
emotional environment and formative influences.
Note: Healing techniques
such as Reiki and acupuncture recognize the interconnection between the
physical and its energy pattern, here called the etheric.
Level Three –
The Astral Body
Yellow in the spectrum,
sometimes called the lower mental level,
transitional and limited in endurance,
a non-physical vehicle in which consciousness can move inter-dimensionally.
Its formative influences are a given culture’s secular, religious and
educational institutions and how these shape the way we think.
Note: Physics is closing
in on metaphysics as in laboratory experiments molecules are being
transported ala Startrek.
Level Four –
The Mental Body
Green in the spectrum,
interfacing the temporal and the eternal,
a transitional energy body that enables transformation.
In this life its purposes are achieved in relationship with others.
Note: Christianity
according to Joseph Campbell is a fourth chakra religion. God is in Christ
reconciling the human and the divine.
Level Five –
The Causal Body
Blue in the spectrum,
sometimes called the transpersonal,
it’s energy field is the repository of the soul’s enduring memories,
influences and progress.
Its nature is volitional and its function is to empower the soul’s journey.
Note: This level is
attuned to the inner voice of spirit. When Jesus spoke of having ears to
hear he referred to this level of consciousness. It is how one knows one’s
own truth.
Level Six –
The Diamond Body
Indigo in the spectrum,
eternal in reality,
the level of Brahmic or Christ Consciousness.
This is Aurobindo’s supramental field where thinking is superceded by an
intuitionally received knowing.
Note: The step between
five and six is from the transpersonal to the eternal. It is a conscious
awareness Paul called “the mind of Christ.”
Level Seven –
The Celestial Body
Violet in the spectrum,
visionary in function,
this is the energy field in which the Self and the All are eternally One.
Note: Awakening to the
Christ realization that “I and the Father are one,” is the goal of the
soul’s the journey through and beyond physical life. |