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The Color of Folklore

© Virginia Marin

The use of color in folklore is as old as are the tales. Color is interjected into stories in two ways--through words and illustrations. Color is important in folklore because it conveys symbolic meaning, creates illusions and represents abstract ideas. Colors affect one's feelings and emotions and elicit different feelings in different readers. The early writers of tales understood this concept intuitively. To this end, color has always been used as a strong literary device.

Though the effect of color on the human mind is complicated--doctors, designers, artists, writers, illustrators and those in advertising understand the subliminal effects of color. They are proficient in using it to effectively reach into that quiet zone below the threshold of conscious awareness to heal and to merchandize.

What Is Color

Simply stated in poetic terms--color is a rainbow.

It is a series of colored bands diffracted and arranged in order of their respective wave lengths, by the passage of white light through a prism, and known as a spectrum. The seven colors of a spectrum are violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange and red.

Color Is Mood-Shaping

Cool colors, such as blue and green, have the ability to slow metabolism and lower blood pressure and pulse. Blue possesses sedative qualities. It helps the body relax by reducing stress levels. Blue promotes a calm, harmonious and tension-free life in our non-stop world of today.

Green represents an ideal environment that sustains body and soul. It is an earthy color that roots a reader to a story. With blue, they are often refered to as perfect colors, since they are the colors of nature. Like blue, it reduces nervousness and tension.

Red, on the other hand, is a hot color. It raises the blood pressure, pulse and even body temperature. Red elicits strong emotions and can be used to make a reader fighting-mad or have strong feelings against a tale's antagonist.

Black straddles the fence. It is neither hot nor cold, but is a strong color in folklore. Black serves as its own device and represents evil in many forms.

Blues, greens, reds and black are found in virtually all folklore.

How Colors Are Used In Folklore

Purple

Of course, The Color Purple is the name of a movie but purple in mythology is a synonym for Roman gods. Purple robes were a mark of dignity among the ancient Greeks and Romans and the color was transfered to their deities. Purple is a symbol of luxury and power. The color was obtained from shellfish and the deep, rich color was known as purpura. The kings of fairy tales are nearly always seen with purple robes.

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