A balance between the fiery red and the profound calm blue, the color Purple draws its energy and stability from these two colors respectively. Nature does not have a lot of purple representatives, however purple is still associated with nobility, royalty and prestige. Its has found its way from the Greek Gods to the spirituality, from the powerful kings to the sorcerers, from leaders to magicians, from being the highest on the light spectrum to a being a powerful birthstone (Amethyst).
The Purple Legends
Purple is said to be ambitious and confident…and overall it demands a lot of respect. Its said that in the pre-historic times, this color was rarely to be seen. With the development of civilization, came in the purple dyes somewhere in 1900 B.C. The dye
was used only for the garments of the emperors as it took around 12,000 shellfishes to extract about 1.5 grams of the dye. So imagine the cost and scarcity… This color has a lot of shades and effects accordingly. Where on one hand, light purple demonstrates light-heartened, floral, romantic and nostalgic feelings, on the other dark purple is more of an intellectual and dignified shade. Not just that, the darker shade of purple can also cause frustration and lead to depressing feelings at times.
The Purple Stone
The purple gem stone, widely known as Amethyst, is the birthstone for both Aquarius and Pisces Zodiac signs (in general the February Stone). Since, both these signs have been characterized as the water signs hence I prefer calling Amethyst ‘The Purple Water Bearer’. The color purple of the gem has often been linked with the color of wine. This is because of the Greek folklore about the stone.
Its said, once the Greek God of Wine, Dionysus (also known as Bacchus) was upset with the mankind. He was so furious that he lead out a curse saying that the next mortal who crossed his path would be eaten by tigers. A beautiful young maiden named Amethyst fell prey to the curse on her way to worship Goddess Diana. When Amethyst cried out for help, the Goddess turned her into a pillar of colorless stone. Bacchus watching the entire miracle felt sorry for the young maiden and cried out tears of wine. The tears fell on the stone thus imparting it the color purple.
This folklore lead to the belief that wearing Amethyst would prevent one from being drunk or poisoned. Not just that, one would never get drunk if he/she drank wine from a cup made of amethyst… Isn’t that a great news for all the wine lovers
The Purple Power
Amethyst has the property of waking the mind, bringing in clarity, peace and calmness. It is a stone that embodies modesty, sincerity, piety and spiritual wisdom. Its worn to overcome fears and cravings. Its often called as a dream stone as it helps in overcoming insomnia. Apart from the astrological properties, it also has healing properties. Amethyst interacts and exchanges which further helps in cell regeneration, sleep support, blood circulation, fluid balance in the tissues, overall life satisfaction, antioxidant activity, wound repair mechanism and fighting bacteria. A crystal cluster of Amethyst can help keeping the air clean and positive at home or workplace.
David (1040 – 970 B.C.), the King of Israel once said, “I like to call amethyst the mother/healer/teacher/lover of the mineral kingdom because it is for the lack of a better term an all purpose crystal. Feeling low? It’ll help. Feeling lost? It will help. Need your mom? It will help. Need reassurance that you are making a positive choice in your life? It will help.”
The Purple Facts
Vivid Purple has been chosen as the color of the year (2018) as per Pantone
Its the color of mourning in Thailand and Brazil
The color of honor – The ‘Purple Heart Award’ to decorate the U.S. military officials
The color of spirituality & nobility
In Buddhism, only the highest grade and the second grade priests are allowed to wear purple robes
The gold rings worn by Bishops is always embedded with a large oval-shaped amethyst
The color of the royalty – Roman emperor Julius Caesar and Augustus had declared that only emperors could wear the color purple.
Dominica and Nicaragua are the only two countries to have the color purple in their flags
On the ending notes, an amethyst wearer or just even if you carry the color purple on you or if you happen to purchase a purple car or paint your house purple… you are surely to be associated with creativity, individuality and originality.
As the onset of the Aquarian sign represents the warm sun after the long winters, so does Amethyst brings hope, peace, comfort and dreams to its wearer. Hence why wait… get a dash of Purple into your life or just wear it around your neck
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