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Red Hot for Valentine's Day! - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade

With Valentine’s Day less than three weeks away, you can’t help but to notice all the red heart cards, boxes of heart-shaped candy, red cupids and the like.  Red is a very emotionally intense color.  Since it is the color of fire and blood, it is associated with energy, war, danger, strength, power and determination.  Red also can signify passion, desire, and love (hence it’s use for Valentine’s Day).  It enhances the human metabolism by increasing the respiration rate and raising blood pressure.  Stop signs, stoplights, and fire equipment are usually painted red since it has very high visibility.  In heraldry, red is used to indicate courage and confidence and is a color found in many national flags.  Red is the color for the base or root chakra, located at the base of the spine, allowing us to be grounded and connected to universal energies.

The Magical Color of Purple - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade

Since purple is a fairly rare color in nature, an almost magical aura has been associated to it throughout human history.  The first historical record of a purple dye, called Tyrian purple, indicates that it began to be manufactured in the Phoenician city of Tyre in the eastern Mediterranean in the 14th century BCE.  The dye was extracted from the glands of several types of shellfish, but especially the Murex brandaris.  The process to extract the dye took about three days.  Thousands of putrefied, crushed shellfish were left to bake in the sun.  Salt was then added and the mash of glands were boiled down.  (Can you imagine the overwhelming stench of the process!!!).  It took about 12,000 shellfish to extract 1.5 grams of the pure dye, barely enough to dye a single garment the size of a Roman toga.  In 301 A.D. during the reign of Roman Emperor Diocletian, one pound of purple dye cost 150,000 denarii or around three pounds of gold. This is the main reason the purple color was reserved for emperors or individuals with titles of royal authority.

Think Green for Artisan Christmas Gifts - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade

Red and green are colors that are closely associated with Christmas.  Last week I shared how red became a Christmas color.  You can read that post here:  Think Red for Artisan Christmas Gifts.  This week, green, the other Christmas color, is explored mainly through the symbolism of holly, mistletoe and evergreen trees.

The color green and its association with the time around Christmas has a pre-Christian origin, more specifically tied to the Winter Solstice.  Evergreen plants, like holly, mistletoe and pine, spruce or fir trees have been used for thousands of years to decorate and brighten up buildings during the long, dark, cold winter when life could be very tenuous.  Ancient peoples were scared of the short days and freezing nights and mistakenly believed that the Sun might disappear altogether. Evergreens reminded people that spring would come and that winter wouldn't last forever.  Historical records show that the Romans wove wreaths of holly to hang on their walls and doors to celebrate the winter solstice / Saturnalia. They also exchanged evergreen branches as a sign of good luck. The ancient Egyptians would bring green date palm branches into their homes during their mid- winter festivals as a symbol of "life triumphant over death." To the ancient people, the color green represented life, nature, peace, eternity and the hope of the future.  

Ancient Symbols in a Modern World - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade

Symbols have always had a great significance in the lives of humans, from pre-historic times to modern man.  Since ancient symbols are ingrained into our lives, most people don't realize these symbols are everywhere.  From the logos of modern companies (Starbucks with their mermaid), to television shows (spirals in True Detective) and movies (Legendary Pictures with their Celtic knot logo) from religious books and texts (The Bible, The Koran)  to decorations on buildings (sunbursts and dolphins), ancient symbols are everywhere.