Doctor Colour

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embroiderer, herbalist, certified farmer, and amateur mystic. A few years ago, she reoriented her interests towards fields and meadows; she transitioned from culture to nature. In the past, she described herself as an ethnographer, journalist, archivist and cultural animator.

Colours influence the way we feel. They can be used in diagnostics, and even – as in India – for healing purposes.

Art is a tool for spiritual practice.
– Wassily Kandinsky

We gain over 90% of information about the world through our sight – it is the dominant sense organ. We often instinctively choose the colours around us. There are those that we are attracted to and those that we avoid. For years, psychology and psychiatry have attempted to find an explanation on what guides us and what its consequences are. Hermann Rorschach, the Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, established hidden personality traits of his patients based on their perception of colourful ink stains made on charts. This method, called the Rorschach Psychodiagnostic Test, enables the production of a Rorschach psychogram. It requires the person undergoing the experiment to be spontaneous in their expression, while the researcher needs to be experienced and insightful. Unconscious choices are used to determine personality types. Some regard this test as effective, while others criticize it for its lack of theoretical foundations.

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A similar method was devised by Max Lüscher, a university professor at Lausanne, known as ‘the colour guru’. Here, the subject arranges colourful cards in order of preference, while the researcher analyses its sequence, thus discovering the subject’s mental state, personality and mood. These are not the only examples: specialists use personality tests based on colours and devised by Pfister-Heiss-Halder, Heinrich Frieling and Taylor Hartman (based on the works of Carl Gustav Jung). The British chromotherapists Dorothy and Howard Sun devised an interesting test combining geometric figures with colours. Apart from diagnostics, their book Colour Reflection Reading includes therapeutic solutions.

Ayurvedic medicine uses seven basic colours for healing purposes. First of all, it is based on the belief that with these colours we can support the balance of the fundamental elements: kapha, vata and pitta. In a nutshell, yellow has a positive influence on memory functions, it aids concentration, studying and mental work; green has a calming effect, it soothes emotions and brings joy; yellow-green combines the characteristics of both colours and therefore can calm both the mind and the nervous system; orange brings with it healing energy, in Western cultures it is believed that it helps one renounce material possessions and is therefore the colour of monk robes, transforming sexual energy into spiritual; red is a colour of excitement and stimulation of circulation, Ayurveda associates it with blood and red cell production; blue is a colour of clear consciousness, cooling body and mind; purple awakens intuition and increases cognitive abilities.

Western psychology isn’t mystical, but it points to the positive and universal influence of yellow and orange shades as they increase vitality, stimulate willingness to act, and have a positive influence on the nervous system. It is similar to green, which regenerates, calms and improves mood. Red increases blood pressure and boosts appetite; blue, on the other hand, helps in cases of insomnia. It is worth remembering this when taking an autumn walk in a park or forest.

Translated from the Polish by Agata Masłowska

Dominika Bok:

embroiderer, herbalist, certified farmer, and amateur mystic. A few years ago, she reoriented her interests towards fields and meadows; she transitioned from culture to nature. In the past, she described herself as an ethnographer, journalist, archivist and cultural animator.

Translation: Agata Masłowska

Publish date: 17.09.2021

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Dominika Bok:

embroiderer, herbalist, certified farmer, and amateur mystic. A few years ago, she reoriented her interests towards fields and meadows; she transitioned from culture to nature. In the past, she described herself as an ethnographer, journalist, archivist and cultural animator.

There are two varieties of cranberry. There’s the bog cranberry, otherwise known as Vaccinium oxycoccos, which has smaller fruits (about ½ inch in size) and grows in northern and central Europe. Then there’s Vaccinium macrocarpon, which bears fruits as large as one inch in diameter. The latter is native to North America. Indigenous inhabitants applied cranberries to wounds because it speeds up the healing process. In Europe, the local variety is valued for its antiseptic, antioxidant, and medicinal properties, e.g., in urinary tract and bladder infections. It is also used as a supportive agent in cancer treatment and protects the cardiovascular system. The merits of cranberries are rather universally known, yet few choose their fresh fruit or make preserves. It’s a pity because dried, store-bought cranberries are usually sweetened, while ready-made juices contain very little fruit. It is better to prepare them yourself. It’s worth remembering, however, that when cooked, cranberries lose their antibacterial properties, whereas freezing them will retain their most important vitamins and ingredients but will lose their qi—i.e., the so-called “vital energy” of Chinese medicine. In order to benefit from the full advantage of the healing powers of cranberries, it’s best to make juice from the raw fruit. Due to their wax layer and natural benzoic and citric acid content, cranberries will keep for several months. To prevent them from withering, it is enough to submerge them in cold water with salt. Cranberries contain the aforementioned benzoic and citric acids, as well as gallic and quinic acids, vitamin C, provitamin A, anthocyanins, carotenoids, pectins, tannins, sugars, and mineral substances, including copper, molybdenum, manganese, and cobalt—even iodine. The bigger the fruits, the higher the content of active substances. Apart from juice, a very healthy concoction is a cranberry tincture made from ⅔ cup of fruit per approximately every ½ quart of forty percent alcohol. Add 3 cloves or several cardamom seeds if preferred. After three weeks, pour the resulting tinctured solution into a bottle. If you want a sweeter liqueur, add some honey or sugar syrup— ½ cup dissolved in ½ cup of water. Take this strengthening elixir to prevent urinary tract infections in 2 teaspoon doses. It also helps with inflammation of the bladder and kidney, as well as blocking the growth of the Helicobacter pylori bacteria responsible for gastric and duodenal ulcers. Finally, an interesting fact—the North American species of our protagonist owes its name to sandhill cranes, whose shape resembles that of cranberry flowers. Our Polish cranes will fly away in October at the latest, but the medicine will stay with us for the winter. Translated from the Polish by Adam Zdrodowski This translation was re-edited for context and accuracy on June 9, 2022

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