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 A major key to modern magick is found in the use of the subliminal influences of the rainbow. From the qabalistic Tree of Life color scales employed by the Golden Dawn to the classifications of Chaos Magick, color remains the oldest, probably preverbal, form of human symbolism. While candles of various hues are traditional, an oil lamp may also shine behind tinted gels or lenses to create a realm of light appropriate to the sphere of magical activity, or full-scale stage lighting may be employed in dramatic rites. Some groups have experimented with other electrical devices and effects, and a strobe light can be shockingly effective in wild and frenzied magical dances. Black lights and fluorescent paints may be employed in qlipothic rituals to create a more disquieting or otherworldly atmosphere. From shamanism onwards fire and light, music and dance, have always had a central place in religio-magical activity. Digital manipulation now enables filmmakers to freely control every aspect of color to encode certain moods or differentiate time and location. We turn now to the shimmering symbolism of the rainbow bridge that links the terrestrial and celestial realms.
 The seven-fold spectrum of visible light is seen as a metaphor for the range of human experience, rising out of the heated infrared that is the ground of physical life, and progressing to the cooling ultraviolet of spiritual ecstasy. Color epitomizes emotional states. Of the triple primary colors it might be said:

In terms of the seven planetary wanderers, the visible sequence of red/orange/yellow/green/blue/indigo/violet may correspond to the seven reeds in the Pipes of Pan, and to Mars/Mercury/Sol/Venus/Jupiter/Saturn/Luna in turn. Colors that reflect light (red, orange, yellow) are active and warming; those that absorb it (blue, indigo, violet) are passive and cooling; green balances and reconciles. Magick may embrace many traditional aspects such as these:

 RED: is perhaps the oldest of colors, and the one most often associated with the power of magick. Red has an immediate association with blood, the liquid of life, linked to both hunting and warfare and to sexuality and childbirth: life and death forming a circle. The Vikings wrote their runes in blood, and one of their words for magickal empowerment means ‘to redden’ (the Germanic Zauber or ‘magic’, and Old Norse Taufr meaning ‘talisman, magic’). The Egyptians linked red to the god Set, personification of the mystic powers of Chaos, of strangers and forces from beyond the boundaries, who is in thelemic terms also Hadit. Red also invokes the whole universe of Fire and energy, courage and vigor, heat and eroticism, and is ascribed to Mars and the sphere of Geburah. Crimson is the color of activity, immortality, passion, power, and sacrifice. The infrared is the low end of the spectrum whence the rainbow arises, making red the most basic or root color; the same holds true in prehistoric painting, where the mineral basis of reds provides many of the earliest and most common hues. In the first known prehistoric graves flowers and red ochre cover bodies in fetal positions, perhaps awaiting rebirth from the body of mother earth. Many people still decorate their bodies with protective marks of red henna. In China red is associated with rites of marriage; and in ancient Rome only victors, emperors, and sacrificial priests could wear red garments. Red implies all beginnings as sunrise, the daily flight of the Horus-Hawk or Phoenix, yet also appears as dying sunset. It is the ultimate culmination of the Great Work of the philosophers in European, Islamic and Chinese alchemy, and an antique alchemical text states: "The deep redness of the Sun perfecteth the work of Sulphur, which is called the Sperm of the male, the fire of the Stone, the King’s crown, the Son of Sol." In the east the substance called Cinnabar (the Sulphur of Mercury) is both a symbol of this Perfect Stone of alchemy and a frequently used red pigment; the name means ‘dragon’s blood’. Thus in one sense red is the original primal matter, and in another it represents the final stage of the alchemical process. It is the color of the soul, the libido, and the heart, the birth-blood of the womb and the fiery lava at the molten core of the earth. In ancient Egypt red lamps were used in rites of Typhonian magick, and throughout the modern world they mark the doorways of brothels in red-light districts. It is the primary hue of tantric practice.
The nature of red may be studied by gazing at the sun with the eyes closed, to see the union of the blood of the flesh with the solar fire through the eyelids. The Book of the Law states that in "the Scarlet Woman is all power given", indicating the primacy of Shakti as the primordial energy. The name of Adam, the first human, means ‘red clay’; the Hindu creator Brahma is often portrayed as red-gold, and his four arms embrace the four corners of the earth. In color healing it is used to warm and accelerate bodily functions. The Rainbow Book, my source for much of this lore (along with a large stack of symbol dictionaries!) states that:

 "Red-orange is dense, filled with inner warmth. It represents revitalized earth, and it promotes growth and organic function. Bright red represents Mars and a burning world of war, demons, revolutions, and passionate physical love. Pure red also means absolute motion, the motion of life and the zenith of man’s bodily prime."

 ORANGE: is an energy intermediate between red and yellow, usually ascribed to Mercury and Hod, and thus to the powers of communication, commerce, technology, and the mind. If red is physical passion and yellow is spiritual grace, then orange is the power of radiant thought and intellect which mediates between the two, again appropriate to Hermes as a uniter of opposites. Joining together sexuality and spirituality, it is the active principle of divine wisdom, the energized kiss of life. Saffron robes have been worn by Buddhist and Hindu monks, American Hari Krishnas, and in Greece by the company of the Muses. In Rome the flammeum or marriage veil was orange, as were the garments of the god Bacchus and the Egyptian Thoth. It is perhaps the most highly energized color, used in healing to revitalize and invigorate.

 YELLOW: a brilliant and energetic color, linked to solar vitality and aerial wisdom, to life, success, wealth, clarity, enlightenment, youth, imagination, and celestial daylight. It doubles with gold and is ascribed to Tiphareth the sphere of Beauty, and often to Air. Yellow’s indo-european root-word ghel means ‘to gleam’, and it is the brightest of colors, associated with the garments of the Hindu god Vishnu and his earthly avatar the Buddha, as well as the golden-robed wisdom-goddess Athena who expresses the Mind of Zeus. Saints are often depicted with a yellow-gold halo or nimbus. In color healing it is used to cleanse and stimulate the nervous system.

 GREEN: the color of verdant Earth in springtime, of growing plant life and abundance, and of that folding green stuff, money. The word derives from the Anglo-Saxon grene, meaning ‘to grow’, and is associated with youth and health. Even today it is the most often-used color of medical associations and healing in general. As the sign of Nature it represents hope, fruitfulness, new life or rebirth. It is also linked to the emerald sphere of Netzach, thus to love, romance, and fertility. The Greek Aphrodite and Roman Venus, goddesses of love and beauty, are robed in green. At the center point of the spectrum the balance of green reconciles and harmonizes the warmer colors of red/orange/yellow with the cooler blue/indigo/violet. In the religious realm of Islam it is said to be the color of the World Mother, and descendants of the Prophet and those who have made the pilgrimage to Mecca may wear green turbans; it is also prominent in the gardens of Paradise. In Christianity the walls of the New Jerusalem are made of jasper, and many saints are clad in green as the sign of eternal life. It is often the color associated with Earth.

 BLUE/INDIGO: the deepest color of the sky and the sea, the realms upon which float this island earth, the flowing elements of wind and wave in changing patterns. Blue is at once spiritual and strangely insubstantial, the calming color of wisdom, peace, contemplation, truth, mercy and compassion, usually linked to Jupiter and Chesed and often to the element of Water. It is the sign of celestial origins and immortality of the soul. In Egyptian temples the ceiling was often painted a deep azure and decorated with golden constellations to depict the arching body of the sky-goddess Nut or Nu, and was also ascribed to creator-gods like Amoun and Ptah. The Hindu Krishna, avatar of Vishnu, is blue-skinned, as is the Old Testament Lord himself in the Vision of Ezekiel. The tablets of the Ten Commandments were graven on sapphire, and in color healing it is used for cooling of fevers, and to induce sleep and relaxation.
 Reaching the darker realms of indigo we enter the mysteries of spiritual philosophy, of light emerging from night, of life returning again to death. As the dreaming shades of blue darken they shift us to the zones of unconsciousness and deep sleep. Yet in this realm we still find clarity, insights and intuition, crossing the threshold of the beyond. It is the deeper shade of our lady of sorrows, of sadness and ‘the blues’. Indigo or dark blue may merge into the blackness of Saturn, long seen as the pylon at the edge of our solar system (before the discovery of the outermost planets) and the unmanifest body of Space Herself.

 PURPLE/VIOLET: the final hue of the spectrum, sliding into the darkness of Void. Traditionally the color of royalty, from ancient times when the dye called Tyrian Purple was reserved to emperors and kings, it thus has some links to Chesed; also, however, to Yesod, the misty lunar sphere of glamours, mystery, and sexual enchantment. It is the subtlest and least mundane of colors, misty and mysterious. In Christian symbolism it refers to dignity and splendor, and in China it was the official color of well-educated intellectuals. Purple fades into the upper end of the spectrum, the ultraviolet of Spirit or Akasha, crossing the threshold. It represents clarity, subtlety, and secrecy.

 OCTARINE: in the chaos tradition this arcane vibration is considered your own personal vision of the color of pure magical energy. I lean toward a glowing purple myself in many ways, as it unites and balances the two extremes of the spectrum (red and blue) in a completed circle; not unlike the ancient hermetic symbol of the serpent Oroboros that devours its own tail, merging beginnings and endings, ciphering the Zero point. There is some question as to whether ancient peoples actually perceived color in the same way that we do, as clearly genuine references to purple are notably absent in the oldest literature. It may be that our vision has evolved, and that glimpses of auras imply that we are beginning to see even higher wavelengths of the spectrum.

 BLACK: the sable shade of the treasures of primordial darkness, death, the underworld, and infinite space; of mystery and the realm of the unknown, the body of Nuit. Linked to Time, Saturn and Binah. An all-purpose color or absence thereof, black absorbs all colors equally and thus symbolizes understanding. A black rose is the symbol of silence.

 WHITE: unifies all colors as the radiance of pure consciousness and spirit; the sign of radiance, purity, life, sanctity, holiness, wisdom and clarity, ascribed to Kether. In some senses also the hue of the Moon, thus doubled with the silver also ascribed to Yesod. An all-purpose color or absence thereof, white reflects all colors equally.

 GRAY: the shade of ashes and mist, vibrating between black and white, mediating between light and darkness, and ascribed to Chokmah. In painting, a hue is made by mixing a pure color with white to make it brighter, a shade by adding black to darken it.

 BROWN: is often mysteriously absent from treatises upon color, perhaps considered merely a debased form of red. I tend to see it as a merging of all colors, and thus appropriate to Malkuth as the culmination of the process. The G.D. marked this realm of Earth as a fourfold wheel of citrine, russet, olive and black, which strikes me as overcomplicated; while brown is the color of fresh-plowed soil, yet also of autumn and melancholy.

 A few words about black, white and red: this color scheme appears in our most prehistoric art. Where rune-stones with remnants of original tinting have been found in Scandinavia, soot, chalk, and red ochre appear. Black, white, and red are the Celtic fairy colors and also feature constantly in Tantric art. They represent the three main stages of alchemical process, called Nigredo, Albedo, and Rubedo. The triple goddess oft is seen as the Wheel of White Maiden, Red Mother, Black Crone. This is all worth exploring; and the ritual nine-foot cord I employ is also woven of three strands of black, white and red: Nuit, Hadit, Ra-Hoor-Khuit!
 The talismanic arts have traditionally made great use of gems, crystals and semi-precious stones largely based upon their colors, and even today jewelers preserve the lore of monthly birthstones. Crystals, especially those of clear quartz, are among the oldest and most commonly found tools of shamans and sorcerers worldwide and are essential components of much modern technology as well. The alchemical metals, notably the lunar silver and solar gold, continue their fascination to this day.

 As mentioned above, colored lighting deeply affects ritual moods, as do robes and altar-cloths and candles. Lastly, in the practice known as pathworking (which imaginatively explores the tree of life) the tarot trump of the specific path involved may be placed upon the altar between twin candles the colors of the two spheres which it links: the Magus between white and black, or Art between gold and silver, for example. Speaking of inbetweeness, the rainbow spectrum of visible light spans a space between the heat of infrared and the chill of ultraviolet, which I ascribe to Horus and Maat respectively.

(This has been an extract from my forthcoming book Secrets of Sorcery)