Colors
COLORS. Like other forms of religious symbolism, the symbolism of color emerges from the immediate material experience of human beings. Common elements of life are the basis for reflections on the meaning of color. Various plants (flowers, trees, medicinal herbs, etc.), animals, insects, the human body, celestial and climatological phenomena are just a few things that orient the meanings of color symbolism. This implies that there are universal themes in color symbolism that are involved with local knowledge of particular geographies. The naive and immediate experience of color gives rise to complex speculations about the nature of the cosmos. Beginning with a basic distinction of primary from secondary colors, one is soon led on to such notions as warm and cold colors, for example. There are no set universal characteristics of color symbolism just as there are no completely cultural-specific meanings of color. Nevertheless, exploring color symbolism of religions other than one's own is valuable because it informs commonly held meanings. Indeed, various artists and cultures play with the organic connections between colors and their referents.
For example, in Paul Klee's (1879–1940) work primary colors are associated with different sounds, geometrical forms, and even subjective experiences. According to Klee, blue is associated with the circle and with the experience of stability; yellow, with the triangle and the sensation of speed; and red, with the square and the experience of power.
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