Colours and Dreams

Our dreams deal with all the senses, but visual perception is by far the most common, though dreams in colour are quite rare. Dreams with sound a fairly rare too, with touch being the most uncommon of all. There has been a lot of interest in colourful dreams amongst analysts of the subject; many people think they have dreamt in colour only to realize later, when questioned, that their dreams were not as filled with colour as they thought. Often our brain will project the idea of colour onto the memory of a dream because a particular colour is linked with a particular experience, so that the dreamer has assumed rather than actually seen a particular colour. A few experts believe that colour is present in dreams but that it is not a dominant element or presence within them.

Dreams that appear to have lots of colours are said to be the ones that are connected with many emotions; with a particular colour being dominant in the dream, so that one can associate a colour with an individual dream rather than a whole host of colours, and from there work out what that colour may mean, how it may help interpret the dream.

What the colour represents will be slightly different for everyone; just thinking of a particular colour may bring rise to certain emotions or memories based on one’s experiences with that colour. Also, setting aside our own memories, colour plays certain roles in our everyday waking life; for example an interior architect will choose certain colours, depending on the purpose of the room, to create the desired mood – red is exciting; blue is cool and cold; the temperature of a room can be perceived because of its colour, often more than its actual heated level. Interior architects are being used more and more in the modern workplace to create a greater productive environment; millions of dollars are spent on creating the right balance of lighting and tones to create a sense of well-being. When people go house buying, one of the first things they consider is what colour they will paint the walls, or what kind of wallpaper they will use; top chefs will often choose their ingredients according to their visual effect, some people link certain colours with particular sounds, or certain musical instruments – there is a lot to consider when weighing up the importance of a colour in a dream.

Blue

Blue is a cold, cool and refreshing colour. Sky is blue. Blue is connected with the sea, air and lots of space. Blue makes places look bigger. It is the colour of horizons, and spirituality. Blue often represents infinity in dreams, with panoramic views extending off into the distance. The colour is not solid, it is transparent and melts easily into pure white, it is the colour of emptiness – can be seen in this sense as the colour of death. Like the sky, blue is out of reach. Sometimes it is frozen. It is used to describe a state of sadness, ‘the blues’. When the sky is blue and cloudless it may appear intimidating, like there is nothing to hold on to with no view above, as if the Earth is alone in space without the clouds that give one a sense of protection, like a blanket offering feelings of security.

Blue can also be the colour of metaphysical meditation, of philosophy and truth; it symbolizes serenity, celestial fidelity, and the peace of the soul in death and superhuman life on a higher plain. It is the colour of spiritual hope after the death of the body; we reach for the sky but we have to let go of our material selves before we are free to achieve our goal.

Red

Red is fire, heat, passion and ardent love; it comes in many shades, from an almost brown to a startling crimson. It is the colour of injuries and blood, yet at the same time it represents good health. The archetypal hot colour is fierce, blatant, dynamic, and annoying. It is the colour of war, like Mars. It is also associated with playfulness and high spirits; children are particularly fond of red, as seen in toy stores and on a certain large man famous for bringing gifts. In dreams red evokes feelings of passion and energy, which may be so great as to consume the dreamer. It is the colour of struggle, of extrovert behaviour; purple-red is imperial. The colour of blood can also represent murder and carnage, violence and hatred. It is also the colour of the womb, so can be linked with anxieties associated to it.

Green

There are many shades of green, it is a colour of harmony and rest. In dreams the colour represents earth and the spring, rebirth and regeneration. It is linked with youth and innocence. It is the colour of waiting, patients and solid hopes concerned with Earthly matters. Green nourishes and is maternal, but also holds the freshness of young love, of lovers in springtime.

The negative side of green is that it is associated with deep waters and drowning; it is the colour of jealousy, decay, madness and malice.

Yellow

Yellow is the colour of the Sun, the colour of radiance, of sparkling minds and shining hearts. Pure yellow can be blinding, harsh, tending towards dazzling white. Yellow is warmer when it reflects intense emotions; it represents sickness, sorrow or deception when it is pale. Yellow is like gold, symbolizing eternity and transcendent beliefs which, like spiritual beliefs, makes its infinite nuances difficult to grab a hold of, to quantify. Its significance can often only be measured by the emotions it evokes. Yellow is the colour of glorious summer; the crown of the year that is eventually overthrown by winter; it is the magnificence and splendor of life before death.

Orange

Orange is warm and welcoming, like the lights of one’s home on a dark winter night. It is less boisterous than either red or yellow with the power to soften them both and blend them together. It can represent the warmth of the Sun, the fires of home and a warm heart. It represents activity but is an amalgamation, possible androgynous, of differing natures. It is the colour of deep tranquility and spiritual comfort.

Violet

Violet can be seen as a somewhat cold colour, in heraldry it represents truth and loyalty; it signifies temperance when it becomes amethyst or purple. It can often convey feelings of sadness, spiritual penitence and inner grieving in dreams. It is also a passionate colour, being a red that is tempered slightly by the clarity and spirituality of blue.

Black

Black is a monochrome that absorbs colours rather than reflecting them; it is the colour of mourning and waiting, endurance and sadness, but also patience, prudence and wisdom. In dreams it also represents mourning, but more than that it represents the gloom of the undifferentiating, undifferentiated life of the shadow. It is the colour of night, sleep and the unconscious. It can symbolize waiting in that absorbed colours can be restored; black is more a container for all the colours rather than a destroyer of them, so it can serve as a symbol of hope; in some dreams it becomes a symbol of gestation, of the unconscious mind at work, preparing for the future, primitive instincts being directed towards greater and higher achievements. The shadow is never death but hope, which one-day will be realized.

White

White is all the colours synthesized; it is the image of purity and light, innocence, joy and immortality. In dreams white is a symbol of purity and hope but, like blue, it can represent the death of the self, the horizons of the infinite where one becomes lost. It can become the colour of mourning in this sense. White is the colour of snow, which is connected with joy, as well as desolation and death.

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This is only a very brief look at what colours may mean in dreams; other consideration are cultural and religious backgrounds where different colours can have a different significance. The importance of a colour in a dream can be limited because few are only in one colour; where dreams have lots of colours it may be difficult to pick out the dominant one. If the colour in your dream does not evoke a particularly strong emotion it may as well be disregarded when trying to interpret it; as if the dream had no colours at all.