Home

Bellydancing Costumes

Accessories A to Zills

Barefoot Sandals

Belly Dance Events

Bellydance DVDs, IAMED

Bellytwins DVDs, Music CDs, Hipscarves, Book

Bellydance Q & A

GELLIOS HAIR BANDS

Pink Links

The meaning of colors

The veil has a thousand secrets within it. It can create a graceful and powerful dancer from an awkward, shy and shaky body. To unlock the mysteries that lie within the veil and the body, follow these simple instructions.

Find a veil in a color that deeply resonates with your mood and inspires love and creativity. Dress yourself in clothes that you like to dance in. Choose any kind of music you like, perhaps Middle Eastern music, something with a little variety, that shifts smoothly from rhythm to rhythm.

With the music on, take the veil, stretch your arms out and hold the veil between the two fingers next to your thumb and keep the veil in a firm but gentle hold between those two fingers. Always keep a gentle feeling with it. If you do, your attention becomes more focused, your movements a little smoother. Think of it as a lover you really care for and you are unfolding a deeper level of intimacy with him. You can thrash around with it later when you are more experienced, but for now keep it gentle. Get to know how it moves with you.

Start moving around the room, fast enough to keep it from falling to the ground. Your arms will lift it and let it fall. Keep the veil airborne. As you are moving, align the rhythm of your breath with the movement of the veil, with some of the rhythms in the music. Keep your whole body moving and this will help bring all of your body parts into harmony with each other, like musicians in an orchestra playing music together.

From now on it is your own dance. Just move with the music. Leave your judgments until you have finished. Keep your mind and body focused on the veil and the music, and if you want to stop because you feel clumsy, put that thought and other thoughts aside and stay with the music. If you do think, think of trees, how they sway in the wind, of large manta rays, how they glide through the water, of how it feels to be in love or inspired and express that feeling with the veil. Give it at least half an hour and keep breathing the whole time. If you dance with friends, interact with them non-verbally. Let the veil be the words you are saying to them and hearing from them. Enjoy moving.

Colors give to light their infinite variety. Without color and light the world would be very drab and we would probably all be very depressed. Instead the gift of colors has imbued the world with such great beauty. Colors give meaning to the things we do , the objects we surround ourselves with, to the personality and all it’s shifting moods and to all the events that make our lives.

The infinite number of colors cannot all be explained. They are a tribute to the infinitely subtle and unique qualities of life. Each color has a subtle impression and is part of the creation of atmosphere, desirability and mood. Recently I was in Sweden in a local subway. Subways are usually drab and heavy but this one exhibited light boxes of different colors from one end of the subway to the next and that special touch lifted the whole atmosphere of a normally dull environment.

All over the world where I have watched people dancing with the colored veils. I have seen old men dance so sensitively with them, women come alive and prance around the room like gazelles and in all the times I have worked with them they have always brought people a light happiness and joy. Even the people sitting on the side love the sea of colors dancing before them. The mood becomes ecstatic.

In all cultures and ages colors have attributed with meaning and qualities and sciences have explored their effect on the health and personality and well being.

Here are just a few of the different qualities attributed to colors.

Red - Symbolizes the vital force, energy, passion, courage and action. It is associated with leadership, power, the will and the body. Spontaneity, impulsiveness and the instinctual sexual forces are it’s qualities. It stimulates activity, intensity and extroversion. Red brings out the revolutionary and leads us into affirmative thought and action. Wear red when you need to strengthen your resolve or pursue something you want.

Orange - Symbolizes the social force, emotions, attractiveness, joy and independence. Self assuredness, amiability and constructiveness are it’s qualities. Orange is about spreading joy and happiness and giving emotional pleasure. It helps become free of inhibitions and lightens the mood.

Yellow - Symbolizes the mental force, clarity, perception, understanding and wisdom. Confidence, curiosity and practical application of wisdom are its qualities. Humor and mental detachment make yellow significant for bringing new life to ways of thinking and seeing. Wearing yellow and gold tones brings a rich meaning to your activities. It always seems to bring crystallization to events and issues.

Green - Symbolizes the balancing forces, peace, compassion and renewal. Moderation, harmony, nurturing and diplomacy are it’s qualities. It calms the energies and prevails over excess. Like nature it can draw away energy from being too physical or mental and introduce a stillness that produces a contemplative atmosphere. Relaxation, rest and calm issue from it. Wearing green increases the sense of wonder, and brings to you that "let it be" feeling.

Blue - Symbolizes the communicative force, speech, messages and ideas. It relaxes and opens the mind to share thoughts and ideas. Idealism, sincerity, mental empathy and relaxation are associated with blue. It brings out affection, loyalty and inspiration. to me it is the color of friendship and develops that unconditional bonding. Wear it to enhance your blue eyes. The color inspires trust and steadiness.

Indigo - Symbolizes the intuitive force, dreams, the unconscious and the invisible. Associated with the powers of mental telepathy, empathy and imagination. Deja vu, knowing what will happen before it happens and that sense of being connected to a unifying nature are the qualities of indigo. It is a color of those who intuit a deeper truth. It has a mysterious quality of the deep sea. It draws you in like the reflection of the moon on the water.

Violet - Symbolizes the creative force, beauty, inspiration and artistry. Energetically violet inspires the receptive soul to express itself in art, music, spiritual ideals and selfless acts of love. It is the universal call to excellence that inspires great things and works of art. Violet brings a soft, ethereal quality to the one wearing it and it’s subtlety and fineness have a strong presence invoking the higher virtues in life.

White - Symbolizes purity, union, truth and innocence. Its qualities are cleanliness, self sacrifice and beginnings. Purity essentially opens us to the deeper levels of existence and renews the souls experience of the moment. Holiness and divinity in its feminine aspects are associated with white. Wearing white is being present for something greater than yourself. It omits the presence of self from the event and takes on what there is to learn from it.

Brown - Symbolizes the earth, nurturing, contented sensuality and productivity. Passive,sensual, fertile and generous qualities are associated with brown. Wearing brown has an assured feeling of being very grounded in and belonging to feeling. Sensuality at its deepest roots is conjured by the infinite hues and tones of brown.

Aqua - Symbolizes freshness, the pristine and unspoiled, vigor and movement. It has a breathtaking quality of stealing the show. Vivacious, extrovert and dramatic in a refreshing way. Confidence, strength and strong individualism bordering on eccentricity are associated with aqua. When you wear aqua it says you are really excited about life and bring the humor of life to a situation. Fearless and creative, the color encourages a festive and celebratory mood. Its close association with water conjures the more emotional qualities of fun, letting go and joy.

Gold- Symbolizes love of spirit, the primordial yearning towards the essence. Meaning, purpose, awe and spiritual love are its qualities. All quests of the heart are associated with the color gold. Wealth of spirit and civilization conjure gold. Gold goes with everything and has an ancient connection to the heart's desire for power and spiritual mysteries. Gold conjures the beautiful sculptures of Egyptians, the Pre-Columbian masks, the civilizations known for mystic powers, high mathematics and profound sciences. Gold is the color of attainment and profound concentration.

Hot Pink -

The meaning of Colors are as universal as they are personal and like songs they can transport you in a minute to a feeling that goes beyond reason. They invite the individual into their own language of meaning and significance. Each individual lends their uniqueness to the color creating a mood that lifts life into a more magical and feeling realm. The variations are endless and each one has a unique personality. Colors seem eternal.