Holiday shopping has got many of us spending green and seeing red, but the colors of the holidays have much more meaning than dollars, bank balances and traffic lights. Let’s take a look.
The colors of Hanukkah are blue and white. According to Wiki.answers.com, “There are no traditional colors for Hanukkah. Because of influence by Christmas (namely the fact the Christmas has traditional colors), Jewish people took the colors of the Israeli Flag (blue and white) and made them Hanukkah colors. But this practice is only about 40 years old.” Other sources say that blue and white are the colors of a Tallit (prayer shawl), and the Israeli flag, which symbolizes a Star of David on a Tallit. “Blue is to remind us of the sky, and God in heaven.”
According to Bing Crosby, the color of Christmas is white, but most of us recognize red and green as the holiday’s official colors. There are several radically differing opinions about this color combo: One source says that green represents eternal life and red represents the blood of Christ; another source sites the red mushrooms that grow under pine trees this time of year “The Amanita muscaria is the red and white magic mushroom that grows almost exclusively beneath Pine trees. One of the active substances in the hallucinogenic mushroom is DMT, an entheogen naturally produced in the brain’s pineal gland.” (ericdubay.hubpages.com) No wonder Santa looks so happy.
Many early Christians were originally pagans who celebrated Yule. “When they started celebrating Christmas they wanted to bring some of their old, beloved customs into the new holiday; among them were the Yule log and the Yule colors red, green, silver and gold.” (again, wiki.answers.com)
The colors of Kwanzaa, a week-long celebration of African-American culture and history, are green, black and red. “Green is for the fertile land of Africa; black is for the color of the people; and red is the for the blood that is shed in the struggle for freedom.” (www.infoplease.com)
At Comfort Colors, the holidays come in many colors, we just make sure to keep them comfortable.
Happy Holidays!
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