Why do I find a reference to Steiner theorists not allowing or
offering the colour black to their patients?

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Request for Question Clarification by sublime1-ga on 09 Feb 2003 09:55 PST

kjar...

Can you offer more of the context of this reference you found?

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Request for Question Clarification by justaskscott-ga on 09 Feb 2003 10:55 PST

Hello kjar-ga,

Did you find a reference already?  Or are you asking "where" (not
"why") you can find a reference?

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Clarification of Question by kjar-ga on 10 Feb 2003 11:15 PST

Where can I find some reference to Steiner theorists not allowing or
offering the colour black to their patients?

I have looked under Rudolph Steiner in education and under drawing and
painting. There may be some connection with Goethe's colour theories
but I can't seem to make the connection.

Steiner embraced the therapeutic use of color based on theories of the
"four temprements" and "humors." The humors are our ruling passions,
derived from the original Latin meaning of the word, which signified
"liquid." In the 1600s, physicians understood the four humors to
signify patterns of speech, behavior and other qualities that
predominate in a human being. The four primary humours are blood,
phlegm, choler (yellow bile) and melancholy (black bile), which are
presumed to dominate a person's temperament.

"Melancholic: "In the melancholic the physical body is master over the
others. Melancholics feel they are not master over their body, that
they cannot bend it to their will. The physical body, which is
intended to be an instrument of the higher members, is itself in
control, and frustrates the others. Melancholics experience this as
pain, as a feeling of despondency. Pain continually wells up within
them because the physical body resists the etheric body's inner sense
of well-being, the astral body's liveliness, and the ego's purposeful
striving."
http://www.sheridanhill.com/humors.html


Steiner related color to form, shape, and sound. He suggested that the
vibrational quality of certain colors is amplified by some forms, and
that certain combinations of color and shape have either destructive
or regenerative effects on living organisms.
http://hanezebs.com/Online/info/color_therapy.htm

Closely aligned to this theory is the ancient alchemical system of
healing based on seven metals: gold, silver, mercury, copper, iron,
tin and lead.
They correspond respectively to the planets sun, moon, mercury, venus,
mars, jupiter and saturn. These in turn correspond with certain key
qualities or personalities

Similarly the planets and metals correspond to certain colours.
saturn - lead - black, dark colours, purple, violet, indigo

"Persons with an excess of Lead are dark and heavy, rather sombre or
gloomy, rather depressed..."

If you have an excess of this one metal in your life you reduce its
effect  by pushing it further away from you, by discarding all colours
etc that relate to it and adopt qualities, colours, etc, that are its
opposite. This will neutralise its overall effect and restore the
balance.
http://www.homeoint.org/morrell/articles/pm_metal.htm

In his `anthroposophical medicine', it is quite clear that Steiner has
drawn together parts of Alchemy, Occultism, Hippocratic notions of the
4 Temperaments and Humours and large parts of Herbalism and
Homoeopathy.
http://www.homeoint.org/morrell/articles/pm_stein.htm


Books:
Steiner, Rudolph (1951) The Anthroposophical Approach to Medicine,
Steiner Press, London
Steiner, Rudolph & Ita Wegman (1967) Fundamentals of Therapy, Steiner
Press, London
Steiner, Rudolph (1975) Spiritual Science and Medicine, Steiner Press,
London
Steiner, Rudolph (c1950) The Four Temperaments
Steiner, Rudolph (c1950) The Metaphysical Significance of the Blood

Search strategy: Rudolf Steiner black; Rudolph Steiner colors;
Anthroposophy black

Nellie Bly
Google Answers Researcher

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Request for Answer Clarification by kjar-ga on 15 Feb 2003 04:03 PST

Thank you so much for the references.  I have people staying at
present, as soon as possible I look forward to reading your answers to
try to find what I am looking for which is hard to define.  I am
astonished at your researching abilities and would like to know how I
might gain those qualities.  Anyway, for now thank you.  How do I
contact you again to give you further clarification?

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Clarification of Answer by nellie_bly-ga on 15 Feb 2003 08:00 PST

Hi kjar-

I am glad you find answer information useful and thank you for the
compliment on my researching abilities.  However, Google makes it
pretty easy.

To help you with further Google searches you may wish to note the
"search strategy" that I used.  It is really quite simple. One uses
"key words" or main ideas of what one is searching for. In this case
"black" and "Rudolf Steiner."
Note that I used quotation marks around the name to tell Google I want
it to look for those two words together. I might use the same
technique for searching for a phrase, e.g.,  "these are the times that
try men's souls" or "United States."

It is important to look a more than the first few "hits" of a search
when looking for a concept such as the one in this search. It helps to
set the "number of results" to 50 or 100 by using the "preferences"
settings for the Google search. You'll find the "preferences" link
just above the box for entering your search query. There's a link to
very helpful "search tips" there also.

 Should you wish to make further comments on this question or to leave
me a "message" you can simply add a "comment" to the question even
after rating the answer. I will see that there has been "activity" on
the question and take a look at it.

If you are interested in Steiner you may wish to contact one of the
Waldorf schools that use his methods and often serve as centers for
those that follow them.
You'll find links to those in the United States at
http://www.waldorfworld.net/Waldorf/Schools/United_States/

Also the Rudolf Steiner College website is at
http://www.steinercollege.org/

Nellie Bly

The rating of five stars is regarding the helpfulness of the
researcher at all times. I received some references which opened up my
search and help with internet searching which I found clearer than
many search engines information.  Thanks.