An Overview of the Symbolism Behind the Color Purple
“I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don’t notice it.” – Shug Avery, The Color Purple[1]
In a Nutshell
Purple has become the “official” color of Alzheimer’s awareness and other, allied movements. During the assigned month of November,[2] we encounter repeated entreaties to “Go Purple,” by donning some shade of the color that includes indigo, lavender, lilac, orchid, periwinkle, etc. Specifically, the Alzheimer’s Association variant appears to be a close cousin of iris or violet. Full disclosure: I am not a color theorist!
But why purple? A survey of the available information doesn’t reveal much on this specific question. As far as I can tell, therefore, the answer must remain somewhat speculative. It could simply be that Alzheimer’s Association founder Jerome Stone’s wife, Evelyn,[3] because of whom the organization was founded, happen to like purple. But, on the supposition that there is some deeper meaning lurking about, we might say something like the following.
A short answer: Recall from grade-school art class that purple is a product[4] of red and blue. In general, dark red symbolizes things that are mysterious and secret, and celestial blue variously represents dreams as well as the cold emptiness of vast bodies like the ocean and sky.[5] In a similar way, Alzheimer’s Disease is a mysterious entity or force that sucks hapless sufferers into a veritable vacuum that, to bystanders, appears to be close to a waking nightmare.
Curiously, purple or violet itself is reported by some writers to be “the color of …clarity of mind …and wisdom.”[6] So there would also seem to be a note of hopeful anticipation in the chosen hue. Perhaps it is no more complicated than the notion conveyed in the opening quotation: Purple reminds us to notice the “little things,” before we – or someone we love – is unable to do so.
But…if it is more complicated, then maybe some of the following will assist interested readers in digging beneath the surface.
At Greater Length
At first blush, purple may seem unsuitable for representing a brain-wasting condition. After all, historically, purple – sometimes itself classified as a variant of red – has nobler associations.
Monarchy and Royalty
For example, purple is a common color for aristocrats and rulers.[7] This has a long pedigree. “[I]n Rome[, purple] was the colour of generals, nobles and patricians. Consequently it became the imperial colour.”[8] According to symbologists Chevalier and Gheerbrant, “…purple (or deep or light violet) …[was] chosen by Constantine for the labarum,” or chi–rho symbol.[9] This consideration leads us onward to the following.
Christian Symbolism
Moving forward in history, this rich color is observed on the specialized clothing, or “vestments,” of Catholic clergymen during the liturgical seasons of Advent and Lent.[10] Both of these periods of time, in the Church’s reckoning, have to do with hardship and preparation. Traditionally, Advent precedes the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ at Christmas, while Lent comes before, and prepares the Christian for, the memorial of his death and resurrection at Easter.
The Lenten season, in particular, is associated with sacrifice. Catholics commonly “give up something” for Lent. Catholic priests may also wear purple while administering the sacrament of the anointing of the sick, previously called “last rites” or “extreme unction.”[11]
Similarly, in the Eastern Church: “Light colors (white and green) are preferred [for clergy] for high festivals (esp. Easter), and dark colors (purple, blue, dark red, black) for services of penance and mourning.”[12]
It would seem that these uses of purple move us closer to the experience of an Alzheimer’s sufferer.
An Alchemical Angle? The Phoenix
Before you furrow your brow at the suggestion that there could be an alchemical aspect to our question, notice that the Alzheimer’s Association describes its symbol in terms of the language of the duality of “people and science.”[13] In a rough-and-ready way, alchemy has to do with transformation – specifically a sort of quasi-scientific transformation of human beings, allegorized as the turning of base metals (like lead) into gold.
Speaking of gold, Dennis Hauck informs us that gold is symbolized by “the sun, and gold was considered a king of concealed solar light. Sol [the sun] is the King of alchemy, and his royal purple color is the indicator of gold particles in solution. …Pure colloidal gold …has a royal purple hue… Historically, colloidal gold has been found useful in cases of …nervous unbalance [sic] because it seems to help …stimulate the nerves.”[14] (For more on colloidal gold, see HERE.)
The Alzheimer’s Association is certainly aiming to facilitate the transformation of an Alzheimer’s-afflicted brain into a higher-functioning one. Is this broadly “alchemical”? Perhaps. Is this definitive? Hardly. Still, it is worth observing that alchemy is rife with references to purple.
As offbeat writer Stuart Nettleton asserts: “Purple in Biblical and classical times” often denoted “…‘Red’…”.[15] With this in mind, note that the concluding stage of the alchemical “major work” (magnum opus), usually known as the “reddening,” is sometimes instead called iosis or purpureus, that is, the “purpling.”[16] Stuart Nettleton declares: “The purple color of lilac or lavender is the color of wisdom and the end of the [alchemical] work.”[17]
By some accounts, the end of the alchemical “work” is none other than the “Philosopher’s Stone.” Hence the color purple is arguably a key symbol for the powers of transformation.
Observe also that the mythical phoenix (also called the bennu or firebird) – depicted as red in the recent Harry Potter movies[18] – is associated with “purple.” “This fabulous bird was held to be reddish purple, the colour of the vital force… This is derived from ‘Phoenician,’ the people who discovered the properties of purple dye.”[19] Indeed, the phoenix and the Philosopher’s Stone are supposedly interconnected symbols.[20] Confused yet??
As an aside, it is believed by some that “in Ancient Egypt, the bird concerned was the purple heron…”.[21]
Whatever its origination, the fabled phoenix came to symbolize a cycle of death and rebirth – through a kind of self-inflicted fire. Relatedly, purple is “also a funereal colour …connected with death.”[22]
It’s also sometimes thought of as a “soul-bird.” “This purple-hued fire-bird – that is, a creature composed of the life-force – symbolized the soul to the Ancient Egyptians.”[23]
Speaking, again, of this “circle of life,” we turn once more to Chevalier and Gheerbrant who intriguingly comment that “violet lies directly opposite green. Thus it stands, not for the springtime passage from death into life, but for the autumnal passage from life into death… Violet may …be the other side of green and… linked to the symbolism of the mouth. Violet …is the mouth which swallows and puts out the light, while green is the mouth which regurgitates and rekindles it.”[24]
Hypnosis, Secrecy, and Other Odds and Ends
Researcher Rosemary Guiley claims that the proto-hypnotist Franz Anton Mesmer was known to wear purple robes.[25] Moreover, according to the same author, purple-colored candles are used in certain streams of “magic” (for instance, Wicca), for such things relevant purposes as “…reversing a curse; [and] speeding healing in illness…”.[26] Is the condition or “illness” of Alzheimer’s also a sort of curse? Many families would say so.
Investigator Dennis Hauck reports that “[b]lue or purple roses indicate spiritual longing, meditation, and the promise of a perfect world.”[27]
“[V]iolet is the colour of secrecy…”.[28] One way of thinking about it is as though it is partially composed of dark red, which is “…nocturnal, …secret, and …stands …for the mystery of life.”[29] Dark red is also said to symbolize knowledge, especially when hidden beneath some covering of blue.[30]
Typically, pairing colors in this way designates “gnosis,” or the sort of esoteric wisdom that only a few are able to acquire – usually after initiation into some secret society. But it is interesting to think of how this symbol complex applies to the Alzheimer’s patient – possessed, one presumes, of memories and information that are veiled beneath a layer of “amyloid plaques and tangles” (for more on which, see HERE.)
Notes:
[1] Alice Walker, The Color Purple, Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1982, p. 196.
[2] Relatedly, June is deemed “Alzheimer’s and Brain Awareness Month,” while the date of September 21 is designated “Alzheimer’s Action Day.”
[3] See “In Memory of our Founder and Friend,” <https://www.alz.org/jeromestone/overview.asp>.
[4] Speaking of a sort of color combination known as “subtractive.”
[5] See Jean Chevalier and Alain Gheerbrant, The Penguin Dictionary of Symbols, John Buchanan-Brown, transl., New York: Penguin, 1996, pp. 102f and 792f.
[6] Chevalier and Gheerbrant, The Penguin Dictionary of Symbols, p. 1068-1069.
[7] See Chevalier and Gheerbrant, The Penguin Dictionary of Symbols, p. 159. On the other hand, maybe we’re not always right to place royalty on a pedestal. See this shockingly titled article from the British-based newspaper the Daily Mail: Fiona MacRae, “British Royalty Dined on Human Flesh (But Don’t Worry It Was 300 Years Ago),” Mar. 6, 2016, <http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1389142/British-royalty-dined-human-flesh-dont-worry-300-years-ago.html>.
[8] Chevalier and Gheerbrant, The Penguin Dictionary of Symbols, p. 794. For the tie-in to Phoenicia, see further on in the text.
[9] Chevalier and Gheerbrant, The Penguin Dictionary of Symbols, p. 159.
[10] The Use of Color in the Catholic Liturgical Year,” <http://www.dummies.com/religion/christianity/catholicism/the-use-of-color-in-the-catholic-liturgical-year/>. On Lent, see for example the purple decorations on Maundy (“Holy”) Thursday and Good Friday.
[11] Purple is also used within Roman Catholicism to signify the ecclesiological “rank” of bishop. “The pileus (also called a soli Deo), the small, round skullcap, is white for the pope, red for cardinals, purple for bishops, but otherwise black [for priests].” According to “Vestments,” David Barrett, Geoffrey Bromiley, et al., eds., Encyclopedia of Christianity, vol. 5, Grand Rapids, Mich.: William B. Eerdmans Publ.; Leiden: Brill, 2008, p. 675.
[12] “Vestments,” Barrett, Bromiley, et al., eds., Encyclopedia of Christianity, vol. 5, p. 675.
[13] See “About Our Symbol,” <https://www.alz.org/about_us_about_our_symbol.asp>.
[14] Dennis William Hauck, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Alchemy, New York: Penguin, 2008, pp. 210 & 257.
[15] Stuart Nettleton, The Alchemy Key: The Mystical Provenance of the Philosophers’ Stone, 11th ed., Sydney, Australia: privately publ., 2002, p. 451, n. 31.
[16] It is usually subsumed under the final phase: rubedo, or “reddening.” Writers disagree about whether ancient alchemy had three, four, or even five stages. In the threefold taxonomy, the process is given as (1) nigredo (blackening/melanosis); (2) albedo (whitening/leukosis); and (3) rubedo (reddening, purpling/iosis). Sometimes a single intermediate, namely citrinitas/flavum (yellowing/xanthosis) is listed between albedo and rubedo, yielding four stages. Other times, two intermediate stages are given: citrinitas and viriditas (greening/prasinosis). See: Matilde Battistini, Astrology, Magic, and Alchemy in Art, Los Angeles: Getty Publications, 2007, p. 320; Hauck, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Alchemy, passim, but esp. p. 150; and P. T. Mistlberger, “Introduction to Psycho-Spiritual Alchemym” 2012, <http://www.ptmistlberger.com/psychospiritual-alchemy.php>.
[17] The Alchemy Key, p. 250.
[18] These movies also make mention of the Philosopher’s Stone, or the “Sorcerer’s Stone.”
[19] Chevalier and Gheerbrant, The Penguin Dictionary of Symbols, p. 752. See also p. 110. On cloth, this was called “Phoenician” or “Tyrian purple.” Apparently, there was also a version of coloration, used on glassware and other vessels, that was called “purple of Cassius.”
[20] See, again, Nettleton, The Alchemy Key, pp. 296 & 326.
[21] Chevalier and Gheerbrant, The Penguin Dictionary of Symbols, p. 752. See also p. 503.
[22] Chevalier and Gheerbrant, The Penguin Dictionary of Symbols, p. 752. See also p. 793.
[23] Chevalier and Gheerbrant, The Penguin Dictionary of Symbols, p. 752. See also p. 90.
[24] Chevalier and Gheerbrant, The Penguin Dictionary of Symbols, p. 752. See also p. 1069.
[25] “Mesmer, Franz Anton (1734–1815),” Rosemary Ellen Guiley, The Encyclopedia of Magic and Alchemy, New York: Facts on File, 2006, p. 195.
[26] “Candles,” Guiley, The Encyclopedia of Magic and Alchemy, p. 54.
[27] Hauck, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Alchemy, p. 65.
[28] Chevalier and Gheerbrant, The Penguin Dictionary of Symbols, p. 752. See also p. 1069.
[29] Chevalier and Gheerbrant, The Penguin Dictionary of Symbols, p. 752. See also p. 792.
[30] As often occurs in the Tarot deck with trumps such as the “High Priestess” (or “Papess”) and the “Empress.”