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Rainbows: Working with the beautiful magic of nature

Rainbows: Working with the beautiful magic of nature

Last updated on: February 20, 2017 at 12:43 pm by Rachel Patterson

Rainbows: Working with the beautiful magic of nature 2017-02-20T12:43:06+01:00 Rachel Patterson

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Such a beautiful and magical sight and although we can’t pick, cut, dry or bottle rainbows they can still be used in magic. There are even one or two rainbow deities such as the Greek goddess Iris, the Rainbow Serpent who is the creator in the Dreaming from Aboriginal beliefs and in Norse mythology Midgard (Earth) and Asgard (home of the gods) is connected by means of the Bifrost which is a burning rainbow bridge. In some Native American traditions, the rainbow is believed to be a pathway of the holy spirits and in Japanese cultures the rainbow was believed to be the bridge that their ancestors took to descend to earth.

rainbows rachel patterson

Rainbow (license GraphicStock)

What makes a rainbow?

It is all about reflection, refraction and dispersion of light in water droplets. When sunlight beams down it appears to be white even though it is made up of different colours that we don’t usually see but when that beam of light hits raindrops on the way down at a specific angle the different colours that make up the beam separate to forma rainbow. Rainbows caused by sunlight always appear in the section of the sky directly opposite the sun.

Colours of the rainbow

There are supposedly seven colours of the rainbow; red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet apparently, these colours were suggested by Sir Isaac Newton so who are we to argue? Seven or course being a magical number as well.

Sing a rainbow

The colours can obviously be used with colour magic but did you know you can also sing the rainbow? Singing the sound of each colour can also be worked into your spells:

Red – do

Orange – re

Yellow – mi

Green – fa

Blue – sol

Indigo – la

Violet – si/ti

Chakras

And of course, if you work with chakras the colours of the rainbow are represented by the seven main chakras – with Indigo being purple and violet being white.

Red – root/base

Orange – sacral

Yellow – solar plexus

Green – heart

Blue – throat

Indigo/purple – third eye

Violet/white – crown

Rainbows rachel patterson

Rainbow

Rainbow Magic

So, rainbows bring the magic of water, sunlight and colour. The rainbow usually appears after the rain so it brings hope, promise and healing. As it is a combination of water and sun energy I think it also works on our emotional level too.

The rainbow also appears to be a connection between the earth and the skies or the divine so it works well for spirit or deity magic too.

The rainbow has also been used as a symbol of diversity and I think that makes perfect sense it brings together all the colours to make something beautiful so it can also work magic for strength, resilience, co-operation, acceptance and harmony.

I also think that the rainbow is something that not only includes the colours we use in artistic endeavours but as it is often painted by children it brings the magic of creativity, inspiration and lets out our inner child.

Apparently it is known to be bad luck to point at a rainbow…

You can place magical items or tools at the end of the rainbow to charge and cleanse them – obviously it is difficult to find the real end of a rainbow (along with the pot of gold) but you could place your item on a windowsill or wall where it ‘looks like’ the rainbow is heading into it.

Take a photograph of the rainbow and use it in blessing magical workings.

If you can catch some of the rain that falls whilst the rainbow is visible, then this can be used as blessed water in magical workings to bring the power of the rainbow.

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