Russia is so easily thought of as red yet there remains a question: why then is it’s international dialling code +7? B7 is the Yellow / Green combination in Equilibrium and it shakes to an olive colour – a very different energy to red.
Something Red: the People
There are so many red features to Russia, especially in the Soviet times. On the surface we notice the red flags, red stars, and the communist ideals of comradeship, collaboration, one big caring family where all contribute and all benefit.
A potent symbol of Russia: the red star
Something Olive: Samorodok
This word describes someone, usually a creative type such as an artist or poet, who makes their own success in life through a great talent. This talent in turn has to be valuable to and enrich the society around them. Literally samorodok means a large nugget of gold. However it also has some resonance with B7 – the yellow / green – because of the theme of finding your way – being true to the potential of your life. You would think samorodok would be encouraged in a communist society …
Red: Centre of Gravity
Red is the colour of matter, and density of matter creates a gravitational pull. Russia, and previously the Soviet Union, are vast territories, full of energetic, forceful and disparate peoples. To hold such an entity together requires huge force, hence the tendency in Russia to have a strong centralising force, often with a man of power at the centre.
One example of the centralising force in Russia is the Russian railway system. All train tickets, no matter where they are issued, are printed showing Moscow time. If I were to board a train in central Siberia at midday the ticket will show the departure time as 07.00 – and even the clock on the station platform will show 07.00. Yet all around the city people will be sitting down to lunch. The power of the Russian centre!
This gravitational force also manifests in society. People have to hold together – the vastness of the wilderness and the harshness of the winters requires people to come together to survive. Nature is powerful and individuals are small in the face of it. Staying together can be more important than personal freedom.
Olive: Maslenitsa
With the end of Russian winter there is another 7. Maslenitsa is a 7 day event leading to (if you are a christian) a 7 week fast up to Easter. In secular Soviet times it became a celebration of the end of winter and the start of spring. 7 days and 7 weeks – think B7. Moreover B7 is itself a combination very resonant of Springtime. The sun returns and the earth is green again, yellow flowers dance in the spring sunshine. Even B7’s place in the sequence speaks of spring. It is preceded by B6 the Red / Red which indicates that energy is buried in the earth. With B7 life springs forth from the earth again.
Red within Olive
As Maslenitsa approaches its climax men engage in public “play” fights, it seems to me an echo of males competing for dominance at the start of the mating season. Physical strength and power – red – is important to the Russians even if it is a game. How easy can it be to break free and live your own way when fighting is a rite of passage to the new life?
Men fighting during Maslanitsa
The truth of this can be seen in Russia’s recent history. It seems that with the collapse of the red centralising power of the communist system in the early 1990s there was a heady burst of olive possibilities, for a while there seemed to be no borders and yellow green possibilites for growth in many directions seemed possible. And yet, within this time there developed a Maslenitsa – type fight as the newly emerging powerful, oligarchs, politicians and others, engaged in a red struggle to be top dog in a new hierarchy.
Thus even in the very midst of the olive opportunity the red remained a determining force in Russia. Now the olive time seems to have passed – a new power structure is established and red has been reborn at the heart of Russia. The centralising force is strong once more.
“Shtobi ne bilo vainy”
Yet the olive dream remains. There is a Russian toast. Shtobi ne bilo vainy It may be translated as “May the war never happen.” It expresses the wish of people to live free from struggle. To be free to live their own way. Freedom from war is an important condition for samorodok to appear and flourish.
Both Red and Olive?
Russia is a country in which there are two poles of colour; red and olive. Red is the necessity of the past and the refuge of the present, yet olive continues to offer the dream of a future potential. In theory red can nourish olive, fuel its growth. To honour and integrate these two forces, find a way for them to work in harmony, nourish each other could be the great work of the Russian people.
