I have been invited to write something about red and green for Christmas. Red and Green are traditional Christmas colours. Holly is a good example.
Holly - red and green
Green first
Rather than start with red we could start with the complementary colour – green. Green is an obvious summer colour: at midsummer Nature is everywhere full to bursting with green. Thus midwinter implies red even though red is less obvious in winter than green is in summer. Red winter berries are an exception – providing a burst of colour against the dark greens in a world otherwise black and white with its bare branches, snow, white clouds and winter fog.
Yin and Yang
Enter Father Christmas in his bright red suit. Full of winter cheer. His red is positive, optimistic, abundant, as he brings food and presents for all. His is the promise of the return to the fullness of summer bursting with life even as we lie in the depths of red. This the yin yang dynamic of oscillating between two extremes. At the peak of yang – midsummer – is already the turning point towards the depth of midwinter and yin. The first day after midwinter is already the first step towards the return of summer. And just here 25th December is Father Christmas in his bright red – a bundle of positive energy stimulating the pulse of life when it is at its lowest point. Red represents the most concentrated, the most contracted, and yet in that moment of extreme compression is found the turning point.
Spiritual awakening
This same process is true at the spiritual dimension. Here we would talk about the Christ energy – the Clear/Red in Equilibrium. For me the Christ impulse is not limited to the Christian tradition. It is an awakening moment. When in the moment of maximum compression we find the energy, the courage, the force to commit to a new way of living. We turn the corner and begin to live for the world around us and not just ourselves.
It is the premise of several Christmas films including from 1946 “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Jimmy Stewart is a man on the verge of suicide, caught up in his problems while the town prepares for Christmas. In the absolute depth of his misery an Angel comes to show him to see the value of his life, the good he has already done. He is released from his misery. He becomes a positive person again focusing on bringing happiness to those around him. It is an awakening Christmas moment born out of the pit of his despair. He was ready to give up but now miraculously he lives again.
From presents to presence
In Equilibrium there is a progression from B5 Yellow/Red to B55 Clear/Red. In this progression we are no longer blinded by our own sun. We become transparent to a finer light. The pure light of the star. The star has begun to shine in the physical. And like Jimmy Stewart, like Scrooge, like Jesus, we have moved from present seeking to presence giving.
