"This is my wish for you: Comfort on difficult days, smiles when sadness intrudes, rainbows to follow the clouds, laughter to kiss your lips, sunsets to warm your heart, hugs when spirits sag, beauty for your eyes to see, friendships to brighten your being, faith so that you can believe, confidence for when you doubt, courage to know yourself, patience to accept the truth, Love to complete your life."
--Ralph Waldo Emerson
Now overhead a rainbow, bursting through
The scattering clouds, shone, spanning the dark sea,
Resting its bright base on the quivering blue;
And all within its arch appeared to be
Clearer that that without, and its wide hue
Waxed broad and waving, like a banner free,
Then changed like a bow that’s bent, and then
Forsook the dim eyes of those shipwrecked men.
It changed, of course; a heavenly chameleon,
The airy child of vapor and the sun,
Brought forth in purple, cradled in vermillion,
Baptized in molten gold, and swaddled in dun
Glittering in crescents, o’er a Turk’s pavilion,
And blending every color into one.
--Lord Byron
RAINBOW OF LIFE! – NEW Book Preview
A rainbow scientifically is explained through environmental phenomenon, as a cause and effect, matter of fact occurrence: Rainbows are the combination of both reflection and refraction (bending) of sunlight at a precise angle through a droplet of water. It is precise to say that rainbows cannot exist without the presence of both sun and water. The pre-existing conditions needed in order to see a rainbow are quite complex: First, there must be water present in the atmosphere, whether it be rain, mist, fog, etc., water droplets must be present in the air; Second, the sunlight must enter the water droplet at precisely 42 degrees in order for the light spectrum to be ‘visibly’ reflected, and then bounced off and refracted (bent) off of the water droplet’s surface, causing the colors to manifest upon exiting the droplet; Third, while the sun must be BEHIND the viewer, the rain (water) must be in FRONT, in order for the rainbow to be observed. Even ‘Moonbows’—Rainbows seen at night—are due to this phenomenon since the moon reflects the sunlight, because it has no light of its own. Most moonbows therefore appear when the moon is full and bright in the sky. Truly a rare event.
It is an interesting thing to note the origins, as far back as we know in our pre-history, of the images/words that describe the rainbow. As far as I was able to find, in my recent research, aborigine tribes of Australia, as far back as 6,000 years ago (archeologically dated ) left traces of their own wonderment of the rainbow phenomenon in the form of cave paintings symbolizing the sacredness of the symbol of creation (See image below).
Ancient Australian cave drawing: A depiction of the Rainbow Serpent, known in Kakadu as Garranga’rreli, all powerful and associated with water.
In Spanish, the word for Rainbow is Arco-Iris (Arch of Iris). Iris means Rainbow or ‘Eye of Heaven’ in ancient Greek; to them Iris was a Goddess whom functioned as a messenger for the gods, to humanity. She was tasked with carrying the waters from the Styx (The River of Oaths) to Mount Olympus. She would receive orders from deities in the ‘Eye of Heaven’ and used the rainbow as her bridge to earth, where she would appear to mortals in human form with a dress ‘blazing with color’ that trailed behind her.
In Mexico, there are several native stories that are passed down by word of mouth still, one of them is the story of the ‘Man of the 7 Colors.’ As the story goes, there was an extremely poor and humble man, that did not have any money to even dress himself at all. He was a good man, that never bothered anyone, and loved to see people smile. One day, he heard the tale of a deity that had enormous power, and so he decided to go ask for help. On a day that there was a big storm, he traveled to the center of it, since the deity’s power was that of thunder. He told the supernatural being his dilemma so sincerely, that he felt compassion for him and the innocence in which he asked of him this favor, and so the Thunder Being answered to him: “Although my power is great, I cannot give you any money, but I can give you another gift. I can give you the gift of 7 colors that you can use always after I come and go. With these colors you can cover your body from head to toe, but you can also make people smile at the sight of their beauty as well.” And so the Man of the 7 colors is often seen after a rain, happy at the delight to make people smile, as he covers himself in the 7 colors of the rainbow, and arches his back over the land in order to see people smile at the sight.
In Hopi Native American Tradition, the rainbow is traditionally thought of as a ‘Blessing’ from the ancestors. The ancestors, which use the rainbow as a ‘bridge’ or ‘portal’ to visit us and impart their wisdom, visit us via this beautiful phenomenon and impart wisdom to us in order to help us along our ‘Spiritual Path’. Traditionally the rainbow is seen as something that touches a person’s life more often if they are seen as a ‘special’ person that has been chosen to receive certain ‘wisdom’ for healing. Medicine Men and Women are also traditionally chosen by the ancestor spirits, by having an ‘extraordinary’ experience (i.e. Being struck by lightning, followed by rain or rainbows, etc.)
In Hawaiian ancient beliefs, like in Greek mythology, the Rainbow Goddess is also messenger of the Gods, her name is ‘Anuenue’. According to legend, this ‘Rainbow Maiden’ is so beautiful that a rainbow follows her everywhere she goes; For Ancient Hawaiian peoples the rainbow was so sacred and so special, that they carved it into petroglyphs on the big island’s lava fields, and in the sacred Lao Valley of Maui. The depiction of a ‘Man’ and a ‘Rainbow’ in a petroglyph is interpreted as being the keeper of the land and its people; when a ‘Woman’ and an ‘Arch’ or a ‘Rainbow’ is present, it signifies she is wise, honored and respected.
Some Hawaiian natives say that each color of the rainbow is an aspect of a Goddess—the rainbow is the bridge that connects us to the ‘Source’—and that meditating on a particular color will bring forth the manifestation of those intentions and elements representative of that shade.
This seems to make sense – there's that word "rain" in "rainbow" after all, and with good reason. For a rainbow to be formed, there need to be water droplets in the air. Then, light has to shine through those droplets at just the right angle. If this happens – voilà! A rainbow!
The Inka (Spanish transliterated ‘Inca’) indigenous people, whom had an empire that expanded to modern day parts of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru, contrary to popular belief were a conglomeration of several cultures, tribes, and languages. Inka was the name of the ‘Ruling Class’ and not the subjects of the empire. In this kingdom, the head ruler venerated the rainbow. This sacred symbol (banner) consisted of a ‘Rainbow’ with two parallel snakes on each side of the rainbow’s end, and a tassle (symbolizing a type of crown) dangling down the middle of the rainbow’s arch. This came to be known as Tawantinsuyu (Tawantin= Quartet/Group of Four – Suyu= Region), meaning the symbol for the ‘Four Regions’ (which is how the empire was broken up).
Similarly, the ‘Whiphala’ (co-official flag of Bolivia) is a square flag or emblem used to represent a variety of indigenous people’s from the Andean regions, including some of the same people’s as the Tawantinsuyu emblem. The suyu whiphalas are a 7-by-7 square patchwork, in seven colors arranged diagonally. The specific color pattern, or design, is determined by the ‘Suyu’ represented by the maker. Origins of both ‘Tawantinsuyu’ and ‘Whiphala’ can be traced back to symbols and mural designs found in several Andean civilizations with thousands of years of history.
There is also, in the same region, a seven striped ‘Rainbow’ flag in use today in Cusco, Peru, to represent Tawantinsuyu, or ‘Inka Territory’, and their struggle for indigenous rights/pride and cultural preservation, that can be traced back to the 1920s, and it is very much displayed with pride around the city, flying high above government buildings and in the main square. Different than the ‘Gay Pride’ rainbow flag, this flag carries 7 colors of the rainbow, instead of 6 like the former.
Interestingly, there are ruins called ‘Huaca del Arco-Iris’ (Temple of the Rainbow), in Trujillo Peru, and it depicts stone carvings and bass reliefs of designs similar to the Tawantinsuyu, however instead or parallel snakes, there are parallel ‘Dragons’ depicted. This symbol is repeated along most of the walls of this temple, and is an amazing and largest veneration (in the form of a pyramidal temple) to the rainbow. This ceremonial center was constructed of adobe and clay (with anti-seismic qualities), said to be dated about 1,100 years old by some.
Qaws-Quzah (pronounced Kaos Kuzajj) is one way to say rainbow in Arabic. In pre-Islamic times--before the Prophet Mohammed PBUH--the ancient people of Muzda’lifah (an area near Mecca in Saudi Arabia—associated with the Hajj Pilgrimage) believed in a deity, or supernatural being, by the name of Quzah. This being was believed to be a giant ‘Divine Archer’ who lived in the clouds and fired hail stones at demons. The rainbow was considered to be a ‘bridge’ to heaven. Their beliefs called Din Abā’i-ka, which means ‘Faith of the Elders’, is believed to be originated further back among the cousins of the Arabs, the Edomite Tribes of southwestern Jordan, who’s main deity was ‘Qaus’--which is also the Arabic word for bow or arch.
In Christianity, the rainbow is a significant sign, given directly from God—according to Christian texts—as a promise (covenant) to Noah. It is also considered to be, on a more broad basis, to be God’s promise to mankind to preserve his creation, and the seven colors are the seven laws.
In European history, Germany in particular, Thomas Müntzer (1489-1525): ‘Social Revolutionary’ of the common people (peasants and plebeians) led the armed militia into the ‘Peasant’s War’, against the feudal system of the time. Carried into battle, was a white banner (flag) depicting a rainbow, with the words written upon it “The Word of God will endure forever”, symbolizing a new time of hope and change. A statue of Müntzer in Stolberg Germany shows him holding a flag with a rainbow on it.
“The Mandala—Tibetan sand painting—is an ancient art form of Tibetan Buddhism. The word ‘Mandala’ has its origin in Sanskrit, meaning ‘cosmogram’ or ‘world in harmony’, and is essentially a drawing in color-dyed sand particles. In Tibetan, this art is called dul-tson-kyil-khor which means “mandala of colored powders.”
This multi-colored ‘rainbow’ sand painting is an ancient Tibetan art form, thought to have originated in India and then transplanted in the middle ages to Tibet. Although we say ‘sand painting’ in reality the mandala is a much more intricate ‘sculpture’ (three-dimensional work of art—or prayer) and requires many years of careful meditation, dedication, concentration, and contemplation on behalf of the meditator (artist/creator). Each detail is important, and based on very specific instructions and sacred meaning: Imbued into each action, is declaring specific intentions aimed at spreading compassion, realizing the illusionary banalities of reality, and subtle consciousness healing. There are great numbers of different mandalas, each with their own and unique lessons to teach, learn, observe, meditate upon, and blessings to impart.
Thomas Paine—American Revolutionary War Writer—suggested that a rainbow flag be used as a maritime flag for neutral ships during times of war.
In Sri Lanka, in 1885 a flag to represent Buddhism worldwide, and all its aspects, was designed of six vertical color segments. The first five colors are: Blue, yellow, red, white, orange, and the sixth is a combination of all other five colors.
Peace Movements all over the world have also used the rainbow flag emblem. James William van Kirk, from Ohio, USA, designed the first ‘World Peace: Flag of Earth’ using rainbow stripes, stars, and an interconnected globe attached by strings. In 1913 and again in 1929 he toured the world to introduce the flag. Universal Peace Congress adopted Kirk’s flag, and it was subsequently adopted by American Peace Society and other groups.
In Basel, Switzerland 1921, a Congress of World Co-op Leaders met to asses and identify the common goals of the International Cooperative Movement and ideals to unite co-ops around the world. A French professor Charles Gide, proposed the seven color rainbow flag to show ‘Unity in Diversity’ and ‘Power in Light’, ‘Enlightenment’ and ‘Progress’ as concepts.
Meher Baba, Spiritual Master from India (of Irani decent), designed a rainbow flag in 1924. Baba explained “…the colors in the flag signify man’s rise from the grossest of impressions of lust and anger—symbolized by red—to the spirituality and oneness with God—symbolized by sky blue.”
In Italy there was a peace march in 1961, where the ‘Peace’ rainbow flag was used for the first time in more modern history. The flag holds seven colors of the rainbow horizontally, and the word ‘PACE’ (Italian for PEACE) written in white letters, centered in the middle. A previous version included a dove by Pablo Picasso. Greece also adopted this peace flag with Greek word for PEACE, as in the Italian version. This flag has since been adopted by the International Peace Movement and the word for ‘PEACE’ in different languages has been added in white to these as well.
In that same year (1961), there was a Jewish movement called ‘Bene Ohr’ meaning ‘Children of Light’, led by a Rabbi Zalman (Schachter-Shalomi). The story goes—as told by the rabbi himself—that one day he was meditating on the question ‘How did God create the world?’ He wrapped himself in a robe of light and it began to shine, says the rabbi. This was considered a beautiful inspiration and a vision was born to create a woven Jewish Prayer Shawl (Tallit), in vibrant rainbow colors. It was radical, but it was beautiful. Some older and more traditional members of the community labeled the idea a ‘Purin Tallit’ (Clown Tallit). Far from the misjudged assumptions, each color, width and arrangement of the black and white bands is based on the seven lower sephirot of the Kabbalistic Tree of Life. The colors represent aspects of God, while the black stripes and white spaces represent aspects of the creation and of protection.
And of course, we could not leave out the now famous LGBT (Gay Pride) Flag, which has unique and mixed origins on its own. In 1978 San Francisco, California artist Gilbert Baker originally created a flag with eight colors to symbolize diversity in the gay community. It was debuted in the 1978 Pride Parade in San Francisco as originally designed (with the 8 colors), however quickly it became apparent that there would be manufacturing issues, when instead of Indigo the fabric was replaced to the color Blue, because of availability, and in variations some carry purple instead of Violet. In 1979 a modified version of the flag would be paraded, and mass produced, however these new flags would be missing 2 colors: Pink and Turquoise, perhaps also for production reasons.
TO BE CONTINUED....
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