The Peacock

Many discussions in our home surround the topic of color. Many of the discussions focus on color theory as it applies to painting.  Here I’m laying out a series of quotes, some food for thought, that takes a decided turn toward the symbolic.

“It was not the tail alone that was depicted, but the whole bird.  Since the peacock stands for “all colors”… Carl Jung, CW XIV, par. 391

“Eating the peacock’s flesh is therefore equivalent to integrating the many colours (or, psychologically, the contradictory feeling-values) into a single colour, white.” Ibid., par.388

“The stages of the work are marked by seven colours which are associated with the planets.  This accounts for the relation of the colors to astrology, and also to psychology, since the planets correspond to individual character components.  The Aurora Consurgens relates the colours to the soul.” Ibid., par. 390

And finally:

“This means – to employ once more the simile of the spectrum – that the instinctual image is to be located not at the red end but at the violet end of the colour band.  The dynamism of instinct is lodged as it were in the infra-red part of the spectrum, whereas the instinctual image lies in the ultra-violet part.  If we remember our colour symbolism, then, as I have said, red is not such a bad match for insticnt.  But for spirit, as might be expected, blue would be a better match than violet.  Violet is the mystic colour, and it certainly reflects the indubitably “mystic” or paradoxical quality of the archetype in a most satisfactory way.” Carl Jung, CW VIII, par414.

I can’t wait to see what throwing this into the mix produces.