There have been two great questions posed in the forum recently, one about the colors of clothing and the other about everyday magic. It is the perfect opportunity to talk about color magic, glamor magic, and working all of that into our days!
Colors and Magic
Color is powerful even outside of witchcraft spaces. There is an entire science dedicated to the study of color and how it affects our emotions and mood, and it is called Color Psychology. Marketing teams even use color to make us feel certain ways about their products. For example, the color red tends to stimulate excitement and is one of the most emotion-inducing colors there is. On the other hand, white can make people feel cold, lonely, and uninspired. In magical spaces, though, we look at color in a different way. Yes, we know color affects emotions and has psychological affects on the people around it, but color has energy and spirit, too.
Usually when we talk about color magic, we are talking about the colors of candles that we use in spellwork. I take color magic a bit further since I crochet and am generally crafty. You can create artwork using color magic, too. I am of the opinion that color magic is very subjective, very personal to the witch in question. I have written about this before on my own site (the article is gone for now), but I can give a brief explanation of why I think color magic is subjective.
While colors may have vibrations or energy or spirit, the most important part of color magic is our personal connection to the color. It is generally accepted that red is a good color to use for love and passion. It is one that I have used for those correspondences myself. However, if someone has a bad experience with the color red – maybe they were bullied in school and the person who bullied them always wore a red hat – then they are not going to associate the color red with love and passion. They will associate the color red with aggression, anger, and whoever that person was. They may instead associate the color purple with love and passion because it is their partner’s favorite color. See? Things can change based on how we feel about a certain color. The individual may still use red for love and passion, but if they are so focused on the painful memory associated with that color, their spellwork is either going to be less effective or just not work altogether.
Glamor Magic
On the other hand, even if we leave color out of the equation, we can use something called glamor magic. Glamor magic is the act of casting spells and charming items to change how we are perceived by others. Glamor magic can be used to make us appear taller, more confident, more alluring, or even more invisible. It is all about creating perceptions, even if there is no outward physical change. A necklace can be enchanted to give the wearer clearer speech. An ink pen can be enchanted to give the writer the appearance of knowledge on the subject they write about. An oil used on the skin or in the hair (yes, even in beards and facial hair) can be enchanted to give the wearer the appearance of sophistication.
Combining Color and Glamor
If you Google the phrase, “Color Magic Witchcraft”, you get hundreds of results that point you to different correspondences, meanings, and ways to use color in your witchcraft practice. An article in Allure Magazine says that color magic is something that we do everyday just by making small choices of what we wear, how we do our makeup, or even the color we paint our bedroom. Architectural Digest suggests using color magic in your home, pairing your decorations, design, and paint with your intentions and magic. An article in Cosmopolitan even suggests buying a yellow kettle for your kitchen to brighten up your early mornings.
Here are a few ways you can incorporate color and glamor magic into your everyday life.
Choose your outfit wisely. If you know you will have a busy day, choose a color that calms your nerves. When we get stressed out or frazzled, we can take a few seconds, close our eyes, and let the energy of the color we chose to wear surround us. If you are going to a job interview or an important meeting, choose a color the gives the perception of confidence in your speech. As you get dressed, say a little spell over your clothing to charm it with a glamor.
Decorate your home with colors. When I was in high school, my parents bought their first house since I was a kid. We moved in and got started on some remodeling. My mom’s favorite color is red and so that is what we painted in the kitchen. If I could go back now, I would not choose red for the kitchen. Yes, it is a color of love, movement, and energy, but it is also a color that has been scientifically shown to induce hunger. Can you say the word overeating? Instead, I would choose a soft blue. I spend so much time in my own kitchen that I want to enjoy the time spent there. Blues for calming and peace, flowers for happiness, or maybe even seashells to bring a little bit of the liminality of the ocean into my home.
Charm your makeup or skincare routine. If you wear makeup, you can charm your different pieces like lipstick, eyeliner, and mascara, to do different things. Choose the colors for each of these, such as red lipstick for seduction, green eyeshadow for wealth, and white eyeliner to help you see through lies.
Charm your jewelry or other accessories. The charm you do on your items does not need to make sense for the item. For example, I can charge a belt that I wear to give me the appearance of fierceness rather than support. I hope that example makes sense to you because it totally makes sense in my head. Anyway, any accessory you have can be charmed for glamor and color magic. Choose a pink bracelet to attract friends. Choose yellow socks so you’re walking on sunshine. Are even charm your glasses to help you understand the things you see more clearly.
As you can see, there really is no limit to glamor and color magic. It is entirely up to you how you use it, but it is definitely one of those things that can be incorporated into your daily life, and even the lives of those you live with if you use glamor and color magic in the home. Before we go, I want to give you a quick list of color associations to get you started!
Red: health, love, passion, anger, lust, confidence
Pink: friendship, joy, puppy love, innocence
Orange: attraction, confidence, encouragement, opportunity, attention
Gold: wealth, prosperity, business, justice, legal system
Yellow: protection, happiness, warmth, sourness, bitter
Green: material objects, forgiveness, fertility, expulsion
Blue: communication, travel, peace, patience, healing
Purple: ambition, power, royalty, mediation, divinity
Brown: animals, earth, darkness, decay, growth
Black: protection, negativity, banishing, baneful work
White: purity, truth, connection, unity, peace – also a good substitute for any other color
What is your favorite color, and how do you use it in your daily practice?
Sources and Further Reading