The Colors of India

I have been fortunate to travel to far off lands since my early 20’s.  It started with camping around Europe, then traveling extensively in Indonesia, Malaysia and other parts of Southeast Asia with friends who were in the Peace Corps. There were more trips to France, Italy, Ireland, Kenya, Argentina, and China, some for education and service, some to explore family ties.

In the past few years, my journeys have taken me to fresh destinations…Nepal, Tibet, India, Morocco and Israel. They have led to discovering newer possibilities, both personal and spiritual. It has been a time for assessing the past and setting direction for the future. During this time, we also established connections in India with artisans who make Aum Sacred Art’s jewelry and shawls.

With each sojourn to a different culture and landscape, the conditioning of earlier beliefs and habits is examined, to be gently let go, re-formed or transformed. What ensues is personal healing and evolution, enhanced by the sights, sounds, tastes and colors of new environments. These encounters with spiritual guides and ordinary people, landscapes, music, food, and textiles have helped weave a new tapestry of experience.

The palette of colors from these journeys is what remains fresh and vivid in memory, helping me to relive and reinforce the learning from the experiences. Midnight blue ocean with swirling white sea foam seen from the slate gray cliffs of Dun Aengus on the West Coast of Ireland. The clear dark green, cleansing waters of Lake Manasarovar in Tibet. From my recent trip to India, the colors on the streets of Chennai and Pondicherry. All of these, in their own way, speak to my soul.

The colors of India are some of the most vibrant colors I have ever seen. They enliven the streets, with their bright flower stalls, spice markets, and women resplendent in their saris and accessories. The spectrum of colors ranges from lovely purple and green pastels to bright yellows and reds.

Take a look, for example, at how this woman on her way to work in Chennai mirrors the brightly costumed Mary and Jesus.

mary and jesus and sari
We met and spent time with these two women healers on a small street in Pondicherry where they reached out with messages for each of us.

healing women

The colors of the great temples of India will always remain with me.

temple and sky
The colors of India have also come home, in the clothes that I wear, and in the brilliant and subtle tones in the shawls and the healing gemstones of Aum Sacred Art. 

In our business, we are surrounded by the colors of citrine, amber and carnelian, ruby, garnet and amethyst, rose quartz, peridot, lapis and mystic merlinite, among many others. Our mission is to share these healing colors and qualities with you, and the wider world, and through that, support organizations in the areas of women’s and children’s health and education.

Jody Parsons, Owner