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The Color Purple
Both shani and argaman are reds, and so these are merely two shades of the same level.
Both are wool, and the color of both shades is derived from a living creature… Having seen that linen symbolizes the vegetative dimension, we can now say that the shades of wool symbolize the life of that which has an animated spirit.
Tola’at Shani – refers to fabrics, materials, or thread dyed red – shani.
Scarlet is the baseness of man – like Adam – Dam – blood.
Argaman – Purple is a higher, richer form of red mixed with blue, so it has a higher status.
Argaman is mentioned only in connection with the mitzvah of building the Mikdash, the priestly garments, the various screens, and the cover of the burnt-offering altar.
Techelet – Blue is the fundamental color of the Mikdash and of the High Priest’s garments
Blue symbolizes heaven and that which Israel received from heaven.
As Chazal said: “How is blue different from all the colors?
Because blue resembles the sea, and the sea resembles heaven, and heaven resembles the Throne of Glory
The History of “Imperial Purple”/ Tyrian Purple/ Argaman
It was a color only used in the service of the most powerful and the most regal- the color of an emperor’s toga, a king’s robe, a priest’s vestments, and it decorated the Ark of the Covenant.
The dye takes its name from the best known of its sources- the ancient Phoenician seaport of Tyre, along the coastline of contemporary Lebanon. Tyre was the biggest and best exporter of the dye and the products made with it, supplying the entirety of the Near East. Though Tyrian purple was made famous here it was likely discovered much earlier, since Nuzi texts indicate that the dye was processed as early as 1500 BCE. The color had such a great effect on the surrounding populations, the Hebrew term for that specific shade of argaman developed the connotation in both Ugaritic and Hittite of “tribute”– so often was the purple used as a gift to clothe sometimes the entirety of the imperial court.
From the “royal blue” of Morocco, to the Greek isle of Crete, to the tropical eastern Pacific, and even extending to ancient Japan and China; each civilization created a technique with which to harvest some sort of oceanic dye in the indigo family. Jews regard one end of this color spectrum to represent holiness, tying a deep blue strand of tehkelet to the corners of their prayer shawls, representing both heaven and sea. Catholics are more enamored with its spectral opposite, prostrating themselves before the vermillion cloaks of their cardinals and popes.
Technically and biologically speaking, the primary ingredient of the Tyrian purple dye is produced by a secretion of the chromogenic hypobranchial gland of the Murex brandaris, a small shelled sea mollusk. It can take as many as 10,000 of these creatures to produce just one gram of the Tyrian purple dye. This mucoid fluid is initially colorless, but turns purple when extracted from the gland and exposed to sunlight.
Roman mythographer Julius Pollux wrote in the second century BCE that the idea of purple dying came from the Tyrian god Melqart who was a sort of Heracles figure that served as the protector of Phoenician migrations. Melqart was returning from a beach-side walk one evening with his dog after having visited the lovely nymph Tyros, when he noticed that the canine’s mouth was stained a bright violet. He removed from between the dog’s jaws a severely chewed mollusk that was the source of this mystery. He was then inspired to create a tunic for the nymph dyed that shade of purple- and so Tyrian purple was born. It is also written that as a political gesture to show his lack of hubris, when Alexander conquered Tyre he purposefully entered the city dressed completely in white to the astonishment of King Darius of Persia.
But no one- past, present, or future- was ever as mad for this violet shade as the Romans. They even had a term to describe their infatuation: “purpurae insania” or the purple mania. This “purple fever” reached its peak in the 2nd century CE, where no one of the upper classes could resist goods dyed this Tyrian shade- not even Julius Caesar who chose his imperial robes in this hue. It was at this point in time that the value of the Tyrian dye was so costly, it was worth up to ten or twenty times its weight in gold.
Primary Colors
The primary colors are red, blue, and yellow. They are the colors that can’t be created by mixing any other colors together. Every other color on the color wheel is created by mixing together these three colors.
- Why Are Red, Yellow, and Blue the Primary Colors if Computer Screens Use Red, Green, and Blue?
- Artist Color Wheel
- Definition of Primary Colors
Secondary Colors
Secondary colors are created when two primary colors are mixed together. For example, green is a secondary color, as it can be made by mixing yellow and blue. You can also mix together red and blue to get another secondary color: purple.
- Definition of Secondary Color
- Secondary Colors
- Guide to Secondary Colors
Tertiary Colors
Tertiary colors bridge the gaps between primary and secondary colors on a color wheel. They’re created by mixing a primary and secondary color together.
- Color Meanings: Tertiary Colors
- Why Are Tertiary Colors Always Defined Incorrectly?
- Tertiary Colors
What’s wrong with the color purple?
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Basic elementary lesson: mix equal parts of two colors to create a third color, such as when blue and red are mixed to get the color purple.
The color purple is in our discussions more today than ever before. And it’s not because some kindergarteners hatched a plot to color the entire world purple — though given our current political climate, that might not be a bad idea.
Our place at the table called democracy has gotten ugly, real fast. I think our children right now would say, “Stop! Enough is enough,” and we would be proud because we taught them well. If only we practiced what we preached.
And then January 6 happened. A moment that will forever be a marker for just how bad “ugly” can get.
I believe a major reason for all of this political rhetoric and turmoil is boredom. We are bored with a pandemic that has wreaked havoc, we are bored with our socially distanced selves, we are bored with what’s on TV and we are bored with what we wear everyday. Some wear only blue, some wear only red. I say, let’s all of us add a dash of purple to our wardrobe.
While we are at it, let’s turn the TV off and hit the pause button on social media. Right now neither are good for the soul, and quite frankly both need to be fixed. Perhaps PBS or NPR could provide an unbiased hair rinse and a dye job of purple.
We are sentient beings who need to think and discover. When we get bored we seek anything that will give us a jolt, no matter the outcome. Today, social media is the caffeine that provides the quick fix. Politics knows this. Wild claims are perpetuated to convince us it’s red against blue, blue against red and us against us. When those with the bullhorn realize its power, anything can happen. The events of that day in January prove this.
Boredom has punctured our society, causing air to seep from the global ball. It has driven us into tribal factions, each seeking power. Like a drug, it is an addiction that, if left unchecked, will take over every waking minute.
What would happen if in our country we all embraced the color purple? No more red or blue, but an entire country washed in purple with all of us agreeing to ideologically disagree on certain issues, paradigms and policies; yet in the end we work together to do what’s best for future generations.
A word that has received little airplay this past year is compromise. For 2021, it should be the word, and it should be cloaked in purple. History is laden with great accomplishments when the colors red and blue blush as one.
Some people believe the color purple enhances creativity, sparks the imagination, fosters empathy, clears the mind and calms stress. We really need the color purple! The writer Alice Walker said: “Keep in mind always the present you are constructing. It should be the future you want.” Is a future solely red or blue the end-all of our issues? It can’t be if we are honest with ourselves.
It is real simple; arguing and insults do not move the ball forward. They never have. Writing columns or devoting entire news organizations to propagate one color while persecuting a system of policy and beliefs of the other does not fix anything; it only spews fetid fuel onto a fire that will become uncontrollable.
A long time ago a group of men from all walks of life and backgrounds came together and compromised to make a more perfect union. The union was built on the belief in a goal to unite and make life better for all. Is it perfect? No. But it was not meant to be perfect nor the end-all of who we are.
The colors red and blue mean nothing if there is no paper to draw on. The colors sit alone, disenfranchised, collecting dust, growing old and getting angry. Each color is important and provides a splash of reality, perspective and a sense of self-worth. But purple, the coming together of red and blue, can be a great color — one that is respected, held in high esteem and leads rather than sits idle treading water in an angry swamp.
Seriously, can anyone say today the color purple is too progressive or “out there” given current trends in our society? All colors need respect and recognition. That “Crayola 64” box is just waiting to be opened again. The first color we should grab and put to use as a nation is the color purple.
