Introduction and Disclaimer
Spectrochrome.com is presented for informational and educational purposes only. No therapeutic claims are made for the Spectro-Chrome system despite seemingly potential evidence to the contrary on the site. I shall explain:
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Physical or Newtonian Spectrum |
This website is a reedited, rewritten and reorganised compilation of the quintessential components of Dinshah Pestanji Ghadiali’s Spectro-Chrome Therapeutic System as I see them. I make no claim to be the originator, and hereby give absolute credit to Dinshah for being the author of the source material. My understanding of the material is different from that of Dinshah and is based on years of prismatic experiments and colour research including use of the original Spectro-Chrome System. I am sure Dinshah would disagree with me on certain points. Therefore, this presentation here does not necessarily reflect the view and philosophy of Dinshah, but is merely my humble effort to preserve what I view as the essential colour knowledge in a usable form, and within a larger reference. Researchers are directed to pursue the works of Ghadiali if their interest takes them that direction.
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Etheric or Goethean Spectrum |
My purpose here is greater than the wonderful Dinshah system. My understanding of Light and Colour differs from Dinshah who agreed with the conclusion of Sir Isaac Newton that colours are somehow reduced from light via prismatic action. I agree with the poet-scientist Goethe who demonstrated that Newton misunderstood what he was seeing, that colours are formed via the interaction of light and darkness. The structure presented by Dinshah actually confirms in my mind the colour theory of Goethe over that of Newton, though Dinshah was a tireless defender of Newton.
Dinshah was Zoroastrian, a religion which views the manifest world as the struggle between Light - Ahura Mazda - and Dark - Ahriman. While Dinshah presented Spectro-Chrome as a Colour Healing system, it is my view that it is in essence a great revelation of the structure of the universe. I see it as an ancient mystery concealed through the ages, revealed through a healing system in the 20th Century. Within the structure of the Spectro-Chrome System is the essence of prismatic phenomenon as illustrated in the scientific works of Goethe (pictured above). It provides an archetype from which to understand atmospheric colour as well as the structure of the human body.
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Symbol for Homo
Luminous, |
My point here is that a primary Truth on the Nature of Reality is before us in this system, it only makes sense that such a great Truth may potentially contain great healing power within it. Dinshah’s 30 years of case histories, many provided in clinical situations by physicians, uphold this consideration. I have also included on this site The Therapeutic Value of Light and Colour by Kate Baldwin MD, a senior surgeon who found Spectro-Chrome so efficacious that she acclaimed it as greater than the medicine of her regular training! Regardless, one should not take any of this on faith, as Dinshah was put out of business and labeled as a fraud in the 1940’s and 1950’s, despite testimony and clinical case histories of many reliable professionals including Kate Baldwin.
Therefore, any usage of the Spectro-Chrome System is at your own risk, this site is intended purely for education and enlightenment. Meditation on Colour and its primary structure can only benefit. Colour certainly cannot harm, so there is no physical risk from shining colour upon the body. References to bodily states and functions are provided only as historical notes so that one may seek to understand this wonderful and curious system as well as its larger relationship to colour formation in the natural world. If you have any medical conditions please seek professional advice and do not rely on the effects of Colour upon the human system unless advised otherwise by said professional.
I have used Spectro-Chrome equipment for meditation and colour breathing. Dinshah claimed that a person’s breathing changed according to strict solar and lunar tides, switching dominance from nostril to nostril. This, of course, has been known for millennia to yoga practitioners. The exercise for switching nostril dominance, or opening a closed nostril, (by putting a fist or a ball into your armpit and laying on that side) is taught in several yoga systems. Dinshah’s Variant Breath chart is included in this site for those who wish to calculate and sort that one out. I’ve found that it is easiest and most profitable to use colour when you need it and when you have time. Convenience counts, though as you get more sensitive to it you will notice times when it has more "activity" than others.
Basic colour breathing is simple. Choose the colour you wish to project on yourself and place slide/s in a lamp/projector assembly. Some people use kinesiology to test for the colour they need at the time. Dinshah's Axioms are another way to derive a choice. Lay down or sit in the colour and breath deeply. Feel the colour filling your body, or direct the colour to the area you wish it to go to. This is purely subjective, and has definite effects on the consciousness at least, physiological effects can follow (and hence the claims of efficacy of the Spectro-Chrome System). While some will argue that colour has no effect upon the body, try telling that to yellow jaundiced babies who are regularly prescribed blue lights in hospitals around the world.
When it comes to health, one shouldn’t rely on external factors such as pills, potions, plasters and colour projectors. They all may help in specific circumstances, and this brief is not intended to cover this aspect. I have seen colour work dramatically on physical conditions over the years, such as indigo light on severe sunburn and abrasions, or yellow light on the stomach to stimulate evacuation. But Dinshah’s system was more than colour, it encompassed diet and a specific way of living. If you eat healthy vital food you can expect to benefit from the living energies carried by them. If you eat devitalised food, then what do you expect in the way of vitality?
Dinshah and others claimed that there was no use for colour when the system was in balance. Perhaps purely in relation to Dinshah’s work on healing physical imbalances this would be seemingly apparent. I disagree. Many systems of Higher Learning are based on or contain colour meditations and correspondences. The Spectro-Chrome system can be a basis for which t explore other systems, as colour is colour. But remember, the 12 colours produced from 5 slides is The Spectro-Chrome System, and that is part of what is being presented herein. There is a unique logic to the colour structure which will eventuate in your consciousness as you become experienced in understanding the slide matching system creating 12 colours from 5 slides. Some systems claiming to be "Dinshah" or "Spectro-Chrome" do not contain this capacity.
Dinshah claimed that using any more than 5 slides to produce the Colour Circle was a "fraud upon the Spectro-Chrome System." I understand why he said that and agree. He was also against using anything other than glass, but even he had difficulties in organising matching sets of five glass slides and a broken slide meant shipping the rest back to choose a replacement slide in tune with the remainders. Using modern industrial lighting gels is a logical and efficient progression, from the pragmatic point of view. I have tried to match the original Dinshah glass exactly to these gel systems and have always had trouble matching using single-layered slides. Part of the circle would match, while other parts would not, like a table with a short leg. Violet has always been difficult, even in the glass. What makes matching gels difficult is that coloured glass is a single peak transmission filter and most slides have dual peaks in their wavelength scale.
Nonetheless, I have found an acceptable 5 slide set that I use. They are Roscolux Supergels; RED= 27, YELLOW=15, GREEN=90, BLUE=74, VIOLET=47
These are the result of over 20 years of studying this approach (as well as undertaking other prismatic and optical experiments). I feel that this is the closest 5 piece set of slides to the original Spectro-Chrome that have been available to the public since Dinshah’s day. In some ways it is superior because now a consistency can be achieved and a lost or damaged slide can be replaced without having to rematch the entire set. And I must give a very big thanks to Peter Lindemann who amongst his decades of wide-ranging researches has worked and studied colour therapies for decades. He has been a most helpful accomplice over the years in trying to find a good matching set of five slides.
Colour is colour and any colour has the potential to have an effect, but using this set of 5 slides you can be assured of being able to form a complete Colour Circle of 12 colours—the true Spectro-Chrome System.
As I stated, I believe that there is a great universal Truth contained in the Spectro-Chrome System. I personally work through the entire colour circle to energise, harmonise and familiarise (initiate) my physical, mental and spiritual structures . Remember, it is experience we carry with us when we pass on from this life, not gold nor branded fashion accesories. What is presented here is a complete universal initiatory structure, in a compact archetypal form, readily accessible to our subconscious being. In truth, what more could one ask for from higher learning? Do your own discoveries along this path. You will never regret it.
I’ve left in Newtonian references in the original materials by Dinshah and Baldwin. By this I mean that when people claim such things as "the seven colours are derived from light" it is easier to let these statements be in their context rather than extensively reediting the materials and losing the essential point of the author. I suggest you read my article Some observations on the relationships between Light and Electricity in order to provide a more comprehensive perspective on the subject, and to inform you on the profound Goethean theory, its relationship to the Spectro-Chrome System, and other interesting outgrowths.
I wish to thank the late Dinshah Pestanji Ghadiali, a Humble Servant of Suffering Mankind, for presenting the Spectro-Chrome knowledge to the world, as he laboured to present his work in a useful form for the betterment of us all. I also wish to thank his son Sarosh Ghadiali who taught me how to match slides and who insisted upon the 5 slide glass system which I have done my best to emulate. I hope my humble presentation here guides you to a greater understanding of Light and Colour, and that you find use for this in your life.
Thomas Joseph Brown
August 20, 2007