The Art and Science of Color Astrology

What’s your favorite color? Indigo blue, rose petal red, lemon yellow? And what does it say about you? The answer lies in how colors are created. We’re not talking about just the wavelengths of light that enable us to see these shades, but the energy behind those wavelengths, essentially empowering each color into existence. According to the theory behind color astrology, color does much more than provide us with shades of blue, red and yellow; it can also give us meaningful insight into ourselves—who we are, what we desire, what we want to remove from our lives, and how to manifest our goals. By understanding each hue’s effects in combination with your astrological chart, you can use color to help make positive changes in your life.

How Color Astrology Works

Color therapy (also known as chromotherapy) is a healing modality steeped in science that allows you to harness the effects of various colors for therapeutic results. For instance, caramel brown helps ground your aspirations, so it might be a good color if you’re feeling spacey or having trouble realizing your dreams, says Michele Bernhardt, a New York–based intuitive, astrologer and author of Colorstrology. “Blue is known as a sedative color, and it also represents trustworthiness,” says Rose Theodora, resident color astrologer at Enamel Diction in Los Angeles. “That’s why a lot of medical offices are blue.”

Generally speaking, color astrology is the marriage of chromotherapy and astrology, explains Theodora. We all gravitate toward—or are repelled by—certain hues. By taking into consideration all of the details in a person’s birth chart, astrology can reveal why we gravitate to certain shades, subconsciously or otherwise. But this process extends beyond simply looking at someone’s zodiac sign. “It’s about getting people to think consciously about how color affects us,” she explains.

Color Astrology in Practice

To paint a complete landscape, Theodora also evaluates her clients’ life circumstances. She will look at energy and personality, what they’re missing and what they want. For example, if a Virgo is lacking confidence and wants to nab a promotion at work, Theodora might recommend wearing more red, whose fiery chromotherapy effects encourage motivation and action.

Some color astrologers, like Theodora, give clients specific suggestions on how to incorporate helpful hues into their lives, which she believes affects the outcome. Other color astrologers, like Bernhardt, believe you can use colors any way you choose, like wearing a multi-hued scarf with a specific shade as an accent or even makeup in that particular hue. “Colors affect you whether you’re conscious of them or not,” says Bernhardt, but says that once you are conscious of their power, they affect you more. She also uses her intuition and analyzes many factors, including the position of the sun when you were born, your ruling planet and the numerological vibrations of your birthday as well as the related element (e.g., fire, earth), in order to find your most helpful shade.

How to Reap the Benefits of Color Astrology

If you don’t have a color astrologer to work with, try simply paying more attention to the hues that surround you and noting how they make you feel. There are many ways you can discover the energy each color has. One way is to research what each month’s color represents, then choose one that speaks to you and add more of it into your life by wearing the shade, eating more foods in that color, decorating your home with the hue, or even burning a candle in that color. In her book Colorstrology, Bernhardt shares the colors of each month and how they can shift your energy.

• January: Caramel Brown helps you feel stable and responsible and helps ground your aspirations through discipline and persistence
• February: Sheer Lilac helps you comprehend the spirit of humankind and is useful when you feel emotionally entangled
• March: Fair Aqua helps evoke the quality of trust and intuition
• April: Cayenne signifies passion, courage and strength
• May: Bud Green is the color of stability and healing and gives you a balance of strength and substance
• June: Aspen Gold lifts your spirits, brings sunshine into your life, stimulates the brain, and increases intelligence and mental agility
• July: Coral Blush inspires loves and receptivity and can be used for emotional healing or during times of transition
• August: Sun Orange helps to encourage joy, play, creativity and enthusiasm
• September: Baja Blue can help ease tension, promote tranquility and opens the mind to less limiting points of view
• October: Cerulean signifies love, beauty and balance, and helps us stay calm and peaceful while we take decisive action
• November: Claret Red inspires depth, strength and love, and helps you stay inspired as you build your dreams
• December: Pagoda Blue signifies wisdom, truth and optimism, and is useful while traveling, exploring and dealing with others with a different point of view

While these monthly colors will help bring out the best in people born in that particular month, according to Bernhardt, “they can be used by anyone during any time of the year. For example, if someone is obsessing, he or she should wear or surround him or herself with Sheer Lilac. If you’re dealing with money issues, I might suggest you get a wallet in Bud Green.”

What it comes down to is this: There’s no harm in wearing more of a color that you think will attract positivity into your life. Ultimately, “you know best,” says Theodora.