In a delightful study – originally comprising two separate booklets – the accomplished artist and teacher Gladys Mayer explains that colour is nothing other than the very substance of the soul. Just as the body is made up of mineral, water, air and warmth, so the soul is made up of colour. This is revealed in the emotions of sadness and joy and the many shades in between, as expressed in human language – for example: ‘seeing red’, ‘rose-coloured spectacles’ and ‘jaundiced view’.

Mayer discusses the basis of colour theory and its methodology, and the importance of colour for everyday life and health. It is as fundamental to the soul as air is to the body. By increasing our awareness of the spiritual laws of colour, we can acquire a balanced and enriched life of soul. Thus, colour can become a healing force in life, enabling us to tackle the deadening, grey aspects of our mechanised civilisation. Based on the work of Rudolf Steiner, which she studied intensively for many years, Mayer offers an approach to colour that is of value to painters and artists, as well as to those interested in psychology, health and healing, spirituality and personal development.

GLADYS MAYER (1888–1980) attended Rudolf Steiner’s series of lectures on education at Stratford-on-Avon in 1922. The following year she visited Steiner in Switzerland and decided to become a painter and art teacher at the Goetheanum, Dornach. She is the author of a number of titles including The Mystery Wisdom of Colour and Colours: A New Approach to Painting (1983).

6 November 2019; RSP; 68pp; 21.5 x 13.5 cm; pb;