Let there be light, the words which according to the third verse of the Book of Genesis, God called light into being on the first day of Creation.

It tells us in the beginning God created heaven and earth and the earth was without form and was void; darkness was upon the face of the deep and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters and said “Let there be light” and there was light and God saw the light and divided it from the darkness.

And so the world was created with night and day, darkness and light and without the light there could be no life.

Whether you believe that God created the universe or whether you subscribe to the ‘big bang’ theory it doesn’t matter; but what is important is that we could not survive without light and without light we would not be able to identify colour. Colour emerges from light and is present in many natural phenomena through the presence of pigments.

Traditionally early civilisations spend most of their time outdoors in the sunlight; they responded to the changing of the seasons and lived by their instincts. Seasonal variations in the weather such as sunshine, rain, snow, wind and temperature all influenced the surrounding colours. Emphasis was put on the vibrant colours of the summer, the yellows, oranges and browns of the autumn and the greys and dark browns of the winter as well as the greens and yellows of the spring.

You will be fascinated about the origins of colour meanings and what they mean to your everyday life.