Your Life in Color

by Dougall Fraser

  I checked into the bed-and-breakfast and was greeted by the owner, a lovely woman in her early sixties named Jan. She served chamomile tea in floral porcelain teacups, along with a plate of butter cookies, and told me I reminded her of her son. To me, she felt like the literal embodiment of silver energy. When I finished my tea, she guided me up the grand staircase of her home, which was built in the late 1800s.

  “This is a very safe neighborhood, but we do lock the doors at ten o’clock just to make sure everyone feels nice and snug. Here is a key to the front door, in case you come in later than that. Breakfast is at nine o’clock. I hope you like pancakes and eggs. Please let me know if you need anything.”

  As she quietly closed the door to my room, I looked around with a mix of emotions. Part of me wished this could be my mother’s home, but the most dominant feeling I had in this cozy room was that I felt safe. I sat on the antique four-poster bed and felt the soft cotton quilt underneath me. On the nightstand was a glass carafe of water that rested on a round silver tray. Opposite the bed was a fireplace, and on the mantle were four photos of her family in silver frames. Everything in the room had love and intention. I had been visualizing silver prior to this trip, and I noticed that seeing it in my surroundings reminded me of its energy. This was one of my earliest experiences with spontaneous universal activation.

  Taking in my surroundings, I realized this was a physical representation of what I was looking for. The silver light helped me release the expectations I had for my mom and realize that I could receive this energy from other sources. It gave me the power to love her without condition and to also realize my own needs and boundaries. I had been focusing on silver in the hope that it would somehow change my mother, but it ended up changing me instead. Activating silver also empowered me to take an honest look at the imbalances that existed in my home.

  Silver energy helps us understand that home is about feeling nurtured, safe, protected, and, most importantly, welcome. It is about honoring our sacred space but not creating perfection, which is a lesson I also needed to learn (see the shadow side below). At its best, silver helps us access a sense of community and support through our home.

  Finally, here is some food for thought about silver: When I talk about “feminine” energy, it literally has nothing to do with your gender and everything to do with who you are as a unique being on this planet. We all have masculine and feminine traits. Both silver and gold help us find the balance between our masculine and feminine energies. Don’t let gender roles keep you from exploring both of these colors equally. My hope for you is that by working with both silver and gold, you can maximize the best aspects of both energies inside yourself.

  ACTIVATING SILVER NOTES

  HOW BALANCED IS MY HOME LIFE?

  How much energy is coming into your home, and how much is going out? When you activate silver, it will highlight the balance of energy of your home. Are you neglecting the upkeep of where you live? Or are you overly controlling of it? Are you rarely at home, creating your happy memories elsewhere because you hate to be alone? Or do you spend too much time at home, isolating yourself in your safe space and not inviting others into it? If you are a natural host, silver will help guide you in expanding that energy in healthy ways. On the other hand, if you are hesitant to share your home with others, then silver will help you see the energy behind that.

  Silver goddess energy helps us to recognize the importance of community and home. Typically I see those things as existing separately, but silver has taught me how important it is for them to balance and co-exist. The way we care for our home and how we welcome people into it is also directly connected to the law of attraction. The welcoming energy of silver helped me manifest some of my most meaningful, joyful friendships.

  After our wedding in New York City, David and I packed up our apartment and moved to Los Angeles. We loved the sacred silver energy that we had cultivated in that New York apartment, but we were ready to have more living space. Our work brought us to Los Angeles two to three times a year, and moving seemed like a great opportunity to live in a house rather than an apartment. For the same amount that we paid to live in our 600-square-foot NYC apartment, we rented what felt like a palace in Los Angeles.

  “It is 81 steps from the kitchen to the bedroom! Does that count as going to the gym?”

  “What? I can’t hear you!” David would jokingly yell from the kitchen.

  We loved our new living situation, but we did not yet have a soul group in our new city. We had a small, rewarding circle of soul-mate friendships in New York, and we wanted to put down the same kind of roots in LA. We decided that part of opening silver energy in our new home would include saying yes to any kind of social invitation. Seriously, someone at the checkout line in the supermarket could have invited us over for coffee and we would have said yes.

  I strongly believe the universe likes to see us make an effort before giving us our desire, so I knew I had to make an effort to create a new circle. I would foster feminine silver energy by calling every work acquaintance I knew in LA to see how we could make friend connections with people.

  When activating silver, I intended to create a safe, stable community in our new city. I knew I wanted to foster more silver energy, and as we unpacked I visualized us laughing around a dinner table with good friends. A few days later, I scanned through the contacts in my phone and came across the name Marilyn Kentz. A lightbulb went off in my head. I had known Marilyn peripherally through work friends for several years. I didn’t know her well, but I knew she lived in Los Angeles, and she had always been friendly, so I took a chance. I sent off an e-mail to her saying we had just moved to LA and would love to meet for lunch or something like that. Within 10 minutes, the phone rang.

  “Hello?”

  “Dougall, it’s Marilyn Kentz. I just got your e-mail, and I think you live around the corner from me!”

  Marilyn and I spent the next 10 minutes chatting about how funny it was that we lived so close to each other. I moved across the country and had no idea we would end up being neighbors. I explained that David and I had just gotten married and were having an adventure by moving to Los Angeles.

  “You just got married! Then it’s final. You are coming over for dinner tonight! I’m chilling champagne as we speak. Do you remember Ramey?”

  “Of course I remember Ramey.” Ramey was the mutual friend who had introduced Marilyn and me.

  “Well, she lives across the street from me, and I am calling her right now.”

  I got off the phone and told David we were going to a dinner party in an hour. I can’t explain what an exciting, big deal that was. It was mind-boggling to me that Marilyn could be that spontaneously generous and hospitable. We were acquaintances, but I’d never invited her to my house and I’d never been in her house. And yet, 15 minutes after one quick e-mail, here she was welcoming us into her home and wanting to celebrate.

  That night, as we sat outside enjoying the cool Los Angeles breeze and marveling at her citrus trees, I knew activating silver energy in our new home had paid off in a big way. Marilyn and Ramey have turned out to be some of our closest friends, helping us foster a community and family in Los Angeles. To this day, inviting Marilyn over and sitting around a dinner table laughing is one of the most joyful expressions of silver energy in our lives. Marilyn is also a perfect example of healthy silver energy. Protective of her friends, yet welcoming of new ones, she has set a great example of how to use a home as a tool for fostering a stable community of loved ones.

  SPIRITUAL ACTIVATION NOTES

  In your mind, scan your house right now and try to gauge how much of yourself is truly reflected in it. Does it feel reasonably cared for and infused with your love? Take a look at the walls and see if there are personal photos or works of art that bring you joy. Ideally, there would be decorations and knickknacks that are imprinted with your unique personal energy. To a stranger, it should look as though you tend to your home. Your bathroom should be rea
sonably clean, and you hopefully change the sheets on your bed with some amount of regularity. You know you’ve got a healthy relationship with silver if your home is set up in a way that won’t bring up shame for you should someone see it.

  Please know, I am not saying that your home needs to be in perfect, tidy condition at all times in order for you to have a healthy relationship with silver. Heaven knows that sometimes I would rather curl up on the couch with a book than fold laundry or take the clean dishes out of the dishwasher. I am saying, however, that the overall way you tend to your home reflects your attitude about silver and about your life in general. If you don’t feel like your home is a sanctuary that is being honored, then your relationship with silver energy may be muted or out of whack. If your home is neglected, then there is a chance that other elements of your life are being neglected as well. On the flip side, being overly meticulous to the point that it causes you to avoid having guests (like I used to be) indicates you should work on relaxing your grip to heal this imbalance of silver energy.

  If you lean toward being an introvert, like I do, you may shy away from the idea of hosting a dinner. But you must invite your loved ones over once in a while to have a fully balanced relationship with silver. The idea is that we can be protective of our sacred space and still allow our friends to fully integrate into our tribe.

  A critical element of healthy silver energy is having your soul group come over and help you cultivate that loving “homey” energy. If this makes you terribly nervous, you could invite just one friend to come over. If this seems easy for you, then really run with it. Think of inviting a new mix of people over. Try to think of someone you know who is looking to make more friends and invite them to meet your other friends. This is a great way to let silver goddess energy pour through you. If you love to cook, then cook for people. If you don’t like doing those things, or get stressed about it, have friends over and just get take-out. This is more about the energy behind your welcoming people into your space than it is about actually cooking for them. You will know you are properly activating silver if you feel more safety and love in your home.

  SPIRITUAL ACTIVATION EXERCISE: CREATING SACRED ENERGY

  Since your home is such a big part of balanced silver energy, it is important to help create a sense of love in it. This is one of my favorite exercises, as I absolutely love making our home feel welcoming and warm.

  Your goal for this exercise is to do your spiritual activation in the midst of a “homey” activity: something relaxing that truly symbolizes home for you. The range of activities are almost endless, but here are a couple of examples:

  Light candles, dim the lights, and play your favorite music.

  Take a relaxing bath.

  Prepare a healthy meal.

  Try visualizing silver while you enjoy your activity, building a sense of home. Envision a molten, almost liquid consistency to silver as you spiritually activate it. My clients sometimes report that silver feels like a glossy coating on their bodies. It should move through you more slowly than other colors when you see it in your mind’s eye. To me, this has to do with the protective, home-balancing intention of silver. Like a long, satisfying hug from a best friend, silver will love and embrace your core. Try taking extra time when you spiritually activate silver. This goddess energy is powerfully protective and deeply profound.

  UNIVERSAL ACTIVATION NOTES

  (AKA “I SPY” WITH MY INTUITIVE EYE)

  As we saw earlier, silver is often referenced with the moon in conjunction with goddess energy, while the sun is used as the reference for gold, masculine energy. The sun is bright and intense and can be a little too much at times. But think of the moon—no one has ever said that the moon is too bright or that they got a moonburn from too much moon. The subtle power of the goddess and silver energy are the same. They are always there, guiding us when we may not even realize it. Try to take some time to look up to the moon—to activate and have awareness of this different part of you. When you see silver in your life, you are connecting to your own nourishment. You are invoking a sense of protection and sacred space.

  Although universal activations involve items we see when we are out, silver primarily relates to our home, which is where I have focused these notes. You can still activate silver to affect your interaction with others, but this particular activation offers us the opportunity to examine our home and personal space.

  UNIVERSAL ACTIVATION EXERCISE: INVESTING IN YOUR SURROUNDINGS

  Human beings sometimes put things off when it comes to household chores. When we tend to our home and honor our space, it magnifies our self-love and the energy we project to the planet. Think of a budget you might have in mind for minor home improvements. You could paint a wall, buy new drapes, replace a shower curtain. To be really low budget, you could just clean out that neglected hall closet. Select something simple in your home, and then finish that project. Remember, this is a form of meditation, a way of infusing love, silver protection, and honor into your space.

  Take a simple walk through your home. Pay attention to details that need to be taken care of. What are minor issues that you have been putting off for a rainy day? For example, last month we had a handyman come over to do a few small jobs. The switch plate needed to be replaced in the bathroom. There was a light fixture we wanted added to a hallway. We also asked him to wire some café lights on our patio, and he painted an accent wall in our office. For less than $200, we tended to our sacred space, and the feeling after the work was done was so euphoric. These were minor things that needed to be adjusted, but you would have thought that we added a pool based on my reaction. I felt our home was being honored, and the silver energy was flowing so beautifully that day. I encourage you to make a list for yourself and do the same.

  Anytime you notice silver, wherever you are, allow it to remind you of an item on your list that you can accomplish this week. Use the silver activation as a motivator to pour love and care into your home.

  SILVER AFFIRMATION

  I AM PROTECTED BY THE LOVING EMBRACE OF SILVER.

  PHYSICAL ACTIVATION NOTES

  One of my favorite ways to activate silver is by setting a table for a meal, particularly if we are having guests. Since having friends over allows me to give and receive that loving silver energy, I enjoy selecting a tablecloth with intention and incorporating silver energy into the environment where we will be sitting. Silver napkin holders, silver serving spoons, and silver candle holders are all ways that I can infuse silver intention into a room. I might pick lemons from our tree and place them in a silver bowl for sight, color, and scent. I will set the table way ahead of time, because it makes me happy to look at it. My intention while preparing for my guests is to create a welcoming, relaxed, loving atmosphere so that they feel honored.

  Some silver color props you could incorporate into your day include:

  Silver picture frames. This also allows you to showcase your loved ones to build that loving silver energy.

  Silver tray or platter. One of my favorite color props is a reflective silver tray with glass or crystal candle holders on it. The reflection this creates when the candles are lit makes my heart sing.

  Silver jewelry. A silver bracelet or ring is a great way to invoke protective silver energy throughout your day.

  PHYSICAL ACTIVATION EXERCISE: HONORING HOME

  Since silver energy is associated with home, the color props I suggest mainly focus on home furnishings. In my family, silver items were always stored for “something special.” Well, now is the time for something special—break out the silver. With this in mind, I think it’s helpful to create a sacred silver corner of your home, a kind of intentional area where you can physically activate silver to honor it.

  Select an area where you can connect with silver energy. It could be a yoga or stretching space, a meditation nook, or any other room. Place a piece of silver in that space where you can physically activate it to remind you of the feminine, homey aspect of your bein
g.

  THE SHADOW SIDE OF SILVER

  The shadow side of silver primarily is neglecting your home or allowing chaotic energy to persist. It can also show up as being controlling or overprotective of your home space. If you are leaning toward the shadow side of silver, your living situation will feel unkempt, lifeless, or unorganized and in disarray. Someone who is a hoarder usually is an extreme example of imbalanced silver energy. When there is imbalance in our space, it becomes challenging to give and receive energy. Chances are, you are being overprotective with yourself and thus blocking silver energy from flowing. Allow the silver light to help you clear your energy and your space.

  CHAPTER 5

  BLUE

  QUALITIES: Truth and wisdom

  SHADOW SIDE: Avoidance; fear or deceit

  Working with blue is like taking a shot of energetic truth serum. It provides us with the resolve to speak our mind in an authentic and meaningful way. Blue helps remove any possible denial we may experience when it comes to seeing others for who they really are as opposed to who we want them to be. Blue is one of three primary colors (along with red and yellow) required to create virtually every other color in the spectrum. I find this to be satisfying symbolically, as it is consistent with the qualities that I see in blue. Just as blue must be incorporated as a base in order to create a variety of other colors, a willingness to blend the truth into every situation is a primary ingredient in learning blue’s lesson.