In Japan, purple is the color of the aristocratic family and the emperor. In China, purple is associated with spiritual awareness and strength, the classic traits of a leader. In Chinese painting, purple is the symbolic color of achieving harmony in the universe, as it is a combination of blue and red (yin and yang).
Purple was even mentioned in the Old Testament. In the book of Exodus, Moses is told by God to have the Israelites bring him offerings that include purple cloth, to be used in the Tabernacle and in the making of religious clothing of priests. (I mean, if it’s good enough for God . . .) And Jesus, on the day of his crucifixion, was dressed in purple by the Roman troops. Although their intention was to mock his claim that he was “King of the Jews,” the Romans subconsciously acknowledged Jesus’s leadership by dressing him in the color of leadership and destiny.
Alexander the Great, one of the greatest military leaders in recorded history, wore purple to important ceremonies. And King Solomon was said to have decorated the Temple of Jerusalem in rich purple cloth. During the Roman Republic, any general who led his forces in a successful battle wore a purple toga as a public sign of honor. And in the United States, a purple heart is usually seen as a sign of bravery, being awarded to those in the military who are wounded in combat.
In the early 1900s, purple became associated with people who led all kinds of social progress. It was one of the main colors of the women’s suffrage movement, the courageous fight for women’s right to vote. To honor the suffragettes, purple was the representative color of the women’s liberation movement in the 1970s, which made major progress toward establishing equality for all women.
Purple is a useful color if you are grappling with finding your purpose. “What is my purpose?” is a question I hear from clients several times a day. If finding your purpose is something you are grappling with, purple is a useful color to help you determine what it is. I find a lack of purpose tends to also include a general sense of feeling lost, so building up some leadership energy will help you to break this pattern. After all, leadership qualities are required for us to separate from the pack and stand on our own. In all my years as a psychic and life coach, the concept of our destiny is one of my clients’ most common existential questions. Even I have asked myself from time to time, Why am I here? What is the point of all this? What am I supposed to be doing with my life?
As a young adult, I was certain my ultimate purpose was to be a psychic and spiritual teacher. But now that I am further along on my spiritual journey, that idea seems somewhat ego-driven. In my early twenties, I must admit I liked the attention I received for being a psychic. It didn’t matter if I was talking to a believer or a nonbeliever. Whenever I was asked what I did for my job, the answer always made heads turn.
“But how do you earn a living?” someone might ask, as a follow-up.
“Um, as a psychic.” It seemed to baffle people, as if I had told them that I sell beepers for a living.
Even though being a psychic is very much a part of my purpose, it was also a form of rebellion. When I scan my choices and life back then, I now realize I was in a lot of pain. I was still in the closet, very overweight, and not really in alignment with my destiny or purpose at all. The implications of the grand statement “I am a psychic” seemed to make people (including myself) think I was quite connected to my purpose. This is when I realized that our job is not the same thing as our destiny.
When I use purple to meditate on my purpose these days, the answer that feels right is, I am here to empower other people to live a better life. I feel happiest when I can validate the experiences of others and offer guidance in any way that is helpful. I am lucky my work allows me to do this regularly, but I would still be as driven by the same purpose if I were an attorney, an accountant, or had any other job. Just to be clear, I absolutely love my work and get much fulfillment from helping people. But my career does not define the entirety of my being. Rather, it is a tool to help me express my purpose.
Depending on your life circumstances, your job may be nothing more than a way to help you pay the bills and support your family. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this, and it would be unrealistic to assume otherwise. I have various clients who run successful companies, but their actual life purpose exists outside of work. And yet client after client will ask me what their purpose is in direct relation to their job.
What if there is a deeper reason for being on the planet? Perhaps the concept of our purpose is more profound than anyone can imagine. According to Buddhist thought, dukkha, or suffering, is caused by our desire to hold on to things that are constantly changing. We must be aware our purpose will continue to change throughout our lives, just like our job may change.
I recently had a reading with a man in his midfifties named Bill.
“Well, mornin’,” Bill said with the deepest southern drawl I have ever heard. Which says a lot, given that I lived in Texas for five years.
“Hi, Bill, nice to meet you! Have you ever had an intuitive reading before?” I asked.
“No sir.”
“How did you hear about me?”
“I can’t remember how I heard ’bout y’all.”
I took him through a brief meditation that I do at the beginning of every session. This process helps to clear my energy and prepares me to receive any information that may come through about my client. Then I began the reading.
“Bill, please say your name three times for me.”
“Bill, Bill, Bill.”
The moment Bill uttered the first sound of his name, my mind’s eye was flooded with deep, rich purple energy. I sat up straight in my chair and wrote down on my pad in front of me: I am in the presence of greatness.
“Bill, as soon as you say your name, I see the most brilliant purple energy around you. I define purple as the color of leadership and destiny. Purple helps us to align with our purpose. It’s hard for me to explain, but when I tune in to your energy, I feel taller, stronger, and somehow more confident.” “That’s funny, because I am not feeling like much of a leader right now.”
Bill’s response surprised me. His energy came across as secure and fully engaged. Usually, if someone is insecure or lacks confidence, I have the opposite feeling of what I was experiencing with Bill. I might slouch in my chair or feel a nervous rush or a sense of confusion. It’s possible that he might not see himself the way the world perceives him. And there’s always a chance I am not connecting with his energy. That’s the thing about intuition. It is a healing art, not an exact science. If a client’s response doesn’t fit my psychic impression, I go back and double-check my intuition. In the event what I am saying does not resonate for the client, I will usually end the reading and refund their payment.
“The sense that I get, Bill, is that you are quite successful financially. I am drawn to talk about the work aspect of your life, which is dominant in your energy. You have developed quite a family at work, and it seems like you are great at highlighting the strengths of a whole team of people. When I focus on your career, my heart feels full and satisfied, which would mean your relationships there are balanced. You are great at not only leading people but also bringing them together. It feels like your work identity has allowed you to be fully engaged in your life purpose. Does this make sense?”
“It’s funny you say ‘family,’ because I use that word all the time. I owned a construction company in Houston, and I always talked about my team as family. We held weekly meetings with the ‘work family.’ I never liked calling them my employees because I felt like we were building something together as equals. Hell, there were some days that I was with them more than with my own flesh and blood.”
This is a moment I call psychic Tourette’s syndrome. It’s not like Bill’s spirit guides whispered in my ear, He refers to the people that he works with as his family. But rather, a key word will float through my being, and I am usually not even aware of how much it means to the individual I am speaking to until I say it out loud. Purple
also helps me in these moments because it requires a leap of faith to talk about an intuitive message that is coming through. It doesn’t matter if I am wrong; what matters most is that I deliver the message.
“So why aren’t you feeling confident? I would imagine that owning a successful business and being the team leader would be extremely validating.”
“That’s exactly why I wanted to speak with you. I recently sold my company, and without it—well, I am feeling a little lost. Building a business I could sell was always the end game for me. But now that I’ve done it, I don’t feel the way I thought I would.”
We spent a few minutes talking about why he decided to sell his construction company. Bill’s father abandoned the family when Bill was just a baby. The responsibility of raising Bill and his older sister was left completely up to his mother. She did her best to provide for the family, but was without any financial support or consistent job. They were constantly on the verge of homelessness. In light of such a stressful upbringing, Bill vowed never to repeat this experience and grew up determined to lead his family to prosperity. As he spoke, swirls of purple energy pulsed around his head and shoulders. I could see his leadership energy had been awakened early and ran deep.
Bill explained that as soon as he graduated high school, he got hired doing physical labor at a local construction company. Each day, he focused on his main goal of being the best employee on the construction site, learning as much as he could about his job. He soon impressed the owner, who promoted him. His supportive boss regularly told him what a good job he was doing, which profoundly boosted Bill’s confidence. Seeing real promise, Bill’s boss lent him the money to go to school so he could get a general contractor’s license. He remained laser-focused for years and led his family to prosperity, a classic purple characteristic. One day, after building up enough credit to qualify for a bank loan, Bill started his own successful construction company, where he made sure to be just as supportive of his own employees as his boss was of him. Through sheer will and his own leadership abilities, Bill was able to become a completely self-made man. He built his mother a beautiful house on a lake and took care of her the way he had always wanted to.
But as soon as he came to the end of his story, the purple energy that had surrounded Bill’s head drifted up and away from him. It hovered above his body, disconnected from him. When this happens during a reading, I know the client is currently struggling with this particular energy.
Bill had created a business from scratch and led a whole team of people to success. But, as he put it, he wasn’t quite sure about his identity anymore. The novelty of playing golf every day was wearing off, and he was craving a purpose.
“You know, before, everyone knew me for my job. My clients were my friends. My team was really part of my family. And now what?”
“Bill, do me a favor. Close your eyes and take a deep breath. I want you to picture your entire body surrounded by purple light. As you breathe, feel that purple light fill the room you are in right now. Now I am going to ask you a question, and I want to say the first thing that pops into your mind. What about your job made you the most happy?”
“Training people.”
“What do you mean by ‘training people’?”
Bill opened his eyes and looked at me. “I started my life on the bottom. I got to where I am through hard work and have done pretty well for myself. I was lucky to benefit from the kindness of people who were willing to train me along the way. I was hungry to succeed, and my first boss was nice enough to support me. I never forgot that, and I made sure to pass it on at my company. I think that’s what I miss the most.”
In this moment, Bill’s soul was sending clear messages about his purpose. He wanted to teach people how to help themselves, which I completely understand, because that is similar to my own purpose. He had been used to teaching and helping others succeed at work, but he felt like this purpose was taken away after selling the company. Bill needed to learn he could still express his purpose in various life situations, and purple energy was the perfect way to facilitate that awakening. Purpose does not have to come only through career. I asked Bill what was taking up most of his time since retiring.
“I have been spending more time at the gym. I like to keep busy, and it helps me get rid of my extra energy. I also started reading about nutrition and how to eat better. Some of my friends have started to ask for help with getting healthy.”
Bill was intuitively clear about his purpose, and since he sold his company, he had already begun manifesting new ways of living that purpose. But his attachment to his work identity was keeping him from seeing that his purpose could live on separately from work. Based on what he had told me at the start of our session, the issue was helping him integrate feeling confident about it.
Bill ended up doing a few coaching sessions with me, and we really explored his attachment to what it meant to be successful. I had him try the “What Is My Purpose?” exercise below, to help him connect with his true calling. The deeper we went, the more he realized it was more than work that made him feel good. The real joy came from empowering others to empower themselves. When Bill was expressing this, he felt fully connected to his passion.
With this information clear, we outlined a plan to help Bill honor his purpose. He contacted a few of his friends who wanted help with getting in shape and made a plan to meet with them regularly at the gym so he could train them. He did this for free because he just wanted to be helpful to his friends. Bill then made detailed meal plans for them to follow so they knew when and how to best nourish their bodies. He also established a scholarship fund at the school where he got his contractor’s license, which would empower others by giving them the same financial opportunities that he was given. By the end of our time together, Bill’s purple energy was radiating as powerfully as ever.
Working with purple energy helps us to find our soul’s destiny and discover what makes us feel connected to our true self. There is an illusion that our destiny is connected to our career. For some, this can be true. If we listen to a musician or poet perform, we can feel their joy and know that they have merged their passion with their work. But our destiny and our purpose is multifaceted. I used to think my destiny was to be a psychic and a spiritual teacher, and I think that this is an integral part of my journey. But my intuition and desire to help people could have manifested no matter what I did for a living. And I would soon find that out firsthand.
In the winter of 2013, I found myself co-hosting a live late-night talk show on TV. I am naturally chatty and don’t take myself too seriously, which I think helps the topic of intuition be more relatable. I have always enjoyed blending the worlds of spirituality and pop culture. After a day of working with clients and processing energy, one of the ways I love to relax is to watch a cooking show, something about home decorating, or any other lighthearted entertainment. I know many of my clients assume I spend my nights meditating in the lotus position. But after spending my entire day working in the spiritual world, I need a break from it to create a sense of balance.
A producer had seen one of my videos on YouTube and called me for a meeting. The world of television has presented itself to me throughout my life, and I am always open to opportunities that can help expose a wider audience of people to the power of color. The producer was working on building a team of experts that would give live advice to callers about sex and relationships. The panel was to include radio personality Heidi Hamilton, Dr. Mike Dow, adult-film star Katie Morgan, and me.
Yes, you read that correctly. This was definitely not my usual circle of spiritual colleagues, and I was admittedly concerned about working with an adult-video actress. The idea was to offer a wide range of dating advice that would help people find lasting love. I came home and told David about the opportunity, along with my hesitations. I had been spiritually activating purple and was clear in my intended purpose of helping others by sharing my work in a lighthearted way. Ultimately, after activating pu
rple I decided this would be a great opportunity to connect with an entirely new audience and still stay true to my purpose. Besides, who am I to judge someone else’s job? The ironic part is that after we met, Katie told me she was just as hesitant about working with a psychic. Go figure.
I ended up being hired to co-host That Sex Show, which lasted for about 60 episodes on the Logo channel. I often activated purple before going onstage every night. In the fast-paced atmosphere of live television, I needed to be extremely focused on my purpose. There is one particular night I specifically recall because it was related to finding my purpose. At the end of one of our shows, I remember exiting the stage and heading down a corridor to the makeup room to change into my regular clothes. As I rounded a corner, one of the studio’s security guards was staring right at me. He was a sweet guy and looked to be about in his late fifties. He was wearing a dark suit and an earpiece, which always makes everything seem fancy. He was smiling, so I smiled back.
“You know you are destined to do this right?”
I stopped dead in my tracks. “What?”
“You were born to do this.”
He went on to explain that I said something to one of our callers that had stuck with him. A young man had called in because he was concerned about his girlfriend. They were fighting a lot, and he thought she was going to leave him. Anytime she tried to talk about the issues at her stressful job, he would immediately fire off a series of potential solutions. She kept telling him that he wasn’t there for her emotionally, while he was getting frustrated and confused by her reactions.
I had advised the caller that his job in those moments was not to try to fix his girlfriend’s problems. She was a strong adult and could certainly handle her colleagues at work. What she needed was for him to bear witness to her feelings. So many men make the well-intentioned mistake of trying to swoop in and fix everything, which is often misconstrued by their partners as “not listening.” I explained that all she wanted was for him to validate her feelings, which meant saying something like “Wow, that sounds really tough” if she was venting about her job. Being heard is what so many of us crave. After finishing this story, the security guard told me that he tried this with his own wife and it worked incredibly well. Chills went down my back because I was living my purpose and actually had the privilege of helping someone. I smiled and thanked him.
Your Life in Color Page 11