Viva Magenta & The Chakras

Pantone Color Institute’s Color of the Year for 2023

Today there’s worldwide color news, Beloved. Read my latest daily Patreon post.

Patreon 12.2.22

We interrupt our regularly scheduled programming because of the annual Color of the Year announcement by Pantone.

For 2023, the color the Institute is Viva Magenta. Excerpts from the announcement appear below in italics, and my comments appear after that.

Described as "a nuanced crimson tone" that balances warm and cool, Viva Magenta is "an unconventional shade for an unconventional time," Pantone said in a statement unveiling its pick.

"Brave and fearless, (Viva Magenta) is a pulsating color whose exuberance promotes optimism and joy," the statement added. "Powerful and empowering, it is an animated red that encourages experimentation and self-expression without restraint; an electrifying, boundaryless shade."

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The company went on to describe the color as "audacious, witty and inclusive of all."

The Pantone Color Institute's choice is intended to reflect the latest trends across sectors including fashion, beauty, technology, design and home decor. It also serves as something of a mood ring, with shades chosen to capture the zeitgeist.

Objects with Viva Magenta

In years characterized by uncertainty, this has often meant colors that soothe, calm or uplift. Amid the ongoing pandemic, Viva Magenta represents reassurance, confidence and connection in a world trying to get back on its feet, according to Laurie Pressman, vice president of the Pantone Color Institute.

"We are living in quite the unconventional time. The only thing that has become conventional is the unconventionality of it," she told CNN during a video call. "While there have been so many things that have played into our thinking, so many things that have influenced and impacted what's taken place and the changes we've had to make, there's no doubt that the overriding influence has been Covid."

Inspired by nature

Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute, said the hue was inspired by the natural red dye derived from small insects called cochineals.

"As virtual worlds become a more prominent part of our daily lives, we look to draw inspiration from nature and what is real," Eiseman said in a press statement, adding: " Rooted in the primordial, Viva Magenta reconnects us to original matter. Invoking the forces of nature, it galvanizes our spirit, helping us to build our inner strength."

Well, I'm not so sure; um, let me start again. I definitively am sure that the emotional energies the Institute cites, namely, that Viva Magenta "represents reassurance, confidence and connection in a world trying to get back on its feet" belong in the category of wishful thinking.

If the Institute were chakra-informed--a tragically ancient, new concept I just now coined--they'd know this.

Toward the end of their announcement, the information gets a little more chakra-real. Let's take their phrases one at a time.

"Rooted in the primordial," um, yeah, the first chakra--all about survival, but not individual survival, group survival be it family, clan, affinity group, tribe, town, state, nation, planet.

"Viva Magenta reconnects us to original matter," uh-huh--all about our basic needs: food, clothing, water, air, shelter, warming/cooling. The "original" things that "matter" to us. Basic life issues.

Back to wish fulfillment here: "It galvanizes our spirit," oh yes, at least, we hope it does. The thing is, at a spirit level, we can all very easily see that we are the same. It's at the human level that we splinter and see only differences.

"Helping us to build our inner strength," well, yes, now, in the very last second, we get to the how. Building our inner strength. Restoring our rootedness to incarnation and rootedness to the planet.

I'm definitely with the Institute on their choice, but not (entirely) for their reasons. Truth?

I think many, many, many Americans are feeling existentially threatened. Oh sure, we like to point fingers and say, it's this or it's that which threatens me, but most of those accusations are smoke and mirrors.

Our existence is threatened, Beloved. We've mal-used our planet. We've mal-used our wills. We've mal-used one another. What Viva Magenta says on a chakric level is: Come home. Get grounded. Return to what's important to you. Stop looking so hard outside yourself, and begin to look within--and then from a groundedness within, look outside to see how you can help.

Make some time this weekend to spend a few minutes gazing at the color. Consider how it makes you feel. See if you aren't more grounded, more connected to yourself, feeling stronger from within.

Such is the benevolent, eternal magic of color.