Wednesday 3 July 2013

Colours of Duality

There is an inherent duality in almost all cultures. Masculine traits usually make up one part of the duality discourse and the other is made up of feminine traits. 

The ultimate symbolism of these two parts of the duality coming together is a marriage. Interestingly we see that the colours most commonly seen in marriages in the West, are white and black (white for the bride, and black for the groom), while in India, we see red and white (red for the bride and white for the groom). 

In the white and black weddings, white for the bride symbolises purity/chastity and black for the groom symbolises power/wealth.
In the red and white weddings, red for the bride symbolises fertility(menstrual blood) and white for men symbolises virility(semen).