Dressing Kabalistically
by Estelle Daniels
Kabbalah is an old system, originally transmitted orally and then written down in the 1300’s by Jews in Spain. The system has been further refined and codified by both Jews and Christians ever since and it is a wonderful guide and teacher.
The tree of life is the central focus of Kabbalah, a diagram of ten spheres, connected in various ways. Each sphere corresponds to a Planet, day of the week, color and many other things. The Tree of Life is a diagram which can be used to explain the workings of the universe, the path to God, a plan for spiritual development, and many other things.
You can adapt the Kabbalah to your personal lifestyle by adopting the color/day system. Using Kabbalah can enhance your psychic and magical abilities. You probably won’t see any results immediately, but over time you might find yourself more ’in tune’ with the ebb and flow of the energies of life. You might find your psychic faculties are more effective and sensitive. Your intuition may become more acute and accurate. You could become more effective in presenting yourself and gain self-assurance.
Nowadays, we have many options as to what we wear for clothing. In the past it was usual for a person to have only two or three sets of clothes, one or two for everyday, and one possibly for special occasions. All eventually ended up greyish (dirt colored). In the past, a Kabbalistic magician was expected to have seven separate outfits, or perhaps seven overrobes which were worn over a basic garment, which were of seven different distinct colors. To be a Kabbalistic magician required you have some independent means of living, or a wealthy patron, as it was an expensive endeavor.
The modern magical practitioner can also use these energies and correspondences the same way the Kabbalists of the past did, but because of our modern fashion options, we have many more ways to accomplish this end.
The colors and correspondences are those taken from Kabbalah, and are known as the "King’s List". There are other lists, but primarily the King’s List is used in the Kabbalistic correspondences.
Sunday corresponds to the Sun, Leo, yellow and gold.
Monday corresponds to the Moon, Cancer, purple and silver.
Tuesday corresponds to Mars, Aries and Scorpio, red (more cranberry red than the common fire-engine red), and iron and steel.
Wednesday corresponds with Mercury, Gemini and Virgo, orange and mercury (quicksilver).
Thursday corresponds to Jupiter, Sagittarius and Pisces, blue and tin.
Friday corresponds to Venus, Taurus and Libra, green (or pink) and copper.
Saturday corresponds to Saturn, Aquarius and Capricorn, black (brown or navy), and lead.
Using this list of correspondences, a person can dress Kabbalistically by wearing the colors of each day, on that day. Or they can wear a medallion of the metal or color corresponding to the planet of the day, worn inside or outside the clothing. (How a person wears a medallion of mercury, which is liquid at room temperature, is to get a medallion made of red cinnabar. This is a Chinese lacquer which is colored red with the mineral mercuric oxide, a naturally occurring ore of mercury. The lacquer is applied in many layers and then when dried carved with patterns. They are inexpensive and readily available. Cinnabar shouldn’t be worn next to the skin as it can be toxic if worn over a long time.) Wearing the color or metal of the day is a way of actively thinking about each day, and making the correspondences to the planet, color and attributes which the energy of each day of the week possesses. And once you are dressed, the color or metal becomes a subconscious reminder of what the energies of the day are.
How a person can choose to dress is adaptable. Some people can go whole hog and dress in only the one color, from underwear on out. However, you get little mix-and-match capability in a wardrobe of seven distinct colors.
Some people use the colors in their underwear and/or socks. It is easy, relatively inexpensive, and doesn’t require you revamp your entire wardrobe.
The business set can use ties and/or decorative handkerchiefs. Women can use scarves as accents. You could also have colored shirts. This way a person can have a basic grey, black, navy or brown suit, and add the accent for the day color. It allows a person to be conservative yet Kabbalistic in dress and as only the accessories are colored, you still get the mix-and-match adaptability of the modern business wardrobe.
If you wear a uniform, you can go with underwear and socks, or one person I know uses a different color hair tie (the elastic ones) for each day of the week. A bandanna or colored handkerchief may also work.
As so many people exist in blue jeans today, having different colored shirts, sweaters, sweatshirts or t-shirts is an easy way of working with Kabbalistic correspondences. Personally I consider denim color (blue jeans color-light or dark) to be a neutral color since that is the default uniform of people who don’t have to dress up for work. Grey and brown (tan) are also neutrals.
When you haven’t done laundry for a while it helps to have several different clothing options available.
Some magicians have seven different sets of ritual robes or colored cords, one for each day of the week. Using Kabbalistic color correspondences in Magic can add effectiveness to your workings, especially if you are High Magic or you use some of the High Magic rituals.
In the end, the rewards from this system are subtle. It takes time, but you find the color-day correspondences become a habit. In the never-ending work of the magical practitioner, this is a relatively easy yet effective method of helping attune yourself to the subtle energies all around. Knowledge and will combined can accomplish much.
Blessed Be.
© 1996, 2002 Estelle Daniels, all rights reserved.