8.2 - Non-visual Optic pathway
Color through the Skin
Several types of chromotherapy are not directed to the visual system, but instead depend on the effect of light on the whole body. We have already seen how light, especially red and infrared, has an effect on the skin through the process of photobiomodulation. There are probably many other biochemical reactions that are catalyzed by other wavelengths of light. For example, blue green photons, at 460 to 490 nm, have a photochemical effect on the blood of newborns by decomposing bilirubin (recall chapter 5).
Since Dinshah Ghadiali, several other chromotherapists have established a link between the elements of the periodic table and colors as revealed by their spectroscopic properties. The spectra show which wavelengths are absorbed and emitted by the electronic orbitals of the atoms and therefore indicate which colors are likely to interact with it through resonance. Neuropsychiatrist Christian Agrapart identifies the main color that appears in the spectrum of each trace element and associates its therapeutic properties to that color. For example, we know that zinc has immunostimulating properties. Since its main spectroscopic lines are violet, we can therefore deduce that shining light in this color range on the skin will have analogous immune-stimulating effects.
We know that light projected on the skin penetrates several layers of epidermal cells and irradiates blood though the capillaries. Any resulting biochemical reaction would be distributed throughout the organism by the circulatory system.
Color’s Interactions with the Subtle-Energy System
The effect of color on the subtle-energy system is more speculative but potentially more far-reaching. Several different types of chromotherapeutic modalities act on acupuncture points to establish a link between the meridians and colored light. This is possible because as energy medicine asserts, the meridians are most likely electromagnetic in nature. Along the same lines, if the whole body is animated by a field of coherence, this means that an application of colored light, whether localized or general, can produce a resonance that will be felt throughout the entire organism.