Ayurveda, Kandinsky, Litmus Test

Medicine, Philosophy, Alchemy

by Isabella M H Wesoly, BA (Hons), Dip.Iris

Litmus strips can be an effective assessment tool.

How many states can be measured?

Do states of being move back and forth in a linear fashion?

Ayurvedic medicine has identified three body types calledDOSHAS

each is associated with colours:RED/ORANGE; BLUE/PURPLE; GREEN/YELLOW

3 DOSHAS

How can doshas be represented together, visually, in a way that is not linear?

• Triangles have three sides / three angles

• But can squares or circles effectively illustrate doshas?

Some schools of thought ascribe colours and shapes to states of being. The Russian artist Wassily Kandinsky considered this.

But applying these shapes and colours to the notion of doshas, could be misleading, i.e. emotional doesn’t necessarily mean ‘balanced’, nor does square necessarily mean physical

Jayce Daniels argues that Kandinsky incorrectly ascribes red to square and that the colour blue is more fitting. In my schemata the idea of a blue square doesn’t seem to suggest physical nor mental. However, the mirroring basic geometric shapes is revealing:

Whilst there is a similarity in structure between the square and circle, I prefer red square’. But let’s just put square and circle aside. I’m certain of the power of three/triangles for character attributes in stories.

The mirror image is not identical, but opposite. Plus in relation to the square and circle is only equal with its reflection,

i.e. 2 x 180 degrees = 360 degrees

When mirroring an equilateral triangle, diamonds form

The diamond shape permits the creation of characters, events and situations in stories.

Triangles more effective for creating character visuals

We have an external world, as well as internal

All characteristics can be part of a whole

The sequence of a circle is that there is no beginning or end, unless numbers are used to indicate start and finish. In this illustration it is easy to assume red is the start, due to the

direction of arrowheads. But note how the three primary and secondary colours are presented as integrated triangles.

Let’s consider inner and outer mechanics:

A character that is mostly Pitta, could have levels of depth. The circle shown would move more into the blue/purple area as the intensity of Pitta increases. Yet where the Pitta is not so strong, some levels of Kapha or Vata would be evident.

What sort of attributes does this suggest?

Is the circle the best shape to show how doshas vary?

A square might work to indicate levels of each dosha

How big should the measuring tool be?

Does a triangle work as an indicator tool?I prefer the square or circle to measure levels of dosha

If this was an orb that represented a softly spoken and timid character in a story, what would it look like?

Thanks for your interest

Acknowledgements• The Chopra Centre, for Ayurvedic information

• Jayce Daniels, for Kandinsky red square/blue square discussion• Dr. Ali Anani, for PH testing