Rainbow Series: Introduction

As a child, rainbows entranced me – they seemed evidence of something magical! The science behind them was frequently explained by my “all-knowing” and very superior elder brothers but I would completely ignore this wisdom as it removed the magic of the experience - intolerable! I still vividly remember the image of a double rainbow arced across the face of Table Mountain – incredibly dramatic and awe inspiring!

Now the science behind rainbows interests me and does not deprive the image of its magic and beauty – the coming together of fantasy and knowledge. What really fascinates me is that apparently rainbows are actually circles of refracted light but that we only observe the upper part of the circle.

And the rainbow is frequently used as a symbol for diversity – which makes sense when one reflects that the colour range of the rainbow combines to make white light – the one actually composed of the many. And it takes particular physical conditions to be able to see the rainbow - the one as many.

My upcoming series of reflections on each of the colours of the rainbow will, I trust, deepen an appreciation of our own colourful natures and for symbolism in our lives.