Tickle me pink and color me bad.
Since the turn of the new millennium, Pantone has introduced a “Color of the Year” that aims to distill the energy and intentions of the year ahead.
Similarly, each sign in the zodiac corresponds to a hue in the color wheel that paints it with power and potential.
For 2K25, the Pantone color is Mocha Mousse, “a warming, brown hue imbued with richness. It nurtures us with its suggestion of the delectable qualities of chocolate and coffee, answering our desire for comfort.”
It also low key looks like s–t. Here’s hoping 2025 won’t be.
The word power comes from the Latin “potere” which translates as “to be able.” in this sense, the power color of each zodiac sign enhances and encourages the innate properties of the sign.
Separate but related, If you have an hour and a real desire to have your mind blown, I cannot recommend this “Color” episode of the Radiolab Podcast enough. Spoiler alert: There is no mention of blue in any ancient text and yellow is cruel to come by.
In “Colors passing through us,” Aries activist and poet Marge Piercy’s writes,”eyes shut and fingers open/and all the colors of the world/pass through our bodies like strings of fire.”
May you find the fire in each of the colors below.
Red
Aries is the first sign in the zodiac, and red is the first color an infant recognizes, as it has the longest wavelength. Red is the color of Mars, the ruling planet of Aries. It’s also the same shade as fresh arterial spray, and Aries makes for a natural competitor with a deep love of bloodsport.
Red is the color of vitality and for all their temper flares and impulse actions, Aries is vividly, unapologetically alive in a way that inspires a keen sense of YOLO in others.
Green
Taurus loves a pastoral scene and a tangible possession. Bulls are into abundance and green is the most prevalent color in nature.
As an earth sign and the ruler of the second house of values and material goods, they are equally open to rolling about in grass or a sun-dappled pile of cash. Taurus is a grounding force for those around them, and keeping company with a satisfied bull is the emotional equivalent of taking a forest bath.
Gray
Gemini can’t choose a hue and, when asked to, is prone to mixing all of the colors together to make the shade of gruel.
Similarly, Gemini is loathe to take a firm position on any issue, preferring to exist in the gray/grey area, a liminality that inspires others to hold two opposing truths, entertain two disparate ideas and two spellings of the same word.
Silver
The moon rules Cancer, and the alchemical symbol for silver is a crescent. In addition, Cancers are easily moved by the sound of bells and accustomed to coming in second place.
Cancer is the caretaker of the zodiac, and silver has been widely regarded for its medicinal properties since antiquity, having been used to treat all manner of ailments from UTIs to burn wounds, both of which Cancers readily treat, receive, and deliver.
Gold
The alchemical symbol for gold is the sun and that death star is the the planetary ruler of Leo, everyone’s favorite frontman. Fittingly, being loved, complimented, or envied by a lion can feel very much like emotional gilding.
Add to this that Leos prefer to be photographed during golden hour and act rich no matter how poor, or morally bankrupt they are. Regal bearing, personal luster, and generosity are hallmarks of the Leo spirit, and gold is the preferred currency of kings and the color the gods are said to bleed.
Brown
Virgo understands more than any other sign the curative properties of the earth and the beautiful potential that lies in rich, dark soil.
Service-oriented, Virgo is ruled by Mercury, the planet of information and delivery, and UPS uniforms are brown.
I rest my case.
Blue
Facts: Libras lean on likability, and no one hates the color blue.
In addition, blue is the accent color on most luxury yachts, and Libras are aspirational folk.
Pantone’s 2020 color of the year was “Classic Blue” and is described as bringing “a sense of peace and tranquility to the human spirit, offering refuge.” In their finest moments, through counsel and company and the power of interior design, Libras offer a similar sanctuary.
Black
Scorpios have no fear of the dark or the darkness in others. Healers of the highest order, they shine in shadow work.
Scorpio rules the eighth house of sex, death, and transformation, moments when all things and all colors dissolve to black before taking on a new form. Cave paintings reveal that black was the first color used by man for mark-making. Apropos of the death-centric sign of Scorpio, bones were burned to create charcoal, the evidence of loss used to birth a new vision.
Yellow
Yellow is the color of dawn and of relentless optimism, and Sagittarius is the sign of seeing things sunny side up. 2021’s Pantone color of the year was a canary yellow called “Illuminating.”
True to form, Sagittarius rules the ninth house of philosophy, and the best of this ilk live with an arrow aimed at enlightenment.
Archers are adept at turning lemons into lemonade; likewise, the pigment used to make Indian Yellow is derived from the urine of starving cows, who were fed only mango leaves to ensure their piss distilled the precious hue. Sagittarians have a peculiar sense of humor reflected in the piss pigment of yore being used to paint the faces of saints, apostles, and Jesus Christ himself.
Purple
Purple is a rare hue in the natural world.
In antiquity, the dye used to make the color was uncommon and expensive which is coincidentally how Capricorns conceive of themselves.
Capricorns are built to endure and tend to get better with age, and Tyrian purple, made from the dehydrated mucous glands of sea snails, distinguished itself by intensifying in color after wear, wash and weathering.
According to myth, the color purple was discovered on a seashore by the pet dog of the demigod Hercules. Capricorn loves a hierarchy they can ascend to, and for years, the right to wear purple was relative to status and controlled by legislation.
Capricorn, like the color purple, reminds us to strive onward and upward and hold fast to the belief that we deserve to rise.
White
White is not a color, but the absence of one, and this is precisely the kind of debate that oxygenates an Aquarius. Fixed air, Aquarius is the sign of revolution and innovation, and white corresponds to a blank slate and the limitless potential of all that is yet to be.
Orange
Pisces prefers their own dreamscape to the fluorescent-lit hell of reality, and fittingly, orange is the color of creamsicles, tabby kittens, and pill bottles.
The influence of planet Neptune imbues Pisces with creative inspiration while the sign rules the twelfth and final house of the unconscious mind.
As poet and art critic Kelly Grovier writes, “Wherever the color orange dictates the temperature of a work of art, we know we’ve arrived at a precarious hinterland between a universe we can see and a mysterious unknown we tentatively feel.”
That precarious hinterland, littered with sunsets and tangerines, embers and lifeboats, dying leaves and monk robes, is the pasture of Pisces.
Astrology 101: Your guide to the star
Astrologer Reda Wigle researches and irreverently reports on planetary configurations and their effect on each zodiac sign. Her horoscopes integrate history, poetry, pop culture, and personal experience. To book a reading, visit her website.
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