Understanding the Spiritual Significance of “Between” Colors

What Are Tertiary Colors and Why Do They Matter?

As a lifetime artist, I’ve always been fascinated by colors and how they blend and interact. I find myself particularly drawn to tertiary colors—the colors “between” primary and secondary colors, like turquoise, teal, gold, magenta, periwinkle, and indigo. Recently, I started wondering why.

In case you’re not color savvy:

• primary colors are red, yellow and blue
• secondary colors blend one primary color with another to form green, orange and violet
• tertiary colors blend a primary color with a secondary color, i.e. blue with green, or yellow with orange

Just recently it occurred to me that tertiary colors can connect us with the faery realm, since faeries like to meet us in “between” times and places. Dawn or dusk: between night and day. The forest edge: between light and shadow.

Tertiary colors have a similar energy. They are neither one color nor another, but they dance between.

Why care about connecting with faeries? You might ask (I’ll imagine you did). I’ve wondered that too. One answer is that we have to raise our vibration to notice faeries, and raising our vibration improves everything in our lives—everything!

The Difference Between Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Colors

Primary colors are bold. They announce themselves. Red is red. Blue is blue. Yellow is yellow. There’s a confidence to them that feels very clear, very daytime, very task-oriented. Secondary colors soften things a little, but they’re still easy for any child to name: green, orange, violet.

Why Tertiary Colors Are Different

Tertiary colors refuse to be so easily pinned down. People even argue, is that green or blue? Is it violet or pink? You tend to linger with them a bit longer. And that lingering focus—unhurried, curious, receptive—is precisely the state of consciousness we need to perceive faeries.

The Connection Between Tertiary Colors and Faery Realms

Faeries like to slip in through cracks: a pause between thoughts, the moment just before sleep, the hush that falls right after laughter fades. They are beings of thresholds—and tertiary colors are visual thresholds we can practice with every day.

Understanding the Spiritual Properties of Each Tertiary Color

When you look at turquoise, you’re not just seeing blue plus green. You’re sensing ocean and meadow at once. Teal carries depth and freshness in the same breath. Periwinkle hovers between sky and dream. Magenta feels like passion tempered by mystery. Gold—true gold, not yellow—glows as if it remembers something ancient.

These colors don’t sit still. They shift and change depending on the light, the angle, your mood. And that quality alone makes them feel… alive.

How Nature Uses Tertiary Colors

Nature almost never uses pure primary or secondary colors. Leaves aren’t flat green; they tilt toward blue, yellow, brown, sometimes all at once. Bark holds reds and violets. Moss glows with greens and yellows. The world is built from tertiary hues. And nature, of course, is where faery presence is most at home.

Why Artists and Sensitives Are Drawn to These Colors

I think this is why so many artists, sensitives, and daydreamers feel a quiet pull toward these colors without necessarily knowing why. It’s not aesthetic preference so much as recognition. A memory stirring. A resonance.

How to Use Tertiary Colors for Spiritual Development

Tertiary colors train the eye to soften. To stop demanding certainty. To accept nuance. And once you do that visually, it becomes much easier to do it spiritually.

Signs You’re Beginning to Perceive Subtle Energies

You start noticing subtler things:
– the way a place feels when you enter it
– the gentle intelligence behind natural forms
– the sense of being accompanied rather than alone

None of this requires belief. It requires attention.

Opening the Door: Practical Ways to Work With Tertiary Colors

The faery realms don’t appear because we insist they do. We feel our way in when we become fluent in their language. And that language is suggestion, not declaration. Hint, not headline. Glimmer, not glare.

Daily Practices for Connecting With the In-Between

Working with tertiary colors—painting with them, wearing them, surrounding yourself with them, letting your eyes rest on them—becomes a kind of permission slip.

You’re telling your nervous system it’s safe to slow down. You’re telling your imagination it doesn’t need to explain or label everything. You’re telling the unseen world that you’re willing to meet it halfway.

In the between.

Recognizing the Call: When Colors Choose You

So the next time you find yourself inexplicably drawn to a color you can’t quite name, don’t brush it off. Sit with it. Let it work on you. Let it tune you.

That pause you feel—the moment of quiet recognition—isn’t random.

It’s a doorway.

The faeries and elves, as always, are already there—smiling, waiting, delighted that you’re remembering how to see.

✧ Quick Reference: Tertiary Colors & Faery Resonance

Turquoise – Thresholds, water-wisdom, emotional clarity
Teal – Deep nature magic, forest-sea bridges, ancient knowing
Periwinkle – Dreamtime, gentle prophecy, liminal sight
Magenta – Heart magic, devotion, creative fire softened by mystery
Gold – Earth-sun harmony, remembrance, sacred sovereignty
Blue-Green – Faery pathways, adaptability, unseen currents
Red-Violet – Passion guided by intuition, transformative beauty

(Notice which one you’re most drawn to—that’s rarely accidental.)

✧ Faery Color FAQ

Do I need to “see” faeries to work with their realm?
Not at all. Sensation, mood, synchronicity, and subtle shifts are often the first language of faery contact.

Can I work with tertiary colors indoors?
Absolutely. Art, clothing, candles, crystals, textiles, and even digital imagery all count. Attention matters more than location.

Why do these colors feel emotional or nostalgic?
Because they bypass logic and speak directly to memory—personal and ancestral.

✧ An Invitation

If this resonated, I’d love to hear from you.
• Which colors have always pulled at you?
• Have you noticed certain hues appearing during meaningful moments?

You’re welcome to share your experience in the comments—these conversations tend to open doors for others too.

And if you’d like more explorations like this—where art, magic, and everyday life quietly weave together—subscribe to Philosopher’s Stone to receive my weekly reflections straight to your inbox.

If you’d like me to help you explore the use of color in your branding or website visit: https://www.wulfworks.net/graphic-design-services/