The Significance of Silver

Cultures assign meaning to colors. Although silver is a specific metallic element with popular use in jewelry, its very color carries meaning to those who wear it and those who see it. A precious metal, its cool gleam imbues properties of gray and white, softer and brighter than polished steel. Don’t believe that? Put a silver spoon next to a steel spoon. You really can distinguished between them.

According to Bourne Creative, “Silver is believed to be a mirror to the soul, helping us to see ourselves as others see us. As a gemstone silver represents hope, unconditional love, meditation, mystic visions, tenderness, kindness, sensitivities, and psychic abilities.” Its reflective quality, used in mirrors, inspire meanings intuition, clairvoyance, and the occult—and contributed to the historically high cost of mirrors.

Color-Meanings.com builds upon that succinct identification of meaning for silver. Rather than focus solely on an unspecific geography or culture, it distinguishes between ancient and modern, Eastern and Western. In Hinduism, silver is believed to invite widowhood as well as a “deep significance in spirituality or connection with the higher self.” The Urdu term for silver (chandi) also means “soft spoken, eloquent, fluent and argent.”'

Not surprisingly, we mostly associate the color silver often with advanced age if only due to the natural loss of hair color that affects most people. Silver or gray hair and wrinkles confer an assumption of wisdom, insight, perspective, and knowledge acquired over decades of life experience. Color psychology’s perspective attributes traits of respect, courtesy, patience, and dignity—all characteristics often assigned to the elderly—to silver

Western cultures, especially in North America, associate the color silver with the modern. Silver is used to market things that are sleek and sophisticated and masculine. The Japanese also associate silver with masculinity and all things high-tech. Automotive manufacturers know that silver-colored vehicles imbue the desirable trait of high visibility. To the obverse, silver’s frequent and popular pairing with the moon confers a sense of femininity with the historical relation of lunar cycles and female biology. That connotation leads to a sense of fluidity, sensitivity, and mystery, traits often attributed to writers and artists.

Those traits and the association with the moon lead to a sense of the occult and mystical. A witch’s ceremonial knife—an athame—traditionally boasts a blade made of silver. Practitioners of magic use silver bowls and silver candlesticks. The fairies and elves of legend preferred silver, which is said not to tarnish in their mystical realms. Legend has it that paranormal creatures such as werewolves and vampires fear silver, which burns their flesh. Vampire hunters wear heavy silver necklaces and cuffs to deter those killing bites at commonly exposed pulse points.

“Sleek and sophisticated” often extend to “slick and persuasive” when referring to the stereotypical “silver-tongued devil” who deceives with quick talk and flattery. A valuable metal, silver confers a sense of wealth less blatant than gold. Wealthy people may be said to have been born with a silver spoon in their mouths, reminiscent of a time when only the very rich could afford silver eating utensils. Wealth often connotes the perception of glamor.

Whether you like silver for its soft gleam, bright reflection, quiet energy, mystic allusions, or shiny reflection, Zawadee’s offers something that will appeal to both men and women...!