I first heard of the
Temple of the Twelve because several friends of mine were doing it and seemed to be getting a lot out of it. It seemed a little silly, but then a lot of new age stuff does. I think it's along the same lines as the 12 Wild Swans book, in that it's fiction about somebody learning stuff but it also lays out a path you can follow. Lots of people have
followed along, to greater or lesser degrees. Lokabrenna has a
great review on Adventures in Vanaheim and had many of the same problems I did with the original book.
The "Temple of the Rainbow" started as a joke about how I had a hard time picturing color incarnations that weren't Rainbow Brite characters - I am a child of the 80s, after all. Like most of the pop culture-flavored work I do, something that started out as a lark turned out to be much more effective than I expected. I guess there's something to be said for archetypes, regardless of where they come from.
So here's my version of the archetypal color journey/ascension, over the course of thirteen months:
You spend the first month with Wisp, Lady Black. Wisp is the girl who comes to the dark land to save it in the first episode. She knows the absence of color, the absence of hope in those around her, and she represents the bravery that comes from having nothing to lose. After all, it's not going to get any darker.
The Color Kids can be rescued in any order, though I view going in order as a way to ascend the Tree of Life.
Red Butler - Red is the color of strength and passion, both well-directed and, um, overconfident. Red's lesson is that sometimes you have to forge blindly ahead, and sometimes you need to learn when to wait for backup to arrive.
Lala Orange - Orange is the color of energy and zest. She's sometimes a little too pushy for her own good, but she's not afraid to ask for what she wants. She teaches you to understand you desires and dreams and commit to them.
Canary Yellow - Yellow is the color of cheer and optimism, but it's also the color of naivete. Canary is easily fooled because of her good nature, and she teaches the dual lessons of staying hopeful despite having been hurt and learning when to stop putting your hand in the fire because it's pretty.
Patty O'Green - Green is the color of life and nature and green growing things. Like the nature that brought you the duck-billed platypus, Patty is a bit of a joker as well. She teaches us to grow and to embrace the life that we are in.
Buddy Blue - Blue is the color of peace and order, and Buddy likes nothing more than to teach people how to be peaceful and healthy, inside and out. Whether it's calming yourself, seeking out a better diet, or just putting your house in order, Buddy will help you determine what you need to be more at peace and how to get there.
Indigo - Indigo represents drama and emotion. She's an actress and a dreamer, but never loses sight of what's going on around her either. She teaches the dual lessons of letting go of the "real world" to see what else is out there and learning to keep your feet on the ground once you've let go.
Shy Violet - Violet is the color of wisdom and enlightenment. She's no-nonsense and her style of enlightenment would be quite a shock to many new-agers.
She often theorizes about the sources of colors and other great mysteries, and encourages others to study and work toward their goals instead of just waiting for wisdom to come to them.
Tickled Pink - Tickled Pink is the guardian of the liminal spaces between colors, practicing the arcane art of mixing color crystals to produce tertiary colors like aqua and magenta. Despite her perky demeanor, she understands that the strength and grace one needs to face any situation can come from surprising sources and combinations.
Moonglow - Moonglow is the hidden face of the Color Kids, emerging at night to bathe the world in Silvery moonbeams. Similarly, she is the Lady of the hidden arts, teaching magic to those who would approach her in the inky darkness that echoes the land before Rainbow Brite.
Stormy - Stormy rides through the dark clouds, bringing rain and storms while bearing her Golden lightning. Many people fear her, but that is only because she forces them to face their own deepest fears - not just thunderstorms or spiders, but within themselves.
Finally Wisp, having earned the blessing of all the Color Kids and overcome the physical, mental and emotional challenges set before her, has become Rainbow Brite, the Lady White, synthesis of all colors of light. Ideally, the seeker has also overcome these lessons and challenges, taking the lessons of all the Colors into his or herself to reach that same point of internal alchemical synthesis.
For me, I dove into the first month with intent to do serious meditation and journeywork and immediately got distracted by my life getting upturned - and as the months went by, I discovered that each in its turn was flavored by the color assigned for that month. I did, in fact, end up working through the challenges of each color, in order, almost by accident.