Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
Green is nature’s color, indicating nourishment and growth. When we see it, we sigh in relief on a primitive level, as it denotes bounty and fruitfulness. The clan will not starve this winter. It is soothing and restful, which is why hospital rooms are often green and actors await their turn in the “green room.” We see more shades of green than any other color. Its placement in the middle of the color spectrum ensures we don’t have to strain to see it. Green is easy on the eye and may actually improve vision. It is the color of balance, harmony, and renewal.
St. Patrick’s Day is thought to focus on the color green because of the saint’s association with the Emerald Isle. It is a day when those of Irish heritage celebrate by wearing green and pinching those who don’t, searching for shamrocks and lucky leprechauns, and drinking green beer. 
Green is the color of the world of fairy. The fae dwell in a dimension parallel to our human world. The wilding fae in particular are an integral part of nature, and their powers fall under the canopy of nature’s rhythms. Human emotion can be foreign to certain types of fae.
The Green Man is an important vegetative deity in Celtic folklore and other mythological traditions. He is the wild man of the forest who lives outside the confining norms of civilization. A personification of verdant spring, the Green Man is associated with legends that are still robustly celebrated. Folk dances and other ceremonial customs are dedicated to him. He is depicted as a manly face peering out from a wild tumble of
leaves and foliage.
The literary work, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, was authored by an anonymous contemporary of Chaucer. The Green Knight carries a woodsman’s axe in one hand and a holly branch in the other. His horse is green, he meets Gawain in the Green Chapel, and Gawain is offered a green girdle or garter by his host’s wife. The story deals with a code of chivalry that holds image dearer than truth and then pits the code against the tactics needed to survive as a human in a wilderness environment. The Green Knight challenges Gawain toward self-knowledge and a higher level of knighthood.
In Egyptian mythology the realm of the blessed dead is referred to as a land of malachite. Artists painted the god Horus with green skin and formed the eye of Horus from green stone. In The Book of the Dead, the deceased becomes a falcon with green stone wings.
Green is the color assigned to the heart chakra or Anahata. It is associated with peace, calmness, and serenity. In yogic traditions, to open the heart chakra is to become attuned to the easy, flowing vibration of spirit. It enables a person to act in a more loving and accepting manner. Green stands for wholeness.
Popular green gemstones include emerald, jade, peridot, chrysoprase, malachite, and aventurine. 
Negative attributes of green include lack of experience (greenhorn), illness (green around the gills), and jealousy (green with envy). Positive attributes include skill with plants (green thumb) and money (greenbacks). Reportedly, green was the favorite color of George Washington and Napoleon.
Today is a great day to get your green on!
Thanks for sharing this, dear Flossie. I am very interested in colours and all their meanings (gave a big presentation on it during my high-school days), but I learned something new from your post. Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
Wow, Devika, I would love to have seen your color presentation. Colors play an important role in my everyday health.
I’ve always been fond of the color green in so many of it’s various shades. Today I have a hard time deciding if green (earth) or blue (sea and sky) is my favorite color, as I love them both. I really enjoyed your post, looking at the representation of green throughout the ages. I also recall green being used in dining rooms during the 18th and 19th centuries, as it was thought to aide digestion….probably because of those soothing properties you mentioned.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
Ahh, Mae, thanks for pointing out the dining room aspect of green. I wonder if there’s any correlation between that and something I remember hearing about dining in the color coral encourages over consumption of food. Would green make you eat less? Hmmmm!