Metal Colored Light Therapy

by Helena Hurrell

Metal Colored Light Therapy originated in 2001 in Schwörstadt, Germany, as a funded research project and has been developing ever since at the Lichtblick e.V Foundation in Germany. The late Marianne Altmaier, an anthroposophic art therapist, developed this therapy alongside her colleague Lucien Turci, the glass maker and etcher. She had a deep longing to find new ways that would enable the healing qualities of color to be experienced through natural sunlight.

On one particular day when Marianne was in the Goetheanum auditorium where she gave public tours, she paused in front of the south iron green window. She observed, in a new conscious way, the vibrant quality of the color. Her gaze was led by the motifs through the window and the change in color when the sunlight passed through the etched images. This became a powerful realization for her and was the initial inspiration for what she had been seeking for so many years - to create colored windows transformed into a therapeutic modality.

or loosening qualities. It also creates a new relationship to light. In this way, the evolving purpose of the metals are freed, to offer their healing gifts to humankind. Steiner also gave detailed sketches for all the window engravings, those which were destroyed in the burning of the first Goetheanum as well as those in the second Goetheanum. The inspiration for the artistic wisdom he developed in the etched motifs is considered a path of inner schooling that could, as he said, “open vistas into the spiritual world.”

Rudolf Steiner had originally given instructions on how to create the window colors from metal oxides in the glassmaking process, which led Marianne to consider her intention that colored light therapy could also become a metal therapy. The intense colors of the glass panels arise from metal oxides of iron, copper, silver, and gold. Etched patterns on the panels intensify the effects of the metal colors. Light that passes through the glass panels to the observer’s senses conveys the qualities of the metals, for example: warmth or coolness; lively or peaceful flowing movement; structuring forces

There are times when we yearn for sublime quiet moments where we can be freed from all the overwhelming stimuli that affect our modern lives. By being immersed in the light-filled spaces of a metal-colored light window through weekly sessions, a therapeutic effect arises, which has the possibility of unveiling profound insights. For some, this can occur even after one viewing. Individuals are drawn to this therapy for numerous reasons and for conditions ranging from cancer, post-traumatic stress disorders, depression, chronic pain, to incarnational challenges. There are also those who come to bathe in the colored light because they are curious and seek to experience its healing effects.

When asked about a typical session with metal colored light, I am reminded and inspired by a quote from Novalis in his Fragments : “The mortal rumbles in its foundations, but the immortal begins to shine brighter, and becomes selfaware.” What follows is a brief description of how an individual session unfolds.

The therapy session takes place in a darkened room where the only daylight in the room is the sun’s light that passes through the glass panel. The viewing time is usually between 5-12 minutes, depending upon the individual and the colored light panel that is used. All is silent as the glass quietly becomes a threshold, a doorway, a mirror for one’s encounter in the present moment. This is followed by a 20-minute rest period while the therapeutic activity continues, ripening in an ongoing after-image process within the soul.

The individual’s capacity for transformation is stimulated by colorful harmonizing effects that remediate conditions which no longer serve the individual. A deepening of the breath and warmth often begins through the forces of the metals. A lively exchange happens when the sun suddenly appears from behind a cloud giving rise to awe and wonder. Release comes along with feelings of gratitude and trust. Often, there is the experience of an overall enlivening and strengthening power that can bring clarity to one’s life path. Individuals speak of being profoundly touched and can develop a relationship with one or more of the glass panels, inspiring them to create through the written word, painting, singing, or sculpting, in response to their experience.

Metal colored light is one of the fruits of anthroposophy in our time and was brought to us by two individuals as a free deed, profoundly good for our world. The windows have become healing companions in a unique way. The training continues and is recognized by the Medical Section at the Goetheanum.

I had the deep honor of studying with Marianne as part of the first training group from 2010-13. The glasses are now used in clinics and hospitals in Germany, England, Holland, Sweden, and currently in private practices in America. Metal colored light is truly an emergent therapy, perhaps one that Rudolf Steiner called for at this 100th year mark – as a spiritual impulse that fosters a salutogenic* process of self-healing, discovery, and balance for the body, soul and Spirit.

* Salutogenesis is the study of the origins of health and focuses on factors that support human health and well-being, rather than on factors that cause disease (pathogenesis) www.helioscenter.org

Helena Hurrell, Director of the Helios Center.

Helena is trained in Metal Color Light Glass Therapy from the Lichtblick Atelier in Schwörstadt, Germany, and received a certificate approved by the Medical Section at the Goetheanum in 2013. She has also completed a master’s level therapeutic training at the Tobias School of Art and Therapy in the UK and is currently providing anthroposophic art and metal color light therapy to children and adults in Carbondale, Colorado. Helena has been working therapeutically with individuals and groups in the UK, Australia, and the USA since 1981.