Lava and the Passion of Red

This is excerpt from John O'Donohue's book "Beauty - The Invisible Embrace" in a section of that book where he explores "The Colour of Beauty" (p. 97). For about a year I have been fascinated with the color, texture, and shape of flowing lava, especially as it contrasts with the color, texture, and shape of cooled black lava. Enjoy!

"Red is a threshold color; it tends to accompany and intensify beginnings and endings. ...Despite [the earth's] solid outer surface, the heart of the earth is a wild fire-dance of red magma. When a volcano erupts we begin to understand that the ground is only vaguely solid. The torrential red rivers that flow from a volcano reveal what a tenuous foundation ground is. Underneath the surface of the land and beneath the floor of the oceans, there is no solid stone-like foundation. The earth is grounded on a primordial red ocean. If it was red at its origin and is red at the root, it is somehow natural that the intense threshold experiences of life are often accompanied by the colour red."