The Amica Temple of Radiance originated in the early 1930s through the experiences of Ivah Bergh Whitten. She claimed that as a child she had overcome a seemingly incurable illness via “color awareness,” which she explored and then wrote about.
Whitten launched a yearlong correspondence course called “The Initial Course in Colour Awareness,” and attracted two particularly committed students, Dorothy Bailey and Roland Hunt. In 1952, Hunt had a vision of two others who would join them in their work, John and Paola Hugh, and in 1959, the group formed the Amica Temple of Radiance in Los Angeles to spread Whitten’s teachings.
The Amica Temple of Radiance’s beliefs are rooted in Theosophical concepts and the theory of seven color rays. Each ray governs an aspect of existence and is guided by a master, and the understanding of one’s “birth ray” is believed to reveal purpose and healing potential.
A branch of the Amica Temple of Radiance was founded in East Sound, Washington, in 1971, and the temple continues to operate in California and Washington.
Key Sources:
Bailey, D. A. The Light of Ivah Bergh Whitten. Amica Temple of Radiance.
Hugh, P. (1972). I Will Arise. Amica Temple of Radiance
Leland, K. (2017, Spring). The Rainbow Body: How the Western chakra system came to be. Quest: The Magazine of the Theosophical Society in America.
Whitten, I. B. The Initial Course in Colour Awareness. Amica Temple of Radiance.
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