color of individualism and extravagance. Heian Period In Japan, violet was a popular color introduced into dress during the Heian Period (794–1185). The dye was made from the root of the alkanet plant (Anchusa officinalis), known as murasaki in Japanese. At about the same time, Japanese painters began to use a pigment made from the same plant. New Age The "New Age Prophetess", Alice Bailey, in her system called the Seven Rays which classifies humans into seven different metaphysical psychological types, the "seventh ray" of "Ceremonial Order" is represented by the color violet. People who have this metaphysical psychological type are said to be "on the Violet Ray". In the Ascended Master Teachings, the color violet is used to represent the Ascended Master St. Germain. The Invocation of the Violet Flame is a system of meditation practice used in the "I AM" Activity and by the Church Universal and Triumphant (both Ascended Master Teaching religions). Religion In the Roman Catholic church, violet is worn by bishops and archbishops, red by cardinals and white by the Pope. Ordinary priests wear black. As in many other Western churches, violet is the liturgical color of Advent and Lent, which respectively celebrate the expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the Crucifixion of Jesus and the time for penance and/or mourning. A stained glass window installed in the early 1920s in the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles depicts God the Father wearing a violet robe. After the Vatican II Council, which modified many of the rules of the Catholic church, priests began to wear violet robes when celebrating masses for the dead. Black was no longer used, since it was the color of mourning outside the church and deemed inappropriate in a religious ceremony. In Hinduism, violet is used to symbolically represent the seventh, crown chakra (Sahasrara). Politics In the early 20th century, violet, white and gold were the colors of the women's suffrage movement in the United States, seeking the right to vote for women. The colors were said to represent liberty and dignity. For this reason, the postage stamp issued in 1936 to honor Susan B. Anthony, a prominent leader of the suffrage movement in the United States, was colored the reddish tone of violet sometimes known as red-violet. In 1908, Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence, co-editor of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) newspaper, designed the color