Rider Waite Colours

StoneMan

I went to the first of a series of tarot lessons a few weeks ago, and something that I had never taken into great consideration before was the colours in the cards. I read the previous thread about colours in RW, but nobody actually stated much about what the colours mean.
I was given a list, that I was told is not the Law by any means, but for the most part a useful guide as to interpreting the cards colours, and what the various garments and other items colours could mean.

They are as follows:

Gold/Yellow - Positive, happiness, contentment, communication, good outcomes.

Blue - Emotions (more intense, deeper the colour).

Lavender/Purple - Spirituality, royalty.

Red - Passion, anger.

Orange - Passion also, but subdued and somewhat humbled (burnt by the passion of red).

White - Purity, spiritually harmony, virginal.

Grey - Depression, sadness (sometimes suggests mental illness).

Black - Total dispair, death, negativity, hopelessness, not good outcome.


I am still not sure what to make of these things. In some cases they meaning seems to hold true, but quite a bit this becomes flawed and contradictory.
I tend to prefer to locate things that stick out to me and work from them rather than use the totality of the card to try and gleam specifics. With that in mind colour becomes a useful tool to a greater extent I have found.
What do you think of these interpretations? Do you think its wise to pin too much meaning into colours that could just be there because they are typical of that which they represent? (Blues for water, yellow for sun, grey for clouds etc)

Thanks for your time and thoughts :)
 

Fulgour

bluer than blue

Interpreting the meaning of a colour can be a little like
describing the flavour of an apple. It's very subjective.

That said, it helps to know how to use all of your tools.
 

Rusty Neon

StoneMan said:
What do you think of these interpretations? Do you think its wise to pin too much meaning into colours that could just be there because they are typical of that which they represent? (Blues for water, yellow for sun, grey for clouds etc)

It may be overkill to interpret colours for scenic features that are illustrated with their typical colours. However, if, say, an article of clothing which can be illustrated in any number of different colours is illustrated with a certain colour or colours, that may be more meaningful.
 

Cerulean

I believe this is helpful

I'm taking the 1909 version with the Accurate Color Tones (limited printing by U.S. Games 1971--when they were on Park Avenue, New York) and the closest online samples I can find is from Sacred Texts with Holly's scanned samples.

Using the background to define the overall 'mood':


Lighter blue - 3 of Cups:
http://www.sacred-texts.com/tarot/xr/cu03.htm

Middle blue - 8 of Cups:
http://www.sacred-texts.com/tarot/xr/cu08.htm


Middle blue and gray-7 of Cups:
http://www.sacred-texts.com/tarot/xr/cu07.htm

Middle gray - 5 of Cups:
http://www.sacred-texts.com/tarot/xr/cu05.htm


Light gray:
Temperance:
http://www.sacred-texts.com/tarot/xr/ar14.htm

Light gray
Ace of Cups:
http://www.sacred-texts.com/tarot/xr/cuac.htm

If you had a great reprint of the Rider Waite Smith-- (which might be available commonly in Great Britain?), these lighter and darker tones as subtle as they might be, would be lovely indicators of setting.

But I only happened to have a very nice printing with supposedly accurate color tones. I don't know if the typical yellow box version of the Rider-Waite-Smith has gradations of gray and blue that would show such subtle setting indicators. In many of my RWS card scenes, the lavendar cast to the gray that you see on the screen is absent from my card deck. In other words, the higher spiritual nature of Temperance in the light gray to white setting might become a muddy lavendar in a bad print...or on the computer monitor. Perhaps the color variation is so
different, the only way for common agreement is if everyone you are speaking with has the same color version of the RWS.

This is fun to think about. I hope my comparison was useful, not confusing.

Cerulean
 

Fulgour

Hi Cerulean

If you start with the link, such as the first you provided:
http://www.sacred-texts.com/tarot/xr/ar14.htm

And then click also on the following:

"Pamela Colman Smith.
From the Pictorial Key to the Tarot, 1911."

It will take you to:
http://www.sacred-texts.com/tarot/pkt/pktar14.htm

Where if you then click on:

"Click to enlarge color image"

You will arrive at the link to the image alone on the screen:
http://www.sacred-texts.com/tarot/pkt/img/ar14.jpg


I've made both an on-file letter-to-myself with all 78 links,
for quick cut-and-paste inclusion in e-mails and postings,
and have the images saved in a folder on my computer--
where I may, from time to time, so peruse the entire deck.
 

Fulgour

water (v) over fire (^) ?

...and I just noticed how the XIV is off-centre
so that the V of 14 is aligned above the triangle on
Raphael's chest... oh my, dear sweet Pamela.
 

The 78th Fool

I have to admit that I'm not a great believer in ascribing accurate colour symbolism to decks designed prior to the use of modern photographic and print processes.

Use of colour was often limited by the constraints of the printing process. I think this was the case with the RWS and it certainly would have been the case with earlier Marseilles style decks.

Modern decks can employ accurate photographic reproduction of complex artwork - Think of any number of decks - Thoth, Cosmic Tribe, Gilded, Rohrig etc. The list is endless. In each case (although the Thoth was only printed after its creators had died) the artists could be fairly confident that their artwork would be reproduced to the finest detail with any number of colours reproduced.

By contrast, look at the Sun, Moon and Star from the RWS. Day and night skies have to be portrayed using the same shade of blue.

I'm not being very concise here, but I think what I'm trying to put across is that we can often fall into the trap of projecting modern expectations and pre - conceptions onto early decks. The artists of these decks would not have the luxury of using colour in the way that we can today

Chris. xx
 

Cerulean

What a fascinating aspect--if not, or if so?

Let me check the timing of Pamela Colman Smith's work in painting musical print sheets--a few of them are lauded for their exceptional color. Pamela Colman Smith did handcolor her own Green Sheaf, so the color accuracy that was within her talents may truly not have been in captured in the reprinted deck from Sybil Waite's private collection

Probably this is too speculative--but a contemporary, Edmund Dulac was able to achieve brilliant printing. However his gift books were luxery editions and your ideas that the esoteric card might have not received this attention is quite well-founded.

I only brought up Edmund Dulac because I remember exceptional color printing in his early work and he was a friend of Yeats. But this may be a different city and later time--although I thought Rider and Sons published the deck from London. My apologies in advance.

Oh, and I have seen her handcoloring in the Green Sheaf. Her printing paper was good quality and her clear printing are well-preserved--they are now in a collection going to a
museum in the U.S.

Regards,

Cerulean

(
 

StoneMan

I can't quite put my finger on why, as the difference between my RW XVI, Temperance, and the picture of one posted by Fulgour is very minimal, but incredibly signifigant. The look of the older card with the hand drawn name and the more textured colours sits very well with me.
I find it a much more astheticly pleasing card to look at.
 

Fulgour

Old "Giants" are Great!

In terms of Colour:

The older (pre-the latest reprint) Giant RWS decks have good colour,
and I have a German language version by AGMuller that's very good,
but "The Original - Tarot Pack" is unique unto itself (in many ways).