Color My (Tarot) World
Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 28 Dec 2002, and now archived in the Forum Library.
| Ophiel |
28 Dec 2002 |
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I just read a post about a new Crystal Tarot Deck that Diana received recently, just as I have, thanks to the powers that express themselves through Cmas season gift giving.
The colors of this deck stand out in my mind more than the imagery, which itself is quite remarkable. But I think of this deck's strong colors mostly. It's set primarily to blue and orange, almost as if a theme. If anyone has seen the movie "Eyes Wide Shut," after about the first ten or so minutes, I was shocked on first viewing to notice that almost EVERY scene thereafter has strong red/blue coloring, as if the camera was seeking out those colors. This deck does that for me, really delves into the orange and blue.
I wonder if anyone has made a deck based entirely on color, maybe used images just as carriers for it?
Are there other decks whose colors jump out at you and pull you in? Color is as valid as number, shape and other imagery on cards, and in fact, are an essential element of occult studies.
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| Trish |
28 Dec 2002 |
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Well ... all of my decks are very beautifully colored so far. ;)
And yes, I do believe colors have their own special significance. After all, isn't that one of the things you're taught to look at from the moment you start reading Tarot cards? :D hehe!
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| Lee |
28 Dec 2002 |
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The most colorful decks I know are the Inner Child and the Celtic Wisdom. I don't like these decks for other reasons, but I love their colors.
-- Lee
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| Ravenswing |
28 Dec 2002 |
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ophiel--
many moons ago, i had an outline for a deck-- coloration was a strong part of it. wands were tri-colored a crimsom, a red and a yellow. cups had five colors-- crimson, yellow, blue, white and purple-- and done rather pastelish. swords were black and white--not like pen and ink, but done in greyscale. pentacles ran the entire box of paints.
maybe i'll get back to it someday....
musing in the treetops
ravenswing
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| temperlyne |
29 Dec 2002 |
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Color is very importand to me, I just hate large white sufaces. (you should see my walls!)
And the decks I own all have their special feeling to me because of the use of colors. It can make a deck feel vibrant, a life with its own pulsation. The Haindl deck makes me feel like coming home to its warm and inviting colors., the Bosch deck makes me feel like entering a dream.
I think colors are somewhat like scents, they can make you feel something instantly and that makes them very powerful. You do not have to understand symbolism to understand the power of color.
I'm currantly working on a personal deck to make my readings more powerful and I try to use color for expressing the cards feelings as best as I can. Every major will get its own color scheme, scales of blue for the HP, scales of red for the magician, green for the empress for instance. ( maybe these examples will illustrate what I mean a bit better: http://169779692.home.icq.com/mytarot.html )
It will be a while before I can start painting the minors, but the ideas are allready finished in my mind and the cups will become light blue, green and yellow. The wands red, orange, purple and golden. The pentacles golden, green and orange. The swords, purple, blue, black/white. All to make them suited to thei suit..
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| Ophiel |
29 Dec 2002 |
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Thanks All for adding your comments.
I didn't mean my original observations about color to come off as I suddenly realized that tarot cards actually have color. I am aware of color, and sometimes sounds, and tastes, aromas (smells, too), and of course, textures. We are physical 'creatures' (no offense intended to those of you denying your creaturelike nature) and experience our entire lives on the planet through our senses. I think we sometimes forget that...that even what we 'see' is really created in our minds and not 'out there' in the actual physical world. It's that ol' Plato's Cave allegory again.
I suggest an interesting experience: I focus on one color during the day and pay close attention to where I see it, how often it comes up, what objects are that color, etc. Through selective vision, in fact, I like to scan an area just for a particular color. At times, colors are more of a reality than the objects, and all without drugs!
I am aware of color in the cards, but for some reason this deck's colors jumped out and slapped me in the face. The images were almost secondary, just like the exercise above I discovered. And what is odd is the color scheme is not what I'd normally pick first. I would think color would be a prime consideration in designing a deck. I would think, temperlyne, that if someone saw your deck when it was completed, that they would have to be aware of your coloration, if even on a subliminal level.
Lee, thanks for pointing out those decks. I am not familiar with them but want to see them now (easily done online.) Ophiel
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| MeeWah |
29 Dec 2002 |
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Ophiel: Your comments interest me as it occurred to me that colours influence my attraction to a deck & not necessarily its images or artwork (though they do have some influence). Offhand, the decks that seem colourful to me are the Tarot of the Witches, the Cosmic Tribe & the Chinese Tarot. I am not usually attracted to photo-montage type of artwork, but the Cosmic Tribe is one of the few exceptions. Also, whilst the artwork of the Marseille style decks do not appeal to me aesthetically, their use of primary colours attract my eye & those are what stand out rather than the images.
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| Ophiel |
03 Jan 2003 |
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I just want to add that it wasn't bright, bold colors that drew me into the Crystal Tarot, but the particular use of certain colors. The deck has an almost color theme overtone to it, and definitely didn't smack of mostly primary colors. The use of the primaries is a bit subdued in that deck, imho.
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| Jewel |
03 Jan 2003 |
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Hi Ophiel, interesting that this observation came up at this time. Faunabay and I were just discussing this in relation to the Cosmic Tribe yesterday. The colors are not only vibrant, but at least on me they have a similar effect to what you are describing. The wands show alot of oranges and yellows with a particular intensity that draws one in. The pentacles are extremely earthy in appearance and in color. The use of color and its intensity heightens the senses.
Another deck you might want to check out is the Glastonbury.
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| amyel |
03 Jan 2003 |
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Originally posted by Lee
The most colorful decks I know are the Inner Child and the Celtic Wisdom. I don't like these decks for other reasons, but I love their colors.
-- Lee Have you seen Tarot of the Trance"? That is a vivid and colorful deck!
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| truthsayer |
03 Jan 2003 |
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another deck that i find color dependant is the wheel of change. in fact, it seems to be color coded to an extent. when i flip thru the deck and just see the edges, it reminds me of an uno deck.
yellow=wands
red=cups
blue=swords
green=disks
lavendar=major arcana
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| Sulis |
03 Jan 2003 |
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One of my favorite decks is the Stone tarot, Alison Stone who is the deck creator has used strong and vibrant colours because she believes that colour speaks directly to our psychic or unconcious minds. The cards are reproduced from original oil paintings HERE`S a link.
The colours on this deck really are striking, some of the cards appear to glow.
Love and light
Crystalmynx xx
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| rota |
03 Jan 2003 |
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I'm currently working on the continuation of the 'International Icon' deck that I started last year. In reference to this thread, each of the four suits has a palette of colors particularly dedicated to that suit. I looked at the four colors of Malkuth, in the Qabala, and from those began to sort out color palettes that I felt especially expressed the suits, based on color theories I'd learned in school. Russet for fire (wands), blue-violet for earth (pentacles) slate for water (cups), and citrine for air (swords). I built and saved those palettes in CMYK in Illustrator, and when I got to the point of coloring the card images I used the range colors from those palettes.
Pretty soon I'll have some images to show from this deck-in-progress. I think the use of a specialized palette for a given suit will give a subtle feeling of 'belonging', and may even help to carry some of the suits meanings.
I like this approach so much that I'll now have to go back and revisit the colors I set up for the Majors. (http://www.geocities.com/blue_fusion20/icon_tarot/icon_index.htm)
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| Diana |
14 Jan 2004 |
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Originally posted by Ophiel
I just read a post about a new Crystal Tarot Deck that Diana received recently, just as I have, thanks to the powers that express themselves through Cmas season gift giving.
The colors of this deck stand out in my mind more than the imagery, which itself is quite remarkable. But I think of this deck's strong colors mostly.
People I read for almost always comment on the colours of this deck as well.
(Oh Ophiel: how you used to colour my Tarot world.... this forum has an empty chair and the chair is getting very dusty. Sigh. :( )
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The Color My (Tarot) World thread was originally posted on 28 Dec 2002 in the Tarot Decks board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Tarot Decks, or read more archived threads.
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