Golden geometry of the RWS trumps
Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 21 Jan 2003, and now archived in the Forum Library.
| Baneemy |
21 Jan 2003 |
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I'm not sure which forum this thread belongs in, but I thought I'd put it here since it's about one specific deck.
I've noticed that a lot of the artwork on the RWS major arcana seems to be based on Phi, the "golden ratio" or "divine proportion." Phi, for those who don't know, is (1 + the square root of 5) / 2, or approximately 1.61803.... It has some very interesting mathematical properties and is ubiquitous in nature and in sacred geometry. There's a good introduction to Phi at http://goldennumber.net , if you're interested.
On each of the RWS trumps, the rectangle enclosing the illustration (not counting the label at the bottom), is a golden rectangle--that is, a rectangle whose height is Phi times its width. In addition, the pictures themselves often have "golden" proportions.
For instance, take a photocopy of the RWS Magician card. Draw a horizontal line that passes through the Magician's headband, and another that passes through the wand on his table. Then draw two vertical lines passing through the outer edges of the Magician's red robe. The rectangle described by these four lines is a golden rectangle with exactly 1/5 the area of the larger rectangle. Furthermore, its corners are located at the foci of the four logarithmic spirals (nautilus-shell shapes) which can be inscribed in the larger rectangle. If the card wasn't designed that way on purpose, that's one hell of a coincidence.
The Magician isn't the only RWS card with such properties. The Star is another example. Draw a horizontal line resting on top of the woman's body, and you will find that this line divides the card into two sections--a perfect square below and a golden rectangle above. The area of the square is Phi times the area of the rectangle, and the area of the whole card is Phi times the area of the square.
I could go on with more examples--almost every detail of the RWS Fool is defined by "golden" measurements--but this is one of those cases in which a diagram would be worth a thousand words. I'll leave the rest for you to discover on your own.
I'm sure most of you found this all boring and/or incomprehensible, but I thought I'd share it for the benefit of my fellow geeks. It increased my respect for the RWS by an order of magnitude.
-Baneemy
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| Cat |
21 Jan 2003 |
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I'm Well Impressed.
(After several minutes frantic scribbling on a print out).
Any more examples, or do we have to figure them out for ourselves?
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| Ophiel |
21 Jan 2003 |
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Yes, tell more! This is fascinating stuff indeed! I think the Camoin Marseilles deck has some nifty geometry, also.
You can view the cards here:
http://www.camoin.com/tarot_en/regarder_tmt/voir_tmt.asp
This site had some very interesting articles in the past about similar topics as yours, regarding the Sacred Geometry and the cards.
If I find it again, I'll post it here.
More...MORE!!!
If you read French, here's a book for sale at the Camoin site all about the topic of this post:
http://www.camoin-cie.com/index.html
It says:
"Géométrie du NOMBRE D'OR" de Robert Vincent
Un excellent livre permettant de comprendre les applications pratiques de la géométrie du Nombre d'Or dans la vie de tous les jours.
Découvrir les mystères du Nombre d'Or et les joyaux de la géométrie par l'art du trait. Reconstituez les figures géométriques avec simplement un compas et une règle comme les anciens bâtisseurs."
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| Umbrae |
22 Jan 2003 |
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…and don’t forget the age old question, “Why is there a snail on the Nine of Pentacles?”
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| jmd |
22 Jan 2003 |
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Such wonderful considerations!
moderator note:
I'll leave this thread here for a while, and will then move it to the General Study Group section, together with the other RWS threads.
There are certainly a number of decks which consciously use Golden Ratios in their design. One of the most obvious is the Masonic Tarot.
When I have considered other decks which are bordered within a Golden Rectangle, there are numerous Golden geometrical results. The question which needs to be asked is whether this arises intentionally, or whether the artistic sensibilities of the illustrator, combined with the Golden Rectangle constraints, inevitably leads to finds unintended in its construct.
Still, I certainly do not mean to downplay such important considerations - quite the contrary - these discoveries add only vitality to the deck at hand, in this case the RWS.
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| Aerin |
22 Jan 2003 |
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The Golden Ratio was/ is (I presume) often used by architects and artists since it is meant to be the most aesthetically pleasing. Hence the 'golden' bit.
Or so my maths book used to tell me.
Aerin
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| Baneemy |
22 Jan 2003 |
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Cat: The Fool, Magician, and Star are the only cards I've looked at in any detail so far. I have a lot to say about the Fool, but that will have to wait. It's rather complicated.
Ophiel: The Camoin Marseilles is my deck of choice, but I haven't looked at its geometry yet. I look forward to some interesting discoveries. (Alas, my French is pretty rusty!)
Umbrae: And there are those sunflowers on the Queen of Wands, too...
-Baneemy
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| rota |
22 Jan 2003 |
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I've asked my art professors about this question many times over the years. Some haven't noticed the phenomenon, but some have, and it's this: Most, and practically all, of the great works of art have buried in their composition aspects of the Golden Mean. It's fairly simple to spot once you're tuned for it. The people above have noted it in Tarot compositions, but it's equally true for any well-considered artistic composition -- if you look, you will find a one-to-phi or 5-to-8 proportion prominent in the overall structure of the work.
The reason for it is also alluded to above: it's a proportion that we find particularly pleasing for a number of reasons and, when we are able to make it part of an artistic statement, we like to maintain it. It's an unconscious urge on the part of most artists, but those who have learned about the history of the Golden Mean can make some thoughtful use of it in their work.
And in the case of Pamela Smith's RWS work, I don't have the slightest doubt that she made use of the Golden Mean.
Here's an exercise I used to use in classes: A straight line is printed on a piece of paper, and all the students get a copy of it. Ask the class to divide the line by eye, without using a ruler, and place a dot on the line where they think it "looks the best" or seems to be balanced. The only other rule is that you can't divide the line in half.
Collecting the papers later, you can pin them up on a board together to see them all at once. Pretty much all the dots will be in the same place on the line, and the class is sorta stunned. Virtually everyone who approaches the exercise seriously will place the dot on the phi point. We do it instinctively. The exercise goes a long way toward convincing a novice artist that there is some basis for art appreciation and art criticism.
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The Golden geometry of the RWS trumps thread was originally posted on 21 Jan 2003 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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