The 'yellow minors'

starlightexp

I tried looking through the back threads and couldn't really find this so if it has been discussed on here I apologize. In looking through the minors last night I noticed that in each suit there is only one card in the numeral sequence (1-10) that has a yellow background. The 7 of Swords, 4 of wands, 9 of Pentacles and 9 of cups. Am I grasping at straws or is there some reason for this.
 

bogiesan

I tried looking through the back threads and couldn't really find this so if it has been discussed on here I apologize. In looking through the minors last night I noticed that in each suit there is only one card in the numeral sequence (1-10) that has a yellow background. The 7 of Swords, 4 of wands, 9 of Pentacles and 9 of cups. Am I grasping at straws or is there some reason for this.

Hope you stimulate an interesting conversation.

Various editions of the Waite-Smith deck have wildly different colorations, even those thought to be historically accurate, so attempting to correspond specific hues to esoteric meaning is going to be difficult and possibly misleading. Lithography inks, used in the original production runs, were quite different from printing inks used in later offset press runs. I do not recall seeing clear evidence the artist was directly involved in any of those selections.

Several Waite-Smith scholars and authors have proposed color charts for the deck.
 

starlightexp

Hope you stimulate an interesting conversation.

Various editions of the Waite-Smith deck have wildly different colorations, even those thought to be historically accurate, so attempting to correspond specific hues to esoteric meaning is going to be difficult and possibly misleading. Lithography inks, used in the original production runs, were quite different from printing inks used in later offset press runs. I do not recall seeing clear evidence the artist was directly involved in any of those selections.

Several Waite-Smith scholars and authors have proposed color charts for the deck.

Working with a Pam A so it's as about as original color as it gets. I'm not sure if its the yellow as a meaning but rather the fact that there is only one in each numerical suit that gives me pause.
 

Zephyros

I'm too tired to check now, but I recommend you look at the astrological attributions in terms of the elements. While Waite did not strictly adhere to the GD color scales it is evident some colors were indeed important to him. Yellow, for example, features prominently in the Fool, the Air elemental. The sun on the Fool is white, probably a substitute for the GD "brilliance." Yellow is the elemental color of Air, according to 777. Nothing in the cards you mentioned brings anything to mind immediately, especially since there's only one in each suit and there must be more than one Air attribution in each suit.

Still, I would start there. It's as good a place as any.
 

bogiesan

Working with a Pam A so it's as about as original color as it gets. I'm not sure if its the yellow as a meaning but rather the fact that there is only one in each numerical suit that gives me pause.

There is still the question, perhaps unanswerable, who decided on yellow? Was it the litho press operator (unknown), the chap running the stone's inking station (also unknown), the artist (Smith), or the commissioner (Waite)?
You want that question answered to your satisfaction before deciding there is any significance to any color on any card.
I've been present at press runs at offset and at letterpress presses. Even on the most modern of presses, dramatic variation from the client's chromatic specification is common and, under some circumstances, almost uncontrollable. INks change. Fountains get tweaked. Paper stock changes. Stuff happens.
 

Zephyros

I think those kinds of apocryphal questions could be asked of anything, at any time. Since we have no known material relating to either PCS's creative process or the printings other than the many "corrected" editions we have the option to either use what we do have or just give up at the outset.

When it comes to the RWS almost no answers are possible to anyone's satisfaction unless they have extraordinarily low standards for same. The only thing we can do is try to make a series educated of guesses.
 

Richard

It is generally acknowledged that the Waite Minors are based on the Decans. Here are the Decans of the cards in question. You can check Liber 777 or various other documents to see whether yellow is involved in the color symbolism.

7 of Swords - Moon in Aquarius
4 of wands - Venus in Aries
9 of Pentacles - Venus in Virgo
9 of cups - Jupiter in Pisces