Color Symbolism

Poor Wandering One

Okay, now you two are just trying to make my head explode. It's like an information tsunami. I am overwhelmed, but I thank you both for pointing out some PDFs to download and links to bookmark.
 

ravenest

Ultimately, you are right. A journey inward is always taken alone--and no matter what props I may have at my disposal (or how much they cost), they don't actually come with me. I'm of the mind that nothing has intrinsic value or meaning. Value and meaning is assigned by us.

true, but I also meant that a few people here dispense their tarot gnosis with others freely, and sometimes intricately via PM.

Things have their own intrinsic meaning aside from us. I dont believe if we dont give something meaning it doesnt have any, and if a tree falls in the forest with no person to hear it DOES make a sound .

However value and meaning is certainly assigned by us. There is also collective meaning.

Thats all about reading symbols and maps. We might assign a meaning of 'swamp' to a symbol on a map , when plotting a route we might avoid that - regardless of how someone else reads that symbol - they go that way, they will get bogged.

Then there is 'accepted meaning' , as in some some societies ; a language of symbol - in that case , if you dont understand the symbolism, thats like trying to read Japanese when you only read English ... you might get a few meanings like house, or enclosure , but ....

Then there are the symbols of the collective unconscious that we all share , wel 99% of us.

http://cdn.sheknows.com/printables/print/crescent_moon.jpg
 

ravenest

The GD Tarot generally uses what's called the Queen Scale of coloring based on Tree of Life associations. 777 as mentioned earlier is the key to this system. See also: http://www.golden-dawn.org/generation-of-three-colour-wheels-of.html

The RWS deck uses the color associations to the planets, signs and elements a little more generally. Looking around the net I found this page which gives a publicly-palatable version of their color associations.

http://www.cosmictarot.co.uk/colour-symbolism/

'Cosmic Faery' Christine says 'its all about intuition'. The problem with that approach is , for example, if Waite wanted to use purple on a robe to signify something , it is more to do with HIS trip or intuition (or a wink and a nod to others 'in the know'), I dont see how a person with no insight into Waite, his dynamics or the G.D. is going to get to the root of the gnosis in the deck by their own intuition.

Otherwise its just a self-reflective mirror - with distortions.
 

Teheuti

The simplest way of understanding the colors is probably according to the rainbow color-wheel version of the zodiac and related planets. For instance, Red is associated with Mars and Aries: energy, vitality that, at an extreme, can head into anger and violence. The snake around the waist of the Magician is blue-green: Scorpio (serpent as well as eagle) and so it can easily be associated with kundalini. Waite may not have specifically intended a kundalini reference but its still a good cognate. This is Case's approach and it works quite well for the RWS deck whether you understand Waite or not.
 

Zephyros

Don't you just love the Rosy Cross? Of all indirectly related Tarot symbols it's my favorite. Once you understand it's basic mechanism (especially the alchemical symbols) it becomes mind-boggling.
 

ravenest

yep ... love and R+C go go pretty good together :) .
 

Richard

That's a really good Rosy Cross image. The 22 colors of the rose (King Scale for paths 11 through 32) are the most accurate I've seen. I know from experience that its tricky to get them to look correct on an RGB based monitor.
 

cjxtypes

Wow. This turned into a great thread. I really was wondering what was up with all the red hats and why the Lovers card reflected the hues of an acid trip .. Lol! But all this is so much better! [emoji4] [emoji94]