Zephyros
First off, I don't know what I'm doing, so this study group is for beginners. Liber 777 is filled with tables and attributions, and although my hope is that in the course of this group I will become more adept at consulting them (as in what the colors actually mean and why they are what they are, rather than "merely" how they are represented in the Thoth). However, it would be the greatest of understatements to say that I am not at that stage yet. Contributions are of course welcome and encouraged. Once a week, or perhaps twice, to pick up the pace a bit, I will post the card and its prescribed color scales. My reasoning is that taken slowly, I'll look up the meanings of the colors, too, rather than all at once.
So, let's begin. The following is a simplified explanation of the system the Golden Dawn used in its coloring. Harris was gifted, and did stray from the colors on some occasions as she saw fit, as well as mix the colors to form new ones, or at other times the colors corresponding to the decans are used. She also sometimes used the totality of the colors set out in the key scale for a Major in a Minor. For this reason, they may not be apparent at once. I'll give an example at the end.
At the very top, outside of the Tree of Life stands the Supreme Potentiality (the Limitless Light of Ain Sof Or), in the form of pure light. True to its fourfold (the four letters of the Tetragrammaton) nature this light is divided as through a prism. The very highest is the Knight scale, then the Queen, Prince and Princess in descending order. The Knight scale represents the essence and "invisible foundations of color." This is the cleanest and brightest form of light. The Queen scale represents colors as they are seen to the naked eye. The Prince scale combines the colors of his two parents, while the Princess scale is the most mixed and "polluted" form of light (color).These four scales descend through the four Kabbalistic worlds and infuse them. Imagine four separate Trees of life (in essence, each world is a set of 22 majors and ten minors) each with a world. The highest world is Atziluth ("nobility"). The Knight scale descends and colors all the Sephiroth and paths of this world. Next is the Queen scale, descending and coloring all the Sephiroth and paths of the world of Briah ("creation"). The Prince scale colors the Sephiroth and paths of the world of Yetzirah ("making") and the Princess scales colors the Tree of Assiah ("doing"). This gives us 40 colors for the minors. For the majors, though, there are 96 colors, which I don't understand. The tables in the Book of Thoth show 2 additional rows for the Universe and the Aeon. If anyone knows why this is, I would be happy to know.
Assuming 96, this gives us 136 different colors used. In order to analyze the different colors used, let's say, in a Minor, (and thus, perhaps, make some assumptions about connecting the Minors to the Majors) we need to look at the color scale for that Minor, together with its decan and planetary ruler, which correspond to the paths.
If this sounds confusing, it is, but taken step by step, it becomes apparent. I'll be lazy and use DuQuette's example of the Six of Wands. This card is in the world of Atziluth, hence we'll use the colors attributed to the Knight scale, which in this case is "clear rose." This color appears, I think, as part of the mottled background of the card. However, for the source of the other colors we turn to the key scales of the decans and planetary rulers, appearing in the Major scales. Looking at the scales of Leo, we see the colors that should be present as Yellow (greenish), Deep Purple, Gray and Reddish Amber. These colors, to me, are apparent in the wands themselves, but also remember that the Six of Wands is attributed to Jupiter in Leo. Looking at the key scales for Jupiter we find Violet, Blue, Rich Purple and Bright Blue rayed with Yellow. Looking at the wands and Caduceuses (sp?) we see all those colors there.
While Harris did use the color scales, I doubt she had a fixed rule, but mixed and merged the colors as she saw fit, with some aspects in the cards accentuated with others minimized. Not that she did this arbitrarily, otherwise there would be no point in analysis, but this only highlights the differences between strict Golden Dawn adherence to the rules, and the Thoth which allowed its painter a little more creativity.
If anyone wants to join in the discussion, I recommend downloading the Book of Thoth (the color scales are in Appendix B) as well as Liber 777 (although from the little I did understand of the four color scales, that book complicates things further by referencing Emperor and Empress color scales). I will be basing myself on DuQuette's tables though, which are the same as those found in the Book of Thoth, but clearer and better arranged.
Tomorrow I'll post the Fool and his scales, as well as what I think of them. This long post was just a little more involved than I thought it would be. Also, if you think I missed something (a possibility) tell me, and if I was wrong about anything (a probability) also tell me. Also, here is the Winsor-Newton color chart, used by the Golden dawn which is still being used today:
http://www.winsornewton.com/products/water-colours/artists-water-colour/colour-chart/
So, let's begin. The following is a simplified explanation of the system the Golden Dawn used in its coloring. Harris was gifted, and did stray from the colors on some occasions as she saw fit, as well as mix the colors to form new ones, or at other times the colors corresponding to the decans are used. She also sometimes used the totality of the colors set out in the key scale for a Major in a Minor. For this reason, they may not be apparent at once. I'll give an example at the end.
At the very top, outside of the Tree of Life stands the Supreme Potentiality (the Limitless Light of Ain Sof Or), in the form of pure light. True to its fourfold (the four letters of the Tetragrammaton) nature this light is divided as through a prism. The very highest is the Knight scale, then the Queen, Prince and Princess in descending order. The Knight scale represents the essence and "invisible foundations of color." This is the cleanest and brightest form of light. The Queen scale represents colors as they are seen to the naked eye. The Prince scale combines the colors of his two parents, while the Princess scale is the most mixed and "polluted" form of light (color).These four scales descend through the four Kabbalistic worlds and infuse them. Imagine four separate Trees of life (in essence, each world is a set of 22 majors and ten minors) each with a world. The highest world is Atziluth ("nobility"). The Knight scale descends and colors all the Sephiroth and paths of this world. Next is the Queen scale, descending and coloring all the Sephiroth and paths of the world of Briah ("creation"). The Prince scale colors the Sephiroth and paths of the world of Yetzirah ("making") and the Princess scales colors the Tree of Assiah ("doing"). This gives us 40 colors for the minors. For the majors, though, there are 96 colors, which I don't understand. The tables in the Book of Thoth show 2 additional rows for the Universe and the Aeon. If anyone knows why this is, I would be happy to know.
Assuming 96, this gives us 136 different colors used. In order to analyze the different colors used, let's say, in a Minor, (and thus, perhaps, make some assumptions about connecting the Minors to the Majors) we need to look at the color scale for that Minor, together with its decan and planetary ruler, which correspond to the paths.
If this sounds confusing, it is, but taken step by step, it becomes apparent. I'll be lazy and use DuQuette's example of the Six of Wands. This card is in the world of Atziluth, hence we'll use the colors attributed to the Knight scale, which in this case is "clear rose." This color appears, I think, as part of the mottled background of the card. However, for the source of the other colors we turn to the key scales of the decans and planetary rulers, appearing in the Major scales. Looking at the scales of Leo, we see the colors that should be present as Yellow (greenish), Deep Purple, Gray and Reddish Amber. These colors, to me, are apparent in the wands themselves, but also remember that the Six of Wands is attributed to Jupiter in Leo. Looking at the key scales for Jupiter we find Violet, Blue, Rich Purple and Bright Blue rayed with Yellow. Looking at the wands and Caduceuses (sp?) we see all those colors there.
While Harris did use the color scales, I doubt she had a fixed rule, but mixed and merged the colors as she saw fit, with some aspects in the cards accentuated with others minimized. Not that she did this arbitrarily, otherwise there would be no point in analysis, but this only highlights the differences between strict Golden Dawn adherence to the rules, and the Thoth which allowed its painter a little more creativity.
If anyone wants to join in the discussion, I recommend downloading the Book of Thoth (the color scales are in Appendix B) as well as Liber 777 (although from the little I did understand of the four color scales, that book complicates things further by referencing Emperor and Empress color scales). I will be basing myself on DuQuette's tables though, which are the same as those found in the Book of Thoth, but clearer and better arranged.
Tomorrow I'll post the Fool and his scales, as well as what I think of them. This long post was just a little more involved than I thought it would be. Also, if you think I missed something (a possibility) tell me, and if I was wrong about anything (a probability) also tell me. Also, here is the Winsor-Newton color chart, used by the Golden dawn which is still being used today:
http://www.winsornewton.com/products/water-colours/artists-water-colour/colour-chart/
