Half the fun of reading tarot is enjoying the artistry of the cards, including the beautiful colors that are used in most decks. Though it is possible to interpret the cards without paying attention to color, color adds an interesting dimension to tarot intepretation. Is there lots of green showing up in the cards of a reading? Maybe that points to issues related to life, living more fully, or spending more time outdoors, in nature.

The first time I encountered the tarot was as a Mormon missionary in Beziers, France. A fellow we were trying to convert showed me a few cards from the Marseilles Tarot, and explained to me the significance of the primary colors. Yellow stood for body ("le corps"), red stood for mind ("l'esprit") and blue stood for soul ("l'ame"). Since then, I have been fascinated by the symbolic significance of color.

Different sources will give different associations for various colors. Here's the schema I use:

This scheme of color interpretation is based on Oswald Wirth's explanation of color correspondences and the Tarot. I've filled it out somewhat and added my own spin to it. This is a work in progress.

The three primary colors (red, yellow, blue) represent the three major elements of human existence, mind, body, and spirit. The three primary colors blend to create the secondary colors (orange, green, violet) and the secondary colors can be blended with the primary colors again to form the tertiary colors (orange-red or scarlet, orange-yellow or peach, yellow-green or chartreuse, etc.). These colors of the rainbow represent the relationships between any two members of the mind-body-spirit triad. For example, the intersection of body and spirit (yellow and blue) is associated with life or liveliness (green); the intersection of mind and body (red and yellow) is associated with passion or emotion (orange), etc. The tertiary colors can represent other mind-body-spirit transitions, e.g., purple for will power, the transition from mysticism to intellect. It all forms a kind of circle connecting these three human elements. However, the colors of the rainbow all being formed from the primary colors, the primary colors can be conceived as containing the meanings and shades of meaning represented in all the various secondary and tertiary colors formed from them. Thus, for instance, red is often associated with desire, passion, and action. Scarlet, orange, peach are simply variations, emanations of mind as it interacts with body. This approach allows interpretation of cards using simple color schemes (such as the Tarot of Marseille), as well as cards with more complex and varied color schemes.

The blending of all colors results in various shades of tan or brown. Thus tan and brown represent the ideas of humanity and tradition. Black and white and metallic colors represent more abstract concepts. Colors can be further blended and mixed. For example, blending red and white forms the color pink. Mixing gray and tan forms beige. Lightening colors or turning them into pastels might have the significance of making them more mundane or transparent. Darkening colors might have the significance of tempering them with mystery or the unknown, or increasing their force, etc.

The world is made of many colors that blend into each other. How we label a color is often subjective. I've often had an argument with someone about what a color is: "Is that purple?" "No, it's blue." How we interpret color meanings is even more subjective. Look at how colors are used in real life, and you may find many interesting correlations. For instance, notice how red or bright orange are used for warning signs; how yellow is often used (in police tape or construction equipment or traffic pylons) to delineate and mark physical space; how common tan or beige or gray are in buildings and clothing (and how those colors have the effect of rendering something unremarkable, or causing it to blend in with the scenery); how brown is used in board rooms or lobbies to create a conservative mood, etc. Study how colors are used in church stained glass windows or in billboards to create certain psychological effects or communicate certain messages.

When I really have a hankering to work with color in a tarot intepretation, I use the Lo Scarabeo recreation of the Visconti Sforza tarot deck. The color is vibrant and beautiful, and the iconography of the deck is in harmony with my basic approach to the tarot.

The Fool card in the Visconti-Sforza deck has both the green grass and the red/brown cliffs, suggesting the Fool symbolizes larger spiritual forces at work in life. However, as will be seen, the Fool himself is a symbol of the "unreflective" life. The Fool is dressed in tan rags, emphasizing his role as "Everyman," as a symbol of the broad path followed by all humanity. The white feathers in his hair and the white undershirt, loin cloth, and leggings he wears indicate that innocence guides his journey (leggings) and motivates his heart (undershirt). They also indicate that he has a naive outlook (white feathers in his hair) and is free from attachments (white loincloth). The yellow walking stick signifies the Fool's passing through life without reflection (though he himself is a symbol who should provoke reflection!). It symbolizes his life on the level of the body, of the animal without higher intellect or spiritual ideals to guide him. If the tan rags he wears are interpreted as yellow, that supports this interpretation. Higher spiritual principles do appear in this card: as blue hills, far away in the background. In other words, the Fool is on a journey that will bring him in touch with higher spiritual principles eventually, but at the present they are distant.

For contrast, consider the next card in the deck, the Magician. The Magician sits on a yellow cube, working at a yellow table and holding a yellow wand. This emphasizes his concern is the physical realm, physical concerns. But he is clothed in red, from head to foot. This emphasizes that his approach to the world is primarily intellectual. It also emphasizes his willfulness, his "will to power." His green undershirt and the green turban underneath his red hat emphasize his basic motivation to nurture life. The white trim of his clothes suggests innocent intentions, but intentions that are easily dominated or overwhelmed by his desire. He is like a scientist or a doctor, approaching the physical world through the intellect, trying to gain power and mastery for the purpose of nurturing life. There are no green or blue hills in the background; he is concerned primarily with the present, the here and now. He is perched above red cliffs; he symbolizes the will.

The Popess, the Empress, the Emperor and the Pope sit on yellow thrones, symbolizing earthly rule. This theme is reinforced in the Popess, Emperor, and Pope cards by the green grass (no red cliffs). The dark brown robes and crowns of the Empress, the Emperor and the Pope emphasize their role as carriers of tradition. The brown crowns of the Popess, the Empress, the Emperor and the Pope, the brown staff and cross of the Popess and the Pope, the brown shield of the Empress and the brown globe of the Emperor carry the same significance. The Empress and Emperor's robes have a blue lining under the sleeves and the hems, symbolizing the spiritual foundation for their rule. The black eagles on the Empress' shield and on the Emperor's helmet symbolize their worldly power of life and death over their people.

The Popess wears light brown or tan robes symbolizing her connection to the people; her brown crown, staff, and cross her submission to tradition. She wears a white head piece symbolizing innocent thoughts; her white gloves innocent deeds; her white belt chastity. Her blue book emphasizes her role as a teacher of spiritual truths. The Empress wears green gloves symbolizing her nurturing role and a yellow headdress and collar symbolizing concern with worldly matters. The Emperor holds a yellow scepter symbolizing worldly rule and a brown globe symbolizing his right to rule emanating from the people. His red shoes symbolize his connection to the people as based on reason (as contrasted with the Empress whose connection through green gloves is based on nurturance).

The Pope's white under robe and gloves symbolize his innocence, the green lining of his robe his nurturing, fatherly role, and the aquamarine trim on his robe the importance of memory in the transmission of tradition. The aquamarine is dark enough to be black; it could represent the memory of death ("memento mori") under which the pious life must be lived.

The orange lining under the robes and the scarlet stockings and shoes of the figures in the Lover card hints at passion and desire as well as the union of mind and body. The female figure wears a green glove symbolizing the life which should be a result of this union; white sleeves and collar symbolizing purity; an indigo sleeve symbolizing prayer. The gray tunic worn by the male figure symbolizes the restraint that should be exercised over passion. The aquamarine patterns on the tunic of the male figure symbolize memory and experience as the basis for wisdom in the marital covenant. The brown hat worn by the male figure, as well as the brown robe worn by the female figure, and the brown dais and wings of the angel symbolize the importance of tradition as a framework for love and marriage.

The Hermit (situated in a plain green foreground, no cliffs, indicating the everyday world motif) is clothed in a blue robe, indicating his anticipation of the end of earthly existence and the beginning of a new spiritual existence. While blue exists only in the background in the Fool, here it dominates the foreground. The bottom fringe of the Hermit's robe and his undershirt are yellow, and his walking stick is yellow, placing him still firmly in this world, but indicating that the concerns of this world have been subordinated to the concerns of the spirit. The hat he wears has a red top and a yellow bottom, indicating that in his mind, the desires of the flesh have been subordinated to the will. He also wears red shoes, indicating that, although he uses a yellow walking stick to journey through this world, the higher faculties of will and intellect guide him. Comparing the red of the Hermit's hat and shoes to the red of the Magician, it is easy to see that the artist chose a shade of red that is lighter and a bit more purple, almost magenta. This suggests an intellect firmly under the control of the will, more refined and innocent. The brownness of the hourglass can only signify the transitory nature of human history and tradition.

These are just a few examples of how color is used in the design of a deck to emphasize certain associations or meanings. Looking at color patterns throughout a spread can similarly be used to intuit themes, problems, or questions in a particular reading. Have fun with it!