Colours in a deck.

[Libra 58]

How important is the colours in a deck for you while you are doing a reading?

For example: The Magician will have a black robe or the Empress will have a purple dress.

Will you even notice that?

 

Most of the times the colour is saying something in the interpretation of the cards.

So if the deck is black and white, much of the feelings will be very lame for me.

 

 

[RunningWild]

All things are superimposed on the cards.  You decide whether or not they’re relevant to a reading.  Do the colored images provoke certain feelings or ideas?  

 

As for black and white cards, as long as the pips are scenic, you would have to rely more on a card’s action or interaction.  If the pips aren’t scenic (Don’t anyone get excited here, to me, scenic means most of the images would be more like RWS images and not merely the corresponding number of images as wands, cups, swords and coins.)

[gregory]

I will very much notice - but that may just be because as a rule I read by the images, not by "received wisdom" !

[FindYourSovereignty]

I will notice, however, it may not be the biggest detail that is jumping out to me. Also, I don't always feel the artist or creator is emphasizing color meaning in their deck as there are so many decks being created today for so many different reasons. A black and white deck speaks to me in different ways: what is the movement, facial expression(s), engagement within the deck, etc. It isn't any less feelings to me.

[Raggydoll]

I like to pay attention to color as part of a pattern. So I will notice how certain colors show up throughout the spread. Especially when I’m working with pip-style decks (TdM etc). A repeating color can represent an important theme in the reading. But I don’t use traditional color correspondences, I read color intuitively and in the context of the individual spread. 

[Natural Mystic Guide]

12 hours ago, Libra 58 said:

How important is the colours in a deck for you while you are doing a reading?

Color is everything to me in reading a deck.  First of all, I won't use a deck unless the colors make me happy.  I am very sensitive to color energy.  Then, of course, within a deck that I have vetted because I like the color scheme, I do pay a lot of attention to color.  Like @Raggydoll in her comment above, I read color intuitively.

[Chariot]

Colour plays a huge part in whether I'm attracted to a deck or not. That being said, I've rejected many decks with pleasing artwork because the images and symbols in the deck don't gel with me.  But yes, colour does matter.  However, I'm open to lots of different sorts of colour usages ...from fairly pale to bright and in-your-face.  It just depends on the deck as a whole. 

I suspect many tarot artists choose particular colours to set off the images, rather than assigning correspondences.  I looked through a few of my decks just now with this in mind, and came to this conclusion.  But colours certainly do influence how I intuitively react to a card.  I'm not a fan of black and white cards (I don't actually own any black and white decks) or decks that are fairly monochromatic.  I like a variety.

Edited March 23 by Chariot

[Libra 58]

Thank you for all your answers, it´s interesting how much colours affect us even in readings.

I don´t own a black and white deck either, so I don´t know how it will affect me. 

I have looked very closely on decks that are black and white, but I have noticed that I miss the colours

and realise that it doesn´t matter how nice they can look, I don´t want any!

[Nemia]

I have quite a number of black and white decks and love them, and they can also be very different in their treatment of darkness and light. In the Light and Shadow Tarot, black and dark are quite large blocks; in the Tarot of the Abyss, there is a lot of crosshatching so you get shades of grey. 

 

I'm very sensitive to colour as well, especially contrasts - dark/light contrast, warm/cold contrast, bright/muted contrast, small amount/large amount contrast, complementary contrasts etc. It's automatic for me to notice colour schemes, probably my art and art history training. 

 

Colour is atmosphere, and if it's done well, I like it. Many decks give each suit a different colour scheme, and I usually like that, if it's not overdone or schematic (like in some AI decks...). Some decks are subdued or restrained or gentle, others wild or passionate or exuberant. I don't really have a preference; I connect to each deck the way it is. 

 

It's a bit like being transported to different planets, each with its own light and atmosphere. 

 

In a reading, I'll always notice the flow of colours and where they lead my eye. Colours can connect cards or create boundaries between them. 

 

My reading style is probably eclectic; it's been so many years since I internalised the card meanings that I can react intuitively. I could probably call it a narrative style - I look for the story, and the colours are among the strongest hints I can find about the direction the story is taking. 

 

[Natural Mystic Guide]

10 hours ago, Chariot said:

I'm not a fan of black and white cards

Despite my own strong orientation to color in a deck... I really do like black and white, also.  I recently bought the El Goliath deck.  I love looking at the images and the guidebook is particularly good.  So black and white is its own thing.  I have several others on my wish list.  Also my number one deck on my wish list is the OWP deck the Ironwing Tarot which is black white and a coppery color.

[Chariot]

I should have added to my above statement that colour also helps me recognise cards quickly.  As I often read in dim light and do use reversals, a colourful deck helps with my orientation.

Nothing more frustrating during a reading than realising, later on, that I've assumed a card is one thing, when it was another.  Many cards can get mixed-up visually in an RWS-based deck. How many times I've mistaken an Empress for one of the Queens, especially when reversed ...ditto the Emperor for one of the Kings ...!  Colour can help to distinguish one from another, depending on how the artist used it.

Edited March 24 by Chariot

[DanielJUK]

I love colourful decks and I do try to remember to notice colours when reading. Like what colour(s) are prominent and is there a message there? I use colour therapy ideas, like a lot of red in every card, could that be a message about anger or fire energy? So it can be an interesting symbolism in itself. That is looking for repeating colours though but maybe a colour in a card stands out when reading. It's something I notice.

 

It's interesting when decks are re-coloured, they can bring entirely different, interesting readings from the well-known traditional colours in the cards. Some decks use colours for beginners and / or to represent the suits. I find that really annoying to deal with. I never use those decks enough to remember a blue border means this or yellow means this and have to look it up every single time. Stick to a symbol for the suits. So colours can be useful symbols in a reading but colour coding the cards can be annoying to remember what they represent, especially when a deck has it's own system 🙂 .

[Tanga]

I love colour and find it difficult to read with black and white decks. Something is missing if there's no colour 🙃.

So... I only have...   1 black & white deck.  Sentimental because I knew the person who made it.  (Goodness... perhaps I should look at black and white again...).

I may sometimes read colour in terms of colour therapy/5 elements alla DanielJUK & I don't follow deliberately colour coded cards.