Colours and Tarot

Colour Green and Tarot


“Green Party stands aside in crucial seats to help keep Conservatives out”, such a headline by the Independent in regards to the General elections here in the UK grabbed my attention.
Not because I am involved with politics as such, (although the genius of Diane Abbott recently was anything but entertaining but, at the same time scary) but, because it made me think of the colour green and its symbolism.

Green smoothieGreen is generally regarded as the colour of hope, longevity, strength and eternal youth.
Green is often a colour chosen to represent harmony, balance and tranquillity (a green room can help inspiration and creative expression).

Eating your greens or drinking a green smoothie is supposed to keep you healthy too 🙂

forestIn modern times, green is traditionally the colour of the pharmacist (linking to the natural world and the power of plants to heal), the environmentalists (Greenpeace comes to mind) and the green parties (protection of mother earth).

planet-and-treeGreen energy (protecting the environment and nature) have grabbed headlines for decades and in more recent times, with the US concentrating on fossil fuels instead of alternatives.

faerie-and-absintheDuring the middle ages, green was seen as the colour of madness and evil, and green beverages were seen as the drink of the Fools. This belief continued during into nineteenth century France with the infamous Absinthe also called “La liqueur des Fous” (the liquor of the Fools).

It was believed that a green fairy lived in the bottle and had the power to take away sanity.

Famous artists became intoxicated with the beverage and lost their sanity, like Vincent Van Gogh who cut off his own ear under the influence of Absinthe and the poet Paul Verlaine who shot his lover, the poet Arthur Rimbaud, in his hand while drunk with Absinthe.

Green is also associated with greed/jealousy and envy (hence the expression, green with envy).

water-lilyGreen is also the colour of the heart chakra 🙂

Green-colourColour green in the tarot (Radiant Rider Waite)
The Fool wears a green tunic and a green crown suggesting his inspiration and hope to discover the world and showing his youthful nature.

Justice wears a green cape suggesting a calm approach and balance/harmony to render her verdict.

In the suit of Wands, the man in the 7 of Wands wears a green shirt, battling for his ideals, suggesting the idea of strength.
The merchant in the 3 of Wands has a green scarf over his shoulders, showing strength and harmony. The horse on the 6 of Wands has a green cover showing harmony in success.
The king of Wands has a green scarf showing his strength and balance containing the fire within.
Notice that all the people in the suit of Wands with green garments had to take some risks in order to be successful and even with success, one has to keep going to be at the top of their game!

Interestingly, in both the 2 of Pentacles and 6 of Pentacles, the people at the centre of the cards wear green shoes or boots, emphasising the idea of balance (at least trying to balance money in the 2 of Pentacles with the green loop as well, and the balance of charity in the 6 of Pentacles).

Both the Page and the Queen of Pentacles wear green garments to emphasise their connection to nature and healing.

Finally, the figure in the foreground of the 5 of Swords wears a green tunic.

This time green is seen as evil/madness as the figure has taken away the weapons from the other people, leaving them raw and defeated.

Notice that one of the figures has a green sleeve, over a yellow tunic, suggesting that healing will need to take place on the intellect (colour yellow) and that the best course of action is to leave the charged situation behind.

There is probably more green to be seen in the RW, particularly trees, laurel leaves, flowers etc., which is the connection to nature.

And don’t forget, drink or eat your greens 😉