I’m making an effort to closely study the tarot in 2025. This is I’m sure the first of many posts relating to this topic because I find Tarot fascinating; these cards can be used as a form of reflection to better understand oneself. Additionally, the cards are really up my intellectual alley because the 78 cards are loaded with mythology, symbols, patterns, themes etc. Going through the deck one continually discovers patterns and reoccurring motifs. One of the visual themes that stood out to me right away was the color of the sky in the cards - the emotional pallet of the narrative found within. I believe that the backgrounds are by no means unintentional so I wanted to see if there were any initial insights that can be brought out through grouping these cards. (Note: that I am using the Rider-Waite deck – other decks have different skies/designs so I am using the archetypical modern version of the tarot.
I’ve deducted that there are 6 groupings of the sky in this tarot deck: Blue, Gray, Cloudy (mostly with a blue sky background), Yellow, Black, and Interior. Even though the shades can somewhat vary, these categories seem sufficient. Some cards do have some ambiguity to them (for example it’s difficult to determine whether the sky is blue or gray, and there are cards that have clouds but don’t necessarily feel like a cloudy sky ((i.e. 7 cups)). Here is the Google sheet that I used to organize the skies. I will discuss the insights, observations, and theories I’ve formed regarding these skies.
Also note most of my tarot studies are inspired by Jessica Dore’s Tarot for Change, so all discussion of card meanings is informed by her work.
Without any further ado –
BLUE SKY:
Blue Sky Cards are the most common and the majority of minor arcana cards have a blue sky - most Wands and Cups take place in this sky (the only pentacle that is present is 2 and there are no swords). I understand these cards as the “default” – the normal world that one exists in, and this draws attention to the drama of the cards rather than the emotion of the colored background. The only Major Arcana Cards that are present are the celestial bodies – Moon, Sun, Star - and Judgement it is no coincidence that the cards that exist in the sky are the only cards that have the blue sky.
CLOUDY:
The Cloud Cards Are occupied by the Swords Court, 3 and 5 of Swords, Wheel of Fortune, and the World. Swords are linked to the domain of thought; therefore, it follows that clouds could be understood as thoughts that go through one’s mind – the Court being the most mature developmental part of each suit there is a mastery and understanding of one’s thoughts. The clouds present in 5 of Swords also is such high drama and they elevate the meaning of the depicted conflict. Clouds, like thoughts and emotions, are constantly changing, being renewed, and can be interpreted based on how (and how long) one observes them. The shifty nature of the clouds helps the interpretations of Wheel of Fortune and the World as well, where both cards can understood through lenses of change and interpretation.
GRAY:
There is a gloominess to these cards because of the gray sky and I think that might reflect a more solemn energy compared to blue. Analyzing the cards, the energy that gray skies best represent is the concept of “waiting” and transition – either waiting for the blue sky to come back or for the rain or snow to fall. The Major Arcana here are interestingly similar with Death, Temperance, and the Hanged Man, as all three of them have either stagnant or transitional energies attached to them. Furthermore, all the Aces are Gray Sky Cards. Aces typically represent the start of a journey and I think this can be interpreted that the start of a voyage might not necessarily begin under the best conditions.
YELLOW:
Yellow Skies have an “otherness” to them, dare I say a magical element. There’s a concept I’ve developed called an “away episode” - when one is outside the rhythm of their day-to-day life and super receptive to the magic of the universe, and I think that these cards are reflective of that. These almost feel like the “Narnia cards” or the feeling like when one is feeling esoteric when vacationing. There is romance, adventure, and otherness to these cards due to the yellow sky. Yellow skies contain the full Pentacle Court, and as those cards are all about behavior my instinct is that these cards reflect the power of ritual, in as such that owning and being aware of one’s life can be akin to magic. Also, the Yellow Sky’s major Arcana reflect this energy as well - namely, the Magician and the Fool both have this looking at life through a magical framework.
BLACK:
There are only 4 black sky cards: 9 and 10 of pentacles, The Devil, and The Tower. These Cards are traditionally understood as bad news and scary and that is 100% the case due to the black background. If you were to state what the most dreaded cards would be it would definitely be these 4. 9 of swords typically is read as overwhelming anxiety, 10 as abject failure and defeat, and the tower as the destruction of standard supports – all scary concepts. I instinctively feel like the Devil is actually an interior card (e.g. the Devil’s lair), but I have no evidence of this so am counting it as a black sky card. The black sky adds to the sense of dread that one might encounter when drawing these cards. I think it is certainly no coincidence that these cards have the reputation they do based on the intensity of the black sky. I wonder how these cards might be interpreted if the skies were different colors?
INTERIOR:
The vast majority of the cards have their narratives told in the great wilderness of open skies with the suggestion of a city or castle on the horizon. However, these cards are fully inside of those castles. The major arcana cards that exist indoors are the Emperor, Hierophant, High Priestess, and Justice, and the minor arcana are the 3 and 5 of pentacles and 4 of swords. The way I view this is that these cards all represent internalized parts of us, so the interior is the reader of the cards. While all cards direct one to look inward, I think this is especially the case with these cards in identifying these elements within one’s psyche. 10 of pentacles is a weird one here in that the majority of the card is interior, however, there is a glimpse of the blue sky. 10 of Pentacles is read as stability and security, and I think this can be understood that when one has internal stability one can better “look outside” of oneself and see harmony in the external world.
SPECIAL:
There are 2 Cards that somewhat exist in their unique world sky-color-wise and I think a lot of the power of these cards comes from that.
The first of these cards is the 8 of Cups. 8 of Cups is read as a difficult departure. Jessica Dore (Tarot for Change pg. 210) describes the narrative of this card as walking away from the security of the 8 cups, but the is a gap, maybe representing something missing. I think that the ambiguous sky color in this card represents the unfamiliarity of departing from something secure and heading into the uncertain unknown. Further, the presence of the moon, which signifies confusion and the subconscious in the tarot universe, only complements this theory.
The second card is the Hermit. The Hermit exists in this green/gray/blue backdrop which really is a lovely color. The Hermit is a figure that is tucked away from the rest of the world doing his own thing, so it makes sense that the card background is a unique color. Due to the lantern and the hermit’s whole vibe, I envision him going through some sort of cave or forest on a solo mission. The Hermit is all about inner wisdom and reflection, so it tracks that the card is represented through an idiosyncratic color.
Overall those are my observations about the backgrounds of the Tarot decks based as I work through developing Tarot intuition. While one could think of these backgrounds as being coincidental, I do think the coloration of the cards affects one’s psychological approach to understanding the cards in a subconscious way (see the black sky cards). This was just a fun little project, but expect future posts about Tarot cards.
(All images from wikipedia)
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