Pantheon of Colors: Red
Color and Astrology, Mars, and the Fives of the Minor Arcana
A Rainbow of Energies
“What is a god? A god is a personification of a motivating power of a value system that functions in human life and in the universe.”
― Joseph Campbell
The gods have been personified in many ways by the various cultures of the world. Some know these same powers as “archangels” or “planetary spirits”. In Western astrology, we associate them with the planets and call them by the names of Roman gods. But what they are essentially is invisible energies — energies that do things, each with its own frequency and its own type of influence. The most universal and meaningful associations with these life powers that I know of is their correspondences with colors.
"Colors express the main psychic functions of man." ~ Carl Jung
Colors and Astrology
The above illustration shows how the colors fit into astrology. The model is the traditional RYB color wheel used for paint and design. This is the kind of diagram that can yield almost endless insight with continual contemplation over time.
The Circle around the perimeter represents Time. There we see the qualities of Time in colors associated with the 12 signs of the Zodiac.
The hexagon within the Circle represents the life energies from which half of the signs derive their qualities, in terms of color and planet.
The Center of the Circle represents the ultimate Source of All Things in absolute Timelessness. It belongs to no point in Time more or less than any other. The Center’s absoluteness makes White (all of the colors combined) and Black (no color at all) its equivalents in terms of color. They are extreme opposites, yet they are one, like the two sides of a single coin. As planets, these energies are Pluto and Neptune respectively.
The Primary Colors = Fire
The triangle around the Center represents the 3 Primary Colors: Red, Yellow, and Blue, which are fundamental and cannot be created by mixing other colors together. As the spectrum colors ‘closest’ to White, they correspond to the spontaneous motivational impulses of the Fire element, or intuition. If Fire were a section of an orchestra, it would be the brass.
As planets, the Primaries are Mars, the Sun, and Jupiter. The points of the triangle indicate each planet’s rulership (reflected qualities) of the 3 Fire signs in the Zodiac, which share their colors.
The Secondary Colors = Air
A hexagon is formed with the addition of the 3 Secondary Colors, which are blends (‘offspring’) of the Primaries: Orange, Green, and Purple. They correspond to the mental functions of the Air element, or thinking. If Air were a section of an orchestra, it would be the woodwinds.
As planets, the Secondaries are Mercury, Venus, and Uranus. Their points indicate their rulerships of the 3 Air signs in the Zodiac, which share their colors.
In the Zodiac, every other sign is either a Fire sign or an Air sign, sharing the Primary or Secondary Color of its ruling planet, and reflecting its qualities. These 6 signs are the “positive” or “masculine” signs.
The Tertiary Colors = Water & Earth
"Since psyche and matter are contained in one and the same world, and moreover are in continuous contact with one another and ultimately rest on irrepresentable, transcendental factors, it is not only possible but fairly probable, even, that psyche and matter are two different aspects of the same thing." — Carl Jung
The 6 signs in between the masculine ones are the Water (psyche; nonphysical form & feeling) and Earth (matter; physical object & sensation) signs. Theirs are the 6 Tertiary Colors, each a blend of its adjacent neighbors (as though joining with them to form a Circle). If Water were a section of an orchestra, it would be the strings. If Earth were a section of an orchestra, it would be the percussion.
These 6 in-between signs are “negative” or “feminine”, because in them the formless masculine planetary energies take form. Here the term “negative” doesn’t mean inherently “bad”, but refers simply to the impermanent nature of forms.
Forms serve purposes and are neither bad nor good in themselves. But as solid and permanent as many forms seem to be, ultimately none of them really is. Eventually we outgrow, consume, or abandon them, and they dissolve or morph into something else. We can have bad experiences with the feminine signs if we overvalue forms in the mistaken belief that they won’t ever change. Good comes from those bad experiences when we learn from them and get our perspectives better centered.
4 of the feminine signs are ruled by planets in the hexagon whose colors don’t match them, apparently connected with them through their orbit patterns (a different diagram) rather than through color. The other 2 feminine signs are ruled by planets not part of the inner hexagon at all: Saturn and the Moon.
Life ‘Breathes’ Out and In
Life ‘descends’ from the Source into physical manifestation from the Center out, like a blooming flower. Then, as it develops awareness, it ‘ascends’ back to the Central Source.
As human spirits traveling through Time in physical bodies, each of us is continuously developing awareness of all the life energies within. But how can our awareness take us back to the mysterious, ineffable Source?
The color model shows us that we are naturally aligned with the Source when we express all of the ‘colors’ within us clearly and in balance. In the orchestra model, the ‘conductor’ is the Source, and we’re aligned with the ‘Conductor’ when we’re ‘playing all of our instruments’ well and in harmony.
In this series, we’ll take a close look at the planet that rules the sign of the month. We’ll observe its associated color, its legitimate influence in life, and symptoms typically experienced when it’s somehow out of balance. We’ll also see an expression of its basic influence in music and in tarot, as cards of the minor arcana.
Red
Of the 3 Primary Colors, Red is the one with the lowest frequency. A very simple, straightforward color, Red stimulates the physical body and the desires that keep it alive.
Red is associated with the following:
Blood
Heat
Desire of any sort
Courage and boldness
Physical strength and power
Assertiveness, exertion, and striving
Passionate love and sex
Anger
Negative associations include:
Danger
Hostility
Aggression
Violence
Mars
The above list of associations with Red applies exactly to Mars in astrology. To those I would add:
Impatience
Competitiveness
Speed
Struggle
Rudeness and Incivility (negative)
The Fiery energy of Mars is the most primitive of the 3 types of intuition, or spontaneous motivation. Like the other 2, it comes directly from the Central Source, but unlike them it lacks orientation to any center. Martial Fire is the first to develop in everyone, present at birth. It’s close to the earth, immediate and animal-like, eager for expression through the sensations of touch and kinetic action. Mars promotes physical development, robust health, and a simple attitude: I want what I want, and I want it NOW!
Oriented to survival in the physical world, Mars drives the primal hunt and chase for the necessities of life, including food, clothing, shelter, and reproduction. Adapted to the possibility of limited resources, Mars energy is impatient, assertive, strong, and competitive. Basically, it motivates us to reach a goal fast and grab the goods first.
The action of Mars is very forceful and capable of great speed. Seen from a deep perspective, it’s also circular. Mars propels us around and around the circular path of Time (the boundary set by Saturn), like racers hurtling around a track at breakneck speed. This repetitive cycle of action is essentially the same for all hunters striving after prizes, be they human or animal runners, survivalists in primitive conditions, charging warriors, breadwinners in the modern “rat race”, or shoppers in a marketplace. All of them are repeatedly expending the same Red energy we know as astrological Mars, or the inner Warrior, in order to continue living.
As long as we live in time, we ‘run’ around that track over and over again, in pursuit of one desire after another, ever learning wiser control of our actions from consequences of our errors. It’s Nature’s way of nudging those ‘on the rim of the rolling Wheel of Life’, unaware of any center or ‘hub’, to begin to consider a possibility that there might be one.
With the Martial power of muscle and its extensions to heavy-duty tools and various types of weapons, the Warrior in each of us can pursue and protect the things we want and need to live. Sometimes he fights for them alone, sometimes alongside non-interfering fellows, and sometimes in conflict with the Warrior in others or with adverse conditions of life.
Mars is strong, but not, in himself, particularly nice — which is why early astrologers classed Mars as a “malefic”. As long as we are living a mortal life on earth, we are susceptible to Martial hazards of injury and loss on both physical and nonphysical levels. Their unpleasant effects can range from mild annoyance to horrific violence. Nobody always wins; all must learn to accept defeat. Some painful experiences with Mars are unavoidable. Others, theoretically avoidable, can come through mistakes of our own or those of others, whether deliberate or unintentional.
When anyone’s Mars is loaded with energy, their need to expend that energy through action is real and urgent. Optimally, our inner Warrior races and struggles for us alone, or alongside non-interfering fellows. When conflicts inevitably occur, Mars’s first instinct is to react with anger and fight the interfering challenger. But fights can be seriously destructive. We are wiser if we assign our Warrior to an alternative resolution that expends his energy effectively and constructively.
Some people like Martial conflict and fighting. We may opt for the fight our Mars wants and enjoy it. Okay, but we should know where that will lead if it should go on for too long without resolution. The cyclical nature of Time dooms an unresolved destructive conflict to a vicious circle of endless self-perpetuation. Hostile “tit for tat” exchanges between opponents will be generated everywhere on that circular path of Time forever and ever — unless and until one or both parties choose to abandon the fight.
Though Mars can be harsh as well as helpful, personally I wouldn’t call him a “malefic”. Good comes from our harsh experiences with Mars when we learn to deal with conflicts well, and to center ourselves better so as to make (and suffer from) fewer costly mistakes.
The composer of the piece below, Gustav Holst, was also a brilliantly insightful astrologer. He composed The Planets, a suite of pieces for each of 7 planets. All of them sound exactly like the planetary influences they express feel. This one, expressing the Warrior, is no exception. Hear the intense militant power in this Martial music. Note the insistent repetition of 5 (number associated with Mars).
Mars, the Bringer of War
Mars Rules Aries and Scorpio
In the Zodiac, Mars is the classical ruler of Aries. If Pluto as modern ruler is an unignorable ‘alarm clock’ awakening us to the light, Mars is surely the strong ‘coffee’ that gets us moving physically.
Read about Aries (Red) here:
Mars is the planet of blood, spilled at birth, and stilled at death. In Aries, we undergo a Martial struggle to be ‘born’; in Scorpio, we face another Martial struggle to ‘die’.
Read about Scorpio (Teal) here:
If we think of Mars as a car speeding along on the circular ‘highway’ of Time in the world, we might think of the two Mars-ruled signs as the ramps at junctions where drivers get onto (Aries) and off from (Scorpio) personal involvement with the earth, for perspective from other levels before getting on again.
Tarot and the Planets
In tarot, the planets have their correspondences in the cards of the Minor Arcana. Each of the 10 numbers corresponds to a planet. There are 4 cards to a number, one for each of the 4 elements:
Wands = Fire
Swords = Air
Cups = Water
Pentacles = Earth
I’ll give you descriptions of the cards in my deck, along with the interpretations I generally use for them in divination (adapted to context as needed). If you read tarot, the meanings you use may be different from mine, which is fine.
The Fives of the Minor Arcana
The tarot Fives are the Mars cards, and they all represent situations of painful struggle or loss.
Reversed, a Five indicates the end of a time of struggle, or subsidence of pain.
Below are the meanings I use for the Fives in divination.
Five of Wands
Under a darkening red sky stand five men, each holding a wand aloft, on a muddy field. Each man is uniquely dressed, standing at a unique angle, and pointing his wand in a different direction from the others.
Upright - Competition or conflict of interests.
Reversed - End of competition or conflict.
Five of Swords
Under a darkening and stormy red sky stands a man in a red tunic, an expression of scorn on his face. He has gathered three of five swords; the other two lie at his feet. Two other men are retreating toward the background in defeat. One of them has removed the red tunic he had been wearing; the other faces the river, tunicless and weeping.
Upright - Clash of wills, attack, quarrel, fight. Attack by a bully.
Reversed - The end of a battle or attack, or at least a truce.
Five of Cups
Under a darkening red sky, a man cloaked in black stands alone facing a flowing river, head bowed in sorrow. At his feet are five cups: The two cups behind him are upright and undisturbed; the three cups before him have been knocked over, their blood-red contents spilled in the mud. There is a bridge over the river, and a darkened building can be seen on the far side.
Upright - Sorrow, emotional suffering from injured feelings or loss of a loved one.
Reversed - Getting used to loss; emotional pain is subsiding.
Five of Pentacles
Five pentacles adorn the colorful stained-glass window of a large building with thick, solid walls. Outside the building, the ground is covered with snow, and snow is still falling heavily. Two inadequately-dressed people are struggling to make their way through the snowstorm. One is a cripple on crutches; the other is poor, in tattered rags and bare feet.
Upright - Material loss, poverty, or physical affliction.
Reversed - Recovery of material loss, or overcoming/dealing well with a physical challenge.
The Aries Files
More to enjoy whenever the Sun is in Aries
I enjoyed your offerings. The last one about colors and the signs they go with. I will really need to contemplate to understand it fully. The composer of The Planets album I think was same person who made the album of the same that I borrowed from the Erie Co. when I was still in middle school