![]() For that reason, they are excellent for meditation and contemplating life. People are correct to describe it as "Seventy eight degrees of wisdom," as the cards symbolically cover the entirety of human experience. However, the Tarot remains a valuable art form and tool. I no longer believe that fortune telling actually works. I had a large collection of Tarot decks-a couple dozen-and I enjoyed studying the meanings of the cards. Considered one of the easiest decks to learn and to read from. Images tie directly to the traditional meaning of the cards. This is the standard tarot deck that all others are measured against. The Rider deck is not as "glittery" as some of its more modern counterparts, but in the long run it is a wonderful and rewarding tarot without equal. If you are in the market for a deck, my advice is to look not only with your eyes, but with your heart. Pamela Colman Smith's unique symbolism ranges from the simple to the truly arcane. The Rider deck is a perfect first and last deck. For all its coarse lines and flat colors, the deck somehow rises above itself, gracefully conveying all aspects of the human condition. If the point of art is to make you feel your humanity, this deck's art is truly amazing. People can often "intuitively" read this deck without any previous experience with the tarot. Why? The Rider deck truly has a soul, and its images shoot straight to the heart. ![]() And yet, those many decks, which use subtle colors, modern printing techniques and even computer imaging, fail to compete with it. What exactly is it about this deck? Today there are literally hundreds of tarot decks to choose from, most of which are artistically superior to this seemingly rudimentary little deck. He is best known as the co-creator of the Rider-Waite Tarot deck and author of its companion volume The Pictorial Key to the Tarot, first published in 1910. Waite was a prolific author of occult texts, works on the Holy Grail, and the body of mystical knowledge, which comprises the basis of modern Tarot. The Golden Order, whose structural hierarchy was based on the Kabbalah, is considered the single greatest 20th century influence on the occult. Soon after joining the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, he became the Grand Master, and redirected the focus of the order from magic to mysticism. ![]() Beginning at the age of 21, Waite pursued research and writing on psychical and esoteric matters. The designs, published in the same year by William Rider and Son, exemplify the mysticism, ritual, imagination, fantasy, and deep emotions of the artist.īorn in America in 1857, Waite was raised and educated as a Catholic in England. In 1909, under the guidance of Arthur Edward Waite, she undertook a series of seventy-eight allegorical paintings described by Waite as a rectified tarot pack. ![]() Around 1903, she joined the Order of the Golden Dawn. Smith returned to England, where she became a theatrical designer for miniature theatre, and an illustrator - mainly of books, pamphlets and posters. Thereafter, she began formal art training at Pratt Institute of Brooklyn, graduating in 1897. During her teens, she traveled throughout England with the theatre company of Ellen Terry and Henry Irving. Rider-Waite Tarot was named one of the Top Ten Tarot Decks of All Time by Aeclectic Tarot.īorn February 16, 1878, in Middlesex, England to American parents, Smith's childhood years were spent between London, New York, and Kingston, Jamaica. The innovative Minor Arcana, and Pamela Colman Smith's ability to capture the subtleties of emotion and experience have made the Rider-Waite Tarot a model for the designs of many tarot packs." - ( from The Encyclopedia of Tarot, Volume III) The pictorial images on all the cards allow interpretations without the need to repeatedly consult explanatory text. Prior to the Rider-Waite Tarot, the pip cards of almost all tarot decks were marked only with the arrangement of the suit signs - swords, wands, cups, and coins, or pentacles. "A unique feature of the Rider-Waite deck, and one of the of the principal reasons for its enduring popularity, is that all of the cards, including the Minor Arcana, depict full scenes with figures and symbols. This edition includes Smith’s original hand drawn titles. Rider-Waite Tarot has set the standard for hundreds of other tarot decks, which follow the archetypal images created by Pamela Colman Smith in 1909 under the direction of Arthur Edward Waite. ![]()
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