Rider-Waite-Smith Deck

Definition

The most widely used English-language tarot deck, published in 1909 by Rider & Company. Designed by A. E. Waite and illustrated by Pamela Colman Smith.

Origin

Waite was a senior member of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn who departed from earlier French and Italian traditions by commissioning fully illustrated Minor Arcana scenes. Smith, an under-credited artist, executed all 78 designs over six months in 1909 for a flat fee.

Development

The deck broke with Marseille tradition by making Strength card VIII and Justice XI (swapping their Golden Dawn positions for symbolic reasons). It also added pictorial scenes to the Minor Arcana, a Smith innovation that became the template for nearly every modern English-language deck.

In Practice

The deck's symbolic vocabulary — the white tower struck by lightning, the four creatures of The World, the rose and lily of The Magician — is now the lingua franca of Western tarot. Readers educated on RWS can intuit most modern decks because designers cite or adapt Smith's imagery.

Deeper Reading

For decades the deck was marketed as "Rider-Waite," omitting Smith. Recent scholarship and the 2009 centenary led to the "Rider-Waite-Smith" naming and renewed appreciation of Smith's contribution as the deck's primary creative force.

See Also

• RWS
• Rider-Waite
• Waite-Smith
• Smith-Waite