The Rider Waite Smith Tarot deck, created in 1909 by Pamela Colman Smith under the direction of Arthur Edward Waite, is considered the gold standard in the tarot community. It features 78 cards with vibrant scenes and symbols, representing various genders and ethnicities. The Rider-Waite-Smith tradition is the most popular among Tarot readers, making it an ideal deck to introduce beginners to the Tarot.
The Universal Waite recolor is my absolute favorite of all the Rider Waite decks, as its colors are more attractive and pop in a semi-3D way. The Rider-Waite Tarot deck is considered the gold standard in the tarot community due to its rich symbolism and intricate illustrations. The Rider-Waite deck is considered one of the best decks for on-the-go readings, with the Yellow Box US Games and Centennial being the best due to their undistorted line work.
The Tower card in the Rider-Waite deck is one of the most potent and complex in the Major Arcana, holding a powerful message about sudden events. The choice between the Radiant Rider-Waite and the Universal Waite Tarot, produced by the US Games Systems, was based on the instructions of academic and professional tarot readers.
The Rider-Waite-Smith deck is recommended because it is older and many tarot books are written based on that specific deck. However, if you use a different deck, the original Rider-Waite Tarot is the best option. The miniature edition of the Rider-Waite® Tarot is perfect for on-the-go readings, measuring 1.75″ x 2.875″.
In summary, the Rider-Waite Tarot deck is a popular and widely used deck for tarot card reading, with a variety of decks recommended by tarot readers.
📹 Rider Waite Comparison
Decks: Original Tarot Non-copyright Rider Waite Rider Waite Smith Original Rider Waite Albano Waite Rider Tarot Spanish 1910 …
What is the No 1 Tarot card?
The Magician, also known as The Magus or The Juggler, is the first trump or Major Arcana card in traditional tarot decks, used for game playing and divination. In the occult context, the trump cards are recontextualized as the Major Arcana and given complex esoteric meaning. In this context, the Magician is interpreted as the first numbered and second total card of the Major Arcana, succeeding the Fool. In French, Le Bateleur, also known as “the mountebank” or “sleight of hand artist”, is a practitioner of stage magic.
In Italian tradition, he is called Il Bagatto or Il Bagatello. The Mantegna Tarocchi image of the Magician is labeled Artixano, the Artisan, and is the second lowest in the series. 18th-century woodcuts of the Magician reflect earlier iconic representations and can be compared to free artistic renditions in 15th-century hand-painted tarots.
Is the Rider tarot deck good?
This deck serves as an exemplary foundation for those seeking to gain proficiency in tarot card reading and to develop a comprehensive understanding of the symbolism associated with the various suits and numbers.
What is the most lucky Tarot card?
The Wheel of Fortune card, a part of the Major Arcana, is a symbol of destiny, fortune, success, elevation, luck, and felicity. It has been modeled since the 15th century after the medieval concept of Rota Fortunae, the wheel of the goddess Fortuna. The card typically features a six- or eight-spoked wheel, often attended by an individual dressed in an Egyptian-style headdress. In some decks, the wheel is also attended by an individual wearing a blindfold.
The wheel is not always inscribed with any lettering, but the letters T-A-R-O (clockwise) or T-O-R-A (counter clockwise) can be found aligned against four of the spokes, which can also be interpreted as R-O-T-A, the Latin word meaning “wheel”. In some decks, such as the Waite, the wheel is inscribed with additional alchemical symbols representing the four elements: Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. The Waite card also features four yellow winged creatures representing the symbols of the four Evangelists, represented by the fixed astrological signs Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, and Aquarius. Additionally, the wheel is accompanied by the Hebrew letters י-ה-ו-ה, usually transliterated as YHWH (Yahweh – Hebrew for God).
What is the most popular tarot deck?
The Rider Waite Smith Tarot is a popular deck for tarot card reading, first published by the Rider Company in 1909. It was based on the instructions of academic and mystic A. E. Waite and illustrated by Pamela Colman Smith, both members of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. The deck has been published in numerous editions and inspired a wide array of variants and imitations. Over 100 million copies circulate across 20 countries.
The images in the deck are simple but feature abundant symbolism. Some imagery remains similar to earlier decks, but overall, the Waite-Smith card designs are substantially different from their predecessors. Christian imagery was removed from some cards and added to others, such as the “Papess” becoming the “High Priestess” and the “Lovers” card resembling naked Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. The Minor Arcana is illustrated with allegorical scenes by Smith, unlike earlier decks.
Symbols and imagery in the deck were influenced by 19th-century magician and occultist Eliphas Levi and the teachings of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. To accommodate astrological correspondences taught by the Golden Dawn, Waite introduced several innovations to the deck, such as changing the order of the Strength and Justice cards to correspond with Leo and Libra, and based the Lovers card on Italian tarot decks.
What is the most powerful tarot card?
Tarot cards are a popular tool for self-reflection and guidance, as well as entertainment and exploring subconscious mind aspects. However, there is no single card that stands out as the most powerful. Each card has different meanings and impacts, depending on the context, question, and reader interpretation. Some of the most influential cards include The Fool, the first card of the Major Arcana, which represents new beginnings and infinite possibilities.
The Fool is often depicted as a young man about to step off a cliff, with a dog at his feet, a bag on his shoulder, and a white rose in his hand. The Tower, the third card, represents the power of turning ideas into reality and the potential to create and transform ourselves. Overall, the Tarot cards play a significant role in shaping our lives and providing guidance.
What is the luckiest card in a deck?
The Ace of Spades, also known as the Spadille, Old Frizzle, or Death Card, is the highest and most valued card in the deck of playing cards. Its ornate design, common in packs today, originated from the 17th century when James I and Queen Anne imposed laws requiring the ace of spades to bear an insignia of the printing house. Stamp duty, introduced by Charles I, was extended to playing cards in 1711 by Queen Anne and lasted until 1960.
Over time, various methods were used to show that duty had been paid, including hand stamping from 1712, printing the official ace of spades by the Stamp Office in 1765, and in 1828, the Duty Ace of Spades (known as “Old Frizzle”) was printed to indicate a reduced duty of a shilling.
What is the best deck for learning tarot?
Tarot cards, originally used for divination, have evolved into a versatile tool for creative aids and divination. The Rider-Waite Tarot, True Heart Intuitive Tarot, Taylor Tarot, The Good Karma Tarot, The Lioness Oracle Tarot, Tarot of Life, Taroturial Tarot Deck, and Four Noble Tarot are some of the popular tarot decks. Author Katy Hays uses cards from her “Cloisters” book to guide her chapters. Today, there are numerous indie decks available, some incorporating imagery from the Rider Waite Smith deck and others reinventing the wheel. Frances Naude, tarot reader and creator of Four Noble Tarot, advises readers to choose a deck they feel most drawn to, as it should make them feel supported, nourished, and want to pick it up.
What does the Queen of Wands mean in Rider Waite Tarot deck?
The Queen of Wands card may symbolize a sincere, friendly, chaste, or loving woman who might be influential or present in the querent’s life. It could represent an older, lighter-haired woman who is supportive and kind, or a mother-like figure. The reversed card could represent qualities like good, economical, obliging, serviceable, and hospitality. It can also signify opposition, jealousy, deceit, and infidelity. The card is career-oriented, hardworking, honest, independent, and thoughtful.
What is the luckiest card in the deck?
The Ace of Spades, also known as the Spadille, Old Frizzle, or Death Card, is the highest and most valued card in the deck of playing cards. Its ornate design, common in packs today, originated from the 17th century when James I and Queen Anne imposed laws requiring the ace of spades to bear an insignia of the printing house. Stamp duty, introduced by Charles I, was extended to playing cards in 1711 by Queen Anne and lasted until 1960.
Over time, various methods were used to show that duty had been paid, including hand stamping from 1712, printing the official ace of spades by the Stamp Office in 1765, and in 1828, the Duty Ace of Spades (known as “Old Frizzle”) was printed to indicate a reduced duty of a shilling.
What is the most valuable tarot card?
The Fool is a card in tarot games, not part of the Major Arcana. In most games, the Fool is independent of both plain suit cards and trump cards, and does not belong to either category. Tarot decks originally made for game playing do not assign a number to the Fool indicating its rank in the suit of trumps. The Fool is one of the most valuable cards in almost all tarot games.
In tarot games originating from Italy and France, the Fool has a unique role, sometimes called “the Excuse”. In these games, the player excuses the player from following suit or playing a trump. At the end of the trick, the player takes back the Fool and adds it to their trick pile, giving the trick’s winner the least valuable card from that same pile. If there are no cards to give in exchange, the Fool is worth one point less and an extra point is given to the trick-taker.
In a minor variant option of French tarot, a player dealt trump 1 but with no other trumps or the Fool can make trump 1 behave the same as the Fool. In official tournament rules, a player in this situation must declare their hand and force a redeal.
What is the luckiest card in the tarot?
The Wheel of Fortune card, part of the Major Arcana, is a symbol of destiny, fortune, success, elevation, luck, and felicity. It is often depicted in a six- or eight-spoked wheel, often attended by an individual dressed in an Egyptian-style headdress. In some decks, such as the AG Müller, the wheel is also attended by an individual wearing a blindfold. The wheel is not always inscribed with any lettering, but the letters T-A-R-O (clockwise) or T-O-R-A (counter clockwise) can be found aligned against four of the spokes, which can also be interpreted as R-O-T-A, the Latin word meaning “wheel”.
In some decks, such as the Waite, the wheel is inscribed with additional alchemical symbols representing the four elements: Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. These emblems can also be seen on the Magician’s table in the Magician card (Card I).
📹 Rider Waite Smith Tarot Deck: DON’T USE IT TO LEARN TAROT! Here is Why! Tea & Tarot With Marwan. Ep1
Rider Waite Smith Tarot In this episode of Tea & Tarot with Marwan, we start discussing the Rider Waite Smith Tarot Deck in detail, …
That was the best review of the Rider Waite decks- I really enjoyed seeing them up close side by side and have chosen my favorite. I have the Radiant Rider Waite & the moon is definitely the prettiest of all decks and my favorite is the Radiant Wise Borderless! The Hermit looks the best with the colors. That will be the deck I will do for my readings. It shows more of the scene, it’s just gorgeous. Thank you!!♥
i’m new to tarot and i wanted to purchase my first deck and seeing this article i instantly, and when i say instantly, i mean INSTANTLY connected to the radiant spirit tarot deck ! Lord i bought immediately after! I just never even commented but it’s been about 2 months since i bought the deck and currently working with it (: 💞💞 Thank you !!!
You need to look more into the Albano deck. What you mentioned about it isn’t true. The colorist Frank colored them according to “colorology” and symbolism, plus it has the most detailing in the print of any deck. Did you know there is an eye and bird on the fools bag? Yes, those symbols have meanings that Pamela added in there, but they were lost to the printers. After a lot of research I got my hands on a 1968 version, and I think it’s the best one out there.
Super duper helpful! Trying to decide on my first deck. I’m leaning towards the borderless version although I may get the centennial instead. Same coloring pretty much but there’s borders. The borderless for me is almost right until you pay attention to how they didn’t crop the image, they drew more to the picture. You can see it pretty well in the empress and the magician in particular. But anyway, thank you so much for the comparisons!
As I’m quite new to the world of tarot, I have to say I’m Rider nerd too! I plan to get the copyright of rider waite one but I spend weeks deciding which edition to buy! Just because I need to make sure I get the right size with my hands and the colors that I like. I also talk to some people about this and they seem not really understand why am I so picky about this but thank you for showing I’m not the only one who is the rider nerd! Lol thank you.
There is now a Vintage Pam deck that is just awesome. Maybe not your fav because you like the brighter colors it seems, but it has a feel to it like no other. On beautiful linen, as well. It’s a limited edition only through a playing card website. (don’t remember the name right now, but contact me if interested and I”ll look it up.) They have both full and deck size. My new favorite RWS . (Also the illuminated Tarot but I think that’s out of print.) Great article. Thanks. I”m teaching a tarot starting in a couple of weeks. I’ll definitely put this article link in the handouts.. 🙂
Thank you for doing this review! I have been reading tarot for a while now, but don’t have a good RW deck (my husband gave me a holographic RW deck that is hard to look at, LOL! Well-intentioned, but not “the one.”) I would have to say that from your review, my favorites are the Universal and the Radiant RW! Thanks!
It’s weird that I have the spanish type of version but it is not in Spanish. It is in English but with the same text font as it is and the back of the card is not green but Blue!!!. I think mine’s fake or China has modded the card to make it look more appealing. Since the skin of The Fool is more Yellowish.
As a collector of Waite-Smith spin-off decks, I appreciate this article to see the differences of the clone decks out there. I don’t care much for card backings differences or color differences. I am more attracted to spin-off versions of the original artwork of Pixie. I have the Centennial, Radiant, Radiant Wise, Albano-Waite, RDR Tarot, White Tarot, and RWS 2.0 as my main clone spin-off decks. Thanks for an informative article! 🤗🤗🤗
That’s not pixelation on the borderless, that’s a result of using linen cardstock rather than matte, gloss, semi-gloss/semi-matte, etc. Linen shuffles better and is more durable. Not my favorite, but some people base their enjoyability of playing cards on texture & feel over aesthetics and others prefer aesthetics over texture/feel.
I just noticed where the period is on the fool card, that maybe a way to tell how vintage they are also, because i just got a deck from ebay trying to figure out what year, because there is no copyright on them just on the sides of cards very small the box has the green wand, and the colors are pale colors has ibns number downside back of box, perfect condition, so whoever owned these took very very well care, it’s got both blank cards vol l and vol ll with the Stamford ct address but backside of book has the Ludlow street address on it on it talks about how to order the catalog, from cartomancy. NOw Im thinking i may have ended up with a later version or possibly early edition for the 70’s and not an 80’s to 90’s deck. Im so unsure and trying to figure this out, because the punctuation is far out on it from and on the fool card. Im trying to find someone that would def. know what year it is so i can figure it out for my own. I’ve asked several but with no response back yet.
Great article thank you! I was hoping to find out what deck is the one with smiths images only cards like the two of cups are hugging, and the 4 of cups has one person holding a coin in front of 3 children sitting in front of him each holding a coin. I can’t find anything anywhere except for images 😭 If you know what deck this is, I would be great full for your knowledge.❤️
Loved it totally ❤ tooo many decks in one. This could hve been titled All in one decks comparison which ppl mostly buy. Please a request to u, can u make a side by side comparison of the da brigh original tarot deck and real original, tht vintage one deck. Just every card comparison between them 😁 P-L-E-A-S-E 🙏
I think the older ones are colored in linework and that’s the difference in color, but i think mine are just like your second stack. But the copyright is so so small you can barely see that is there and the bottom is like a pale blueish grey so light and pale. That’s the way mine is the art lines in the fools inside sleeves which that I think makes it totally older. His face is pale. I’m trying my best to get a date because the copyright on side is 1971 but it’s possible it’s early to late 70’s but was told it was 86-90’s but i don’t think it is just because of the art of them. if you could help that would be greatly appreciated. These are so matte feeling and flimsy like airy, windy if that makes since got a odd sound not like the new cards, these are super thin but flimsy and so so pale. My first deck after my 80’s deck that did get lost moving i think my mom may have thrown them away, but the original deck was my second newest first deck and brought back so many memories for me after I started working with it more, and so accurate to read with. But at first, I didn’t want anything to do with it, but the more i picked it up the better it worked so now that’s what i use the most, the original deck/the sepia brownish colored ones. I didn’t click well with it first, but I have learned with it,
Hi, I hope you do not mind me asking but I was looking to buy the Before and After Tarot Decks from Lo Scarabeo but I dont know which RWS deck should I buy to complete the trinity. Initially, Im thinking the Centinnial deck that come with the PCS Commemorative edition would be nice but Im not sure if its the same size. Before and After cards measure 7×11.8cm. I have limited budget and thus I cannot commit a mistake in purchase. I trust your recommendation wholeheartedly.