A.E. Waite: Creator of the Rider-Waite Tarot
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BY NICOLE LAU
Arthur Edward Waite (1857-1942) created the most influential tarot deck in history—the Rider-Waite Tarot (now properly called the Rider-Waite-Smith deck, acknowledging artist Pamela Colman Smith). While Waite was a prolific occult scholar who wrote extensively on Kabbalah, Christian mysticism, and the Western esoteric tradition, his collaboration with Smith on this tarot deck became his most enduring legacy. Today, the RWS deck and its countless variations are used by millions worldwide, making it the standard against which all other tarot decks are measured.
The Scholar and Mystic
Waite's path to creating the tarot was through decades of occult scholarship:
Early Life (1857-1891):
American birth, British upbringing: Born in Brooklyn, New York to American father and English mother. Father died when Waite was young; family returned to England. Raised in poverty but educated himself extensively.
Catholic conversion: Converted to Roman Catholicism as a young man, though later developed his own esoteric Christianity. This Catholic mystical influence would deeply shape his tarot.
Early occult interests: Began studying occultism, Freemasonry, and mysticism in his twenties. Read voraciously—Eliphas Levi, Kabbalah, alchemy, Rosicrucianism.
The Golden Dawn Years (1891-1914):
Joining the Order: Initiated into the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn in 1891. Quickly advanced through the grades, mastering the complete system. Became one of the Order's leading scholars.
The schisms: The Golden Dawn fractured into competing factions after the Mathers-Westcott conflict. Waite eventually led his own group—the Independent and Rectified Rite (later the Fellowship of the Rosy Cross).
Christian emphasis: Unlike Crowley's Thelemic approach or Mathers' Egyptian focus, Waite emphasized Christian mysticism and the Holy Grail. He saw the Western esoteric tradition as fundamentally Christian.
The Tarot Commission (1909):
The publisher: William Rider & Son commissioned Waite to create a new tarot deck for the popular market. Previous decks (Marseille, Etteilla) were either too obscure or too fortune-telling focused.
The artist: Waite chose Pamela Colman Smith, a fellow Golden Dawn member and talented artist. She had the vision and skill to execute his esoteric concepts.
The collaboration: Waite provided the symbolic instructions and esoteric meanings. Smith created the artwork, bringing her own artistic vision and intuition. The deck was completed in just six months (1909).
Publication (1910): The Rider-Waite Tarot was published and became an immediate success. It's never been out of print since.
The Revolutionary Deck
What made the Rider-Waite Tarot revolutionary?
Illustrated Minor Arcana:
The innovation: Previous tarot decks showed only pip cards for the Minor Arcana (like playing cards—just swords, cups, wands, pentacles). Waite and Smith illustrated every card with symbolic scenes.
The impact: This made the cards immediately readable and interpretable. You could understand the Three of Swords (heartbreak) or Ten of Cups (family happiness) just by looking at the image.
The accessibility: Beginners could read tarot without memorizing abstract meanings. The pictures told stories.
Golden Dawn Symbolism:
Kabbalistic correspondences: Each card corresponds to paths on the Tree of Life, Hebrew letters, and astrological attributions—all from the Golden Dawn system.
Alchemical and Rosicrucian symbols: The deck is dense with esoteric symbolism for those who know how to read it.
Christian mysticism: Waite embedded Christian mystical themes—the Grail quest, redemption, spiritual transformation.
Accessible Yet Deep:
Surface level: Beautiful, evocative images that speak to intuition. Anyone can use the deck for divination.
Deeper levels: Layers of esoteric symbolism for serious students. The deck rewards study and contemplation.
The genius: Waite created a deck that works for both beginners and advanced practitioners—rare in esoteric tools.
Key Innovations in Specific Cards
The Fool:
Waite's vision: The Fool as spiritual seeker, stepping off the cliff in divine trust. Not a madman but the soul beginning its journey.
Symbolism: White rose (purity), small dog (animal nature), mountains (spiritual heights), sun (divine consciousness).
The High Priestess:
Waite's vision: The divine feminine, keeper of mysteries, seated between the pillars of duality.
Symbolism: Pomegranates (Persephone, the underworld), Torah scroll (hidden wisdom), moon at her feet (the unconscious).
The Lovers:
The change: Earlier decks showed a man choosing between two women. Waite showed Adam and Eve in the Garden—the choice between divine and earthly love.
Symbolism: Angel Raphael (divine guidance), Tree of Knowledge and Tree of Life, the mountain (spiritual aspiration).
Death:
Waite's vision: Transformation, not literal death. The skeleton knight as the great leveler—death comes to all.
Symbolism: Rising sun (rebirth), river (the flow of life), white rose (purity through transformation).
The Minor Arcana Scenes:
Three of Swords: Heart pierced by three swords—heartbreak, sorrow, painful truth.
Ten of Cups: Family under rainbow—emotional fulfillment, happiness, harmony.
Five of Pentacles: Beggars in snow outside church—poverty, hardship, feeling excluded.
The innovation: These scenes make the cards' meanings immediately graspable.
Pamela Colman Smith: The Forgotten Artist
For decades, Smith's contribution was overlooked:
Who She Was:
Background: Born in London (1878), raised in Jamaica and New York. Artist, illustrator, and theatrical designer. Member of the Golden Dawn and friend of W.B. Yeats.
Her vision: Smith brought her own artistic sensibility and intuition to the cards. Many of the Minor Arcana scenes came from her imagination, not Waite's specific instructions.
Her payment: She received a flat fee (about £50) and no royalties. Despite creating the world's most popular tarot deck, she died in poverty in 1951.
The Recognition:
The name change: In recent decades, tarot scholars have pushed to call it the Rider-Waite-Smith deck, acknowledging Smith's essential contribution.
Her legacy: Smith's artistic vision made the deck accessible and beautiful. Without her, Waite's esoteric concepts would have remained abstract.
Waite's Other Works
Beyond the tarot, Waite was a prolific occult scholar:
Major Books:
The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1911): Waite's guide to his deck, explaining symbolism and divinatory meanings. Essential companion to the RWS deck.
The Holy Kabbalah (1929): Comprehensive study of Jewish mysticism from a Christian esoteric perspective. Still valuable today.
The Book of Ceremonial Magic (1911): Survey of grimoires and magical texts. Scholarly and comprehensive.
The Hidden Church of the Holy Grail (1909): Waite's vision of esoteric Christianity and the Grail mysteries.
His Approach:
Scholarly rigor: Waite read sources in original languages, cited extensively, and maintained academic standards.
Christian mysticism: He interpreted all Western esotericism through a Christian mystical lens—the Grail, redemption, spiritual transformation.
Verbose style: Waite's writing is notoriously dense and wordy. He never used one word when ten would do. This makes his books challenging but thorough.
The Constant Unification Perspective
Waite's tarot demonstrates universal constants through Western Christian symbolism:
- Tarot = Universal wisdom: The 22 Major Arcana parallel the 22 Hebrew letters, 22 paths on the Tree of Life, and archetypal journey found across traditions
- The Fool's Journey = Hero's Journey: The progression through the Major Arcana is the same initiatory path described by Campbell, Jung, and mystery traditions worldwide
- Minor Arcana = Elements: Wands (Fire), Cups (Water), Swords (Air), Pentacles (Earth)—the universal fourfold division of reality
- Court Cards = Personality types: Different expressions of the same archetypal patterns found in all typology systems
The Deck's Influence
On Tarot Practice:
The standard: Most modern tarot decks are based on or react to the RWS system. It's the reference point for contemporary tarot.
Accessibility: Made tarot accessible to millions who would never have studied esoteric systems. Democratized divination.
Variations: Countless decks use the RWS structure with different artistic styles—from cats to crystals to cosmic themes.
On Popular Culture:
Recognition: Even non-tarot readers recognize RWS imagery—the Fool, Death, the Lovers. It's entered popular consciousness.
Divination mainstream: The RWS deck helped make tarot reading socially acceptable and widely practiced.
Criticisms and Limitations
Christian bias: Waite's Christian mystical interpretation doesn't resonate with everyone. Some prefer more pagan or secular approaches.
Victorian morality: Some card meanings reflect Victorian values (e.g., emphasis on marriage, traditional gender roles).
Smith's erasure: For decades, Smith's contribution was ignored—an injustice only recently being corrected.
Verbose explanations: Waite's Pictorial Key is dense and difficult. Many prefer more accessible guides.
Practical Applications
Learning Tarot:
Start with RWS: Even if you eventually prefer other decks, learning with RWS provides a solid foundation. Most tarot books reference it.
Study the symbols: Don't just memorize meanings—understand the symbolism. Why does the Hermit hold a lantern? What do the pomegranates on the High Priestess mean?
Use multiple sources: Waite's Pictorial Key plus modern interpretations. The deck supports multiple reading styles.
For Divination:
Intuitive reading: The illustrated Minor Arcana allows intuitive interpretation. What story do you see in the cards?
Esoteric depth: For serious students, study the Kabbalistic and astrological correspondences. The deck rewards deep study.
Conclusion
Arthur Edward Waite, in collaboration with Pamela Colman Smith, created the most influential tarot deck in history. The Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot made tarot accessible to millions while maintaining esoteric depth for serious students. Its illustrated Minor Arcana, Golden Dawn symbolism, and Christian mystical themes created a deck that works for both beginners and advanced practitioners.
Over a century after its creation, the RWS deck remains the standard for modern tarot. Whether you use it for divination, meditation, or spiritual development, you're working with a tool that has helped millions connect with intuition, explore the unconscious, and navigate life's challenges.
Waite's vision—making esoteric wisdom accessible without dumbing it down—succeeded brilliantly. The deck is both a practical divination tool and a profound spiritual teaching, encoded in images that speak to both conscious and unconscious mind.
In our next article, we'll explore The Pictorial Key to the Tarot in depth, examining Waite's interpretations and how to use his system for divination and spiritual development.
This article is part of our Western Esotericism Masters series, exploring the key figures who shaped modern mystical practice.
📖 Explore This Series: The Pictorial Key to the Tarot | Waite's Kabbalah & Christian Mysticism | The Evolution of Tarot Decks
🔮 Deepen Your Practice: 78 Cards, Infinite Paths: A Systems Approach to Tarot
For those resonating with the archetypal journey through the Major Arcana and the layered symbolism Waite embedded, the The 52-Week Tarot Journey offers a structured path to deepen that connection over a full cycle of reflection, much like the Fool's own unfolding adventure. The Tarot Journaling Prompts provide 100 questions to help you decode the personal messages within each card's image, while the 30-Day Tarot Practice Workbook builds daily intimacy with the deck's vocabulary. For those drawn to the Jungian and archetypal undercurrents Waite channeled, the Jung and the Archetype guide explores exactly that bridge between the cards and the unconscious. And for a deeper dive into the very system Waite used, Shadow Work Tarot turns the cards toward the internal locus of growth, revealing how the deck's mirrors can illuminate our own hidden landscapes.
