Rider Waite Smith Tarot: Why It's the Gold Standard

Introduction: The Deck That Changed Everything

Walk into any metaphysical shop, open any tarot book, search "tarot" on Google Images. What do you see? The Fool stepping off a cliff. The Lovers standing beneath an angel. Three swords piercing a heart.

These images are so iconic, so deeply embedded in our collective consciousness, that we forget: they're only 115 years old.

Before 1909, tarot was a very different thing. The Rider-Waite-Smith deck changed everything—and understanding why it became the gold standard will make you a better reader of any deck you choose.

The History: A Revolutionary Collaboration

In 1909, publisher William Rider commissioned occultist Arthur Edward Waite to create a new tarot deck. Waite hired artist Pamela Colman Smith—a member of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn—to illustrate it.

The result was revolutionary for three reasons:

1. Fully illustrated Minor Arcana. Before RWS, the 56 Minor Arcana cards were mostly "pip" cards—just symbols arranged on a background, like playing cards. Smith illustrated every single card with a narrative scene, making them infinitely more readable and intuitive.

2. Accessible symbolism. Waite and Smith encoded Kabbalistic, astrological, and esoteric symbolism into every card—but in a way that could be read intuitively, without knowing the system behind it.

3. The Fool's Journey. The Major Arcana was reframed as a narrative journey of the soul—from The Fool's innocent beginning to The World's completion. This storytelling framework made tarot a tool for self-reflection, not just divination.

Why It's Still the Gold Standard

Universal Language

When tarot readers around the world discuss cards, they speak RWS. When authors write tarot books, they reference RWS. When teachers create courses, they use RWS. Learning this deck gives you access to the entire tarot ecosystem—every book, course, and community.

The Foundation of Modern Tarot

The vast majority of tarot decks published in the last century are either direct RWS clones, RWS-inspired reimaginings, or deliberate departures from RWS. To understand any of them, you need to understand RWS first.

Fully Illustrated = Intuitive Reading

Because every card tells a visual story, you can often intuit a card's meaning just by looking at it—even without prior knowledge. This makes RWS uniquely beginner-friendly while remaining endlessly deep for advanced readers.

Rich Symbolic Depth

Every color, number, symbol, and figure in RWS was chosen deliberately. The more you study it, the more layers you discover. A lifetime of study won't exhaust its depth.

The Symbolism System

Colors

Yellow/gold = consciousness, intellect, divine light. White = purity, spiritual truth. Red = passion, action, desire. Blue = emotion, intuition, the unconscious. Green = growth, nature, abundance. Black = the unknown, mystery, potential.

Numbers

Each number carries meaning: 1 = beginnings, 2 = duality, 3 = growth, 4 = stability, 5 = conflict, 6 = harmony, 7 = seeking, 8 = power, 9 = completion, 10 = endings and new beginnings.

Figures and Postures

Figures facing right = moving toward the future. Figures facing left = looking to the past. Raised hands = offering or receiving. Downward gaze = introspection.

The Major Arcana: The Fool's Journey

The 22 Major Arcana cards tell the story of The Fool's journey through life—from innocent beginning (The Fool, 0) through worldly experience (The Magician through The Wheel of Fortune) to spiritual mastery (Justice through The World). This narrative framework is one of RWS's greatest contributions to tarot. For the complete guide to all 22 cards and how they connect, see Major Arcana Explained: The Fool's Journey Complete.

Versions of the Rider-Waite-Smith

Original Rider-Waite: The classic, with slightly faded colors from the original printing. Radiant Rider-Waite: Brighter, more saturated colors. Easier to see details. Universal Waite: Recolored by Mary Hanson-Roberts. Softer, more pastel palette. Centennial Rider-Waite: Faithful reproduction of the original 1909 printing. Smith-Waite Centennial: Sepia-toned, vintage feel. Beautiful collector's edition.

Should You Start with RWS?

If you want the most supported learning experience—yes. If you're drawn to a different deck that resonates more deeply—follow your intuition. Many readers start with RWS for the foundation, then branch out to decks that speak to them more personally. Others start with their heart deck and learn RWS later as a reference system. Both paths work.

Final Thoughts

Study it. Understand it. Appreciate the revolutionary work that Pamela Colman Smith and Arthur Edward Waite did to make tarot accessible. Then, if you want, move on to other decks. But always remember: the Rider-Waite-Smith is where modern tarot began. And it's still the best place to start your journey.

The RWS system is the foundation—but knowing how to deepen your practice is the next essential step. The Tarot and Psychology: An In-Depth Exploration from Jungian Theory to Divination Practice reveals the psychological architecture behind every RWS archetype—making the symbolism genuinely unforgettable. The Third Eye: Intuition Activation & Trust Audio trains the intuitive channel that transforms RWS symbolism from memorization into living insight. Carry all 78 RWS archetypes with you in our 78 Tarot Cards Scarf—a wearable way to absorb the system you're learning, and record your growing understanding in the Tarot Journaling Prompts.