Universal Waite Tarot Deck
78-Card Deck, instruction booklet and box
By Arthur E Waite
- Original drawings by Pamela Colman Smith re-coloured by Mary Hanson-Roberts.
- This tarot deck is a recoloured version of the renowned Original Rider Waite Tarot Deck - designed over a hundred years ago and hugely popular for decades.
- High quality card stock, crisp, clear images. Superior varnish ensures durability and ease of shuffling.
- Regular Tarot card size 7 cm x 12 cm (2.75 inches x 4.75 inches).
- Includes 78 cards in full colour - 22 Major Arcana and 56 Minor Arcana cards.
- Cards only, digital guidebook.
BACKGROUND
The Universal Tarot is a classic tarot deck, it is perhaps the most well-known in the Western world and a favourite of beginners as well as tarot enthusiasts. In 1909, artist Pamela Colman Smith, under the direction of Arthur Edward Waite, created 78 paintings described by Waite to be used in an innovative 78-card tarot deck. It is often called the first modern Tarot deck, as the cards drawn by Pamela Colman-Smith and commissioned by Waite, were the first to use detailed pictorial scenes. Pamela’s varied mystical influences are evident throughout the deck. Once considered revolutionary, The Rider-Waite deck has set the standard for hundreds of other decks and has inspired a myriad of different versions.
OVERVIEW
The Universal Waite Tarot Deck offers a subtle yet stunning alternative, with softer colours, to the Original Rider-Waite Tarot Deck. Its combination of softer colour tones with a naturalistic approach offers a more visually soothing alternative to bring new energy, radiance and depth to your readings.
This is a classic tarot deck, named one of the Top 10 tarot decks of all time it is also known as the Rider-Waite, the Waite, The Rider and Waite-Smith Tarot.
The 78 card tarot deck is divided into two sections: 22 Major Arcana and 56 minor Arcana cards. The Major Arcana are 22 trump cards numbered 0 through 21 and include the Empress, High Priestess, The Magician, The Hierophant and The Fool. The Minor Arcana consists of four suits of 14 cards – King, Queen, Knight and Page. The suits are Swords, Wands, Cups and Pentacles.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR & ARTIST
Arthur Edward Waite (1857 – 1942) is best known for his involvement with the Rider–Waite tarot deck, first published in 1910, with illustrations by Pamela Colman-Smith. The Rider–Waite tarot was notable for illustrating all 78 cards fully, at a time when only the 22 Major Arcana cards were typically illustrated. Waite also authored the deck's companion volume, the Key to the Tarot, a guide to tarot reading.
In 1909, artist Pamela Colman Smith (1878 – 1951), under the direction of Arthur Edward Waite, created 78 allegorical paintings described by Waite to be used in an innovative 78-card tarot deck. The designs published by William Rider and Son exemplify the mysticism, ritual, imagination, fantasy, and deep emotions of the artist.
Mary Hanson-Roberts (1947-2020) was an artist who worked on a number of tarot card decks, including the Universal Waite Tarot Deck, the Hanson-Roberts Tarot Deck and the Whimsical Tarot Deck.
