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He began writing essays and articles that ultimately made him develop the Rider Waite Tarot Deck along with The Key to the Tarot. He slowly started getting fascinated about the occult. He was a sincere Catholic, however, post his teenage sister’s death, he started losing faith. Arthur was born in America but moved to England in his early years after his father’s demise. His major interests were topics like The Holy Grail, Alchemy and Tarot. He authored about 50 books and translated many works from French to English. Most of the tarot decks produced today are said to be replicas of the 1909 Rider-Waite deck, because of the resemblance in their illustrations and symbolism.Īrthur Edward Waite was a British writer, academician, editor, and translator. The instruction booklet explains how the 56 minor cards are further divided into four suits - wands, cups, pentacles and swords. The 78 cards are distributed into two Arcanas - Major and Minor. The pictures on the deck appear simple yet every feature has a figurative connotation. It gradually became famous and has been playing a substantial role in the progress of tarot decks. The booklet was combined with the deck and they were together sold as a set.
#RIDER WAITE TAROT HOW TO#
Waite penned an instruction booklet The Key to the Tarot and explained in more detail as to how to use the deck, the history of the cards and the meaning and significance of each symbol. The famous illustrator Pamela Colman Smith drew the cards as per the instructions given by the academician Arthur Edward Waite. Rider Waite Tarot Deck was originally published by William Rider & Son of London in the year 1909. It comes along with an instruction booklet that explains the cards and their uses. The Original Rider Waite Tarot Deck is, perhaps, the most desirable tarot deck in the world.
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