Introduction to the RWS Major Arcana

[Joan Marie]

My very first tarot deck was the Rider-Waite-Smith and for a very long time it was my only deck so we got well acquainted.
I used it every day and with it I learned to read and to love the tarot. Back then it was just called the Rider-Waite Tarot with only a polite nod given to artist Pamela Coleman Smith whose iconic imagery continues to manifest in some way through nearly every modern deck created today.

Truth be told, I really haven't used the RWS in ages and am looking forward to leading this study group where we will look at the cards of this enigmatic deck, this workhorse of divination, one-by-one, just the way I did when I first started learning tarot.

My well worn, slightly warped, oft neglected but still loved RWS deck.

I plan to begin, appropriately, with The Fool and progress through the deck in some way, probably not in order, but opening topics one-by-one until we have acquainted or re-acquainted ourselves with each of the cards of the deck.

I am certainly no expert but I promise to do my best to start the conversations and hopefully elicit your contributions, large or small, learned or beginner, intuitive or by-the-book as we explore the Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot.

[Joan Marie]

I want to add one more thing about how I plan to approach this study.

I will be using A.E. Waite's The Pictorial Key to the Tarot as a jumping off point for discussion of each card.

My feelings about this book are mixed and that will become apparent as we progress. In many places I see ambiguously worded text or text that could at least be taken in more than one way, in other words I see a lot of sub-text. Whether Waite intended that or not isn't important to me, though I like to think that at least in some cases his ambiguity was intended to coerce the reader into deeply engaging with the cards. Think of the centuries of discussion that have taken place contemplating the meaning of Mona Lisa's smile.

There are some cards where I can't help but feel Waite just wasn't at his best when he wrote what he wrote. In every case though, I think it's pretty apparent that his descriptions are short to the point of being a bit skimpy and really require us to work to pull the meanings out ourselves as best we can with the tools we are provided including our own skills and craft.

The RWS cards and the book are works of art that have stood the test of time and that means, like all good art, they challenge the observer in the changing circumstances of the world and of the individual person through time.

If you read The Great Gatsby at age 20, then again at age 35 then again in your 50's you will experience it as 3 entirely different books. That is the genius of F. Scott Fitzgerald's writing. Waite is no Fitzgerald, that's for sure, but his book combined with the art of Pamela Coleman Smith, what we know of the history and craft of tarot reading through time and what each individual person brings to this discussion, we can explore the many many layers of this enigmatic deck of cards in a way that will help each of us develop new ways of seeing and appreciating it as well as a new appreciation for Tarot in general.

[chongjasmine]

I love the RWS deck. It was my first deck, and introduced me to the tarot.
I love the fact that many tarot books are based on it.
I currently use the universal waite deck, which is a more brightly coloured version of RWS.