In Part 2 of my celebration of Pamela Colman Smith, we dive into her collaboration with Arthur Waite for the Rider Waite Tarot deck. (The first tarot deck to be mass marketed in English.) Join me in a journey through her “direct, captivating imagery.”
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Resources for this episode include:
Mary K. Greer (marykgreer.com)
Stephen Kaplan: “Pamela Colman Smith: The Untold Story”
Allison Meier
Welcome to Episode 156: Rider Waite Tarot Deck Illustrator Pamela Colman Smith. I crafted a 2 part episode to celebrate Smith. This is Part 2; Part 1 journeys you through highlights and aspects of the 20th century artist life, artistic practice and the ways her feminine experience blazed a path for future women artists. In Part II we will focus and take a dive into the imagery of the tarot deck, its history, purpose as a divination tool, the events that led up to the creation of a Rider Waite tarot deck by the mystic scholar Arthur Waite. Waite commissioned Smith to compose the imagery for the cards. So if you are interested in learning more about Smith the artist, I suggest you listen to Part 1: Episode 155 and then you can catch up with us in part 2.
Before we journey through the Rider Waite tarot deck’s imagery which is rich in symbolic detail, theatrical overtones and embedded with mysterious faux medieval atmosphere, let’s consider the history of the tarot deck. Special thanks to writer Mary K. Greer whose seminal works on tarot I used in my research. The following is pulled from articles Greer has published in both blogs and texts. “Tarot originated sometime between 1420 and 1440 in Northern Italy, probably in the court of Milan or possibly even Florence, amid other experiments in creating a suit of triumphal cards—triumphal cards are used for games, fortune-telling and divination. Divination in the context of tarot is “the process of reading patterns and signs to indicate the future. It is the practice of discovering what will happen in the future.” At first the playing cards were hand painted and rare but after the invention of the printing press were mass produced. The playing cards appeared in Europe and spread quickly about 60-75 years before the Triumphs or Trump cards (also called the Major Arcana) were added to the deck. For the first 350 years ‘Il Trionfos’ were known almost entirely for playing games similar to whist or bridge as attested to by several frescos and text references.
While there are are rare indications early on that both playing cards and tarot were used for divination and character delineations, true “reading” practices were not widely known until the late 18th century. It was around 1750 that the print-seller and teacher of Algebra, Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Alliette (Etteilla) said he learned the art of telling fortunes with playing cards from three cartomancers (cartomancers are the practitioners of tarot or simply the “readers of the cards”) one of whom came from northern Italy. In 1770 he wrote his own book on fortune-telling with cards followed up with several books on the Tarot and a Tarot deck. His later publication, “L’art de lire dan les carts,” translates The Art of Reading Cards, instructs the reader how to use tarot cards for divination and issued a set of cards. Alliette established tarot divination as a popular pursuit for the first time. He divined using a deck of just 32 cards with the addition of his own special card, known as the significator which usually represented the person consulting the tarot reader. As fascination with the occult grew in the 19th century people increasingly used the tarot for divination. Each card had a set meaning which altered if that card was inverted when laid out. Historically card divination was practiced mostly by illiterate gypsies, courtesans, soldier’s wives and old women, and by literate young women for whom it was a parlor game.
Tarot Card Deck
I do not engage in tarot personally though my connections with writer Grant Walker and his sister, illustrator Amy B Scott—co-creators of Seeds of Initiation Tarot deck—both were on my show (episodes 133 and 135—I will put links in the podcast show notes) inspired my interest in this divination tool—and that interest is blossoming. To be honest, I considered tarot as mere “fortune telling,” but am learning about the ways it can benefit my life, my personal journey. So for all you skeptics out there, just like I was, I invite you to bring a curious mindset as we dive into the tarot deck. Rider-Waite tarot deck, our focus for this show, is comprised of 78 cards. The oldest deck to have all 78 cards is the late 15th century “Sola Busca” tarot. It features historical and mythical people and characters. Sola Busca tarots were visual sources for Smith and her imagery for the deck is inspired by the Sola Busca, crafted during the Renaissace. It is asserted that Smith likely at the invitation of Arthur Waite saw the Sola Bosca cards at the British museum. More about their relationship and the commission in a moment.
“There are two groups of cards in the tarot deck. First are the 22 Trump cards also called the Major Arcana—they are referred to as “the greater secrets.” These cards are numbered and have names and illustrations. For example there is The Fool (or Joker he is ready for an exciting new journey or for a reckless step into the unknown), The Magician (stands for inspiration, talent, vision), The Empress (she denotes the creation of life, ideas, art, romance and business)—the Major Arcana do not correspond to any card suits and there are no parallels to traditional playing card deck. Second group is Minor Arcana cards (56 in total)—this set has suits similar to those in today’s playing cards. There is Cups that correspond to Hearts; Pentacle correspond to Diamonds; Wands (Clubs); Swords (Spades). Each suit also relates to one of the four basic earth elements. Earth is Pentacles; Air is Swords; Fire is Wands and Water is Cups. Also in each suit of the Minor Arcana (cups, pentacles, wands, swords) are four court cards (Page, Knight, Queen, King) In addition to the court cards in each suit there are numbered cards from 1-10. To give you a better visual, let’s consider one suit: Cups. Cups are identified by a chalice shaped vessel.
Cups corresponds to Hearts and the element Water
There are 10 cards that make up the Cups suit (Each card is numbered: ace is 1, then 2, 3, 4 to 10.
Each number corresponds to the number of pictured cups. So Ace has one cup, 2 has 2 pictured cups and so forth. Also included in the Cups suit is an additional 4 cards, each pictured with a court portrait: Page of Cups, Queen of Cups, King of Cups and Knight of Cups.
Arthur Edward Waite was an American-born British poet, writer and occultist, born in Brooklyn in 1857 and died in 1942 in Kent, England. He sought spiritual guidance researching psychic matters and other occult topics. He wrote many books on divination, however, he is best known as the co-creator of the Rider Waite tarot deck. Waite conceptualized the deck; Rider and Company published the cards. Smith (from the text “Pamela Colman Smith: The Untold Story” by Stephen Kaplan) “initially met Waite after she joined the Isis Urania Temple of the Golden Dawn. This was in 1901 and Smith followed Waite after he seceded from the temple in 1903. Waite first conceived “the idea of the tarot deck after discovering groups of old occult manuscripts relating to tarot cards and felt that the deck could be made more meaningful by adding pictorial images.” “For Waite the tarot was a vessel and carriers of meanings. In Smith he realized her mystic and visionary qualities. These qualities revealed themselves to Waite not just through their spiritual practice at the Isis Urania Temple, a secret group devoted to the practice of magic, occultism, religious studies and mysticism.” (page 352), but evident through her music pictures, her ability to visualize music. I described this in part 1.
Smith’s artistic experiences as an illustrator, her experiences as a stage-designer offered her the tools to create tarot imagery that was accessible and fun. Her images are “seemingly simple and uncluttered, relaxing to the eye, with bright colors and strong lines. There is a space for the reader to project oneself into the scene. More importantly, Smith was able to transcend her personal “seeing” what she called an ‘inner sight’ and embed this into her imagery. Her imagery is imbued with clarity, richness of symbolic detail, they are theatrical, and are embedded with mysterious faux medieval atmosphere. Her scenes are like stories that can be read as a child and ring true as a fairy tale. The figures and shapes are flat, with vibrant colors, stylized movements—there is this emotional energy that can be discerned through recognizable patterns. Smith, completed the 78 card deck in 1909, what she referred to as a “big job for very little cash,” I love that quote, it is so honest— The backs of the original cards featured a repeating blue and white roses and lilies pattern. It was sold as a “stand alone” deck accompanied by a book of instructions, as I mentioned earlier, written by Waite—full title is “The Key to the Tarot: Being Fragments of a Secret Tradition Under the Veil of Divination”
In preparation for this episode I was thinking about approaches in presenting you her imagery. We could, as I do in other episodes, journey through an object of art, one or two cards. Given my very little experience engaging in tarot as a divination practice, I thought it would be fun to pull cards and use my personal experience, my engagement and looking experience as a way to analyze and contemplate individual cards and imagery. What I seek in this exercise is the way the imagery by Smith’s hand shapes the “tarot reading,” frames the narrative for the reader as he or she experience seeks answers.
I consulted Mary K. Greer’s article “What Every Newbie Tarot Card Reader Should Know,” from 2011. I purchased a Rider Waite tarot deck. Greer suggests there are no rules in tarot reading. She encourages the participant to “listen, read, discuss, try and decide for yourself.” She suggests pulling a card a day and journal about the experience, writing down what emotions and thoughts come up.
Referring to the “readings” as a “slice of life’s journey,” Greer offers these tips: The following tips resonated with me: •Tarot is an intuitive compass, so forget the whole idea of “reading the future.”• Tarot is like art: there is the interpretation done by art critics that gives the reasoning behind a masterpiece vs. how it makes you personally feel. It is important to see both sides.• Always remember the tarot and other card oracles are pieces of cardboard with pictures on them. The magic, wisdom, information is in you, not in the cards.• It’s a piece of paper with a picture on it. It only has as much power as you give it.• You are the tarot! The cards are nothing without you. They are windows into your inner knowing that is already all there. One of the practices I engage when I am seeking an answer is to be still. Very still and allow my inner voice, my intuition speak because as Greer implies, “I am the window into my inner knowing….and “wisdom, information is in me.” Not in some outside source. The cards perhaps acts as a “spiritual counsel” –That counsel, the imagery, composed by Smith, is an accessible portal, visual portal expressed in vivid colors, symbols, scenes and figures.
. For the purposes of this show, I separated the 78 cards into two piles; Major Arcana and Minor Arcana. Shuffled each pile and pulled one from each pile. Side bar: I often work in cafes when I craft and write podcast episodes. Focused, deep work, I have a cup of coffee and my ears are plugged into a playlist of focused music: Mozart, and I am a fan of Headspace’s Hans Zimmer. As I took out the cards, to pull one and reflect and analyze its imagery, a young woman, another café visitor asked “Are those tarot cards? I replied yes and she curious to what I was doing so I shared that the imagery was drawn by a woman and through my show I hoped to bring more awareness to her work. The young woman replied, she (Pamela Colman Smith) is very proud of me and the young woman said she could feel Smith’s presence and if she was living today, she would be pleased that I am trying to bring awareness to her work. Cheers to you, my anonymous friend at the Silk City café (a plug to this wonderful coffee spot) in Manchester, Connecticut. I do believe Smith is pleased.
With that interjection by the young woman, I closed my eyes, shuffled the Major Arcana and asked the universe, specifically Smith, to draw or pull the card she would want me to highlight in this episode. I pulled, no surprise considering my reverence for women, The Empress card. I have no idea about its significance or meaning. Allow me to journey with you the imagery.
A young woman with shoulder length blonde hair wears a crown of stars. Her long flowing robe is ornamented with a lace golden collar. Her gown is white with a pattern of red rose, fully opened roses. She holds a golden scepter in one hand, the other rests on her lap. She sits on what appears a stone that is cushioned with two fabric pillows. She is leaning slightly back, though her upper body is erect, her shoulders are frontal, her gaze directly as us, the reader.
The meaning of the Empress is “fruitfulness initiative, action, long days, clandestine, the unknown, difficulty, doubt, ignorance. If the card I pulled showed itself in revere or upside down, meaning is light, truth, the unraveling of involved matters, public rejoice, also vacillation.
From the Minor Arcana, I pulled the 8 of pentacles. The number 8 in Roman numerals is at the top of the card; the pentacles, stars in a gold disc are lined one atop the other on the right side of the card, a total of 6. Behind the 6 pentacles is a trunk of a tree. Pentacle number 7 is on the ground beneath a brown bench. A man sits on the bench, in one hand a hammer, the other a chisel. He is intent in his work in chiseling a star for the 8th pentacle. In the background we see a stone building; the background is a light blue.
From the Keys of Tarot guide, the 8 of pentacle is described as “an artist in stone at work.” Another interesting coincidence that I chose a card depicting an artist. Divinatory meaning: work, employment, commission, craftsmanship, skill in craft and business. Reverse: Voided ambition, vanity cupidity, exaction, usury.
The collaboration between Arthur Waite and Pamela Colman Smith produced “first to be mass-marketed in English with original art.” Smith’s illustrations cemented the most widely used tarot cards “visuals in modern tarot.” Accompanying each card you will find a small monogram of a P crossed with a looping C and S—standing for the artist’s name, an “unsung artist of popular tarot.” As I shared in part 1, Smith’s life and her career was followed by obscurity. I find this heartbreaking. On the 100th anniversary of the Rider-Waite Deck, a Pamela Colman Smith Commemorative Set; issued by U.S. Games Systems, it comes complete with a biography of the artist by Stuart R. Kaplan. What I would love to see change is the name of the deck from Rider Waite to Rider Waite Smith deck.
What does bring me some comfort is that her art remains alive every time a card is drawn from the Rider-Waite deck. Each card as depicted by Smith, offers personal guidance through, “direct, captivating imagery.”
Thank you so much for listening. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a rating or review on Apple podcasts. Resources for both part 1 and part 2 of my celebration of Pamela Colman Smith include writers Mary K. Greer, Stephen Kaplan and Allison Meier. Gratitude for Kaplan’s seminal text Pamela Colman Smith: The Untold Story—I will leave links to the sources in the podcast show notes. Thank you!