The Original Rider Waite Tarot Deck – 78 Card Deck & Guidebook
The Original Rider Waite Tarot Deck – 78 Card Deck & Guidebook
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The Original Rider Waite Tarot Cards • 78 Card Deck & Guidebook
Discover one of the most recognisable and widely used Tarot systems with The Original Rider Waite Tarot, a classic 78-card deck featuring the iconic illustrations of Pamela Colman Smith created under the direction of A. E. Waite.
Rich in symbolism and structured around the traditional Major and Minor Arcana, this deck has become a foundational reference point for modern Tarot reading. Its familiar imagery makes it especially useful for beginners learning card meanings, while experienced readers continue to value its depth, symbolism and historical influence.
An instructional booklet is included to help you explore card meanings, spreads and traditional Tarot interpretation.
Read. Reflect. Discover.
Product Details:
- Product: The Original Rider Waite Tarot
- Creators: A. E. Waite & Pamela Colman Smith
- Type: Traditional Tarot card deck
- Number of cards: 78
- Structure: Major Arcana & Minor Arcana
- Includes: Instructional booklet
- Introduction: Stuart R. Kaplan
- Publication date: 10 June 1999
- ISBN: 9780712670579
- Approx. dimensions: 124mm × 30mm × 74mm
- Approx. weight: 240g
- Themes: Tarot symbolism, archetypes, divination, intuition and personal reflection
- Uses: Tarot readings, meditation, journalling, study and spiritual practice
- Suitable for: Beginners and experienced Tarot readers
- Publisher information: Supplied as Penguin Random House Publications
NB: This is the 78-card Rider Waite Tarot system with instructional booklet. The supplied description states that the original deck was first issued in 1910, while this particular edition carries a publication date of 10 June 1999.
Created by A. E. Waite & Pamela Colman Smith
A. E. Waite was a writer, mystic and scholar with a strong interest in esoteric subjects including divination, ceremonial magic, Kabbalah, alchemy and Freemasonry.
He conceived and directed the symbolic structure of the deck, while artist Pamela Colman Smith created the illustrations that gave the Rider Waite Tarot its distinctive visual identity.
Smith was an illustrator and theatrical designer whose work included books, posters and stage design. Her fully illustrated Minor Arcana helped make the deck especially influential, giving readers visual scenes to interpret rather than relying only on suit symbols and numbers.
Together, their work created one of the most enduring Tarot systems in modern practice.
The Original Rider Waite Tarot
The Rider Waite Tarot is built around 78 cards divided into two main groups:
22 Major Arcana cards explore larger archetypal themes, turning points and symbolic stages of experience.
56 Minor Arcana cards are divided into four suits and explore more everyday situations, emotions, choices and interactions.
Each card carries its own imagery and symbolism, allowing readers to interpret not only traditional meanings but also visual details, relationships and intuitive impressions.
This combination of structure and rich illustration is one of the reasons the Rider Waite system remains so widely studied.
Why the Rider Waite Tarot Is So Influential
Many modern Tarot decks draw directly or indirectly on the structure and symbolism of the Rider Waite system.
Its imagery has become a common visual language within Tarot, meaning that learning this deck can make it easier to understand many later decks influenced by the same tradition.
For beginners, this offers a practical advantage: books, courses and Tarot resources often use Rider Waite-style imagery when explaining card meanings and spreads.
For experienced readers, the deck remains valuable because the familiar images continue to reveal different layers depending on the question and context.
Major & Minor Arcana
The Major Arcana consists of 22 cards associated with larger themes, archetypes and significant stages of experience.
The Minor Arcana consists of 56 cards divided into four suits.
Together, the two groups allow a Tarot reading to explore both broad life themes and more immediate everyday circumstances.
A reading may therefore move between larger questions of direction and meaning and more practical concerns involving relationships, work, emotions or decisions.
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