Rider-Waite Tarot Deck
U.S. Games Systems · 1971
78 cards · Instruction booklet
The standard U.S. Games edition of the 1909 drawings, keeping Smith's hand-lettered titles and a scene on every minor card.
Clearing the table▍
With Waite's bookThe Original Rider Waite Tarot Pack
£25.00list price
Rider's own boxed set from the UK, pairing the cards with Waite's short book on them, introduced by Liz Greene.
Details
- Created by
- A. E. Waite and Pamela Colman Smith
- Publisher
- Rider (Penguin Random House UK)
- Published
- 1999
- Cards
- 78 cards
- In the box
- Waite's book The Key to the Tarot
- ISBN
- 9780712670678
About this deck
Drawn by Pamela Colman Smith to Arthur Edward Waite's design and published in 1909, this is the deck most tarot is taught from. Its minor cards show scenes rather than bare suit symbols, so you can read the picture before you know the meaning. The editions in this shop share the same drawings and differ in colour, size and card stock.
Who it suits
The place to start. If you plan to learn from books, courses or this site, a Rider–Waite–Smith edition means every picture matches what you read. Choose the edition by colour and size: the standard deck for the classic look, Radiant for brighter colour, the Centennial or the 2020 edition for a muted, older feel, the pocket edition for travel, and Rider's own pack if you want Waite's book with it.
Learn the cards
Every card in this deck has a page of its own on Familiar: the picture, the upright and reversed readings, and what it asks in love and in work. Start with the Major Arcana.
- The Fool
- The Magician
- The High Priestess
- The Empress
- The Emperor
- The Hierophant
- The Lovers
- The Chariot
- Strength
- The Hermit
- Wheel of Fortune
- Justice
- The Hanged Man
- Death
- Temperance
- The Devil
- The Tower
- The Star
- The Moon
- The Sun
- Judgement
- The World
Similar decks
Radiant Rider-Waite Tarot
U.S. Games Systems · 2003
78 cards · Instruction booklet
Smith's drawings in a brighter palette, with soft shading in place of her heavy black outlines and a star-filled deep blue back.
Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot Deck
U.S. Games Systems · 2020
78 cards · 36-page booklet
The same artwork in a muted, softer palette on ivory parchment borders, keeping small flaws from the original printing for an older feel.
Smith-Waite Centennial Tarot Deck
U.S. Games Systems · 2013
78 cards, plus extras
A reproduction in the muted colours of the first printing, made for the deck's centenary; the box adds a few cards of Smith's work beyond tarot.