Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6540 in Books
• Published on: 1999-06-10
• Original language: English
• Binding: Cards

From the Publisher
A.E. Waite was a celebrated writer on occult topics who first created his tarot pack in 1910, with cards designed by Pamela Colman according to his instructions. The 78-card deck is now almost certainly the most widely used in the world, and it remains as popular as ever. The Original Rider Waite Tarot Deck and the book The Key to the Tarot can also be purchased separately, and if you browse under "Tarot" you will find several other related Rider publications.

Customer Reviews

Timeless classic
I just bought a pack of these today and I love them already. Everyone must know about the Rider-Waite cards by now so I won't bore you with details of the pictures, you can see cards from this deck on Aecletic Tarot.com.

The cards themselves are laminated and therefore really glossy, thick and feel delightful to the touch. It also makes them quite slippery to shuffle sometimes. The cards are a nice size and fit in the hand comfortably.

A lot of people have criticised this edition of the Rider Waite collection citing mute brownes and sepia's and lacklustre nature of the pictures - for a time even I thought they were plain ugly, however, on a closer inspection, I really started to appreciate the beauty behind the images. Ok, so there are an infinite number of more aesthetically appealing decks available, and the artwork on these cards sometimes leaves something to be desired, however, I think if you give these cards a chance and take a really good look at them, you will start to find the charm and classic beauty behind them as I did. Even though I've only had them for one afternoon, just looking at each one, I already feel immensely connected to this particular deck. This is now the 6th deck in my collection but I can see it will prob be one of my trusted favourites.

Overall, I think the browns and sepias work well, they are easy on the eye, I don't feel that they are dull or muted but then again, art is a highly personal thing. The cards are easy for beginners to connect to - you can look at a card and immediately start to intuit what the meanings are and most books on the Tarot work with, or are immediately applicable to the Rider Waites.

The book that comes with it is an interesting read but not an essential and the cards really do seem to speak for themselves. Definitely one of my ultimate decks.

IF you prefer vibrant colours but want to stick with Rider Waite images, try the Radiant Rider-Waite (soon to be joining my collection) or if you want a midway between teh Originals and the Radiant, try the Universals which are excellent for meditation as well.

A beautiful deck, but the colours are appalling
I have owned several Rider-Waite decks over the many years that I have been reading Tarot. Rider-Waite is definately my own preffered deck, mostly because of the colourful illustrations which are remeniscent of fairy-tale/dream imagery. They capture a sense of wonder and magic and mystery which is infectious! The minor arcana in this deck also feature illustrations which relate to their divinatory meanings - a great boon for divinatory work. HOWEVER, this particular edition is not the best that I have ever owned. My previous (lost - sob!) set had crystal clear colours - this deck is dark and mottled - looking like an 'old' deck, but the artwork cannot be clearly seen on this edition of the deck on every card - they are just so dark!! I miss being able to actually SEE the fine details on the wonderful artwork. Likewise, the major arana's names are printed in different colours on the different cards (some are lighter or darker shades of the same colour). I am happy with this deck for divination, but dissapointed with the print standard and colour definition - which borders on being APPALLING!! And I say that as someone who LOVES the Rider-Waite deck! I only hope that this inferior edition does not dissuade people from using this deck, which can be a wondeful and beautiful experience. Having said that, this is still an excellent value deck, and ideal for casual divination. But what on EARTH went wrong with the printing of this edition??

Great visionry cards and easy for beginners
I have had a pack of these for some years but only just bought a book on how to use them. I then found out I could use them anyway just by looking at the pictures and guessing what they meant. They are not the most beautiful cards about although there are some variations on the original flat colours used such as the 'universal waite' cards which are brighter, but they are excellent for beginners to learn on because they form a story so that it is easy to remember the meanings of the cards. If you want a book to go with them I recommend the Idiots guide to Tarot and Fortune Telling.