The OG tarot of our modern times, purchased 2020

Courtesy Nudity Warning! Naked people are in the cards ahead!

When I started writing about Tarot my goal was to provide a platform to post reviews in new and interesting ways of decks I own (or have owned) for fun, but also to help others make informed purchasing decisions. I told myself that I was going to post reviews of decks in the order of which I received them, to not only give me ample time to use and test them, but also let the excited honeymoon phase wear off. Which, I’ve been overall good about, but that means I got to go through some decks that I just don’t regularly use, and kinda don’t like.

In my personal experience, when most people think Tarot, they will think of the Rider-Waite-Smith tradition. Some people adore this deck SO MUCH they will collect multiple variations and copies of it. More power to you! And I will admit, there is something very timeless, vintage, and classic about this deck, but, y’all—

I never use this deck.

I (almost) never use it for myself, I certainly don’t use it for others, and it usually only gets pulled out to argue over a “classic” RWS symbol or to compare to “standard tarot size.” So, please take this review with a grain of salt and remember this is just one person’s opinion of arguably the most well know and purchased Tarot deck on the market.

I wanted to do a five card draw for this review, and I typically use jumpers as my cards. I got to card four and thought “hmm, well, maybe this deck isn’t so bad after all! And then it spat out two jumpers for card five–classic S-W Centennial had to end the draw on a happy note!

Overall: 5/10 I use this as a reference deck. My copy has a history of being very mean-spirited, so after a serious bumpy first few months where I really wanted to be that classic tarot reader with my worn-in copy of the classic Smith-Waite Centennial, it was simply not to be. I’m not inclined to use it for readings, and it has become a dust collector on my shelf. Now, there is something to be said that this deck is very much “the mother deck” of many modern Tarot, and has had arguably more influence on modern tarot and the new wave of tarot interest than any other deck. There is endless history to talk about regarding the esoteric choices of art and symbols for this deck (of course many were chosen by Waite, but Pamela Colman Smith’s was heavily influenced by the historic Sola Busca Tarot) but that’s for more scholarly reading that what I can offer here.

Card Quality: 3.5/5 Great balance of resistance and usability. Extremely easy to shuffle. Soft in hand. I wish all decks of this price came with such no-nonsense cardstock.

We have the OG RWS to thank for our modern illustrated “pips”!

Readability: 3/5 This is a very dated deck in that there are (A LOT OF) other decks out there available for the modern Tarot reader that are more user friendly, more relevant, etc. But, this is the baseline for many other decks so it is not a bad idea to become familiar with the original RWS imagery. Though this is a “modern” deck, I find it difficult sometimes because I know there’s historical significance in the symbols that I’m missing.

There are some cards that are so symbol rich its easy to quickly get “lost in the sauce,” at least for me.

Art: 4/5 I love the art-nouveau kitch—it’s very internally consistent, I love the details and the symbols, I mean, it’s a classic for a reason! Obviously printing wasn’t what it is today and some of the line work can feel heavy.

Favorite Card: Queen of Wands–love me the little black cat. The Fool is so iconic and classic. Death—death and his horse are rad

Least Favorite Card: Eight of wands, I feel like this card ruined all other eight of wands to follow. Nine of Cups, the guy just looks so smug XD. Two of Pentacles, the guy has a condom on his head and you cannot convince me otherwise

Boxes it Checks: RWS, traditional, old school, classic

Similar decks: I mean, most decks? There’s a million and one RWS clones out there, but for something “similar but different” The Harmonious Tarot looks very nice

What are your feelings around the Wait-Smith deck?