If the western Magical tradition has one object which has bled into mainstream culture and seems like it is there to stay, it would be a pack of Tarot cards designed and released in 1909. Originally released as The Tarot, it would later be known as the Rider Waite Tarot, and for decades that is what it would remain. Yet, this name negated perhaps the most important element of these cards- the artist herself. Pamela Colman Smith was an exceptional talent who lived a fascinating and tumultuous life. While her deck is beyond notorious, her story is almost entirely unknown by most. Pamela would like you to join her in the Fools Gallery, for she has much to tell us these days.
If you have yet to listen to my Podcast on A History of Tarot, you would be well advised to tackle that one first before moving on to this one.
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If you wanted my opinion on which iteration of the Waite Smith Deck you should get- THIS IS THE ONE!!! Accept no other!
Show Notes & Book Recommendations
- Waite Smith: A Tarot Revolution – an exceptional site to explore. Has almost every iteration of this deck from the first 50 years of its existence. Must Visit!
- Pamela Colman Smith: The Untold Story by Stuart Kaplan – Awesome book. So much of Pamela’s work is in this one
- Pamela Colman Smith: Artist, Feminist, and Mystic by Elizabeth Foley O’Connor – This is a pretty good biography. It skips around a bit but still a worthy read
- Pamela Colman Smith Commemorative Set
- Tarot: A Graphic History: Pamela Colman Smith’s Story of Arcana, Symbols & Magic by Valentina Grande – Haven’t had a chance to read this one yet, but it looks excellent
- Annancy Stories by Pamela Colman Smith
- “A Paper of Her Own”: Pamela Colman Smith’s The Green Sheaf (1903-1904) by Lorraine Janzen Kooistra
- All Issues of The Green Sheaf
- Overlooked no More: Pamela Colman Smith – NYT article behind a paywall
- The Myth of Pamela Colman Smith’s Blackness: Ethnic Impersonation in the Modern Esoteric Milieu by Thea Wirsching
- Help fund A Book about Pamela’s Time in The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn
- The Flower Book by Edward Burne-Jones
- Sola Busca & the Waite – Smith Tarot
- The Game of Saturn by Peter Mark Adams
- Secrets of the Waite-Smith Tarot: The True Story of the World’s Most Popular Tarot by Marcus Katz & Tali Goodwin
- All of The Waite – Smith Tarot for sale from US Games Systems
- All of the Waite – Smith Tarot for Sale from Llewellyn – I prefer these ones – European Site Lo Scarabeo
What Magic is This? 