The Rider Waite Tarot Deck

Known also as the Waite Tarot, Waite-Smith Tarot, Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot, Rider-Waite Tarot, Pamela Colman Smith Tarot or just the Rider Tarot deck, this is the original & only authorised edition of the famous 78-card Tarot Deck designed by Pamela Colman Smith under the direction of Arthur Edward Waite, both of whom members of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. While the images are simple, the details & backgrounds feature abundant symbolism. Some imagery remains similar to that found in earlier decks, but overall the Waite–Smith card designs are substantially different from their predecessors. Christian imagery was removed from some cards but some was added to cards that previously had none. For example, the “Pope” card became the “Hierophant” & the “Papess” became the “High Priestess.” The “Lovers” card, previously depicting a medieval scene of a clothed man & woman receiving a blessing from a noble or cleric, was changed to a depiction of the naked Adam & Eve in the Garden of Eden. The Minor Arcana is illustrated with allegorical scenes by Smith, where earlier decks (with a few rare exceptions) had simple designs for the Minor Arcana.

The symbols & imagery used in the deck were influenced by the 19th-century magician & occultist Eliphas Levi, as well as by the teachings of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. In order to accommodate the astrological correspondences taught by the Golden Dawn, Waite introduced several innovations to the deck. He switched the order of the Strength & Justice cards so that Strength corresponded with Leo & Justice corresponded with Libra. He also changed the Lovers card to depict two people instead of three in order to reinforce its correspondence with Gemini. (From Wikipedia)