Graham - Llewellyns complete book of the Rider-Waite-Smith tarot: a journey through the history, meaning, and use of the worlds most famous deck

About the Author

Sasha Graham teaches tarot classes and produces tarot events at New York Citys premier cultural institutions, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She has appeared on film, television, radio, and in the New York Times, and she hosts The Enchanted Kitchen , a tarot-inspired cooking show. She splits her time between New York City and the Catskills.

Visit her online at sashagraham.com.

Other titles by Sasha Graham:

365 Tarot Spells

365 Tarot Spreads

Tarot Diva

Editor and Author:

Tarot Fundamentals

Tarot Experience

Tarot Compendium

Tarot Decks:

Haunted House Tarot

Dark Wood Tarot

Copyright Information

Llewellyns Complete Book of the Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot: A Journey Through the History, Meaning, and Use of the Worlds Most Famous Dec k 2018 by Sasha Graham.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any matter whatsoever, including Internet usage, without written permission from Llewellyn Publications, except in the form of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

As the purchaser of this e-book, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. The text may not be otherwise reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, or recorded on any other storage device in any form or by any means.

Any unauthorized usage of the text without express written permission of the publisher is a violation of the authors copyright and is illegal and punishable by law.

First e-book edition 2018

E-book ISBN: 9780738755366

Book design by Rebecca Zins

Cover design by Shira Atakpu

Rider-Waite Tarot Deck, also known as the Rider Tarot and the Waite Tarot,
reproduced by permission of U.S. Games Systems, Inc., Stamford, CT 06902 USA.
Copyright 1971 by U.S. Games Systems, Inc. Further reproduction prohibited.
The Rider-Waite Tarot Deck is a registered trademark of U.S. Games Systems, Inc.

For a complete list of image credits, see

Llewellyn Publications is an imprint of Llewellyn Worldwide Ltd.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Graham, Sasha, author.

Title: Llewellyns complete book of the Rider-Waite-Smith tarot : a journey

through the history, meaning, and use of the worlds most famous deck /

foreword by Stuart R. Kaplan ; Sasha Graham.

Description: first edition. | Woodbury : Llewellyn Worldwide, Ltd., 2018. |

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2018031414 (print) | LCCN 2018032645 (ebook) | ISBN

9780738755366 (ebook) | ISBN 9780738753195 (alk. paper)

Subjects: LCSH: Tarot.

Classification: LCC BF1879.T2 (ebook) | LCC BF1879.T2 G6567 2018 (print) |

DDC 133.3/2424dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018031414

Llewellyn Publications does not participate in, endorse, or have any authority or responsibility concerning private business arrangements between our authors and the public.

Any Internet references contained in this work are current at publication time, but the publisher cannot guarantee that a specific reference will continue or be maintained. Please refer to the publishers website for links to current author websites.

Llewellyn Publications

Llewellyn Worldwide Ltd.

2143 Wooddale Drive

Woodbury, MN 55125

www.llewellyn.com

Manufactured in the United States of America

To those traversing mystery, magic, and enchantment, even when

its not warm, fuzzy, and sprinkled with fairy dust,
this book is for you.

To those diving deep, reading between lines, and
asking questions of consequence,
this is for you.

To those basking in shadows with
card, cup, and candle,
this is for you.

To my beautiful Isabella,

as always,

this book

is for

you.

CONTENTS

by Stuart R. Kaplan

: Kether (Crown) The Big Picture Show

: Chokmah (Wisdom) A Deeper Look

: Binah (Understanding) The Golden Dawn

: Chesed (Mercy) Kabbalistic Tree of Life

: Geburah (Strength) Astrology

: Tiphareth (Beauty) The Major Arcana

: Netzach (Victory) The Minor Arcana

: Hod (Splendor) The Court Cards

: Yesod (Foundation) How to Read the Cards

: Malkuth (Kingdom) 78 Spreads

: Symbol Dictionary

Foreword

T here are countless ways to understand tarot. Some people view tarot cards as an unbound storybook containing seventy-eight pages changing with each card shuffle. Other tarot users focus on the social and historical background of the cards and the allegorical symbols that appear on the cards. Whether your interest in tarot centers on meditation, inspiration, or guidance, Sasha Graham reveals new interpretations of the symbolic images drawn by Pamela Colman Smith.

Although Pamela Colman Smith and Sasha Graham live a century apart in time, some of their interests are strikingly parallel. Pamela was active in the theater, a storyteller, and an author. Sasha too is active in the theater, a storyteller, and an author. Each of them entertains the public in unique ways. Pamela dressed herself in colorful scarves and frocks, lit oil lanterns, and entertained with her Jamaican folk tales. Sasha dresses in sequins and silks, lights candles, and entertains by reading tarot at glittering Manhattan parties and events. Pamela and Sasha leave a legacy of books, Pamela with multiple illustrated and authored volumes such as The Book of Friendly Giants and The Annancy Stories . Sasha has authored three books on tarot: Tarot Diva , 365 Tarot Spreads , and 365 Tarot Spells , and she has contributed to several additional tarot titles.

I first met Sasha in 2012 at a booksellers trade show in New York City. There was an immediate connection between us. We both had symbolic birthdays: Sasha was born on Halloween, and I was born on April Fools Day. At age seventeen Sasha longed for a deeper cultural life and fled from her familys country home to New York City, where she would enroll at Hunter College. At age eighteen I fled from New York City to Paris, France, and enrolled at the Sorbonne. She appeared in a variety of off-Broadway theaters and became a B-movie star, playing roles as a vampire, a werewolf, and an alien. After receiving a degree in literature and comparative religion, Sasha forged a career in the metaphysics of tarot. Our mutual interest in the Rider-Waite tarot is a special bond that all tarot believers share with each other.

My first encounter with tarot was in my mid-thirties when I traveled to the Nuremberg Toy Fair. I came across the Swiss 1JJ tarot deck at a printers exhibition booth. My direction for tarot was to publish the cards by U.S. Games Systems and to make them readily available. Thereafter, I secured the rights to the Rider-Waite tarot deck, which is now the most popular tarot deck, enjoyed by millions of people.

Sashas first encounter with a tarot deck was at twelve years of age. She always had an interest in the unexplained, and she was drawn to the yellow Rider-Waite box that she saw in a store. The mysterious card images inside the box intrigued her. After studying the tarot, Sasha became proficient in reading the cards and has enjoyed a loyal following for many years. She delights in finding innovative ways to incorporate tarot into modern life.

This book is quite unique in a marketplace selling hundreds of books about the Rider-Waite tarot deck. Sasha gathers the complexity and history of Pamelas deck and presents it to the reader in an entertaining and understandable way. Pamela reached beyond the veil to reveal hidden worlds with her brushes and inks; Sasha does the same with her language and research. Sasha takes up Pamelas role as storyteller and crafts a text that is grounded in practical tarot information yet reveals the divine nature of the creative minds that created it.