Difference between revisions of "Arthur Edward Waite"

'''Arthur Edward Waite''' (2 October 1857 – 19 May 1942) was an American-born British poet and scholarly mystic who wrote extensively on [[occult]] and esoteric matters, and was the co-creator of the [[Rider–Waite tarot deck]] (also called the Rider–Waite–Smith or Waite–Smith deck). As his biographer R. A. Gilbert described him, "Waite's name has survived because he was the first to attempt a systematic study of the history of western occultism—viewed as a spiritual tradition rather than as aspects of proto-science or as the pathology of religion."

Waite is best known for his involvement with the [[Rider–Waite tarot deck]], first published in 1910, with illustrations by Golden Dawn member [[Pamela Colman Smith]]. Waite authored the deck's companion volume, the ''[[Key to the Tarot]]'', republished in expanded form in 1911 as the ''Pictorial Key to the Tarot'', a guide to Tarot reading. The Rider–Waite–Smith tarot was notable for illustrating all 78 cards fully, at a time when only the 22 Major Arcana were typically illustrated.