A question for the French on the RWS Tarot

I'm curious as to what people in France think of the Rider Waite Smith Tarot. I'm aware the Tarot de Marseilles is the iconic image of the divinatory Tarot there but what of the RWS deck? The RWS is the most readily available and ubiquitous Tarot for those in English speaking countries but I'm curious as to what the French think of it.

Retour au bercail (France to England, England to France)

From 1889 to 1909 la grande révolution was reshaping the faces of Tarot.

In 1889, encouraged by Stanislaus de Guaita, Joseph Paul Oswald Wirth reinterpreted the 22 ancient images of the major arcana, and his creations were published in France. These images took on a life of their own, and circulated worldwide, often home made and hand colored.

In 1909, inspired (sans aucun doute) by the beauty of Wirth's creations, Pamela Colman Smith envisioned a complete set of illustrated Tarots, and as her work developed, she too found encouragement, and her deck was published in England. These images have inspired countless enthusiasts.

Fait, il continue (so it continues).

I'm still curious to see if you get any replies from nos amis français.

Alliette::Ettelilla type decks (and there are so many) seem to dominate in France, though Le Marseille carries some weight. But your question may strike too close to home. We know the French read Tarot cards, and maybe even those of Pamela Colman Smith.
But A.E. Waite was grossly unfair to admitting his debt to French cartomancers, favoring his translations of their work as superior, and so perhaps "his" deck, created and designed by Pamela Colman Smith, does not fare so well, on the surface.

But let's be honest, nowadays not even Le Marseille, or the ubiquitous Etteilla, makes much sense to anybody anywhere without reference to the sublime and immortal images created by Pamela Colman Smith.

Perhaps you might rephrase your question, dropping the "Rider Waite" usurpation of the World's Greatest Tarot, and ask rather:

What people in France think of the Pamela Colman Smith Tarot?

Crowely/France

Just a bit of trivia, and still in France, so to speak.

A young American woman named Pauline Pierce, leaves her husband behind, to join the one and only, Mr Aleister Crowely, in France. Here they perform numerous "unison" experiments together, akin to Hindu sacred marriage techniques.

Having fed her inquisitive side, upon her return, Ms Pierce no sooner gave birth to a baby girl, whom she named Barbara.

This Barbara later became the wife of George W Bush.

There are various symbolical associations, to this web of intrigue, one being in the amalgamation of the names "Pierce" and "Bush" -translated as "Rose-Bush".

Many roses are depicted throughout the cards you are inquiring about.

Cheers

GRAFLIX1 said:

This Barbara later became the wife of George W Bush.

Click to expand...

George H. W. Bush you mean.

The story's timeline is plausible, but as far as I know there is nothing more to it than rumor.

I grab the chance to reply to your question.

Firstly, i will tell you the opinion of some of the french tarot readers i know.

Most of them are aware of the Rider Waite Smith tarot but they don't really use it for some of the following reasons :

- Le Tarot de Marseille is sufficiently complete and logical to them, also easy to use, except for minor arcana that are a bit a pain to learn ;
- Pictures on cards are from an old way of illustrating, heritage of our history (italian one as well) and still very mystical about some ancient political and religious topics ;
- Le Tarot de Marseille is much more older than the Rider Waite Smith one, it is a bit like its "father" so what is the point to look at it ? (a bit of french chauvinism...) ;
- Hardly any Rider Waite Smith tarot book has been translated in french. You must be patient to find these books and be good at english to dive in the fantastical RWS world (as u know, we aren't the best to learn another language ^^).

Now, i'm going to tell you my personal point of view.

The Rider waite Smith tarot is a real revolution by bringing new ideas, new ways of thinking especially about minor arcana.
Actually, the Rider Waite Smith complements Le Tarot de Marseille very well and gives a new breath to it.

Some of you may growl by reading that, but... even if the Rider Waite Smith tarot is an independent tarot, we can't deny its origins and where it is from...

I will not say Le Tarot de Marseille is better than the Rider Waite Smith tarot, or vice versa, it would be totally wrong.
Both of them offer some different and some similar issues, some different and some similar possibilities because they have basically been made in the same pattern and they both belong to a scale of time that evolves and changes with the human race's evolution.

I will finish by saying i have got a soft spot for the Rider Waite Smith tarot merely because it suits the person i am at this moment and i do think it is up to everyone to try different tarots and meet one's match