Rider Waite symbolism

Well this weekend I was in a bookstore back home looking at the tarot decks (shame on me because I don't "need" another deck). I really wanted to get the Feng Shui tarot. I picked it up off the shelf and shrieked in delight and started to turn away. But I looked and there it was...The Universal Waite. I always told myself that one day I would buy it. (when I first started reading I refused to get it because I wanted to be original and I didn't want to get a popular deck...blah blah blah) It was screaming, "Buy me Lauren!!!!" I was tempted to buy them both, but knew that my 5.75 an hour job couldn't provide me with the funds to splurge like that. So I bought the Universal Waite. It's my 6th deck, but I'm trying to get back to basics. Yeah that's me..God forbid I do anything in the proper order.

Okay, so here's my question! After looking at it, I know that there is a lot of symbolism. So I was wondering if any of you knew some good books that delve into this symbolism a little bit more.

You won't go far wrong with Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom by Rachael Pollack. She covers most of the symbolism found in the cards using the Smith Rider Waite deck.

I second Major Tom's suggestion. This book is absolutely wonderful! She explains most of the symbolism, discusses it and explores it. Good luck!

~aeonx~

He-he! It doesn't matter what order you get your deck the funny thing is getting them because THEY (the cards) want you to!!

Anyway, congratulations to you and your new deck, may you end up a great team. The UW was my first, and I like it very much, even though I've never read with it yet. (Have a feeling I will though, that the time for that deck is yet to come...!) I agree with the good Major too, the 78 Degrees of Wisdom is a really great book, and it goes through the Waite symbolism very thoroughly!

Jenny

There are SO MANY good tarot books out there! If I were you, I'd take your new cards along with you when you are shopping - they will guide you to the book(s) they feel are right. Sounds kooky? Well, it worked for me! I got this weird book that I never heard of before - it's a bit "intellectual" but goes into the esoteric meanings behind the symbolism of the Rider-Waite deck. It's called "Tarot Revelavtions" by Campbell and Roberts. I got it 2nd hand, so I'm not sure where you could order it from...

Happy hunting!

Also check your local library. Mine has gotten a bit more up to date on tarot books lately. I checked out a pile of them, and found a few must-haves, as well as a few I thought were must-haves that ended up being awful.

you might want to check out joan bunnings book,"learning the tarot". what's so great about this deck is that you don't have to buy it if you are on a tight budget. you can download it to your computer free!

http://www.learntarot.com/

i actually like it better than 78 degrees but i've always been a heretic to some degree. i think joan's book is lighter and more visual. rachel's is very deep. so take your pick: light and free or deep and $$$. both are great books whichever you choose. since joan's is free, you can actually have both.

Hi, Destiny!

I'd just like to add Isabel Radow Kliegman's "Tarot and the Tree of Life - Finding Everyday Wisdom in the Minor Arcana". While it also deals with the Qabbala (in a very accessible way) it looks in detail at the imagery - eg 2 Cups "over the figures we see a winged lion head, the red, leonine energy of passion . The spread wings unite the two as one so that the relationship is more than the sum of its parts. The whole is something entirely different. A fiery angel has been created by the feeling between these two: there is the suggestion of being uplifted as well as merging in passion".

I definitely recommend this one - in fact, there's so much in it that I definitely need to re-read it!

Hi Destiny, I have the Rider-Waite deck and sadly it's my one and only, but i have had them a very long time now (and i love them)
when i got them I went searching for a book, there wasn't a lot to choose from at the time, but i ended up getting "Tarot A New Handbook For The Apprentice" and it's by Eileen Connolly it is volume one of the connolly tarot and is illustrated with Rider-Waite, It was my "bible" for a long time when i was just learning, and it has Keys and guidelines to each card in the deck, I found it great, and i sometimes use it as a quick reference when i need to, but not very much now.
ok that's me

Cheers

Kazz

78 Degrees of Wisdom ... it is all about the symbolism in this deck. We also have a study group here at Aeclectic on this book that you can check out and get an idea of what the book is about. We have the 1st 4 chapters summarized and some stuff on the minor arcana as well. If Waite symbolism is what you want you cannot go wrong with this book. What's even better, if you look at the study group, is that we have begun applying what we read by comparing it to other decks for study purposes.