Tarot and Other Meditation Decks: History, Theory, Aesthetics, Typology

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Arthur E. Waite and Pamela Colman Smith’s Rider-Waite Tarot (1909) is the most popular Tarot in the world. Today, it is affectionately referred to as the Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot in recognition of its quality and the archetypal possibilities of its cards. Waite and Smith’s deck has become the gold standard for identifying, categorizing and analyzing contemporary Tarot and other meditation decks.
Developments in both visual and literary history and theory have influenced Tarot since its fifteenth-century invention and subsequent adaptations for esotericism, cartomancy and meditation. Updated for an evolving cultural context, this analysis considers Tarot in relation to conventional art movements, including Symbolism, Surrealism and the modernist grid. Tarot has a strong relationship with post-modern art concepts such as the dissolution of the modernist hierarchy, Pattern and Decoration art and collage. This work also explores the close connection between Tarot and the invention of the literary novel and includes a new chapter on the growing interest in the archetypal shadow and shadow work, particularly in deck design and its applications in the new millennium.