Llewellyn’s Complete Book of the Rider Waite Smith Tarot by Sasha Graham You can hear or read something many times and not "get it." Until that one time when you do. Maybe it was the way it was said. Maybe your brain was poised to receive. Whatever the case, Graham, in her incredible book on the Rider Waite Smith Tarot, helped me understand the importance of Freemasonry's influence on tarot. I hope you enjoy this excerpt as much as I did. Masonic Structure The Golden Dawn’s structural forefather is Freemasonry. Freemasonry and tarot’s common denominator is a perfectly designed structure. Freemasonry’s elegant organization was a core reason the Golden Dawn existed with

Complete Book of Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot by Sasha Graham Recently we posted about Stuart Kaplan’s generous foreword to this remarkable work. Keeping with the theme of beginnings, let’s look at how Sasha’s investigations into the creators of this deck shaped her ideas about the Fool. This book isn’t just a triple biography (Waite, Smith, and Kaplan) but also a close examination of the creation and meaning of the deck itself and an in-depth study of the symbols in each card. The Fool "Stories can be sung, some painted, some written in poetry or prose. But all stories can be told, and told so that every human being can understand them." ~ PCS The Evening

Many decks published today are identified, in part, as being based on the Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot (RWS) or as not being based on it. That identification only means something if you know what the RWS Tarot is. For seasoned tarot enthusiasts, it is ingrained, but for people new to tarot, it might be helpful to understand the importance of the RWS Tarot and its characteristics. Arthur E. Waite was the creator of the deck, although some question to what extent he was involved with the design of the cards, particularly the Minor Arcana. He was mystic and occultist and member of the Golden Dawn. He invented (although he claims it is ancient) the Celtic Cross Spread, one of the most well-known