Pictorial Key to the Tarot
Encyclopedia
The Pictorial Key to the Tarot is A. E. Waite
's influential guide to divinatory tarot, published in England in 1911 in conjunction with the Rider-Waite-Smith deck. While Waite was an occultist, he was very concerned with the accuracy of the symbols he used for his deck, and he did much research into the traditions, interpretations, and history behind the cards.
The book (which Waite himself called "a monograph
") consists of three parts.
In 1918, an American
author, L. W. de Laurence
, published an exact facsimile copy of the book under the title The Illustrated Key to the Tarot: The Veil of Divination, Illustrating the Greater and Lesser Arcana, without giving any credit to Waite.
Arthur Edward Waite
Arthur Edward Waite was a scholarly mystic who wrote extensively on occult and esoteric matters, and was the co-creator of the Rider-Waite Tarot deck. As his biographer, R.A...
's influential guide to divinatory tarot, published in England in 1911 in conjunction with the Rider-Waite-Smith deck. While Waite was an occultist, he was very concerned with the accuracy of the symbols he used for his deck, and he did much research into the traditions, interpretations, and history behind the cards.
The book (which Waite himself called "a monograph
Monograph
A monograph is a work of writing upon a single subject, usually by a single author.It is often a scholarly essay or learned treatise, and may be released in the manner of a book or journal article. It is by definition a single document that forms a complete text in itself...
") consists of three parts.
- Part I, "The Veil and Its Symbols", is a short overview of the traditional symbols associated with each card, followed by a history of the Tarot. Waite dismissed as baseless the belief that the Tarot was Egyptian in origin, and noted that no evidence of the cards exists prior to the 15th century.
- Part II, "The Doctrine of the Veil", contains 78 black and white plates of the Rider-Waite-Smith deck, and a discussion of the unique symbols chosen for each card. Waite drew upon the earlier Tarot of French occultist Eliphas LeviEliphas LeviEliphas Lévi, born Alphonse Louis Constant , was a French occult author and purported magician."Eliphas Lévi," the name under which he published his books, was his attempt to translate or transliterate his given names "Alphonse Louis" into Hebrew although he was not Jewish.His second wife was...
, at times retaining his changes to the traditional deck (as with the Chariot card, which both Waite and Levi picture being drawn by two sphinxSphinxA sphinx is a mythical creature with a lion's body and a human head or a cat head.The sphinx, in Greek tradition, has the haunches of a lion, the wings of a great bird, and the face of a woman. She is mythicised as treacherous and merciless...
, instead of horses), at other times criticizing him (as with the Hermit card, which Waite thought Levi misinterpreted).
- Part III, "The Outer Methods of the Oracles", concerns matters of divination with the cards, including a description of the famous Celtic Cross Tarot layout, which the book helped popularize.
In 1918, an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
author, L. W. de Laurence
L. W. de Laurence
L. W. de Laurence was an American author and publisher on occult and spiritual topics. He was born in 1868 and died on 11 September 1936 in Chicago, Illinois, USA at the age of 68...
, published an exact facsimile copy of the book under the title The Illustrated Key to the Tarot: The Veil of Divination, Illustrating the Greater and Lesser Arcana, without giving any credit to Waite.