The Pictorial Key To The Tarot(Illustrated) E-Book

Arthur Edward Waite

• Herausgeber: Swish
• Kategorie: Ratgeber
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024

Beschreibung

• Illustrated Edition with 20 Stunning Illustrations
• Includes a Comprehensive Summary of the Book
• Features a Detailed Character List of Major and Minor Arcana
• Contains a Unique Biography of the Author, Arthur Edward Waite

The Pictorial Key to the Tarot by Arthur Edward Waite is a definitive guide to understanding the mystical and symbolic world of the Tarot. First published in 1910, this timeless work unravels the deep meanings behind the 78 cards of the Tarot deck, focusing on the Major and Minor Arcana. Waite, a leading figure in Western esoteric traditions, brings profound insight into how Tarot cards serve as gateways to spiritual knowledge, self-reflection, and universal wisdom.
This beautifully illustrated edition includes 20 iconic images from the Rider-Waite Tarot deck, co-created by Waite and artist Pamela Colman Smith, offering readers a visual journey into the archetypal figures that shape the Tarot's enduring appeal.
Waite’s meticulous exploration of each card is both scholarly and accessible, revealing their historical roots, esoteric significance, and practical applications. Whether you're a seasoned Tarot reader or a beginner, this book offers rich guidance on how to unlock the deeper mysteries within each card.
This edition also includes a summary of the key themes of the book, a character list of the Tarot figures explained by Waite, and a biography of Arthur Edward Waite, giving readers a complete package for both study and reflection.
Dive into this cornerstone of Tarot literature and discover how the ancient wisdom of the Tarot can guide and enlighten your journey of self-discovery and spiritual growth.







 

Leseprobe

THE PICTORIAL KEY TO THE TAROT

BY

ARTHUR EDWARD WAITE

ABOUT WAITE

Arthur Edward Waite (1857–1942) was an English scholar, mystic, and prolific writer, best known for his contributions to occultism and mysticism. A central figure in the Western esoteric tradition, Waite was deeply involved in the study of alchemy, the Kabbalah, ceremonial magic, and the broader occult sciences. His intellectual curiosity was fueled by an early fascination with spiritualism following the death of his father, which led him on a lifelong quest to explore the hidden dimensions of human existence.

Waite's body of work encompasses numerous texts on mysticism, esotericism, and Christian mysticism. One of his most significant accomplishments was co-creating the Rider-Waite Tarot deck with artist Pamela Colman Smith in 1909. The deck, renowned for its rich symbolism and archetypal imagery, remains one of the most widely used and influential tarot decks to this day. Waite’s contribution to the Tarot wasn't just as a creator but also as a scholar, as he sought to infuse the deck with deeper esoteric meanings, drawing from the mystical traditions he had studied for decades.

Throughout his career, Waite was a member of various esoteric organizations, most notably the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, where he became a leading figure. He later formed his own branch, the Fellowship of the Rosy Cross, which reflected his belief in a more mystical and Christian interpretation of the esoteric teachings he had devoted his life to studying. He distanced himself from purely magical practices, gravitating toward spiritual mysticism, which he saw as the true path to understanding the divine.

A man of both intellectual rigor and spiritual yearning, Waite penned over fifty books, including The Holy Kabbalah, The Book of Black Magic, and The Hidden Church of the Holy Graal. His scholarship helped introduce and clarify many complex esoteric ideas for English-speaking audiences, while his own mystical leanings sought to reconcile these traditions with Christian spirituality.

Waite’s life was marked by a profound search for spiritual truth, and his legacy as a bridge between mysticism and the occult continues to inspire scholars and spiritual seekers alike. Though sometimes seen as an enigmatic and aloof figure, Waite’s work remains a cornerstone of Western esotericism. His influence on the study of mysticism, magic, and the Tarot endures, offering a roadmap for those navigating the labyrinth of hidden wisdom.

SUMMARY

The Pictorial Key to the Tarot by Arthur Edward Waite is a timeless exploration of the mysterious world of Tarot, written by one of the most influential figures in the history of occultism. This book, first published in 1910, serves as an essential guide for both novices and seasoned Tarot readers alike. It offers a detailed breakdown of the 78 cards of the Tarot deck, unveiling their symbolic meanings, historical origins, and the deeper esoteric wisdom they carry.

Waite meticulously explains the Major and Minor Arcana, demystifying each card's imagery and its connection to spiritual truths and human psychology. His unique approach blends the mystical and the practical, as he draws on ancient wisdom traditions, including the Kabbalah and alchemy, to reveal hidden layers of meaning in the cards. Waite doesn't merely treat Tarot as a tool for fortune-telling, but as a profound system of spiritual insight, offering readers a means to connect with higher consciousness.

Accompanied by the iconic illustrations of Pamela Colman Smith, which Waite commissioned, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot introduces the Rider-Waite Tarot deck, still one of the most widely used and influential decks in the world. Waite’s explanations bring the cards to life, making this work a masterful combination of scholarship, mysticism, and practical guidance.

Whether you're seeking to understand Tarot for personal growth, spiritual awakening, or to deepen your knowledge of Western esoteric traditions, this book is an indispensable resource. Waite’s clear yet deeply philosophical writing ensures that The Pictorial Key to the Tarot is more than just a manual—it's an invitation into the rich, symbolic universe of Tarot, where every card becomes a gateway to deeper wisdom and self-discovery.

CHARACTERS LIST

While The Pictorial Key to the Tarot by Arthur Edward Waite is a guidebook to Tarot cards and not a traditional narrative work, it does feature a rich cast of symbolic archetypes, depicted in the Rider-Waite Tarot deck, which Waite explains in great detail. These characters represent universal themes, psychological states, and spiritual forces. Here is a list of the key "characters" (archetypal figures) from the Major Arcana that Waite explores in his book:

Major Arcana Characters:

The Fool (0) –A youthful figure symbolizing new beginnings, innocence, and potential. He embarks on a journey with carefree optimism, but also naivety.

The Magician (I) –A figure representing willpower, creativity, and the manifestation of ideas into reality. He channels divine energy through the elements of the physical world.

The High Priestess (II) –A mysterious and wise woman symbolizing intuition, hidden knowledge, and spiritual insight. She guards the secrets of the unconscious mind.

The Empress (III) –A nurturing and maternal figure representing abundance, fertility, and nature. She is often associated with creativity and the feminine power of creation.

The Emperor (IV) –A powerful and authoritative figure symbolizing order, structure, and leadership. He represents stability and the law of society.

The Hierophant (V) –A spiritual leader representing tradition, religious beliefs, and moral guidance. He stands for the institutional aspects of spiritual teaching.

The Lovers (VI) –A couple representing love, relationships, and choice. This card symbolizes union, harmony, and the balancing of dualities.

The Chariot (VII) –A figure driving a chariot, representing determination, control, and victory. It symbolizes the triumph of willpower over obstacles.

Strength (VIII) –A figure gently controlling a lion, symbolizing inner strength, courage, and compassion. It teaches the power of subtle influence and emotional resilience.

The Hermit (IX) –A solitary figure holding a lantern, symbolizing introspection, wisdom, and the search for deeper truths. He represents guidance through inner reflection.

The Wheel of Fortune (X) –A wheel surrounded by figures, symbolizing the cycles of fate, fortune, and change. This card highlights the ever-turning nature of life's events.

Justice (XI) –A seated figure holding scales and a sword, representing fairness, truth, and balance. This card signifies accountability and ethical decision-making.

The Hanged Man (XII) –A figure suspended upside down, symbolizing sacrifice, surrender, and new perspectives. He represents letting go to achieve spiritual insight.

Death (XIII) –A skeletal figure symbolizing transformation, endings, and new beginnings. It represents the natural cycle of life, death, and rebirth.

Temperance (XIV) –A figure blending liquids, symbolizing balance, moderation, and harmony. This card emphasizes the importance of patience and equilibrium.

The Devil (XV) –A figure representing temptation, materialism, and bondage. It highlights the struggle with self-imposed limitations and destructive desires.

The Tower (XVI) –A tall tower being struck by lightning, symbolizing sudden upheaval, chaos, and revelation. It represents dramatic change and the breakdown of old structures.

The Star (XVII) –A figure pouring water, symbolizing hope, inspiration, and renewal. It represents spiritual guidance and faith in the future.

The Moon (XVIII) –A scene featuring two towers, a wolf, a dog, and a crustacean, symbolizing illusion, confusion, and the subconscious mind. It reflects uncertainty and intuition.

The Sun (XIX) –A bright sun shining over a child on a horse, symbolizing joy, clarity, success, and vitality. It represents enlightenment and positivity.

Judgement (XX) –Figures rising from graves as an angel blows a trumpet, symbolizing rebirth, awakening, and spiritual judgment. It signifies a call to higher purpose and evaluation.

The World (XXI) –A dancing figure surrounded by a wreath, symbolizing completion, fulfillment, and wholeness. This card represents the successful completion of a journey or cycle.

Minor Arcana Characters:

While the Minor Arcana cards focus more on day-to-day events, challenges, and people, certain archetypal figures do appear in the court cards (Kings, Queens, Knights, and Pages). Each suit—Wands, Cups, Swords, and Pentacles—has its own set of court characters:

Kings –Symbolize authority, leadership, and mastery in their respective suits (Wands, Cups, Swords, Pentacles).

Queens –Represent nurturing, intuition, and the emotional aspects of their suits.

Knights –Symbolize action, movement, and the pursuit of goals within their suits.

Pages –Represent new beginnings, potential, and messages related to their suits.

Each of these archetypal characters plays a significant role in Tarot readings and serves as a mirror for the reader’s spiritual, emotional, and psychological experiences. Waite’s The Pictorial Key to the Tarot deeply explores these figures and their symbolic importance in the Tarot tradition.

Contents

Preface

PART 1. THE VEIL AND ITS SYMBOLS

1: Introductory And General

2: Class I. The Trumps Major, Otherwise Greater Arcana

3: Class II. The Four Suits, Otherwise Lesser Arcana

4: The Tarot In History

PART 2. THE DOCTRINE BEHIND THE VEIL

1: The Tarot And Secret Tradition

2: THE TRUMPS MAJOR AND THEIR INNER SYMBOLISM

1. The Magician

2. The High Priestess

3. The Empress

4. The Emperor

5. The Hierophant

6. The Lovers

7. The Chariot

8. Strength, or Fortitude

9. The Hermit

10. Wheel of Fortune

11. Justice

12. The Hanged Man

13. Death

14. Temperance

15. The Devil

16. The Tower

17. The Star

18. The Moon

19. The Sun

20. The Last Judgment

Zero

21. The World

3: Conclusion As To The Greater Keys

PART 3. THE OUTER METHOD OF THE ORACLES

1: Distinction Between The Greater And Lesser Arcana

2: THE LESSER ARCANA OTHERWISE, THE FOUR SUITS OF TAROT CARDS

The Suit Of Wands: King

Wands: Queen

Wands: Knight

Wands: Page

Wands: Ten

Wands: Nine

Wands: Eight

Wands: Seven

Wands: Six

Wands: Five

Wands: Four

Wands: Three

Wands: Two

Wands: Ace

The Suit Of Cups: King

Cups: Queen

Cups: Knight

Cups: Page

Cups: Ten

Cups: Nine

Cups: Eight

Cups: Seven

Cups: Six

Cups: Five

Cups: Four

Cups: Three

Cups: Two

Cups: Ace

The Suit Of Swords: King

Swords: Queen

Swords: Knight

Swords: Page

Swords: Ten

Swords: Nine

Swords: Eight

Swords: Seven

Swords: Six

Swords: Five

Swords: Four

Swords: Three

Swords: Two

Swords: Ace

The Suit Of Pentacles: King

Pentacles: Queen

Pentacles: Knight

Pentacles: Page

Pentacles: Ten

Pentacles: Nine

Pentacles: Eight

Pentacles: Seven

Pentacles: Six

Pentacles: Five

Pentacles: Four

Pentacles: Three

Pentacles: Two

Pentacles: Ace

3: The Greater Arcana And Their Divinatory Meanings

4: Some Additional Meanings Of The Lesser Arcana

5: The Recurrence Of Cards In Dealing

6: The Art Of Tarot Divination

7: An Ancient Celtic Method Of Divination

8: An Alternative Method Of Reading The Tarot Cards

9: The Method Of Reading By Means Of Thirty-Five Cards

Bibliography

Preface

IT seems rather of necessity than predilection in the sense of apologia that I should put on record in the first place a plain statement of my personal position, as one who for many years of literary life has been, subject to his spiritual and other limitations, an exponent of the higher mystic schools. It will be thought that I am acting strangely in concerning myself at this day with what appears at first sight and simply a well-known method of fortune-telling. Now, the opinions of Mr. Smith, even in the literary reviews, are of no importance unless they happen to agree with our own, but in order to sanctify this doctrine we must take care that our opinions, and the subjects out of which they arise, are concerned only with the highest. Yet it is just this which may seem doubtful, in the present instance, not only to Mr. Smith, whom I respect within the proper measures of detachment, but to some of more real consequence, seeing that their dedications are mine. To these and to any I would say that after the most illuminated Frater Christian Rosy Cross had beheld the Chemical Marriage in the Secret Palace of Transmutation, his story breaks off abruptly, with an intimation that he expected next morning to be door-keeper. After the same manner, it happens more often than might seem likely that those who have seen the King of Heaven through the most clearest veils of the sacraments are those who assume thereafter the humblest offices of all about the House of God. By such simple devices also are the Adepts and Great Masters in the secret orders distinguished from the cohort of Neophytes as servi servorum mysterii. So also, or in a way which is not entirely unlike, we meet with the Tarot cards at the outermost gates--amidst the fritterings and débris of the so-called occult arts, about which no one in their senses has suffered the smallest deception; and yet these cards belong in themselves to another region, for they contain a very high symbolism, which is interpreted according to the Laws of Grace rather than by the pretexts and intuitions of that which passes for divination. The fact that the wisdom of God is foolishness with men does not create a presumption that the foolishness of this world makes in any sense for Divine Wisdom; so neither the scholars in the ordinary classes nor the pedagogues in the seats of the mighty will be quick to perceive the likelihood or even the possibility of this proposition. The subject has been in the hands of cartomancists as part of the stock-in-trade of their industry; I do not seek to persuade any one outside my own circles that this is of much or of no consequence; but on the historical and interpretative sides it has not fared better; it has been there in the hands of exponents who have brought it into utter contempt for those people who possess philosophical insight or faculties for the appreciation of evidence. It is time that it should be rescued, and this I propose to undertake once and for all, that I may have done with the side issues which distract from the term. As poetry is the most beautiful expression of the things that are of all most beautiful, so is symbolism the most catholic expression in concealment of things that are most profound in the Sanctuary and that have not been declared outside it with the same fulness by means of the spoken word. The justification of the rule of silence is no part of my present concern, but I have put on record elsewhere, and quite recently, what it is possible to say on this subject.

The little treatise which follows is divided into three parts, in the first of which I have dealt with the antiquities of the subject and a few things that arise from and connect therewith.

It should be understood that it is not put forward as a contribution to the history of playing cards, about which I know and care nothing; it is a consideration dedicated and addressed to a certain school of occultism, more especially in France, as to the source and centre of all the phantasmagoria which has entered into expression during the last fifty years under the pretence of considering Tarot cards historically. In the second part, I have dealt with the symbolism according to some of its higher aspects, and this also serves to introduce the complete and rectified Tarot, which is available separately, in the form of coloured cards, the designs of which are added to the present text in black and white. They have been prepared under my supervision--in respect of the attributions and meanings--by a lady who has high claims as an artist.

Regarding the divinatory part, by which my thesis is terminated, I consider it personally as a fact in the history of the Tarot--as such, I have drawn, from all published sources, a harmony of the meanings which have been attached to the various cards, and I have given prominence to one method of working that has not been published previously; having the merit of simplicity, while it is also of universal application, it may be held to replace the cumbrous and involved systems of the larger hand-books.

PART 1. THE VEIL AND ITS SYMBOLS