New English Decks

The English school of Tarot did not attach too much importance to the detailed illustrations of the traditional cards. The Golden Dawn leaders were much more interested in mystical and philosophical principles that stood, in their view, behind the Tarot. They also believed that one could express the same principles in other symbolic languages. In fact, they thought that such new representations could even be better than the original, as they would rely on the well-ordered table of correspondences rather than on the chaotic history of the traditional Tarot images.

Consequently, followers of the English school in the 20th century started to create a growing number of Tarot decks. The new decks generally had the same structure as the old cards, but each of them had its own imagery and illustration style. Gradually, these became more and more distant from the original.

The primary inspiration for the new English school decks was the Golden Dawn Tarot deck mentioned above. Following the disintegration of the short-lived order, several of its former members created Tarot decks of their own. Among them was Arthur Edward Waite whose deck was well received by the New Age movement, and thus became the most popular 20th century Tarot deck outside France.

The deck which carries Waite’s name was actually created under his supervision by a commissioned artist named Pamela Colman Smith, who was also a Golden Dawn initiate. It was originally published in 1909 by the London-based Rider company, and so is sometimes called the “Rider-Waite Tarot.” Today it is more fashionable to call it “Rider-Waite-Smith (or RWS) deck.” Waite’s deck combines elements from different sources such as the Tarot de Marseille, the Golden Dawn Tarot, and other decks. In addition, many of its details are today believed to be the product of Smith’s creative imagination.

An important innovation in the RWS deck was the design of the minor suits number cards, which Waite regarded mainly as a tool for divination. The simple and abstract design of the Marseilles number cards shows only the suit symbols surrounded by floral decorations. But number cards in the Waite deck show realistically-drawn landscapes with human figures in specific situations. These explicit scenes have made the Waite deck more accessible for beginning readers, and thus contributed much to its popularity.

Most of the new English school decks which appeared in the 20th century adopted this innovation. Typically, their number cards show scenes which are basically taken from the Waite cards, re-drawn and adapted to the specific theme of each deck. The variety of the themes reflect the wide range of interests of the New Age movement. Some decks present motifs taken from various religious and artistic traditions. These include, for example, decks inspired by traditional Japanese art, African, Basque, Native American, New Orleans voodoo deities, and many more. Other decks show a feminist orientation, a hippy-like or childish character, inspiration of New Age spiritual teachers and gurus, motifs taken from various scientific fields, animal characters instead of human figures, and so on. Most of the new decks preserve the basic five-suits structure of the traditional Tarot. However, the details of their illustrations usually have very little, if any, in common with the original Tarot de Marseille cards.

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