The Rider–Waite–Smith Tarot is a deck of cards used for divination and representative of a tradition of esoteric knowledge, first published in 1909 by William Rider & Son in London, and it was the first to be widely available and popularized the use of tarot for divination to the attention of the general public. The deck was the first to include detailed illustrations of all 78 cards, not just the Major Arcana, and it was created by the British occultist Arthur Edward Waite and illustrator Pamela Colman Smith. While the images are deceptively simple, the details and background of each were researched, and many of the cards reflect Waite’s esoteric interests, consequently, the Rider–Waite–Smith deck has been extremely popular for its vivid, detailed, and evocative illustrations. The deck’s Major Arcana illustrations are expressive, detailed, and full of symbols, and this deck is considered a simple, user-friendly deck for beginners.

All of the early tarot decks were hand painted, which made them expensive and exclusive, however, in the 18th and 19th centuries, with the advent of printing, the mass production of designs such as the French TdM and the Swiss Besançon became possible. Although the printed designs were hand-colored, making them still relatively expensive, the advent of printing in the 18th century made decks cheaper to print, but still more expensive than printed playing cards, therefore, mass production was limited to one standardized TdM design, which led to many alternative designs, all of which were hand-colored, and this continued until the 20th century. A full 78-card deck, with detailed illustrations for each suit, would require 56 unique illustrations, which was a significant undertaking.

In the original edition, Smith’s bold, vivid, and detailed illustrations were in a limited color palette as required by the publisher, and the original deck is printed in a black and white photograph on the card face, with the illustrations hand-colored by Smith in bold, primary colors and enhanced with symbolic details. Each suit has a distinct color: Wands (clubs) are yellow; Cups (hearts) are red; Swords (spades) are blue (and sometimes lavender); and Pentacles (diamonds) are green, and Smith’s detailed illustrations add an extra layer of depth to Waite’s descriptions, as outlined in The Key to the Tarot and The Pictorial Key to the Tarot. The Major Arcana cards are illustrated by Smith according to Waite’s specifications, and each Major Arcana card contains an esoteric title; descriptions of its symbolic meaning; and a divinatory meaning in the upright and reversed positions, while many Major Arcana cards reflect common archetypes and deities, such as “The Fool” (as the unnumbered or 0 card), “The Magician” (1), “The High Priestess” (2), “The Empress” (3), “The Emperor” (4), “The Hierophant” (5), “The Lovers” (6), “The Chariot” (7), “Strength” (8), “The Hermit” (9), “Wheel of Fortune” (10), “Justice” (11 or 8), “The Hanged Man” (12), “Death” (13), “Temperance” (14), “The Devil” (15), “The Tower” (16), “The Star” (17), “The Moon” (18), “The Sun” (19), “Judgement” (20), and “The World” (21). The Minor Arcana are illustrated by Smith with detailed depictions of the following: Wands: creativity, energy, inspiration, dreams, passions, and personal growth; Swords: intellect, reason, mental clarity, focus, truth, and contentiousness; Cups: emotions, love, connections, feelings, and relationships; and Pentacles: finances, material possessions, career, skills, and manifestation, and Smith’s scenic Marseilles-style Minor Arcana pip cards in the original deck established the modern standard of 78-card tarot decks used today, in which all of the Minor Arcana cards are illustrated with scenes of mysticism, alchemy, or semi-allegorical scenes.