The most popular
Tarot deck today is probably what is confusingly known as the
Rider-Waite-Smith,
Waite-Smith, or simply the
Rider deck. The images were drawn by artist
Pamela Colman Smith, to the instructions of academic and mystic
A. E. Waite, and published by the
Rider company[?]. While the images are deceptively simple, almost child-like, the details and backgrounds hold a wealth of symbolism. The subjects remain close to the earliest decks, but usually have added detail. The chief aesthetic objection to this deck is the crude printing of colours in the original: several decks, such as the
Universal Waite deck[?], simply copy the Smith line drawings, but with more sophisticated coloring.
The Major Arcana of the Rider deck:
