Simplified version of the Pictorial Key to the Tarot?

[silly-sybil]

hey everyone! I hope you're doing good!

 

for the past few months I have tried to dive deeper into Waite's original meanings for the RWS Tarot. so, of course, I decided to start by reading the Pictorial Key to the Tarot... however, I soon ran into two obstacles.

 

first things first, I am not a native English speaker – and Waite's writing style is pretty famous for being complex. so his book is pretty hard to decipher for me in the first place. secondly, I have no knowledge of esoteric subjects such as Kabbalah, astrology, and the like.

 

these things make it really difficult for me to grasp the contents of the PKT. but I also don't want to give up, which is the reason why I have been re-reading the PKT more carefully, annotating and researching concepts/terms I'm not familiar with as I go.

 

however, I was wondering: does anyone know if this has been done before? is a commented and/or simplified version of the PKT already available? if not, are there any books that can come in handy as I go about simplifying the PKT?

 

thank you so much beforehand!

[Raggydoll]

I believe Mary K Greer was once working on such a book, but I do not think she is actively working on it anymore. This is such a shame because I agree with you, a guide to the PKT would be a very good thing indeed.
 

I have studied it myself, on and off over the years, taking bite sized chunks and performing a lot of Google searches to help me with the quotes that Waite has woven into the book as clues to be further explored. It is challenging but I have found it a worthy pursuit, Waite was really a very brilliant guy. 

[silly-sybil]

24 minutes ago, Raggydoll said:

I believe Mary K Greer was once working on such a book, but I do not think she is actively working on it anymore. This is such a shame because I agree with you, a guide to the PKT would be a very good thing indeed.
 

I have studied it myself, on and off over the years, taking bite sized chunks and performing a lot of Google searches to help me with the quotes that Waite has woven into the book as clues to be further explored. It is challenging but I have found it a worthy pursuit, Waite was really a very brilliant guy. 

thank you so much for replying! that is such a shame indeed, especially since Greer is such a knowledgeable author and, I'm sure, would have done a wonderful job.

 

but! I'm going to try and study the PKT as well. I can already tell it will be challenging, but if you say it is worth it in the end... I'm defo more motivated! so thank you again!

[Raggydoll]

13 minutes ago, silly-sybil said:

thank you so much for replying! that is such a shame indeed, especially since Greer is such a knowledgeable author and, I'm sure, would have done a wonderful job.

 

but! I'm going to try and study the PKT as well. I can already tell it will be challenging, but if you say it is worth it in the end... I'm defo more motivated! so thank you again!

What I can say is that Mary K Greer once did a very fascinating webinar that you might like. It gives a taste of the research she’s done on Waite and the RWS deck. It is apparently still available for purchase on the global spiritual studies site:

 

https://globalspiritualstudies.com/sp/rws-minor-arcana/

 

I found it helpful in my understanding of how Waite viewed the Tarot, and especially the symbolism of the minor arcana.