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. 

[Mister]

These two links just might be helpful, too:

 

https://auntietarot.wordpress.com/2019/02/16/waites-key-to-the-tarot-part-1-2/

Written by "someone who dunnit", reliving the Golden Dawn, that is. Highly recommended.

 

https://benebellwen.com/tarot-readings/public-domain-tarot-books/

Here, it is the "Book T" you'd want.

Along with Wirths 1889 Deck, this is what fueld the rise to heigths of the GD and relatet readers, such as Waite, Crowley and Pixie herself.

[Raggydoll]

1 hour ago, Mister said:

https://auntietarot.wordpress.com/2019/02/16/waites-key-to-the-tarot-part-1-2/

Written by "someone who dunnit", reliving the Golden Dawn, that is. Highly recommended

I started looking through that page, and I will say that I don’t agree with a lot of their conclusions. Especially not with the talk about how Waite saw no occult significance in the minor arcana. This is incorrect, Waite saw the suit emblems as representations of the grail hallows and they were very sacred to him. He discusses this in his book on the Holy Grail.
 

Mary K Greer also talks about this in her lecture, she agrees that there is absolutely a deeper significance in the minor arcana, and that there is a kind of mythological storytelling in several of the images. I can’t go in depth into her findings because I don’t want to give away her intellectual property. I do believe she might have written blog posts and possibly also old AT posts about this topic, so some of it could still be available for free.

 

I agree that the divinatory meanings for the minor arcana given in the PKT do not align with Waites visions for the cards. I suspect there was a need for such an addition in order to please the buyers of that book, so he added generic Cartomancy meanings. That does not mean that the texts for the minors are useless. In fact, the Ace of Cups (the Grail itself) holds the key to understanding all the minors (the emphasis is mine):

 

“The waters are beneath, and thereon are water-lilies; the hand issues from the cloud, holding in its palm the cup, from which four streams are pouring; a dove, bearing in its bill a cross-marked Host, descends to place the Wafer in the Cup; the dew of water is falling on all sides. It is an intimation of that which may lie behind the Lesser Arcana.”

 

[Mister]

1 hour ago, Raggydoll said:

I started looking through that page, and I will say that I don’t agree with a lot of their conclusions.

 

Neither do I.

There's more to a crop than the ground on which it grew.

 

Those two sources are quiet helpful in finding the divergences.

Waite, especially in his later years, is something quiet different from Mathers' Golden Dawn.

The Pictorial Key is interesting for it marks a passage and he dared to (How could he!?) deviate - which earned him much spite.

He was an interesting fella, no doubt.

[Raggydoll]

I think it is great that we are able to discuss the RWS deck from the angle of Waite and the PKT. That is seldom done anymore. Back on the AT forum, all of this was discussed in depth over a long period of time. I thoroughly enjoyed their RWS subforum, there were so many knowledgeable people there. I believe a lot of it can still be read in the archived sections of the forum. Mary K Greer was there too, under the name Teheuti. 

 

Ahh, here it is: https://www.tarotforum.net/forums/rider-waite-smith-tarot.58/ 

Good old days! 😊

[Mister]

Many Thanks. These should do for a nice plunge:

 

https://www.tarotforum.net/threads/pkt-secret-trad-1-study-group.242100/

https://www.tarotforum.net/threads/pkt-secret-trad-2-study-group.242573/

 

https://www.tarotforum.net/threads/grail-mystery-rediscovered-in-tarot.106756/

 

Lastly, the Trinick-Waite Tarot. Got to type it in your browser, material is scarce on that one.

It was what Waite used in his self-founded order after splitting from the GD.

[Raggydoll]

24 minutes ago, Mister said:

Lastly, the Trinick-Waite Tarot. Got to type it in your browser, material is scarce on that one.

It was what Waite used in his self-founded order after splitting from the GD.

Yes, that is a rabbit hole that I have only dipped my toes into a few times. I’m not sure what I think of it. Instinctively though, I don’t believe it represents Waite at his best. It has never captivated me enough to pull me in. What do you think about it?