Secrets of the Waite-Smith Tarot

by Marcus Katz

  Reversed: Voided ambition, vanity, cupidity, exaction, usury. It may also signify the possession of skill, in the sense of the ingenious mind turned to cunning and intrigue.

  This card is based on the 6 of Discs from the Sola Busca.

  This is the card that demonstrates the importance of steady work and diligence. The young man is the apprentice of the 3 of Pentacles, who has long since gained the professional skill to make something of himself in the world. It is a card of ambition and self-respect, and having a purpose in life. If the 3 of Pentacles is “having perfected the skill,” then the 8 of Pentacles is the status earned and the freedom and security this provides. He is the artisan at work in the world.

  If the 8 of Pentacles comes up in the “hopes and fears” position of the Celtic Cross when the querent has asked about the security of a relationship, it implies that whatever they have invested so far will give them the status they deserve.

  62. Sola Busca 6 of Discs. (Wolfgang Mayer edition, issued by Giordano Berti, 1998.)

  Seven

  A young man, leaning on his staff, looks intently at seven pentacles attached to a clump of greenery on his right; one would say that these were his treasures and that his heart was there.

  Divinatory meanings: These are exceedingly contradictory; in the main, it is a card of money, business, barter; but one reading gives altercation, quarrels—and another innocence, ingenuity, purgation.

  Reversed: Cause for anxiety regarding money which it may be proposed to lend.

  The pentacles (as a suit) have a tendency to speak of responsibility and the need for accountability if one does not take life seriously enough. The 7 of Pentacles is quite a brooding card; it is a card to touch one’s guilty conscience. It urges us to look at what we have created so far and it pushes us to use a little introspection. We ask ourselves had we tried much harder, would we have made a better job of it. It now feels difficult to go back and change things at stage seven of the pentacles journey. It would be easy to throw in the towel at this stage and waste the effort you have put in so far.

  Six

  A person in the guise of a merchant weighs money in a pair of scales and distributes it to the needy and distressed. It is a testimony to his own success in life, as well as to his goodness of heart.

  This design is based on Sir Henry Irving playing Robespierre in the eponymous play—a production in which Pamela was a background extra for the large courtroom scene. Robespierre was a significant figure in the French Revolution who advocated equality between the classes, a trait depicted in this card. He was also known as “the Incorruptible” which gives added significance to Pamela’s design choice for this card, described in Book T as “power, influence, rank, nobility, rule over the people. Fortunate, successful, liberal, and just.” Pamela had also drawn Irving as Robespierre in her illustrations for the 1899 souvenir booklet Sir Henry Irving and Miss Ellen Terry in Robespierre, Merchant of Venice, The Bells, Nance Oldfield, The Amber Heart, Waterloo, etc.

  Divinatory meanings: Presents, gifts, gratification; another account says attention, vigilance; now is the accepted time, present prosperity, etc.

  Reversed: Desire, cupidity, envy, jealousy, illusion.

  This is a card of success, charity, and investment. Things financially have accumulated to the extent that you are able to be more generous with your earnings. It is a good card for investment or charitable considerations. This can be the stage of giving away ten percent of your earnings in tithing. If the 5 of Pentacles was about letting go of being in control of your finances then the 6 of Pentacles turns it all around. It is about you being in control of your finances and giving to others.

  Five

  Two mendicants in a snowstorm pass a lighted casement.

  Divinatory meanings: The card foretells material trouble above all, whether in the form illustrated—that is, destitution—or otherwise. For some cartomancists, it is a card of love and lovers—wife, husband, friend, mistress; also concordance, affinities. These alternatives cannot be harmonized.

  Reversed: Disorder, chaos, ruin, discord, profligacy.

  This card can mean going without on many levels, exposing yourself to the outside world, no longer being self-sufficient, and having to rely on some other to take care of you. How you express this depends upon what you value most; one person’s idea of going without is very different to another’s. The person in the reading could have given up all their worldly goods, believeing that in living a more spiritual, nonmaterialistic life, they will be looked after by a higher power. This is Waite’s mendicant, the religious asetic. This is the card of letting go of known security and trusting that all will be well. It is all done through pure faith.

  In a more mundane way, it could express itself in the form of the gambler who jeopardises his security by banking on his luck improving and the next bet paying off. Or it could be the student who decides to take a year off and risk the unknown in the meantime. It could also be the person who decides to risk all and leave the family and home for a new relationship.

  Four

  A crowned figure, having a pentacle over his crown, clasps another with hands and arms; two pentacles are under his feet. He holds to that which he has.

  Divinatory meanings: The surety of possessions, cleaving to that which one has, gift, legacy, inheritance.

  Reversed: Suspense, delay, opposition.

  This is the card of relying on material wealth for total security and well-being. This state can create stagnation and an inability to allow changes for fear of loss of control, resulting in inhibited growth. In a reading, this speaks of being stuck and holding to responsibilities of the person’s own making. It can advise the importance of spreading the load. It also suggests the burden that without delegation the security will become a prison.

  The 4 of Pentacles is the materialist card of stability and security at any cost. This card can signify a very fixed situation, not one that can be undone easily. It is the card of empire building. In a reading, this card can advise staying put, not moving from where you are now, or standing your ground. Waite’s comment on this card, “cleaving to that which one has” is a way of telling us that the king has spoken, so heed his wise advice.

  It could also be applicable to not budging from a decision that you have made or it could actually be a case of not physically moving, say from the home you presently reside in. There is an expression that is used that fits this well: “As safe as houses!” In that if you are going to make any investments, make the investments in something practical, steer away from fantasy and keep it real.

  63. Henry Irving in Robespierre, by Pamela Colman Smith. (Courtesy of the National Trust, used under license.)

  Three

  A sculptor at his work in a monastery. Compare the design which illustrates the Eight of Pentacles. The apprentice or amateur therein has received his reward and is now at work in earnest.

  Divinatory meanings: Métier, trade, skilled labour; usually, however, regarded as a card of nobility, aristocracy, renown, glory.

  Reversed: Mediocrity, in work and otherwise, puerility, pettiness, weakness.

  This is the card of the apprentice who has perfected his skill. He is now proficient enough to be left to his own devices.

  Here we have the 3 of Pentacles demonstrating the importance of recognising that the work you put in now will pay off at a later date. This is seen in the 8 of Pentacles where the apprentice has now graduated to artisan and is out in the world being productive. When this card is prominent in a reading, it says, “Discover what you are best at and work to perfect it.” It is the card of career planning. Do not put it off any longer!

  Two

  A young man in the act of dancing has a pentacle in either hand, and they are joined by that endless cord which is like the number 8 reversed.

  Divinatory meanings: On the one hand it is represented as a c
ard of gaiety, recreation, and its connections (the subject of the design) but it is read also as news and messages in writing, as obstacles, agitation, trouble, embroilment.

  Reversed: Enforced gaiety, simulated enjoyment, literal sense, handwriting, composition, letters of exchange. In Key, Waite also gives this card as signifying “troubles more imaginary than real,” and a reversed meaning of “bad omen, ignorance, injustice.”

  In Key we read further that the design of the card and its interpretation are somewhat different; “on the one hand it is represented as a card of gaiety, recreation … ” whilst it is actually read as “news and messages in writing … ” And the reversed meanings accord with S. L. MacGregor Mathers in his book The Tarot, “handwriting, composition, letters of exchange” as well as “enforced gaiety, simulated enjoyment” (278).

  Mathers had already provided meanings for the Deuce of Pentacles: “embarrassment, worry, difficulties.” However it is again in the reversed meaning that we see a specific theme emerging for the card: “letter, missive, epistle, message.” The theme of communication is strong.

  Mathers also referred to the detail of the deuce in the European deck he was using: “bound together by a continuous band in such a manner as to form a figure 8,” which “represents the one as being the reflection of the other, as the Universe is that of the Divine Idea” (Tarot, 9).

  The surprising answer to this puzzle may come from Edward Burne-Jones, whose work we have seen was influential on Pamela. In the British Museum is bequeathed a wonderful collection of images by Burne-Jones, entitled The Flower Book. It is a series of images inspired by flower names, returning the name to its original mythic source. The image for “False Mercury,” the poisonous flower also known as “Dog’s Mercury,” is one which Pamela may well have seen—the collection was given to the museum in 1909, the year she was creating her tarot.

  This is also why we believe it was Pamela who saw the Sola Busca images in the British Museum (although Waite could have done so too) and was inspired when later creating the minors. She may well have had an eye on new stock coming into the museum.

  Burne-Jones describes this image as “the Dream-god shewing happy dreams of home to sleeping mariners at sea.”

  This is a card of making the most of your situation, assessing the state of your affairs. It is about weighing up your opportunities, seeing what will best work for you. Waite, in describing the action of the young man in the image, he says that he is “in the act of dancing, has a pentacle in either hand, and they are joined by that endless cord which is like the number 8 reversed. On one hand gaiety, recreation and its connexions.” In saying this, he is stressing the importance of taking advantage of networking and sharing of resources, to keep the lively energy flowing. Making contacts and socialising is good and beneficial to be happy and successful in life. However, on the downside, be aware that the more connections you make with others—say through social media, Facebook, and on Twitter—may lead to communications being confused, because as Waite says, “It is read also as news and messages in writing, as obstacles, agitation, trouble, embroilment.” So beware of Facebook trolling and miscommunications! From the reversal view, Waite warns against “forced gaiety, simulated enjoyment,” so keep it real and authentic!

  Ace

  A hand—issuing, as usual, from a cloud—holds up a pentacle.

  Divinatory meanings: Perfect contentment, felicity, ecstasy; also speedy intelligence; gold.

  Reversed: The evil side of wealth, bad intelligence; also great riches. In any case it shews prosperity, comfortable material conditions, but whether these are of advantage to the possessor will depend on whether the card is reversed or not.

  This is a card of finding yourself in a favourable situation. You will land on your feet with regards to security. It will be presented to you as if it is a gift from above.

  –The Suit of Wands–

  King

  The physical and emotional nature to which this card is attributed is dark, ardent, lithe, animated, impassioned, noble. The King uplifts a flowering wand, and wears, like his three correspondences in the remaining suits, what is called a cap of maintenance beneath his crown. He connects with the symbol of the lion, which is emblazoned on the back of his throne.

  Divinatory meanings: Dark man, friendly, countryman, generally married, honest and conscientious. The card always signifies honesty, and may mean news concerning an unexpected heritage to fall in before very long.

  Reversed: Good, but severe; austere, yet tolerant.

  Person: A dynamic instigator of change.

  Part of self: Restless.

  Energy: Boundless.

  The King is unafraid, as he has self-knowledge of his own limitations and abilities. He can always think one step ahead of anyone else because he is authentic and knows the deeper authenticity of others. When others are fooling themselves, he sees deeper. He’s not the one who opens the door, he is the one who knocks.

  Queen

  The Wands throughout this suit are always in leaf, as it is a suit of life and animation. Emotionally and otherwise, the Queen’s personality corresponds to that of the King, but is more magnetic.

  Divinatory meanings: A dark woman, countrywoman, friendly, chaste, loving, honourable. If the card beside her signifies a man, she is well disposed towards him; if a woman, she is interested in the Querent. Also, love of money, or a certain success in business.

  Reversed: Good, economical, obliging, serviceable. Signifies also—but in certain positions and in the neighbourhood of other cards tending in such directions—opposition, jealousy, even deceit and infidelity.

  Person: Confident creator of wealth.

  Part of self: Passionate.

  Energy: Energetic.

  As we have seen in the introduction of this book, the Queen of Wands is modelled on Edy Craig and her cat, Snuffles. The chair is found in Smallhythe Place, as are the sunflowers.

  64. Edy and Snuffles. (Courtesy of the National Trust, used under license.)

  65. Snuffles the Cat. (Courtesy of the National Trust, used under license.)

  66. Stool at Smallhythe Place, photograph by authors.

  67. Sola Busca Queen of Clubs. (Wolfgang Mayer edition, issued by Giordano Berti, 1998.)

  There is also an inspiration to this card drawn partly from the Sola Busca version of the Queen of Clubs, depicting Palas.

  Knight

  He is shown as if upon a journey, armed with a short wand, and although mailed is not on a warlike errand. He is passing mounds or pyramids. The motion of the horse is a key to the character of its rider, and suggests the precipitate mood, or things connected therewith.

  Divinatory meanings: Departure, absence, flight, emigration. A dark young man, friendly. Change of residence.

  Reversed: Rupture, division, interruption, discord.

  Person: Expressive, generous and can be trusted.

  Part of self: Conscience.

  Energy: Fervent.

  The incorporation of costume motifs for the court cards to illustrate their character was both an artistic convention at the time and familiar to those attending theatrical productions.

  68. Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk, in King Richard II (Mr. Oscar Asche) from Shakespeare, Complete Works, intro. H. G. Bell (1899). (Courtesy of authors, private collection.)

  Page

  In a scene similar to the former, a young man stands in the act of proclamation. He is unknown but faithful, and his tidings are strange.

  Divinatory meanings: Dark young man, faithful, a lover, an envoy, a postman. Beside a man, he will bear favourable testimony concerning him. A dangerous rival, if followed by the Page of Cups. Has the chief qualities of his suit. He may signify family intelligence.

  Reversed: Anecdotes, announcements, evil news. Also indecision and the instability which accompanies it.

  P
erson: Bearer of fresh news.

  Part of self: Self-aware.

  Energy: Enlightening.

  Ten

  A man oppressed by the weight of the ten staves which he is carrying.

  Divinatory meanings: A card of many significances, and some of the readings cannot be harmonized. I set aside that which connects it with honour and good faith. The chief meaning is oppression simply, but it is also fortune, gain, any kind of success, and then it is the oppression of these things. It is also a card of false-seeming, disguise, perfidy. The place which the figure is approaching may suffer from the rods that he carries. Success is stultified if the Nine of Swords follows, and if it is a question of a lawsuit, there will be certain loss.

  Reversed: Contrarieties, difficulties, intrigues, and their analogies.

  Here we see that Pamela has co-opted the character of the Sola Busca 10 of Swords as more fitting for her 10 of Wands.

  The image on this card says it all; the man is overwhelmed by the burden he carries. He does not stop and let go, because the work is nearly over and there is no going back. He is at the “Ten stage” in his journey, and he will benefit from the effort he has put in so far. The card can warn against treachery—take care whom you trust, as they may not be genuine.

  69. Sola Busca 10 of Swords. (Wolfgang Mayer edition, issued by Giordano Berti, 1998.)

  Nine

  The figure leans upon his staff and has an expectant look, as if awaiting an enemy. Behind are eight other staves—erect, in orderly disposition, like a palisade.