Monday, April 20, 2009

Arthur Edward Waite

Arthur Edward Waite


Arthur Edward Waite (October 2, 1857May 19, 1942) was a scholarly mystic who wrote extensively on occult and esoteric matters, and was the co-creator of the Rider-Waite Tarot deck. As his biographer, R.A. Gilbert described him, "Waite's name has survived because he was the first to attempt a systematic study of the history of western occultism — viewed as a spiritual tradition rather than as aspects of proto-science or as the pathology of religion."[1]

Waite was a prolific author with many of his works being well received in academic circles. He wrote occult texts on subjects including divination, esotericism, Rosicrucianism, Freemasonry, black and ceremonial magic, Kabbalism and alchemy; he also translated and reissued several important mystical and alchemical works. His works on the Holy Grail, influenced by his friendship with Arthur Machen, were particularly notable.[10][11] A number of his volumes remain in print, the Book of Ceremonial Magic (1911), The Holy Kabbalah (1929), A New Encyclopedia of Freemasonry (1921), and his edited translation of Eliphas Levi's Transcendental Magic, its Doctrine and Ritual (1896) having seen reprints in recent years.

Waite is best known as the co-creator of the popular and widely used Rider-Waite Tarot deck and author of its companion volume, the Key to the Tarot, republished in expanded form the following year, 1911, as the Pictorial Key to the Tarot, a guide to Tarot reading[12]. The Rider-Waite-Smith tarot was notable for being one of the first tarot decks to illustrate all 78 cards fully, in addition to the 22 major arcana cards. Golden Dawn member Pamela Colman Smith illustrated the cards for Waite, and the deck was first published in 1910.




A French Method of Fortune Telling by Playing Cards - Download

Ordo Roseae Rubeae et Aureae Crucis - Download

Some Deeper Aspects of Masonic Symbolism - Download

The Book of Ceremonial Magic - Download

The Hermetic and Rosicrucian Mystery - Download

The Hermetic Museum - Download

The Meaning of Alchemy - Download

The Pictorial Key to the Tarot - Download

The Pictorial Symbols of Alchemy - Download

The Templar Orders in Freemasonry - Download

No comments:

Post a Comment