Tarot Deck

Universal Rider-Waite

• Tarot Deck Name: Universal Rider-Waite
• Manufacturer: US Games Systems Inc.
• Date Created: 1990 (original deck created in 1907 and first published in 1909)
• Level: Recommended for Beginners
• Approximate Cost: $20 US
• Especially Good For... traditional Tarot readers who like working with a classic deck
• Availability: rare in bookshops, a better selection in specialty shops or online via auction sites
• Illustrated Minor Arcana: Yes

The Universal Rider-Waite is an update of the classic Rider-Waite Tarot deck that is an old standard for many Tarot readers. How extensive are the updates?

The majority of the attention seems to be on the color palette of the Tarot deck. The original Rider Waite tarot cards, for those who aren't familiar with them, feature a very flat and basic series of colors that seemed to take away from the illustrations of Pamela Colman-Smith.

US Games Systems Inc., perhaps motivated by the possibility of their most popular Tarot deck entering the public domain, commissioned Mary Hanson-Roberts to recolor the illustrations. Hanson-Roberts (aside: it's starting to seems like many Tarot artists have hyphenated names), the artist behind the popular Hanson-Roberts Tarot deck, had the task of finding a more subtle look for these classic cards.

The result? A more visually pleasing deck with rich but subdued colors that support rather than detract from the illustrations that Colman-Smith created so many years ago. Visually, the deck is much improved. Overall, it's a beautiful update to a standard deck whose main flaw was its coloring. That being said, it's a little disappointing that little else was changed.

Don't get me wrong, I like the Rider-Waite deck and think that the illustrations capture the symbolism and changes that came with modernizing Tarot. I was just hoping for some extra information of the booklet or something else extra with this new Tarot deck.

All-in-all, this is still a great Tarot deck to start learning Tarot with as well as wonderful to master Tarot with. For those looking for something a little more unusual or individual, there are many other decks that might be a better choice.

Lucy's Rating: 3.5 cards (out of 5)