Universal Waite® Tarot Deck/Book Set

I'll start off by stating that these are full sized tarot cards just to reassure anyone wondering about the size. So as my pictures show, I already own one Universal Waite already, and I just got this second deck to serve as a clone so I can take one around and not be too worried if one gets destroyed as my other will stay at home. The first thing I noticed is a difference in appearance so I compared them to examine closer. What I found is that the new deck has sharper image quality for cleaner images, but I liked the color more on the old deck. There is no dirty residue on these cards either like my original deck came with, so it is very nice to handle these cards with clean smooth shuffling and no dirty hands. My pictures don't really show what I'm talking about though and I need to scan the cards really for a more accurate comparison. I didn't even know it was supposed to come with the spread mat which I thought is very cool since I sadly could never remember the Celtic Cross yet, and being paper is kind of nice for portability. Because of the improved image quality and cleanliness of the new deck, I will probably bring my old deck as my travel deck or buy a second clone. My old deck is my first and only other deck and I feel a bond with it so I'm hesitant to use it for travel. Another possible improvement to the cards is that they feel a hair thicker, but this might just be because they are new. The book is nice reading material but it is more about the cards' artwork than the cards' divination meanings for the major arcana, but the minor arcana have more of divination meanings, so it's not like a bigger version of the little booklet in the deck. The font is large and the book is monochrome, so it's not that spectacular as a book, but it does contain a good amount of information. The start of the book is about the history of tarot cards, which is quite nice in depth for being one chapter long, and the book has a bibliography in the back for further reading, and also in the end of the book are some pages for alternate card meanings and spreads. I think the book is a good addition to the deck and handy spread mat.This was all for $23 when I bought it instead of $32, so I got a good deal here as my original deck was near $20. I would recommend buying this one because of those improved cards. My book and box were slightly damaged in shipping because the shipping package used was a bubble wrap envelope instead of a cardboard box. But the whole product is wrapped in plastic shrink wrap, and the cards are also in plastic wrap, so that's some extra safety against rainy delivery days or whatever. All of my cards were accounted for and had no printing flaws. Any error though and you can just exchange it, so. There are many versions of the Rider-Waite-Smith deck and this one is my favorite because the colored pencil coloring looks so magnificent and lets the white card stock add brightness to the cards. I think the Universal Waite is the most beautiful version for it's bright, softly colorful but still vivid, and textured artwork. The Radiant Waite also looks good for the bold color depth but the colored pencil wins me over here. I should also mention that the back of the cards between both of my Universal Waite decks are still the same, so don't worry about losing that lovely star pattern.For the spiritual philosophy, there are plenty of people with videos and websites who have explored the tarot more deeply and explain just how complex and rich the meanings really are. The book and booklet are nothing compared to what modern people have been creating online and in books. Then for divination, this area is actually hugely lacking in the book and booklet. If you are new to this, you must look into divination, Hermetics, and psychic interpretation to understand how to use the cards. Critics to the system call it random cards, but it's more complex than that as the card reader handles the cards and interprets the cards. The cards themselves are just cards, but it takes applied meaning, interpretation, and some psychic insight to better work with questions, plus study from experienced tarot readers and lots of practice of course. The cards are more of a tool as the magic is in you. I only feel the need to type out this final paragraph because of how much people don't understand how this system operates so there is a lot of misunderstanding about tarot cards in general. I'm certainly no tarot expert myself but I've looked into finding the people that know what they're talking about. I've done some free readings for people for practice, and even though I've only done less than fifty readings probably, people say I'm very good and accurate because I've browsed around the internet quite a bit to learn how the cards work.

Wonderful deck! Packaging is solid, all items were in place.I've been studying Tarot off and on for several years as a hobby. I think most of us started with The Rider Tarot as our first deck, and I am certainly drawn to Pamela Coleman Smith's timeless images. It should be noted that the original images that she drew were in fact, black and white. The coloring was added much later.This deck was an effort by Occultist student and researcher Arthur E. Waite to make Tarot more accessible to the wider public by updating the imagery that had been previously used up until that time.His book (included with this set) The Pictorial Key to the Tarot should be read with a grain of salt; especially the sections in regards to Tarot history. Whereas it's fascinating to read what this man wrote and researched pertaining to The Occult (particularly in France), the history itself is not entirely factual.Where the book is primarily useful are the meanings attributed to each of the cards. All major and minor arcana cards are explained; as well as the symbolism and divinitory meanings of each card. There are also example spreads and spread information included as well.The booklet included in the deck box is primarily keywords for each card.Also included in this set is a Celtic Cross spreadsheet with each position explained. This spreadsheet will be most useful for beginning readers, advanced readers will most likely find it useless.The cards themselves are thick/sturdy/and glossy which makes them easy to shuffle.This set, The Universal Waite Tarot Deck, (originally published by US Games in 1990, and reprinted in 2004) is an updated take of The Rider Tarot published by US Games in 1971. This new set features a brand new back design (no more ugly blue plaid), a beautiful gold star pattern on a solid dark blue background, and the set has been recolored by Mary Hanson-Roberts. This new coloring has been done in pastel and is much softer that its predecessor, which allows for more detail to be seen in the actual images themselves. Personally, I feel that the new coloring allows for greater depth in the original images. I've compared each and every card in this new set to the previous Rider Tarot, and each card in The Universal Waite stands out significantly more that its predecessor.Overall, I highly recommend this deck. There are several editions of The Rider-Waite deck available, and I feel that this is the set that I will be using.

If u r a Rider waite follower then this is a much brighter version of d same.. O got bored of my regular one started finding it a bit pale so went for this.. Ofcourse readings are as always accurate.

Me parece que tiene una buena relación calidad precio. Es la mejor versión del universal rider waite en mi opinion. Los colores son bonitos y se baraja bien, veremos con el uso que tal. Viene con el libro original y una cartulina para la tirada de la cruz celta.

Lovely set and it's my first ever Waite deck. Love the cards and the book but the book is a little confusing due to the meaning but I prefer the little white book as it's not as negative with its meanings. But I still recommend it.

Beautiful product.

The included book has all the alternate meanings you could need as well as explanations of the artwork on the cards.Also covers "repeating" cards, draws and patters.Deck is as you would expect, the best deck you would use for just about any readingYou can feel the energy/vibrations right out of the box; tuned to me right fromthe first reading and has been getting more accurate ever since.Every reader needs this deck as part of their collection; and is best used asthe GO-TO deck for anything.