Fabricio Soler’s Waite Smith is a welcome treat to the body of RWS reconstructions. Unsurprisingly, I haven’t seen many English-speaking reviews or tarot readers showcase this deck, so I’m excited to show it in action and perhaps inspire folks to look beyond European and US markets.
I became aware of Soler’s work through his Instagram, illustrarot. I lack the language to describe the art style; thankfully, I can take photos. Hopefully, you can help me find the right descriptors!
Many of y’all are likely familiar with the Rider-Waite-Smith, so I put it to work using a (modified) spread from an old book on tarot, written by one of the founders of the Order of the Golden Dawn.
A Tarot Spread from Mathers’s 1888 Publication
Samuel MacGregor Mathers was a founder of the Order of the Golden Dawn. Among his many works, he is the author of The Tarot. In it, he provides three spreads one could use. Let’s get rollin’!
The Shuffle
Like many esoteric tarot writers, Mather insists on a correct way of shuffling. He instructs:
Whatever mode of laying out be adopted, it is necessary that the person inquiring should carefully shuffle the cards, with two objects in view; firstly, that of turning some of the cards upside down; secondly, that of thoroughly altering their position and sequence in the pack. They should then be cut. During the shuffling and cutting, the inquirer should think earnestly of the matter concerning which he is anxious for information; for unless he does this, the cards will rarely read correctly. This shuffling and cutting should be thrice repeated. The backs of the cards should be towards the person shuffling.
As mentioned in a previous post, I don’t use reversals. For the purpose of this demonstration, I’ll stick closely to his method.
As for a question, let’s make something up! Let’s say the querent is considering a move for a new job and would like to know what to expect.
Picking a Significator
Mathers describes significators based on skin color. He says,
The Swords represent very dark people;
Pentacles, those not so dark;
Cups, rather fair people;
Wands or Sceptres, those much fairer, and so on.
For our made-up friend, let’s go with the King of Pentacles. I don’t read with him very much!
Dealing the Cards
As instructed, I removed the King of Pentacles, placing the Significator upward to the right. Then…I made an oopsie and misread the instructions. Oh well! Below is my updated method.
- Pull the first card and every seventh card after that. The first card will be included in the count.
- Once you have 21 cards (the Significator plus 20 drawn from the deck), arrange them in three rows of seven as pictured below.
- Interpret each row from right to left, reading the seven cards cohesively.
- After each row has been interpreted, you read cards in pairs, starting with the 1st card (i.e., the Significator) and the last card, then the 2nd card and the 20th card, and so on.
Ooooh, so excited to see some open reading happening! Dare I use Mathers’s meanings exclusively? Why not.
For each line, I start with the keywords and then provide my interpretation. Scroll down to the end for some tips on reading in line.
Reading the Lines
- King of Pentacles: the significator
- Hierophant Rx: over-kindness, weakness, foolish exercise of generosity
- 3 Cups: success, triumph, victory, favorable issue
- 10 Cups: the town wherein one resides, honor, consideration, esteem, virtue, glory, reputation
- 6 Pentacles: presents, gifts, gratification
- Themis/Justice Rx: bigotry, want of balance, abuse of justice, over-severity, inequality, bias
- Ace of Pentacles Rx: purse of gold, money, gain, help, profit, riches
The move isn’t well thought out (Hier), motivated by a financial opportunity (AcePnRx) with a signing bonus (6Pn). This clouds your judgment (JustRx). You leave behind a happy home (10Cp).
- Temperance: combination, conformation, uniting
- 6 Wands: attempt, hope, desire, wish, expectation
- 10 Swords: tears, affliction, grief, sorrow
- 8 Swords Rx: treachery in the past, event, accident, remarkable incident
- 8 Cups Rx: gaiety, feasting, joy, pleasure
- 6 Cups: the future, that which is to come, shortly, soon
- 9 Cups: victory, advantage, success, triumph, difficulties surmounted
But an incident at home (10Sw, 8SwRx) seals the move (Temp, 6Wp) in hopes of a better future (6Wd, 6Cp). The situation improves.
- Ace Swords: triumph, fecundity, fertility, prosperity
- Page of Swords: a spy, overlooking, authority
- 6 Swords Rx: declaration, love proposed, revelation, surprise
- Star Rx: hopes not fulfilled, expectations disappointed or fulfilled in a minor degree
- Queen of Swords Rx: a bad woman, ill-tempered and bigoted, riches and discord, abundance together with worry, joy with grief
- Ace Wands: birth, commencement, beginning, origin, source
- Knight of Cups: arrival, approach, advance
The fortune (AceSw) hits an unexpected road bump (PgSw / 6SwRx), shattering expectations (Star Rx) and caused by a third party with questionable motives (QnSwRx). I start from scratch (AceWd), trotting down another path (KnCp). The future? Unwritten…
Now, let’s cross-check the reading with the pairs.
Reading the Pairs
- King of Pentacles / Knight of Cups: A move forward
- Hierophant Rx / Ace Wands: A foolish beginning
- 3 Cups / Queen of Swords Rx: Successful meddling
- 10 Cups / Star Rx: An unfulfilling living situation
- 6 Pentacles / 6 Swords Rx: An unexpected twist
- Justice Rx / Page of Swords:A covert resistance
- Ace Pentacles Rx / Ace Swords: Financial fortune
- Temperance / 9 Cups: Success
- 6 Wands / 6 Cups: Optimism
- 10 Swords / 8 Cup Rx: A mixed bag, with joy and sorrow
- 8 Swords Rx: The past casts a shadow, haunting
Reading the pairs provides nuance to the overall message. Seems to confirm the reading’s overall tone!
The Technique
I didn’t get very esoteric (I can’t help it!). Mathers doesn’t really tell us how to read in line or pairs, so here are some tips from yours truly.
NOTE: I am not a fan of keywords and generally avoid them in my own readings, but since I incorporated his method, I used them as a basis for my interpretation.
1. Read first
Treat the cards as words. The words themselves don’t give the meaning; it’s the act of stringing them together that does. Nevertheless, we start with the building block.
Mathers gives multiple meanings, so we start by selecting the keywords based on context. Here’s what we know:
- There is a move
- There is a new job
Based on these assumptions, I selected the following keywords:
weakness, favorable issue, the town wherein one resides, gifts, bias, purse of gold.
2. Build strings
Pretend you ask someone the querent’s question, and they respond with those keywords. What would you think they are trying to say? Play around with combining the words, always keeping the context in mind.
“a weak bias”
“gifts of gold”
“favorable gift”
“favorable home”
3. Flesh it out
Ah, now we are getting somewhere! Take those strings and build them out even more. Think about what you know about moves and jobs, and read those strings in that light.
“gifts of gold” – signing bonus
“favorable home” – happy home life
“a weak bias” – bad judgment
“favorable gift” – a good offer
4. Build your hypothesis (and show your work!)
Let’s build some sentences. Using the mini interpretations from before, tell a story. We are readers afterall!
As you put together the sentences, go back to the cards. Every argument should go back to the cards. Notice how, in my interpretation, I refer to the cards as evidence.
The move isn’t well thought out (Hier), motivated by a promising financial opportunity (3Cp/AcePnRx) with a signing bonus (6Pn). This clouds your judgment (JustRx). You leave behind a happy home (10Cp).
Closing Thoughts
It’s such a good feeling when you hit the nail on the head with a reading. Alas, it won’t always be the case. But I invite you to consider another measure of success I learned from (I believe) Tom Benjamin: if you can demonstrate how you used the cards, then your reading is successful. Show your work, stay close to the cards, and watch what unfolds.