Radiant Rider-Waite® Tarot

I really love this tarot deck! The colors are vibrant and beautiful, the artwork feels full of energy, and the tin box makes it easy to carry and keep safe. Overall, I’m very happy with this purchase!

Very bright. And traditional deck. Brilliant colors and illustrations. Love this deck.

I am very much a traditionalist when it come to Tarot Cards and I am from the Rider-Waite-Smith camp. If the famous RWS was birthed at a later time, they would be able to have much more available to use when it came to coloration and it's printing of such. The Radiant is exactly that! The hues of the colors are so much more richer and vibrant than that of the RWS. Those great changes, they could only have been held in their dreams at the times in which the RWS was made. The depth and brilliance of the Radiant Rider-Waite Tarot makes connecting to your intuition and to the cards themselves nearly come alive. It's richness just pops at you. To me it is like hearing a melody played by three or four instruments. Okay, so sounds good and played by accomplished, talented artist making the music. Contrast that by the exact same notes of the melody now played likewise by accomplished artist in their field, but no longer played by just three or four musicians playing it, but an entire orchestra is playing these exact same notes. In a great sense, it is the exact same, the artist is the same, the work of Waite, is the exact same and publishing was the same. The difference lies in what was available within in the medium of art and printing of it at the time. The intensity isn't within the RWS because it was non-existent at the time to be printed. The quality of a three or four musicians cannot ever be compare to an orchestra. Therein is the greater richness. ( Please note at all times rather I have wrote Rider-Waite or RW or RWS, do fully know I am writing of one and the same deck. Pamela Coleman Smith is the Artist of the RW deck, yet her name was never in the marketing of the deck, giving to her due credit. Without this lady's input, it is anybodies guess of what the RW deck would have been. Would we even be discussing a RW deck? It could very well, even with Waiter's input, if the art doesn't work, it could have been a dud. The world would certainly have been different without the influence of this deck. So we have this deck and it's clones due to her artistry and the strokes of her brushes. To her, I give her honor in calling it after publisher, author and artist... Rider-Waite-Smith. )

This deck is small in size, but that’s a big part of the charm. The metal case fits in the palm of my hand and takes up almost no space, which makes it easy to travel with in comparison to other decks. The cards are big enough to shuffle and still readable. And though I typically do readings with a Connolly deck, you can’t really go wrong with RWS, especially if you’re a beginner.

Great little travel deck also good for people that read tarot that have smaller hands and don’t like large ducks to shuffle. Really like the metal case keeps the cards well protected. These would be a great stocking stuffer for someone that likes tarot. The one thing I will mention is that the cards are not as thick as some, but they are still substantial enough and a great value

*This review treats only the Radiant deck with some comparison to the US Games Universal Waite. It's quite long enough without adding in other versions of the RWS deck!* As many folks have pointed out, these cards are brilliantly, beautifully colored--they are jewel-like and lovely from that standpoint. But when I first bought mine and laid them out, I also noticed two other things: (1) Yep, they were stinky! As others have noted, a little airing-out quickly solves this problem. (2) They just seemed *different* somehow. The first and most obvious difference is that the original hand-lettering of the card titles is gone, replaced by a clean type font on wider white borders, which lends the cards a more modern feel. The second difference, which took me a few moments to realize, is that these drawings are *not* those of the "original"-style Rider-Waite decks. Pamela Colman Smith ("Pixie") drew specific facial expressions and informed many of the characters' poses and attitudes with subtle line choices. This deck has been redrawn and simplified -- to my eye, it has an almost cartoonish look. (One could perhaps more charitably equate these as similar to a stained-glass rendering; outlines and figures are simplified, and many subtle line nuances are gone, in favor of the boldness of the coloring.) In quiet acknowledgment of the alterations, US Games has removed Pixie's signature from each card and has noted that the deck is "based on drawings by Pamela Colman Smith." I point this out only because I think it's important to note that the coloring is *not* the only alteration made to these cards. If you have an earlier edition of this deck, you will notice the differences -- you may love them or hate them depending on your attachment to Pixie's original work. If this is your first Rider-Waite-Smith deck, you will be working with a different artistic style than the originals, although as others have pointed out the symbolism remains pretty much intact and, if you like the art style, the deck will be perfectly suitable. If you're not sure which version of the deck you'd like to purchase, I'd suggest looking at examples side-by-side online, or if possible, at your friendly local tarot shop. The differences in the drawings are noticeable throughout the deck, but specific cards for useful comparison are The Empress, The Emperor, The Lovers, and Justice. Take a look and see which style you prefer before you buy. A final note on color: There are of course many versions of the RWS deck, and about 20 years ago US Games came out with the "Universal Waite" colored by Mary Hanson-Roberts. Early printings of this version are quite softly shaded, almost pastel, and some tarot enthusiasts find them too "wishy washy." I recently bought a more recent printing because I am away from home, and found that this new printing has much brighter, more emphatic colors -- I consider them closer to those in the Radiant deck than to those in the earlier pastel Universal deck. If you like the drawing style of the "original Rider-Waite" deck but prefer brighter colors, the Universal might be your thing. Its colors are *not* quite as rich as the Radiant deck (the Radiant's yellows have a lovely infusion of deep orange, and its reds and blues are much deeper), but it *is* much richer than the old Universal printings. I hope this makes sense. Again, in-person comparison is probably your best bet. I enjoy my Radiant deck -- the colors merit the name and beautifully so. But I love my Universal decks -- Pixie's drawings are faithfully represented and Hanson-Roberts' recoloring draws the eye into them, highlighting symbolism and providing an aesthetic touchstone that earlier editions could be argued to have lacked. I hope this helps you as you decide which version to adopt as your own.

Väldigt fin kortlek, det känns i materialet att detta är en premiumprodukt, priset är också vettigt med tanke på att det ingår en låda i metall.

Jolies cartes; la taille est convenable.

Too good…too cute…small size tarot deck with beautiful print…with tin box…liked it…if you like to keep variety of tarot deck according to sizes…must buy it 😇

Preciosa, cuidada y de alta calidad, esta edición especial del Tarot de Raider Waite es simplemente una maravilla. Aunque tengo ocho barajas de Tarot diferentes, ésta se ha convertido ya en mi favorita. Es una maravilla: bonita, de alta calidad y muy manejable por su tamaño "pocket". La cajita de metal para guardarla es preciosa. ¡Magnífico trabajo de los editores!. El librito con los posibles significados de las cartas es inmmejorable: breve, conciso y muy acertado, en mi opinión (y llevo usando el Tarot como herramienta de desarrollo personal y de autoconocimiento, además de esporádicamente para leerlo para otras personas, ya unos 40 años).

I love this size of cards, as one can do a reading on any small surface. This one respects the traditional tarot images, but colors are so happy! Great choice!