Rider-Waite-Smith

The Rider-Waite-Smith is the tarot deck published in 1909 by the Rider company, conceived by Arthur Edward Waite and illustrated by Pamela Colman Smith, both members of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Its decisive innovation was to illustrate the forty numbered Minor Arcana with full scenes, where earlier decks showed only the suit symbols. It also swapped the numbering of Strength (VIII) and Justice (XI) to fit the Order's astrological correspondences. It is the foundation of most modern decks and the reference standard for teaching tarot in English and Spanish, which is why so many books assume its imagery.