The Arcana of Pamela Colman Smith by Cat Willett
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- Опубліковано 1 жов 2024
- Cat Willett presents her book “THE QUEEEN OF WANDS: The Story of Pamela Colman Smith” (Running Press).
Discover the life, work, and magic of Pamela Colman Smith, the visionary artist behind the Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot Deck, the most popular and renowned divination deck in the world.
With rich imagery, stunning colours, and an iconic place in the realm of divination, the Rider-Waite Tarot is perhaps the best known deck in the world. Seasoned readers and fledgling diviners alike turn to these cards in search of inspiration, understanding, and even a hint at the future. But the story of their origin is less well known, with their brilliant creator's name stripped away from them for decades. Now, for the first time, mystics, art-lovers, and fortune-tellers will uncover the magical story of Pamela Coleman Smith, rendered in full-colour illustrations by artist Cat Willett, and inspired by the work of Pamela herself.
From a childhood spent between the United Kingdom and Jamaica, to early artistic success in New York, to involvement in the secret occult society Order of the Golden Dawn, Pamela -- or ‘Pixie’, as she was known to many -- had a life full of enchanted inspiration and profound hardship. Through it all, her art acted as a guiding force, culminating in her custom illustrations for the deck that would become the Rider-Waite Tarot.
Though she received little money and almost no credit for her contributions to the magical realm in her lifetime, Pixie's impact on tarot, divination, and the worlds of mysticism and the arts have reverberated for nearly 150 years, and her story serves as an enchanted spark.
Depicted in whimsical, full-colour detail, with interludes tying Pamela to the resurgence of modern magic and the world of tarot throughout, this singular work is a must-read for witches, creatives, and activists.
Cat Willett is a Brooklyn-based artist. She is the author and illustrator of the upcoming graphic biography Queen of Wands: The Story of Pamela Colman Smith, the Artist Behind the Rider-Waite Tarot Deck, out in September 2022 through Running Press.
Cat holds her MFA from the Fashion Institute of Technology in Illustration. She received her BFA from the University at Buffalo with a minor in Art History and also studied at the Scuola Lorenzo de'Medici in Florence, Italy.
She has created illustration work for the New York Times, the Washington Post, Apple, Doc Martens, The Museum of Arts and Design, and More.
www.catherinewillett.com
/ catxwillett
If you would like a copy of this book, you can find it on our webshop: shop.watkinsbo...
#Pixie
#tarot
#SmithRiderWaite
#CatWillet
We were privileged to see some of Pamela's original artwork at Smallhythe House (home of Ellen Terry)... After expressing interest in PCS - and after a tour of Ellen's costumes in storage there - we were shown a folder of PCS's artwork that had been tucked away for around a hundred years! This visit was in conjunction with visiting Winchelsea, the surrounding area and Tenterden, Kent to see some of the sights, countryside and other features that inspired Pamela's tarot illustrations...
2015 I think...
Why would you call it the Smith deck? Are you oblivious to the gargantuan amount of work A.E. Waite contributed to the Western esoteric tradition? Both Smith and Waite deserve their due respect for the deck. Let me guess, you’ve never studied a lick of alchemy? For your information, the major arcana is jammed packed with alchemical symbols. It’s an esoteric and alchemical initiation. That doesn’t come about just because someone has artistic ability.
Interesting! Thank you for sharing. I’m not really a fan of these illustrations. For some reason it reminds me of the Middle Ages? Probably had a few bad past lives there.
What is your reference material to say she was queer and a woman of color? I know there was perhaps speculation, but you made a statement.
She has no reference material. She’s a water head.
So cool!!!!
Does anyone know where she lived in Brooklyn? For a series of “interesting “ synchronicities I really would love to know
The man-hating in this video ruined this for me. You called her a "person of color." Could you be more specific?
Women didn't work 9-5 back then, as the "privileged" tax cattle they are today. Women not voting had nothing to do with PCS's illustrations. There were plenty of "elite" women in her time, as they were required to produce the next generation of the "elite."
I'd like to find out more about PCS once women have progressed from their victim mentality, so this can be presented properly. 🤮
This book is full of misinformation. Absolute garbage. What a disgrace to the tarot community.