i just bought it today and it is pretty good.i had a little hard time understanding the meanings but that is becuase i am a beginner and i have not had much experience. but for the most part its pretty good. the art on it is ok. its nothing too special but i would recomend it.

I like this deck a lot - it's the standard Rider-Waite-Smith deck, sized down to 'pocket size'. I usually carry it in my pouch for use in in-situ readings.

The two drawbacks I see in this deck are :

- The little white book isnt the same size as in the miniature deck (which is rather small).

- The cardbox isnt glued well and is a bit larger than the cards, so it's ruined quickly.

I'm using the Rider-Waite deck for over a year now, and have met two problems with the standard size during that time.

First, the deck in a box (and, at least in Israel, it's a bit hard to find a reasonable sized tarot box) is not easy to carry - it's a bit too big.

Second, many people find the cards a bit too big to be easily shuffle, especially women - there's a reason for regular playing cards being smaller than regular tarot cards.

And yes, I know there's a tradeoff between card size and details, which is why I prefer to use the regular size deck at home, but when I take the deck with me the combination wins.

Waite attempts to trace the history of the Rosicrucians from before the publication of the Fama to his contemporaries. His style is very difficult to read, and the book reads like a doctoral thesis written in lavish 19th century prose (which is almost exactly what this book is). Almost every page contains footnoted references, which was the style of the times, and they are almost all in Latin and German. If you know German you will do OK, but a cursory knowledge of Latin is recommended if you want to understand any of the references -- translations are not provided by the author. Besides presenting his own theories, Waite examines efforts put forth by other authors. Typical of Waite, he all but calls them blundering idiots. To his credit, he is ruthless in presenting textual evidence and references for all his claims. This is a very dry and scholarly work, and unless you are truly interested in the subject matter, you should pass this one over. However, if you would like a good start to research the Rosicrucians complete with references to base documents, this is definitely the book to get.

....recommended for the collector of alchemical treatises. One could wish for some commentary on the symbolism in the texts, but you'll find some of that in Jung's work.

This is one of the better works of the author. A really in-depth study of the subject.

This is Waite's Pictorial Key to the Tarot, which is the same text as published by U.S. Games and Samuel Weiser, but with a couple of bonuses.

The first bonus are two sections written by Gertrude Moakley - an introduction which gives nice background material on the deck and a section describing the rules of the tarot game, which I couldnt find elsewhere.

The second bonus is that cards' pictures are not black and white outlines, as in U.S. Games' and Samuel Weiser's editions, but rather have shades of gray. This way the reader has a better impression of how the card looks without resorting to taking the relevant card out of the deck.

With the availability of the text of Waite's book [excluding Moakley's text, of course] and cards on the web...

This is the first Tarot deck and "manual" I've purchased. I would not recommend it as a good single source for beginners. The enclosed "instruction" book is far too small to read easily (it's about the size of a deck of cards) and the interpretations/descriptions are a bit short on many of the cards. If you choose this as your first deck, buy a comprehensive book on Tarot reading as well.

The cards are very slick, and of heavy stock, making them a little difficult to handle for a beginner like me; though in their defense they are probably more durable because of this, and will last longer.

In comparison, I just bought the Celtic Dragon Tarot deck, and find the effort put into describing each card and its meaning much more comprehensive...still I'm sure that a comprehensive book on Tarot by one of the respected authors is the best step in learning to read any of the various decks.

My advice, for what it's worth is to remember that with any spiritual enlightment journey, each one's journey may take a different path, and be wary of criticizing how others go or of putting too much faith in the criticisms of others on any product in terms of its suitablity to meeting your spiritual needs.

The Rider-Waite-Smith is a classic deck, the most popular of all Tarots, and the de facto standard in the English-speaking world. This particular printing is rather interesting. Apparently, an attempt was made to faithfully reproduce one of the early decks made from the original plates. The most notable consequence is in the color rendition: these cards have a distinctly yellow-tan cast compared with other widely available printings. Whether this is good or bad, I suppose, is a matter of personal preference. It certainly gives the cards a rich patina, but cards with a lot of blue in them end up a dull shade of turquoise.

The set includes a tiny, but readable, copy of Waite's famous guide to the Tarot, sans illustrations. This makes the set a nice choice for someone who has a passing interest in what Waite wrote about the cards, but not enough to put a regular edition of his book on the shelf.

It is often recommended that Tarot beginners start with a Rider-Waite-Smith deck. If the color rendition of this printing appeals to you, this set can make a nice starter--although Waite's book will need to be accompanied by something a little more accessible and tutorial in flavor, such as Mary Greer's "Tarot for Your Self" or Rachel Pollack's "78 Degrees of Wisdom".

I think every student of Tarot should own the Rider Waite deck. It has set the standard in this century and is the most popular Tarot deck of all time. My favorite book for interpreting this deck is Tarot Plain and Simple by Anthony Louis, another classic of the Tarot literature.

This is not a grimoire of interesting spells. Rather it comprises Waite's Book of Black Magic and various other essays on the history of magick. If you're looking for a reference guide, this is an interesting book, and I think that any magician would do well to own a copy, but it's really not that practical. Get something by Crowley instead.

Waite never meant to make this book practical in any sense; instead, he sought to create a reference book. For those interested in Magickal Grimoires, but without the intent to practice from them, this book is a great souce-book. It includes snippets of (and commentary on) various medieval Grimoires, for the edification of the curious.

Though at times, rather harsh in his judgments of Magick in general, and the Golden Dawn system specifically, he does provide a good deal of information in one package.

A.E. Waite (1857-1942) was one of the most important and influential figures in Western occultism. Perhaps best known as the creator of the enormously popular Rider-Waite tarot deck, he was a prolific author and had a leadership role in several occult groups (including the Golden Dawn), some of which he founded.

His Book of Ceremonial Magic (first published in London, 1911?) is a revision of his Book of Black Magic and Pacts (Edinburgh, 1898) It contains a treasurehouse of drawings and quotes from rare handbooks of magic, but it does have some shortcomings. Excerpts often are quoted out of context, without representing any one system intact. Translations are not always reliable and mistakes are surprisingly frequent.

Although Waite himself practised ritual magic, his treatment of the literature here represented is highly critical. I suspect that Waite deliberately chose passages from the most corrupt manuscripts possible to strengthen his invective. For example, he bases his extracts from the Lemegeton on Sl.2731 which is one of the least accurate manuscripts of that text. Also he uses a text titled True Black Magic (La Vraie Magie Noire) to exemplify techniques from the Key of Solomon method, when other versions are clearly more accurate.

This book also suffers from a lack of any form of critical apparatus, bibliography, and index.

Waite did us a service by assembling excerpts from a wide selection of magical texts, giving us a fairly good flavor for the genre, but I advise serious researchers and would-be practitioners of ceremonial magic to use it with caution. Those looking for a much more thorough survey of magical literature would do well to consult E.M. Butler's Ritual Magic, and Lynn Thorndike's History of Magic and Experimental Science.

This is a wonderful Bedside book, to keep on-hand for those nights when you just can't fall-asleep. This book has been a great Sleep Aid for me, many nights. A Prescription for lack of sleep: this predicament can usually be cured with only one or two chapters.

My wife uses Crowley's more boring works to put her to sleep, but "Transcendental Magic" works for me. Occasionally, Waite's snippety footnotes will perk you up, but Levi's laborious ramblings will send you off to nodding, immediately thereafter.

I can understand why Crowley believed he was Eliphas Levi (and numerous other famous occultists/people).... Crowley has a similar rambling--(get to the point, for The God's Sake)--style, which he may have subconsciously adopted from reading Levi.

Regardless, aside from the occasional glimmerings of Occult Knowledge and little revelations, this book is mostly out-dated, boring and irrelevant (but the picture of Baphomet is quite nice). I honestly believe that the only reason this book is still being published is due to the fact that it is on several occult organization's "Recommended Reading Lists."

This is a nice book to have on-hand to polish-off the Occult collection and use for reference material, occasionally, but the read itself is quite boring (and I have been known to read through books of Masonic Rituals).

I assume this book was impressive a century-ago, but today it is pretty-much irrelevant, boring and only somewhat useful. However, due to the fact that I did make some interesting connections about the Kabalah, etc. while reading it, and it did help me fall-asleep many times, I am giving it three stars.

This book is an excellent read for any level of initiate, though I would not necessarily recommend it to a candidate. The level of confusion that can ensue to beginners of the path of the Great Work is an ounce of help and a pound of trouble. But to any intitiate his doctine and ritual is enlightenment.

A word of warning, however. Everything within should be taken with a grain of salt, and this includes the translators footnotes. When Waite quotes, he is directly to the point. But his incessant need to nit-pick and analyze every key note within is unnerving and extraneous. As if Arthur Edward Waite had nothing better to do than to translate the adepts and tear their doctrines apart, he seems to miss the point entirely. Acting as Levi's own interpretation of Oedipus, Waite gives the answer of MAN! to the sphinx, thus crumbling an agenda and his own kingdom. Holding far too fast to the form and forgetting the force, he manages to critique to death far too many avenues, almost making the reader wonder why he/she should even bother. As an example, in the very first chapter of Doctrine (or Dogma, depending on the interpreter), with a blatant display of ignorance, Waite refuses to accept the attribution of the "Emerald Table" to Hermes Trismegistus - and a more irrelevant point could make for none the worse. Noted scholars have already addressed the issue, time and again, of Eliphas' insistence upon his oath of non-revealing to the point of encoding this work for the adept, and the adept alone, as Levi himself hints at several times within the first introduction.

The footnotes aside, the manuscript is an invaluable key for meditation on the Qabalah, the Tarot and any other system of initiation in any style. Read, think and act upon this book with fervor.

Perhaps one of the most elusive books on the occult market is Eliphas Levi's "Transcendental Magic: It's Doctrine and Ritual". Originally written in French with the title "Dogme et Ritual de la Haute Magie" (1855-1856, published in two volumes), translated literally as "The Dogma and Ritual of High Magic", revised to the current title by translator and commentator, the questionable Arthur Edward Waite.

"Transcendental Magic" is broken into two books, appropriately "Doctrine" and "Ritual". Both books are divided up into 22 chapters. While it seems evident to any occult student that they equate to the tarot deck and Hebrew letter/number system, A. E. Waite immediately rejects this as only coincidence by stating "that which emerges, however, is its utter confusion." Waite apparently had difficulty relating the first chapter, "The Candidate" to the Juggler (Waite was part of the Golden Dawn which alters various symbols from the O.T.O, A.'.A.'., and other occult schools). Furthermore, the second book begins with "Preparations", which Waite believes makes no correspondence to "The Candidate" or The Juggler. Waite who translated the book to a very readable and exciting version is too hung up on historical accuracy, which accounts for most of his confusion. Waite is trying to fit square pegs into round holes.

Eliphas Levi, a priest of the Catholic Church, although wrote about occultism, still maintained faith in the Church. As one reads his other works, such as "The Great Secret" or "The Mysteries of the Qabalah", you will see his faith in Christianity is still evident from his exposition on the Christian and Jewish myths. "Transcendental Magic", however, still stands as his most impressive and complete work, which, as well has touches of Christianity within its pages. Any honest occultist will recognize the value of Christian and Jewish mythology as the foundation of modern occult practice. As expounded by Levi a number of times, any good Church-going Christian will know what "The Seven Seals of St. John" is referring.

It may be evident immediately that a once read will not suffice in capturing the meaning of Levi's words. I found immensely valuable a dictionary of etymology and a Greek, Hebrew and Latin dictionary (Oxford I prefer for all). Levi employs many strange words that one will need to know on a continual basis to grasp entirely. These words are paradoxical in practical work: they serve to further understanding by decoding various names and they serve as symbols unto themselves that one uses to activate various states. The beginning of each of the chapters in the book of the Doctrine lists the title, a Roman numeral, a Hebrew character, and a few words in other languages outside of English. It is prudent for the student to study those words in relation to all that precedes and follows it. They don't make sentences, but they will make sense.

While at first I read it from front to back, but as I was studying it, I found it more effective to read the first chapter from the Doctrine and then the first chapter from the Ritual. Essentially what you are reading is the "philosophical attitude" one must take, and then a means in which to maintain or carry that attitude through. The most confusing aspect for modern occultists is the Tarot attributions. There are many people who buy this in hopes for a book on Tarot, but they will certainly be disappointed. In most decks, it is common to give The Fool the numerical attribution of "0", the world egg, the inner and outer, evolution and involution. What Levi does is attribute 21 to the Fool, "Dentes Furca Amens" - the serpent tongue, the forked tooth (ala Shin), or liar in our modern nomenclature. Levi, however, is not alluding only to lying, but also "slips of the tongue" as in a Freudian nature and also speaking without restraint of thought. This chapter is headed with "Divination", where a diviner does not listen to their thoughts or prejudge a situation. They let the words roll off the tongue. This perhaps confuses anyone studying Crowley or Waite's deck or any popular run-of-the-mill tarot (save the Hall/Knapp and Taviglione decks).

To think of this book purely as a guide to the Tarot is to misunderstand the work entirely. As Levi says in the first chapter, "The man who loves his own opinions and fears to part with them, who suspects new truths, who is unprepared to doubt everything rather than admit anything on chance, should close this book: for him it is useless and dangerous."

To the student who is persistent in challenge, willing to discredit his own knowledge will find this book to his advantage. It may also be useful to check up on some of Aleister Crowley's works as he was highly influenced by Levi, and his perspective may lighten things up. Specifically Magic Book 4 and Book of Thoth which discuss some of Levi's works.

The Rider-Waite tarot deck has Christian junk symbolism added to ancient Tarot symbols and hence it misleads in some ways. Also, this Giant deck of too big to shuffle thoroughly and easily.

If you are serious about Tarot, don't get this.

If you find the artwork of the Rider-Waite Tarot Deck simple yet artistic, then buy this deck. Size does matters when it comes to artwork.

But for those who are thinking of using it to read fortunes for customers, you will find this deck rather "clumsy"; get the normal size deck instead.

Rider-Waite is the Tarot standard. Combine it with the sheer size of these jumbo cards and you get a higher impact reading. Holding and placing these cards becomes an act that is larger than life. I've found that clients touching these larger cards are more likely to say they feel a special sensation. If the table isn't big enough use the floor. In fact, for nervous first-time clients it's a great ice-breaker.

I think that just listing this book with its now inappropriate title, "The *New* Encyclopedia of Freemasonry", and saying it was published in 1994 misleads a lot of people even if you throw in the word "reprint". If you want to do historic research on what people thought in the early 1900s, it's fine. But there has been a lot of research since then. If you want a good up to date Masonic Enclopedia, get Coil's Masonic Encyclopedia which was extensively revised in 1995.

I give this book 4 stars because it has alot of great information in it, but it is very old, and the verbage is outdated.

There are a few things every mason must have and he should seek these as soon as possible, or maybe his lodge will give them to him when he become a mason. First: he should have a copy of the great "White Light," The HOLY BIBLE; then he should also have Book of Constitions (his Grand Lodge Bylaws), a copy of the "work" (manual of freemasonry or Grand Lodge issued key), bylaws of his own lodge, and a dictionary. With these basics we begin our journey into masonry and my first recomendation is The Builders next this Encyclopedia