Magical
Lives~Pamela Colman Smith
By Charlotte Bennardo and Natalie Zaman
As the card is flipped over, it reveals a familiar image: a young man in a medieval costume walking off a cliff. A little white dog barks at his heels. The picture is drawn in bright colors. It's The Fool--the card of new beginnings--one of the 78 images of the Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot deck.
A sampling of the Rider Waite Smith Tarot--have a look at the Ator Tarot--can you see any similarities?
The Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot is the world’s most popular and well recognized deck of divination cards, and it's celebrating its 100th anniversary this year! How did it get such a big name? Rider was the name of the British company that first published the deck. Waite is the last name of Arthur Waite, whose idea it was to do a new and artistic Tarot deck. And Smith is Pamela Colman Smith--the artist and designer, a very interesting person that most folks know little about...
On February 16, 1878 Corinne Pamela Colman Smith was born in a suburb of London, England to American parents. Her father was a merchant, and her mother was an amateur actress. At home, they called her Pam.
Pamela Colman Smith--or Pam to Mom and Dad!
Sadly, Pam's mother died when she was ten years old. Both of her parents loved and had deep family-connections to art, writing, and the theater (Pam is is related to Joel Chandler Harris who wrote the Br'er Rabbit Stories!). Because her father was often away traveling for his job, he sent her to live with Ellen Terry--a famous British actress. For the next five years, Pam spent a great deal of time at the Lyceum Theatre--managed by Dracula author Bram Stoker!--in London. She already had the art bug embedded in her DNA, but her time spent at the Lyceum got her really interested in costume and set design.
One of Pamela's set designs.
When she was about 15, Pam returned to the United States, to Brooklyn, to live with her father. Once in New York, she attended the Pratt Institute for art. Here she was able to design the costumes and theater sets she'd been surrounded by in England--but there was more to Pratt than just art. The philosophy of the school was to educate the "whole person." This meant that teachers at the school passed on more than just painting, drawing and sculpting skills. At Pratt, Pam learned that there was a spiritual aspect to art; that line and color and imagery stirred the senses and the soul--a lesson she would put to good use in later years.
Pam found her biggest fan in her father who introduced her to people and promoted her work. At just 19 years old, she had her first gallery show (an art show where only her paintings were displayed). Her watercolor-style drawings appealed to many people, and soon, she was in demand as an illustrator. She created images to go with sheet music and fairy tales, and she even wrote and illustrated many of her own stories and books--influenced by her travels with her father to Jamaica (Jamaican culture interested her and influcenced her work--in fact, she may have had Jamaican ancestors too).
Pamela's book of Jamaican Annancy (spider!) folktales.
Her work caught the attention of Irish writer William Butler Yeats. This was a turning point for Pam--not only because she would illustrate some of his works, but because it was through him that she discovered the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Pam joined this magical order, which accepted women on an equal basis as men before such things were done. Members believed in a philosophy based upon Qabalah, astrology, Tarot divination, and geomancy (tapping into the divine by tossing handfuls of rocks, soil or sand and interpreting the resulting patterns). It was through the Golden Dawn that Pamela met Arthur Waite.
Symbol of the Order of the Golden Dawn--all the things they believe in are somewhere in this image!
Waite was in the process of trying to revive interest in the Tarot and commissioned Pam to illustrate a deck. He wanted it to appeal to the art world. While he is credited with the basic design of the Major Arcana (face cards), Pamela completely designed the images for the Minor Arcana (number) cards. It took her approximately six months to complete all 78 illustrations. For inspiration, Pam tapped into her experiences at Pratt, in the theater and traveling, but she also looked at other decks that were already in use: the 18th century French Tarot of Marseilles and the 15th century Italian Sola Busca Tarot.
Cards from the Marseilles Tarot (left) and Sola Busca Tarot (right).
Pam never saw huge commercial success as a writer, illustrator or artist (she got many rejections--just like J.K. Rowling!). However, the enduring popularity of her Tarot deck is a testament to her artistic skills and understanding of divination--countless Tarot artists have based their decks on her illustrations.
What can you learn from the life of Pamela Colman Smith? Before she worked on her now famous Tarot deck, she wrote and illustrated folktales of Annancy the spider. Pam's own life was like a spider's web--the people she met were like threads connecting together; they broadened her experience. Do what you love, pursue your dreams, and keep your eyes open for new friends--you don't know where they'll take you!