Arthur Edward Waite | |
|---|---|
 Waite in 1911 | |
| Born | (1857-10-02)2 October 1857 Brooklyn, New York, United States |
| Died | 19 May 1942(1942-05-19) (aged 84) London, England |
| Resting place | Bishopsbourne Village, in the county ofKent, England |
| Known for | Rider–Waite Tarot |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 1 daughter |
Arthur Edward Waite (2 October 1857 – 19 May 1942) was a British poet and scholarlymystic who wrote extensively on theoccult andWestern esotericism. He was the co-creator of theRider–Waite Tarot (also called the Rider–Waite–Smith or Waite–Smith deck). As his biographer R. A. Gilbert described him, "Waite's name has survived because he was the first to attempt asystematic study of the history of Western occultism—viewed as a spiritual tradition rather than as aspects ofprotoscience or as the pathology of religion."[1]
He was aFreemason, as well as being a member of theSocietas Rosicruciana in Anglia and theHermetic Order of the Golden Dawn.
He spent most of his life in or near London, connected to various publishing houses and editing a magazine,The Unknown World.
Arthur Edward Waite was born on 2 October 1857 inBrooklyn, New York City, United States, to unmarried parents.[2] His father, Captain Charles F. Waite, died at sea when Arthur was very young, and his widowed mother, Emma Lovell, returned to her home country of England, where he was then raised.[2] They were well enough off to educate Waite at a small private school inNorth London.
When he was 13, he was educated for two terms at St. Charles' College.[3] When he left school to become a clerk he wrote verse in his spare time. In 1863 Waite's mother converted to Catholicism and Arthur was raised a Catholic.[4] The death of his sister Frederika Waite in 1874 soon attracted him into psychical research. At 21, he began to read regularly in the Library of theBritish Museum, studying many branches ofesotericism. In 1881 Waite discovered the writings ofÉliphas Lévi.
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Waite joined the Outer Order of theHermetic Order of the Golden Dawn in January 1891 after being introduced byEdmund William Berridge.[5] In 1893 he withdrew from the Golden Dawn, but rejoined the Outer Order in 1896. In 1899 he entered the Second order of the Golden Dawn. He became aFreemason in 1901,[6][2] and entered theSocietas Rosicruciana in Anglia (SRIA) in 1902.
In 1903 Waite founded the Independent and Rectified Order R. R. et A. C. This Order was disbanded in 1914. The Golden Dawn was torn by internal feuding until Waite's departure in 1914; in July 1915 he formed theFellowship of the Rosy Cross.[7] By that time there existed some half-dozen offshoots from the original Golden Dawn, and as a whole it never recovered.[8]
Waite was interested in the higher grades of Freemasonry and saw initiation intoCraft Masonry as a way to gain access to these rites. After joining the SRIA and theKnights Templar, Waite travelled toSwitzerland in 1903 to receive theRégime Ecossais Rectifié or theRectified Scottish Rite and its grade ofChevalier Bienfaisant de la Cité Sainte (C.B.C.S.). Waite believed that the Rectified Scottish Rite, more than any otherMasonic Rite, represented the "Secret Tradition" of mystical spiritual illumination.[2]
Waite was a writer and many of his works were well received in the esoteric circles of his time, but his lack of academic training is visible in his limitations as a historian and in his belittling of other authors.[2]
He wrote texts on subjects includingdivination,esotericism,freemasonry,ceremonial magic,Kabbalism andalchemy; he also translated and reissued several mystical works. He wrote about theHoly Grail, influenced by his friendship withArthur Machen.[9][10] A number of his volumes remain in print, includingThe Book of Ceremonial Magic (1911),The Holy Kabbalah (1929),A New Encyclopedia of Freemasonry (1921), and his edited translation of Lévi's 1896Transcendental Magic, its Doctrine and Ritual (1910), having been reprinted in recent years.
Waite also wrote two allegorical fantasy novels,Prince Starbeam (1889) andThe Quest of the Golden Stairs (1893), and editedElfin Music, an anthology of poetry based on Englishfairy folklore.[11]
Waite is best known for his involvement with theRider–Waite Tarot, first published in 1910, with illustrations by his fellowGolden Dawn memberPamela Colman Smith. Waite authored the deck's companion volume, theKey to the Tarot, republished in expanded form in 1911 as thePictorial Key to the Tarot, a guide totarot-reading.[12] The Rider–Waite Tarot was notable for illustrating all 78 cards fully, at a time when only the 22Major Arcana cards were typically illustrated, with theSola Busca tarot, 1491, being a notable historical exception. Prior to the publication of this deck, many esoteric tarot readers used theTarot of Marseilles playing card deck. The Rider-Waite deck has gone on to have a large influence on contemporarytarot card reading.
In 1888 he married Ada Lakeman (also called "Lucasta"), and they had one daughter, Sybil. From 1900 to 1909 Waite earned a living as a manager forHorlicks, the manufacturer ofmalted milk.[2]
Lucasta died in 1924.[2] In 1933 Waite married Mary Broadbent Schofield.[13] Waite died on 19 May 1942 at age 84.
H. P. Lovecraft's short story "The Thing on the Doorstep" includes a character named Ephraim Waite. According toRobert M. Price, this character was based on Waite.[14]
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