The Queen of Wands

- Blurb -

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 colors, 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-color 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-color 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.