What scenes add to Rider–Waite–Smith Minor Arcana cards

The Rider–Waite–Smith Ten of Wands shows a person carrying several staffs. Before saying “overload”, you can point to a posture, a direction of movement and the physical relationship between figure and objects. That sequence—observe, interpret, check against the question—is the chief learning advantage of an illustrated Minor Arcana card.

The V&A credits the design to Pamela Colman Smith and notes her freedom to create the Minor Arcana images. Her scenes allowed a learner to read visible situations as well as consult a word list. They do not mean that the artwork supplies verifiable facts about the questioner's future.

A scene is not an automatic answer

A walking figure does not prove that the person asking will travel. Someone looking at cups cannot tell us what a third person thinks. The images offer possible relationships: movement, attention, distance, exchange or effort. Interpretation connects those relationships with a defined question and spread position.

Imagine the Ten of Wands in the “available resource” position of a work question. A reasoned reading may consider the capacity to take on a task while asking what it would cost. In an “obstacle” position, the same image may help you explore a build-up of responsibilities. The difference is not hidden in a secret keyword; it comes from the position you chose before turning over the card.

Five observations to make

Try a card you do not know. Write five lines:

How many figures appear, and what are they doing?
Which objects can you count?
Are any figures looking or moving in a particular direction?
Which part of the scene takes up most space?
Which detail does not fit your first impression?

The fifth line stops your interpretation becoming only a confirmation of what you expected. If an image seems “sad” but also leaves room for action, both observations deserve attention. If there are no people on a card, do not invent any. The British Museum holds a 1968 edition based on Waite and Colman Smith; the object you are observing is always a particular edition.

A visual sequence is not a universal staircase

Reading Ace through Ten in one suit can help you notice changes of scale, action or situation. But do not assume that the ten scenes tell one story in a compulsory order. The cards were designed to appear individually, mixed with other suits and in different spread positions too.

Take the Two, Five and Ten of one suit. Describe each scene as if you did not know the next card. Then write down one relationship between them and an exception that prevents a simple formula. For example, “more Wands = more positive energy” fails if one card shows a difficult load. A useful pattern must survive a counterexample.

How a Marseille numbered card differs

In many Marseille decks, a card's value is shown through repeated suit symbols and decoration. Such a card invites you to observe how shapes are arranged, its number and its relationship to other cards. Rider–Waite–Smith adds a scene that may suggest specific actions. That can make it easier to start, but can also tempt you to tell more of a story than the question allows.

Keep two columns in your journal: “visible detail” and “interpretation for this position”. If you write “the person will receive a message” without a relevant position, external facts or a distinction between possibility and fact, you have skipped too many steps. If you write “the figure attends to a card; in my question about communication, I will check what information I still lack”, the image becomes a prompt to think.

Reading a modern deck that reinterprets these scenes

Not every illustrated modern deck follows Colman Smith exactly. Some retain a composition while changing figures; others alter the action, setting or suit name. Compare your deck with its own booklet and do not call it “Rider” merely because the Minor Arcana include people. Record the edition you use and choose a book that respects its decisions.

Continue with Pamela Colman Smith's contribution, how to identify your deck and whether all 78-card decks read alike.

From scene to responsible interpretation

An interpretation has at least three steps. First, describe: “two figures are separated by an object”, if that is what appears. Second, ask about the visual relationship: are they approaching, moving apart, looking at each other or acting together? Third, connect that relationship to the position and question. Jumping directly from the picture to “this person is deceiving you” skips both method and external evidence.

Try the Six of Swords from your edition. In a “transition” position, a scene of movement may suggest a change of situation. In “resource”, it may highlight an ability to organise a passage. The card alone does not indicate a future physical journey or say who will accompany anyone. Forming two interpretations and one checkable question is more useful than announcing an event.

A scene can also distract with decorative details. Do not assign profound intention to every colour or line without knowing which edition you are looking at and whether a reproduction changed the palette. The V&A catalogues copies and printing dates; the British Museum shows a 1968 reproduction. A reader comparing photos of two printings may be seeing technical printing choices rather than a difference in doctrine.

Counterexamples improve the method

If a learned rule says “every figure looking left speaks of the past”, find cards where the gaze does not fit the position or question. A picture may have a direction, but translating it into time is not printed in the ink. That rule is an optional reading convention whose limits should be stated and which should be used consistently.

Do the same with common phrases such as “all Tens mean an ending”. Gather all four Tens and compare which scenes show accumulation, completion, effort or relationships between people. If the same word does not fit a card without doing violence to the image, revise the rule into a comparison tool rather than a universal formula.

The real advantage of an illustrated Minor Arcana card is not that it removes all interpretation. It offers visible details that help you explain why a reading makes sense. When studying a card, identify your edition, describe what it shows and separate historical facts from your hypotheses for the specific question. If you skip those steps, the scene becomes decoration around a keyword.

Sources consulted

“A history of tarot cards”, Victoria and Albert Museum. Accessed 26-09-2026.
Edition based on Waite and Colman Smith, 1982,U.4643.1-78, British Museum. Accessed 26-09-2026.