I find the Universal Waite deck truly beautiful. The colours are softer and more natural; the outlines are gone or considerably toned down, giving the deck a more human feel. The characters actually have expressions. For the first time I have been able to look at the cards to notice certain details, like the fact that the chained woman in The Devil has a bunch of grapes for a tail, or that the Magician is wearing a snake for a belt. Reading with this deck is a pleasure; the cards really let you in.

I've heard a number of people complain that Hanson-Roberts changed details in the original deck and that that ruined it for them. I guess I see it more as, Hanson-Roberts' focus was different and it's a focus I prefer. I think she did a service to a deck that (in my experience) was becoming far less popular with new readers, due to the amazing number and variety of decks that are now available.

If the original Rider Waite deck works for you, you will probably have some difficulties with the Universal Waite. If it doesn't, but you would like to add a more traditional deck to your toolkit, the Universal Waite may be the deck you're looking for.


I like the colours, but hate the changed details.   July 27, 2000
 36 out of 40 found this review helpful

I like this deck's colours, which are generally more attractive than those of the regular Rider-Waite deck, but the changed details are too much for me.

Examples -

The sun card : the flag is shown as having one side orange as in the original deck and one side red as the book says the whole flag should be, the sun is missing a ray, and the sun's face are painted to look softer and feminine.

The High Priestess : the garments are coloured differently (the inner white, the outer blue, and the head cover white), which is nice but the effect of the garments turning to water is lost.

The Lovers card : the leafs on the tree behind the man are mostly yellow, and dont look much like flames like they should - it's an important connection between the Devil card and the Lovers card.

And the list continues, e.g. it looks like the sun rises behind the emperor and the magician has a white hallo.

In my opinion, the details are very important and those changes modify the cards' meanings, and being used to the original details I feel uncomfortable using the deck.

The colouring's advantage is to make the cards warmer and more attractive, which are pluses for new readers who are a bit afraid of the original harsher colouring.


An attractive alternative to the Rider-Waite   October 15, 1998
 26 out of 26 found this review helpful

Mary Hanson-Robert's coloring of the famous Waite-Smith images provides a more soothing and eye-pleasing alternative to the often drab colors of the popular Rider-Waite version. Some may find these colors too soft, but I find this deck quite striking, and you don't have to give up the intuitive and easy to read images of the Waite-Smith system. Great for beginners -- skip the Rider-Waite and grab this deck when you want to learn Tarot.


A More Revealing Look at the Images   March 22, 1999
 22 out of 22 found this review helpful

As a tarot reader & instructor, I have used several decks, favoring the Rider-Waite deck for over 10 years. However, the more eye-pleasing coloring of the Universal Waite Tarot has brought out a lot of details that were much more difficult to see in the original deck. I use the deck now in my on-line and in-person tarot workshops and find that the improved clarity of the images translates into improved clarity of students' tarot readings. The rich symbolism of this deck makes it easy to interpret intuitively without prior study yet, still offers a wealth of deep, esoteric knowledge for advanced readers.


A Beginner's Deck!   May 31, 2000
 16 out of 17 found this review helpful

Choosing the proper deck is very personal and very important. I collect decks and though I don't own them all, the Universal Waite is still my favorite as far as interpretation is concerned. These cards speak to me. This is an ideal deck because of its universal symbology. The coloring done by Mary-Hanson Roberts is very complimentary. The artwork is soft; not as startling and dated as the Rider Waite deck. The cards do what they are supposed to do: offer insight, yet, allow your intuition to take hold. This is the deck for the beginner.