# Pamela Colman Smith & The Tarot Deck which changed everything

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/what-magic-is-this-555811/pamela-colman-smith-the-tarot-deck-which-changed-everything
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/what-magic-is-this-555811/pamela-colman-smith-the-tarot-deck-which-changed-everything.md
Podcast: [What Magic Is This?](https://stenobird.com/podcast/what-magic-is-this-555811)
Published: 2026-03-06T18:30:00+00:00
Episode link: https://whatmagicisthis.com/2026/03/06/pamela-colman-smith-the-tarot-deck-which-changed-everything/
Audio file: https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/whatmagicisthis/148_-_PamelaColmanSmith.mp3?dest-id=1346279
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/what-magic-is-this-555811/episodes/pamela-colman-smith-the-tarot-deck-which-changed-everything
Duration seconds: 9839

## Resource

If the western Magical tradition has one object which has bled into mainstream culture and seems like it is there to stay, it would be a pack of Tarot cards designed and released in 1909. Originally released as The Tarot, it would later be known as the Rider Waite Tarot, and for decades that is what it would remain. Yet, this name negated perhaps the most important element of these cards- the artist herself. Pamela Colman Smith was an exceptional talent who lived a fascinating and tumultuous life. While her deck is beyond notorious, her story is almost entirely unknown by most. Pamela would like you to join her in the Fools Gallery, for she has much to tell us these days.

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## Transcript

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