10 Things Hiding in Plain Sight in the Smith Waite Tarot
Most people look at a Tarot card for about two seconds, then reach for the book. However, if you slow down, the cards can start talking to you.
The Smith Waite deck (you might know it as the Rider-Waite or Rider-Waite-Smith) was illustrated by Pamela Colman Smith in 1909, working with A.E. Waite. She packed it with tiny details, many drawn from astrology, alchemy, the Kabbalah and old religious art. Most of them sit right there in plain sight, waiting for someone to actually look.
Here are ten of my favourites. Grab your deck and find them as you read.
1. The Circle on Temperance's Forehead
Look closely at the angel's brow. That small circle with a dot in the centre is the astrological glyph for the Sun, and in alchemy it's the symbol for gold.
It tells you something about the whole card. Temperance isn't just about moderation. It's about blending and refining, the slow alchemy that turns ordinary life into something precious. When this card turns up, you're in the middle of that process.
2. The Triangle in a Square on Temperance's Chest
Stay with Temperance a moment longer. On the angel's robe is a triangle inside a square, and just above it, in Hebrew letters, YHVH: the sacred name of God.
The triangle points to spirit, the square to the four elements of the material world. Spirit held within matter. It's a beautiful reminder that the sacred isn't somewhere far away. It lives right here, in a body, in an ordinary day.
3. The Magician's Belt
Everyone notices the infinity sign above The Magician's head. Fewer people spot that it's echoed at his waist. His belt is a serpent biting its own tail: the ouroboros.
It's one of the oldest symbols there is. Eternity, cycles, endings that become beginnings. Above and below, he's wrapped in the same message: the energy you're working with doesn't run out. It renews.
4. The Drops Falling in The Moon
Between the Moon and the earth, small flame-shaped drops are falling. These are yods, named after the tenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet, the smallest letter and the one every other letter is said to grow from.
Yods are divine energy coming down into the world. On a card about fear, illusion and the murky stuff of the unconscious, that matters. Even on the darkest night, something is still being given to you. Count them on your own card. You'll find yods turn up on other cards too, once you start looking.
5. The Red Emblem on The Chariot
On the front of The Chariot, below the winged disc, is a small red emblem. It's the lingam-yoni, a symbol from India that joins the masculine and the feminine into one.
It's the key to the whole card. The black and white sphinxes pull in opposite directions, and the charioteer holds no reins. What moves him forward is the union of opposites inside himself. Real progress doesn't come from force. It comes from bringing your own contradictions into line.
6. The Scroll in The High Priestess's lap
The High Priestess holds a scroll, partly hidden by her blue mantle. Look closely and you'll see the letters TORA written on it: the Torah, the sacred law.
Notice that you can only see part of it. That's exactly the point. Some knowledge is never handed over whole. It's revealed bit by bit, through intuition and patience, when you're ready for it. This card asks you to sit with what you don't yet know.
7. The Letters on the Wheel of Fortune
Around the outer rim of the Wheel are four letters: T, A, R and O. Between them sit the same four Hebrew letters we saw on Temperance, YHVH.
Read the letters one way and you get TARO, or TAROT. Read them another way and you get ROTA, Latin for "wheel." The card is spelling out its own name and the name of the deck in one go. Life turns, and the Tarot is the wheel we read it by.
8. The Window in the Five of Pentacles
Two figures trudge through the snow, cold, injured and poor. Most people stop there. But above them is a lit stained-glass window, with the five pentacles set into the glass.
They're walking right past a place of warmth and shelter, and they haven't looked up. That's the real lesson of this card. Hard times are real, but help is often closer than we think. Sometimes we just have to raise our eyes and ask.
9. The Falcon in the Nine of Pentacles
A woman stands alone in her abundant garden, and on her gloved hand sits a falcon wearing a little hood.
The falcon is wild, sharp and powerful. The hood and the glove show it's been trained and brought under her control. That's what this card is really about: the discipline behind the ease. Her independence and comfort didn't fall from the sky. She earned them by taming her own wilder impulses, and now she gets to enjoy the fruits.
10. The Two swords Left Behind in the Seven of Swords
Most books will tell you this is the card of theft and trickery. Look closer. A man tiptoes away from an army camp with five swords in his arms, glancing back over his shoulder. He’s quietly carrying the camp’s weapons away before anyone can use them. No battle, no bloodshed, just a threat disarmed by someone who moved carefully, thought ahead and chose his moment.
And notice the two swords he leaves behind. He hasn’t stripped the camp bare. He’s simply taken away enough of the weight that no one is pushed into a fight. With only two swords left, the people in that camp have a choice, and the space to think it through rather than charge in.
This card is about strategy over force. When you’re up against something bigger than you, you don’t always have to meet it head on. Sometimes the wisest move is to tread lightly, take the sting out of a situation, and leave room for a calmer choice on both sides.
Read What You See
None of these details are secret. They've been sitting there for over a hundred years. Most of us were just never taught to look.
That's the heart of how I’m teaching Tarot these days. It’s not 78 meanings to memorise, but how to slow down, notice what's in front of you, and trust what comes through. Once you start seeing the details, the cards stop being a memory test and start speaking to you directly.
If you'd like to learn this way, my Intro to the Tarot course starts Tuesday 16 February 2027. Six Tuesday nights, 6:30 to 8pm AEDT, live online, in a small group of 12 max, You'll need a Smith Waite deck, and no experience at all. Early-bird pricing runs until Friday 18 December.
Doors open Friday 27 November, with a Black Friday price of $299 for four days only, until midnight Monday 30 November (AEDT). After that, early-bird pricing of $330 runs until Friday 18 December, then the course is $380.
Go Deep, Stay Wild.