Pagan Phoenix would like to take the opportunity to remember and honour Pamela Colman Smith (1878 –1951), artist, and occultist. Also known as Pixie, she is celebrated for illustrating the Rider Waite (Smith) tarot deck (RWS). Waite is credited for designing the RWS, first created in 1909 and focused on the occult and astrological concepts of the Major Arcana. Pixie’s imagery upon the Minor cards is in the main her vision. Pixie’s lasting legacy is a pictorial innovation that has launched more than a thousand tarot decks.
By the time of the conference, 70 years will have passed since Pixie’s death, and her original drawings of the RWS will be in the public domain. Bude has a connection with Pixie whose final home was Bencoolen House. She was also likely buried in Bude cemetery in an unmarked grave.
Pagan Phoenix SW 