Arthur Edward Waite

Arthur Edward Waite (1857–1942) was an American-born British poet and scholarly mystic who wrote extensively on occult and esoteric matters, and co-created the Rider-Waite Tarot deck. This work, originally published in 1898 under the title The Book of Black Magic and of Pacts, surveys the principal grimoires of Western magic, examines the theology embedded in them, and synthesises their ritual systems. He is recognised as the first author to attempt a systematic historical study of Western occultism as a spiritual tradition.