Question by midniteeye: can someone please recommend me some nice and useful tarot reference books?
i’ve been looking for some nice tarot reference books for beginners, but after looking through the various ones at my local borders and barnes&noble, i am not sure what book i should get. those whatever for dummies and idiots guide to this and that were simply too obvious, and frankly speaking i am just not sure if the contents within are all that’s crack up to be outside of a catchy name.
basically, i need some books for novice beginners. preferably one that can go a long way. perhaps it is too much to ask, i am not sure. any help will be greatly appreciated. btw, i would hope that you have personally read and used your recommended books. thanks.
Best answer:
Answer by Murfdigidy
Yeah try the Bible, you might actually learn what this reality is actually about instead of some generalized bag of BS. You see Tarot cards tell you enough to keep you interested and they generalize enough to think what its telling you is true, but it never tells you exactly how it is. Dont waste your time, there is a God, that I do know, and I know it ain’t tryin to reach you thru those flash cards. Sorry thats just how it is, you may hate me for saying it but the truth is the truth I can only hope that one day you do believe. Now mock me for forcing my faith on you because thats what most non-believers do when they’re confronted.
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Hmmm. Can’t really help you too much with an actual book reccomendation…
There’s bound to be differences in opinion by various people as to the meanings, use, and such of tarot decks.
You’re looking for something simple… and I can’t really think of anything specific, but i’m responding simply to say…
As you get deeper into it, IF you in fact find it’s something you enjoy… meditating on cards and using symbols as a means to open up your mind to yourself and the world and possibility…
Much of the symbolism of tarot… is drawn from Alchemical symbolism. But that’s a very very heady study.
Something that might help in the long run however, is to get a copy of Carl Jung’s “Man and His Symbols”… or some such book on Jungian symbolism… because by learning the basics of symbolic motifs such as those brought out by Jung and many other such writers, psychologogists, and symbologists… the pictures, order of the unfolding of the major arcana, and the depths of the minor arcana come into much clearer focus so that you don’t need a book so much anymore, and can much more easily develop your OWN way of reading the cards… which most GOOD books on tarot will tell you is THE way to go anyway rather than sticking to some pre-ordered interpretation.
The major arcana telling a kind of story of the unfolding of life, of spirituality, of human symbols (jung’s type etc.) and all the basic ARCHETYPES… from FOOL the THE WORLD… gives you more insight in the long run than learning “X means Y” as told by any light tarot book.
It’s about using a key… to unlock things in yourself to allow you to SEE… and as such what things come to mean TO YOU are much more important than what others say.
However, i’m sure… as was I and most who get into it… there’s a certain desire to understand the basics of the symbolism as is likely to be held forth in simple books… so it’s cool to start of where you’re at there too.
Any good book on HUMAN ARCHETYPES (or website)… will in the long run teach you as much about how to “read” symbolic cards (of any kind, any kind of oracle deck) as anything else.
The study of HUMAN SYMBOLS, even tho’ it can get very complex in tarot b/c of it’s roots in Alchemical mythos (which in fact borrow from all previous mythos from pagan to christian to egyptian to eastern)… is the Key, i would think.
Learning the Tarot: A Tarot Book for Beginners by Joan Bunning
The Complete Book of Tarot: A Step-by-Step Guide to Reading the Cards by Juliet Sharman-Burke
The Enchanted Tarot: Book and Cards by Amy Zerner and Monte Farber
The Complete Guide to the Tarot by Eden Gray
I recommend this book:
http://www.double-dragon-ebooks.com/single.asp?ISBN=1-55404-207-0
It is called The Cup and the Bucket
A Workbook for Life
Steve Lazarowitz
It has a great section on how to read tarot.
http://www.double-dragon-ebooks.com/single.asp?ISBN=1-55404-207-0
There is a wonderful site with some free ebook tarot books. If you have adobe reader you can download them for free. If not they have a link for the free download on the site also. The site is the Hermetics Library of Magical and Mystical books. The url is below.
Here are some basic Tarot books I recommend for my students.
1. Tarot For Yourself, Mary K Greer
2. Mastering The Tarot, Eden Gray
3. Learning The Tarot, Joan Bunning
I have a website with a two part lecture on how to get started with reading the Tarot. Go to the URL listed in the source and click on Musings. Then look for the Beginner part 1 and Beginner part 2.
What is it you are hoping to achieve with studying the Tarot? There are so many different ways of approaching this unique system. I’ve been studying since 1980 and still learn more every time I pick up a deck. 🙂 Good luck!
I have been reading the Tarot for over fifteen years. I have tried several different decks. The only one that gives consistent right answers that arent wrapped in mystery is the original Rider-Waite deck. The rule of thumb is use the one youre drawn to, but other decks seem to sugar coat everything or just be too based in fantasy. You have to study no matter which deck you pick or you wont have accurate readings. Also, store your cards in a silk scarf of your choosing and in a special box you have blessed to protect them from negative vibrations.
I started with a book called “Tarot for Dummies”. My first deck was a “Faerie Deck”, don’t start with one of those unless of course it chooses you. My next deck was a “Dragon Deck” and it was much easier to understand.
I usually recommend discarding the books if you want to develop psychic ability.
With tarot cards: when you are comfortable with relaxing and slowing your mind, a good way to develop psychic ability is to play with a set of tarot cards. Some help here: http://www.psychic-junkie.com/develop-psychic-ability.html
Try Tarot for Dummies. Seriously, it’s not bad. They have a Dummies or an Idiot’s Guide for everything. Got me through grad school. Also check out the Motherpeace Tarot books.