Learning more about the Tarot - so many books!

Once we start our journey with the Tarot, we are of course hungry to learn more! And if you think you are in danger of collecting too many tarot decks, wait until you start collecting the books. A quick check on Amazon listed over 20,000 titles...

Until you become familiar with the cards and the stories they tell, books are a great assistant and guide to have at your side. The little booklet that comes with most decks is usually not worth the paper it is printed on, so a couple of books are a great investment.

An excellent way to familiarise yourself with the tarot deck when starting out is just to work with one card every day or so, read what you can and absorb it. With 78 cards and four suits, not to mention the Major and Minor arcana information, there is a whole universe to learn about, take your time!

Being a bookish girl (okay, book fiend) I have collected my fair share of Tarot related books over the years. This is the stand out for me and I have not yet found anything better.

It's no exaggeration when people call Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom the bible of Tarot readers. Rachel Pollacks book is one I return to again and again. She brings in a vast knowledge of the symbolism, the spirituality, esoterica, and anything you could want to know. But it is all placed before you in such a way that you immediately sense the the strong interconnections between every card, every theme becomes visible; as do the many layers of meaning. But she never dictates or says you must see things like this. At the end of the introduction I love how she sets us free to find our own path ...

"Finally, giving readings gives each person a chance to renew his or her instinctive feeling for the pictures themselves. All the symbolism, all the archetypes, all the explanation given in this book or any other can only prepare you to look at the pictures and say, this card tells me..."

I particularly respond to her take on the suits of the Tarot, many books give this a passing nod and jump right into the Major and Minor cards. The suits are so important to the story each card is telling in each spread you do.

And her deck - The Shinning Woman Tarot is also a classic with good reason. It is sadly out of print at the moment but you may find it on eBay or a second hand shop. The images are joyful, beautiful, powerful, and unique. It's a deck I use for readings for myself on a regular basis.

As much as I love my Rider Waite deck, it is hard to resist all the other amazing decks that are available!

Shinning Woman Tarot by Rachel Pollack

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