The Tarot: Part 3
Book Reviews



by Moirai

Merry meet and hi again for Spring! For this month I wanted to write a bit more in-depth about the books that have helped me with understanding the Tarot. In learning about the Tarot it can be said that your own impressions and intuitions about the cards are wholly important, paramount even. It does take time to express confidently what your interpretation is and everyone needs some help now and again. As mentioned previously the two books that I bought after being recommended them are Sandra Thomson's 'Pictures from the Heart - A Tarot Dictionary' and Rachel Pollack's 'Seventy Eight Degrees of Wisdom - A Book of Tarot'. An overview of Seventy Eight Degrees of Wisdom This book is an acclaimed classic of Tarot writing and I can see why. Rachel Pollack has a great deal of experience and writes thoughtfully and interestingly on a subject that she is passionate about. The heartening thing to read, which is in the Preface, was finding that Rachel Pollack was self-taught and the book itself came out of her experiences from when she started out in 1970. Originally the book was published as two volumes, one for the Major Arcana and one for the Minor. The two books were bought together as one volume for later publications. The book covers a lot of ground with some Tarot history, various religious, mystical and spiritual concepts, reading spreads, how to use readings and study of card meditation. The Major Arcana cards each have a very thorough commentary and study of the card's possible meanings. The Minor Arcana has a bit less commentary but is still quite illuminating on the imagery and meaning. Both Major and Minor Arcana have reversed meanings included for each card if you do read, or are interested, in reversals. It can be a rather intensive book to read in one go and I tend to use it now as a resource to look up a particular card or other information when I need to. If you can only start out with one book, and you want to have a good grounding, this is the one I would say to get hold of first. There are elements that may not suit the tastes of every reader. At the time of being written, as Rachel Pollack says herself, there were not the variety of Tarot cards and books that there are now. So the main cards that illustrate the text are the Rider-Waite, or to show comparisons there are a few examples from the Thoth Tarot or the Marseilles. If you are using a variation of the Rider-Waite then there is some divergence amongst the card interpretations, but it remains a good guide to possible meanings you may not have considered. Some of the Tarot history has also proved to be a product of the time it was written in. However it does show what popular myths and stories have accumulated around the subject over the years. The book hasn't been written with one belief system in mind, so it examines Judaeo-Christian symbology as well as Kabbalistic, Ancient Roman, Greek and Eastern mysticism. I mention that because although I found it of great interest it doesn't specifically have a pagan bias in mind for those who may prefer that. One thing that is quite clear is that the book has no difficulties with describing readings in relation to divination purposes and the entries for the Major Arcana, in particular, give comments on their possible meaning. This can be a big question for a beginner, and it really is down to your personal instincts. There can be a decided difference between books and authors on what the Tarot is...

An Overview Of Pictures from the Heart Sandra Thomson's book is quite a different reading experience to Rachel Pollack's. Published in 2003 this is a more recent approach to Tarot, with an emphasis in Part One on psychological meaning and a practical self-help/self-discovery perspective. Humour is definitely present as the media cliché of what a 'fortune teller' does is roundly debunked! Part One is a fairly brief introduction to the subject but it's concise, well-written and makes some important points on ways to read the Tarot. Of particular interest to a beginner is the listing of various well-known Tarot card decks, alas, there are no pictures though. By reading the descriptions and then searching online it can be a very useful way to see what sort of cards appeal to and draw you. Part Two is the Dictionary itself. This is incredibly detailed and thorough with alphabetical entries for just about every archetype, symbol, card meaning, mythology and historical figure linked to Tarot. It is such a wealth of information that I would recommend it for any continuing study as it has suggestions and ideas that expand meaning. Some entries relate to specific Tarot deck imagery, mostly from the more popular and well known modern sets such as: the Morgan-Greer, Osho, Haindl, Mythic, etc. So if you have one of those decks it can be an additional aid to the cards. There's also a strong element of astrology links, so for anyone who has an interest in astrological tarot this would be a good book to have as a reference. And Finally.... A book that I have only just started on but have been instantly impressed with. Tarot for Yourself: A Workbook for Personal Transformation by Mary K. Greer I haven't really done much from this yet but I certainly think it will be a great help. Unlike the two other books this is laid out as workbook (and encourages you to write in it, which takes a little getting used to for me!), with exercises and card studies that are explained clearly and thoroughly so that you work with the cards on a personal meaning basis. It will take quite some time to work my way through it but as I do I will certainly do a fuller review in time. Happy Reading! Moirai

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