View Full Version : Forest Of Souls
sassygirl3124
26-09-2006, 11:51
I just order Forest Of Souls from my favorite new age book store and I was just wondering does anybody have this book and is it any good? I have heard alot of good things about Rachel Pollack and I have always wanted to get one of her books. I do hope this book will be worth it.
connegrl
26-09-2006, 12:46
When I first started my tarot journey, I checked out this book from my library. I liked it alot, but I wasn't trying to learn to read, just to find out more about tarot. Personally I like her writing style.
Jen
dadsnook2000
27-09-2006, 01:08
I have this book and have read it -- and it is truly a great book. It is not a "how to read" primer that explains the meaning of each card. It is a book that offers inspiration to use tarot in ways you are probably not using tarot now. It is a book that guides you into opening up your expectations for yourself. It is a book that takes you into rhealms that you might have never associated with the tarot. Can you interview God? Yes. Can you find new ways of reading the cards? Yes. Will you become a better, different tarot reader once you read and absorb some of this book's material? Yes.
If you are a free spirit, if you are not hung up on rules and canned meanings for tarot cards, if you want to explore many aspects of life, then this book might be at the top of your favorites list. Dave
coyoteblack
27-09-2006, 02:21
I made a post like this when i first bought that book. For me it is not one of those books where you read it all the way through right away you kind of go on a journey with it.
definatly a book for a person that want tarot for more then just doing reading for people truley a beautifull book
sassygirl3124
27-09-2006, 05:32
wow its sounds great from what you guys have said and just what I am looking for in tarot book. I am looking to find out more about myself and explore different options for my life and I want to use tarot to help me do that, I find that I read the cards in spreads but I am looking to do a lot more than that and I want to have a great understanding what these cards can help me learn about myself and just life in general. Well now you really have me looking forward to receiving this book, I can't wait to see it in my mailbox.
ZenMusic
07-07-2007, 14:38
At lunch time today, I picked up Rachel Pollack's
"The Forest of Souls: A Walk Through the Tarot"
(from a huge stack of books on my floor.. my next month's reading); I intended just to glance at the book while I was eating...
however....I couldn't put it down, I read it straight through... it's really unique (as always, there are a few weak sections; she would benefit from a good editor) and it doesn't really deliver what I had thought it would, but it's still a great book, if just to open one up to new view of the Tarot
I love "Forest of Souls", and, like other members here, found that it opened up new ways of thinking. I recommend anything and everything written by Rachel Pollack. She is not afraid to try the new and different. :)
She also see the Tarot as a process, which will be different for each individual.
Blessings,
Bonnie
SixDegrees
15-09-2007, 16:30
Either this or Place's "Tarot: History, Symbolism and Divination" are next on my list. Decisions, decisions...
Either this or Place's "Tarot: History, Symbolism and Divination" are next on my list. Decisions, decisions...
Get them both. Very very very different books. Both worth their weight in gold.
DreamGhost
01-12-2007, 11:07
Thanks to a suggestion from another Aeclectic member, I too have ordered this book. :)
Just waiting for the call from the bookstore.
I loved this book. I've loaned it out, and will now have to get a replacement, as I've lost track of where it is... but now when I get teh 6 of wannds in a reading, or the Ace of swords, I will always see them differently because of this book.
sapienza
03-12-2007, 13:13
I'm in the middle of reading this book right now. It really is an excellent book and filled with surprising insights tucked away here and there. Definitely not a how-to book which is refreshing for me. I kind of wish I had a copy of her Shining Tribe deck though as she uses it for so many readings in the book. She does include b&w scans of the cards but I'd like to have the real thing so I could appreciate the imagery more, as it's so different to the decks I work with. She has an interesting style of writing, not my usual preference, but despite that I am getting a LOT out of the book and do really recommend it to others.
I've been slowly working my way through this book. You're right- you do really go on a journey with it. I've been savoring bits of it for over a year now. And I'm about 2/3 of the way through.
I've studied tarot with varying degrees of intensity for a few years, but I still feel like I'm a beginner. I lack self confidence in areas of my life, and tarot is no exception. I like this book because it helped me learn to trust my intuition, and to believe that listening to my own interpretations rather than those in books, or the LWB, is ok.
Beatrix -
This is a wonderful book - certainly not one to rush through. It will also help you to have more confidence in your readings, as Rachel is not one to go with "set" meanings. She makes the archetypes her friends, and presents them with integrity and her own personal sense of humor.
I think we each build our own understanding of the cards from material that we read, readings that we give, and our own intuition.
You might enjoy a new site that Kat Black has set up to read and share readings with her new deck: http://www.78friends.com.
Enjoy!
I've studied tarot with varying degrees of intensity for a few years, but I still feel like I'm a beginner. I lack self confidence in areas of my life, and tarot is no exception. I like this book because it helped me learn to trust my intuition, and to believe that listening to my own interpretations rather than those in books, or the LWB, is ok.
Forest of Souls is one of my favorite tarot books.
Actually the reason I responded to your post is that like you I lacked self confidence regarding tarot, and not only did Forest of Souls help me out a lot, but I would highly recommend 21 Ways to Read a Tarot Card by Mary Greer. By time you finish the 21 Steps at apprentice level you will have gained an incredible amount of self confidence in regards to tarot and trusting your intuition. I picked that book up about 12 years into my tarot studies and it was the best thing I could ever do for myself. Thanks to that book I am enojoying reading with more decks than ever before.
Jewel,
Thanks for this advice. I will look into that book!