The worst tarot books you have come across

Rusty Neon

noby said:
I agree with others who mentioned Hollander's Tarot For Beginners. I picked it up and sat down and read through some of it in a used bookstore, and didn't even find it worth the cheap used price. The meanings given were so fixed and rigid, and I felt they really limited and dumbed down the cards.

Oddly enough, I hadn't even heard of the Hollander book before I picked up a Russian translation thereof. The Russian translation has really lousy reproductions of the card images; like photocopies of photocopies.
 

hdarpini

Tarot Tips

Mimers said:
I think the worst book I have seen is Tarot Tips from the Llewelyn series. Mostly useless information that was poorly organized.

Oops, I just bought this book from Amazon, based on the review it got and my own preview of its table of contents and the first couple of "tips." Well, we'll see. Maybe it will be more useful to me since I'm a Tarot neophyte. :)

So far, the only book I've been disappointed with is "Tarot Card Combinations" by Dorothy Kelly (not coincidently the only book I didn't research before buying). Her keyword approach to explaining combinations is too simplistic. I was hoping for more information on combinations in general rather than combination-by-combination interpretations that don't provide a foundation from which to extrapolate interpretations for combinations the author couldn't fit into her book. If someone has a recommendation for a better book on combinations, I'd appreciate it.

Hal
 

little

Oddly, while 'Idiot's Guide to Tarot and Fortunetelling' is pretty bad, I found 'Tarot for Dummies' to be a pretty helpful introductory guide.

Then again, my experience has been that 'Dummies' books are in general better than 'Idiots' books.
 

Khatruman

The Tarot Workbook--by Emily Peach

This book intimidated me enough to cease using tarot cards for 18 years!!! It told me I had to learn all there is to know about astrology, numerology, and on and on until I even began using the cards.

Unfortunately, there was no Aeclectic tarot group back then :(
 

Khatruman

lark said:
With out a doubt.
Hands down the winner would be,
Ta Da!
Understanding and Using Tarot by Emily Peach

What a hard scrabble waste land of confusing information.
If I would have actually followed this book I truly believe I would have given up on tarot entirely.
Luckly I scaned through it recognized it wasn't for me and threw it on the closet shelf, where I am happy to say it has been gathering dust ever since.

I won't even trade it because I don't want some poor soul to waste a mano second of there precious tarot brain time on this really awful book.

P.S. My apologies to anyone who really likes Emily Peach, she just isn't my cup of tea. :)
I just came across this after I posted... I, unfortunately, still have my Emily Peach book. Might we arrange a gathering to burn her books??!!
 

Kaylee Marie

great title, if only the author knew what she was talking about

I didn't bother reading all 60+ posts, so I don't know if anyone's already mentioned this one: Jung and Tarot by Sallie Nichols. I love Jung and I love tarot, but this book is just plain awful. I wish I hadn't wasted my time or money. :(
 

lark

Khatruman said:
I just came across this after I posted... I, unfortunately, still have my Emily Peach book. Might we arrange a gathering to burn her books??!!
Oh no, no, no...we don't burn books around here.
(unless you're trying to get the thread closed. :D)
No, we do incredably creative things with them, like use the pages to cut out snowflakes and hang them in our windows...or shred them up to use as grass in our Easter baskets.
Yes, we are a creative lot.
My only saving grace with Emily Peach is I got it for the bargain basement price of $2.95.
And even at that it was no bargain.
Glad to have the company of a fellow sufferer.. er I mean traveler. :)
 

Khatruman

lark said:
Oh no, no, no...we don't burn books around here.
(unless you're trying to get the thread closed. :D)
Ohh, thought you noticed my tongue firmly in cheek as I said this. :p

There are many creative things that can be done, and you did spark my imagination. I know a member here who would surely have some wonderful ideas on how to creatively use a book to find value in it.
 

Grizabella

I agree that Jung and Tarot and Forest of Souls are not good. I bought both a couple of years ago and didn't like either of them so I sold them to a used book store. And the longer I have the Idiot's Guide to Tarot and Fortune-Telling, the less I really like it. I did use the Idiot's Guide a lot at first, though. And I do sometimes still refer to parts of it that cover numerology, symbolism and colors, but the card meanings in it don't seem very accurate to me.
 

SexiSadi

I have to agree with the others about the Emily Peach book. It was the first book I bought along with a set of Mythic Tarot cards (I think the book that came with the deck is pretty awfull as well).

Man, her way of doing things seems awfully intimidating! You need a silk scarf, a silk cloth AND a wooden box to keep your cards in. She writes about 3 million pages on how to choose a significator based on their birthdate (she clams that if you can't learn how to choose a significator based on that, you'll NEVER be able to do accurate readings!) Also, she demands that you NEVER let anyone handle your deck, then proceeds to tell you three pages later to have the person who is aasking the question to shuffle YOUR deck! HEY! My gosh, i'm soo confused!

I also managed to get my copy of Sharman-Burkes "Mastering the Tarot". Although, I got it for free when I worked for Borders\Waldens books, so I guess I didn't lose much on that deal. :p