The New Tarot Handbook - Rachel Pollack

Alpha-Omega · 29-04-2012

Rachel Pollack's new book 'The New Tarot Handbook" comes out July 2012. I was lucky to get to review an early advance. here is my review

“The journey of tarot continues on, Rachel Pollack presents tarot in a simple and direct manner in the style of Eden Grey, that proves there is always more to learn”

Tarot author, teacher and all-round legend best known for her “78 Degrees of Wisdom” has written a new book, “The New Tarot Handbook”. I was very excited when I saw that this book was an upcoming release, anything that Rachel writes is simply worth reading. I was looking forward in seeing what The New Tarot Handbook had to offer. What more is there to be said? If you have read 78 Degrees of Wisdom or her 2008 release, “Tarot Wisdom” you may think the same thing. To be honest I had some concern as to what was going to be presented. Was it simply going to be another 78 Degrees, reworded in a different fashion with a few updates? Or will be refreshing offering new insights? Let us explore and find out.

To start the book is in total 280 pages long and is grouped in six chapters. Listed as Introduction, The Major Arcana, The Minor Arcana, The Court Cards, Readings and Further Study.

In the introduction Rachel explains her background in how she came across tarot. Rachel speaks about the influence that Eden Grey author of Tarot Revealed impacted her and on modern tarot reading. This is a very nice homage to Eden as Rachel also describes The New Tarot Handbook as restoring the Eden Grey tradition by saying “I like to think that this book revives Eden Grey’s tradition – a work that is short, direct, yet hopefully is backed up by deeper knowledge and awareness”. This statement gives us our structure and intention of this book. A book that is simple, easy to read, that is backed by real knowledge and solid understanding that people can grasp onto. After reading most of the book I can say that Rachel had done exactly what it was she was hoping for. The New Tarot Handbook is short, direct and easy to understanding. Now to say short I do not mean short in content, there is plenty of solid background on the cards, explanations of symbols and meaning.

To give a brief description of how this is setup, there is a Waite-Smith image of the card, in this case The Empress. Below that are a few keywords to generalize the essence of the card, for The Empress it is “passion, love, motherhood, abundance”. Below that is Rachel’s spiel about the card. After that you will see divinatory meanings and reversed meanings in the style of Eden Grey’s Tarot Revealed. After each card is a “reading for” the card, a spread customized for each card.

As for what is presented in the actual description and explanations of the cards in the words of Goldilocks “Ahhh, this porridge is just right” so to is the amount of information just right. In 78 Degrees of Wisdom and so to in Tarot Wisdom there is a sense of information overload, that there is a lot to soak up. This is not the case here, where you are given the right balance of knowledge needed without feeling like a deer caught in headlights. The writing is casual and easier going than previous writings. But by all means this is not dummied down tarot, a good way to describe it is as Diet Tarot Wisdom or 78 Degrees of Wisdom Lite, still has that refreshing taste with no calories! The New Tarot Handbook provides new insights along with already established ones, so readers of Rachels others books will find out there is more to learn.

The flow of the book is smooth; Rachel shows how cards are interrelated to one another, building up from previous cards and showing the development and growth from one to the other. This is a very important thing for tarot readers to understand, how cards are connected to each other and how that impacts the meaning. In the example of The Empress she does this by showing the connection via pairs, the Magician and Empress, High Priestess and Empress and Emperor with Empress.

I love to read about the mythologies in the cards, with The Empress we are taught the association with two goddess, Venus/Aphrodite and Demeter, then going further explain the myth of Persephone’s kidnapping by Hades. I would like to make a quick side note that Rachel says Hades is the god of death; in actuality he is the god of the underworld, not death himself. Death is represented by another figure, that of “Thanatos” who is the personification of death. But Rachel was making a point with associating Hades with death in that in the end Demeter gets her daughter back from “death”, revealing a lesson that you should never underestimate a mother.

Moving onto the Minor Arcana Rachel explains the suits in terms of their elemental qualities and explains the numerological meanings of each number, the foundations that all readers should have. The minors are setup just like the Majors with the removal of the keywords under the card instead replacing it with the Element & Theme of the card. The minor are at times linked to the majors to give you a sense of deeper connection, while some cards like the 2 of Swords simply states it “links her to the High Priestess”, without any other explanation of that that connection.

Towards the end in the section of “Readings” Rachel explains the reading process and goes with the “do as you will” mentality throwing to the wind the notion that you have to follow certain ritualistic “rules”. She also lists several complex free spreads.

In conclusion The New Tarot Handbook was a wonderful read. Rachel’s aim at writing a book that was simple and direct to the point was achieved. Who would is this book good for? Anyone really, however I would recommended it to a new reader who is looking for a deeper awareness to the cards meaning, mythology and symbolism without feeling lost in the esoteric translation.

- Angelo Nasios 2012

bogiesan · 29-04-2012

Groovy, thanks for the heads-up, I shall be watching for this book.

At the 1996 (or was it 1997?) Tarot symposium in Chicago, Eden Grey was our guest of honor.

In the early 1970s I had an Albano-Waite and a Rider. Eden's little black paperback was in my Levi's back pocket till it disintegrated. I got another copy many years later and have recently located and acquired some old hardcover editions of her books.

Pollack rocks.

**HOLMES** · 03-06-2012

http://www.llewellyn.com/author_inte...nterview_id=84

I was wondering about this book , and i saw llewellyn has a interview with the author about this book.
i found the 5 questions to be a very interested read especially where it fits in with the recent book she wrote on deeper wisdom.

Eeviee · 30-06-2012

Jist thought I'd share that Amazon (US) listed it as available today! Placed my order, along with two new decks!

Eeviee · 11-07-2012

I've had and used this book for a couple of days now...

This book is very small compared to most of Pollack's works. It's a very compact guide, and will not provide much new information for those who have read Pollack's other works. She even states in it that it is the reverse of 78 Degrees & Tarot Wisdom, where she compiled 40+ years of her study. In this Handbook, she has done quite the opposite, where she distills that information into key concepts and factoids.

Definate reccomendation for the beginner. As I have many other "beginner" works, alongside other intermediate books (including her notorious 78 Degrees), I find myself disappointed in the purchase for myself.
Oh, well. Perhaps it will become my book filled with personal notes, as it is quite a handy size!

ETA: The best thing I got out of this book was the spreads for the Major Arcana cards! Very enlightening, though, I believe she stated that they can be found in one of her other works as well.

Barleywine · 18-07-2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alpha-Omega

Rachel Pollack's new book 'The New Tarot Handbook" comes out July 2012. I was lucky to get to review an early advance. here is my review

“The journey of tarot continues on, Rachel Pollack presents tarot in a simple and direct manner in the style of Eden Grey, that proves there is always more to learn”

I'm looking forward to getting this book, as I slowly chew through 78 Degrees of Wisdom. I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for Eden Gray's work (and it IS "Gray" according to the two old paperbacks sitting in front of me right now

) since her books are where I got started back in 1971. I don't refer to them much any more but I still use some of her methods.

By the way, I have three Eden Gray books: The Tarot Revealed (PB, 1960), Mastering the Tarot (PB, 1970) and A Complete Guide to the Tarot (HB, 1970). Does anyone have any others? (I know, I know, Google knows.)

**swedishfish612** · 29-07-2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eeviee

ETA: The best thing I got out of this book was the spreads for the Major Arcana cards! Very enlightening, though, I believe she stated that they can be found in one of her other works as well.

Anyone know which other book these spreads are in? Thanks!

Emerald Isles · 30-07-2012

I've been using this to learn the basics of Tarot and I really enjoy it. The author occasionally describes/analyzes the color scheme of some of the cards, which can be mildly confusing for those who don't have the classic RW (I have an Albano myself).

Also, I most enjoyed how Rachel Pollack wrote the Minor Arcana and Court Cards sections. The descriptions are succinct and have just the right amount of detail/insight on the imagery and/or symbolism. While the Major Arcana is certainly the cornerstone of Tarot, I felt as though this section of the book could have been a bit more focused. Overall I think it's a great book for beginners like me.

Frindle · 30-07-2012

In "Tarot Wisdom" there are spreads for each of the Major Arcana.
Worth the price of admission alone.

I feel as though it is her most mature work, and if I could only keep
of Ms Pollack's books, it would be "Tarot Wisdom".

~Frindle

**swedishfish612** · 31-07-2012

Frindle- Thanks for the info! I have 78 Degrees and am really enjoying diving deep into the cards. I will definitely have to pick up Tarot Wisdom next!

Alpha-Omega Citizen Join Date: 19 Mar 2005 Location: New York Posts: 654	The New Tarot Handbook - Rachel Pollack Rachel Pollack's new book 'The New Tarot Handbook" comes out July 2012. I was lucky to get to review an early advance. here is my review “The journey of tarot continues on, Rachel Pollack presents tarot in a simple and direct manner in the style of Eden Grey, that proves there is always more to learn” Tarot author, teacher and all-round legend best known for her “78 Degrees of Wisdom” has written a new book, “The New Tarot Handbook”. I was very excited when I saw that this book was an upcoming release, anything that Rachel writes is simply worth reading. I was looking forward in seeing what The New Tarot Handbook had to offer. What more is there to be said? If you have read 78 Degrees of Wisdom or her 2008 release, “Tarot Wisdom” you may think the same thing. To be honest I had some concern as to what was going to be presented. Was it simply going to be another 78 Degrees, reworded in a different fashion with a few updates? Or will be refreshing offering new insights? Let us explore and find out. To start the book is in total 280 pages long and is grouped in six chapters. Listed as Introduction, The Major Arcana, The Minor Arcana, The Court Cards, Readings and Further Study. In the introduction Rachel explains her background in how she came across tarot. Rachel speaks about the influence that Eden Grey author of Tarot Revealed impacted her and on modern tarot reading. This is a very nice homage to Eden as Rachel also describes The New Tarot Handbook as restoring the Eden Grey tradition by saying “I like to think that this book revives Eden Grey’s tradition – a work that is short, direct, yet hopefully is backed up by deeper knowledge and awareness”. This statement gives us our structure and intention of this book. A book that is simple, easy to read, that is backed by real knowledge and solid understanding that people can grasp onto. After reading most of the book I can say that Rachel had done exactly what it was she was hoping for. The New Tarot Handbook is short, direct and easy to understanding. Now to say short I do not mean short in content, there is plenty of solid background on the cards, explanations of symbols and meaning. To give a brief description of how this is setup, there is a Waite-Smith image of the card, in this case The Empress. Below that are a few keywords to generalize the essence of the card, for The Empress it is “passion, love, motherhood, abundance”. Below that is Rachel’s spiel about the card. After that you will see divinatory meanings and reversed meanings in the style of Eden Grey’s Tarot Revealed. After each card is a “reading for” the card, a spread customized for each card. As for what is presented in the actual description and explanations of the cards in the words of Goldilocks “Ahhh, this porridge is just right” so to is the amount of information just right. In 78 Degrees of Wisdom and so to in Tarot Wisdom there is a sense of information overload, that there is a lot to soak up. This is not the case here, where you are given the right balance of knowledge needed without feeling like a deer caught in headlights. The writing is casual and easier going than previous writings. But by all means this is not dummied down tarot, a good way to describe it is as Diet Tarot Wisdom or 78 Degrees of Wisdom Lite, still has that refreshing taste with no calories! The New Tarot Handbook provides new insights along with already established ones, so readers of Rachels others books will find out there is more to learn. The flow of the book is smooth; Rachel shows how cards are interrelated to one another, building up from previous cards and showing the development and growth from one to the other. This is a very important thing for tarot readers to understand, how cards are connected to each other and how that impacts the meaning. In the example of The Empress she does this by showing the connection via pairs, the Magician and Empress, High Priestess and Empress and Emperor with Empress. I love to read about the mythologies in the cards, with The Empress we are taught the association with two goddess, Venus/Aphrodite and Demeter, then going further explain the myth of Persephone’s kidnapping by Hades. I would like to make a quick side note that Rachel says Hades is the god of death; in actuality he is the god of the underworld, not death himself. Death is represented by another figure, that of “Thanatos” who is the personification of death. But Rachel was making a point with associating Hades with death in that in the end Demeter gets her daughter back from “death”, revealing a lesson that you should never underestimate a mother. Moving onto the Minor Arcana Rachel explains the suits in terms of their elemental qualities and explains the numerological meanings of each number, the foundations that all readers should have. The minors are setup just like the Majors with the removal of the keywords under the card instead replacing it with the Element & Theme of the card. The minor are at times linked to the majors to give you a sense of deeper connection, while some cards like the 2 of Swords simply states it “links her to the High Priestess”, without any other explanation of that that connection. Towards the end in the section of “Readings” Rachel explains the reading process and goes with the “do as you will” mentality throwing to the wind the notion that you have to follow certain ritualistic “rules”. She also lists several complex free spreads. In conclusion The New Tarot Handbook was a wonderful read. Rachel’s aim at writing a book that was simple and direct to the point was achieved. Who would is this book good for? Anyone really, however I would recommended it to a new reader who is looking for a deeper awareness to the cards meaning, mythology and symbolism without feeling lost in the esoteric translation. - Angelo Nasios 2012

29-04-2012	Ask a Professional Tarot Reader Top #1

HOLMES CLARIFIER OF LIGHT Join Date: 31 May 2002 Location: ontario Posts: 4,595	ah yes http://www.llewellyn.com/author_inte...nterview_id=84 I was wondering about this book , and i saw llewellyn has a interview with the author about this book. i found the 5 questions to be a very interested read especially where it fits in with the recent book she wrote on deeper wisdom. __________________ "For if a man can become a monster, then a monster can become a man. "

03-06-2012	Ask a Professional Tarot Reader Top #3

Eeviee Citizen Join Date: 20 Jun 2012 Location: New York, USA Posts: 394	Jist thought I'd share that Amazon (US) listed it as available today! Placed my order, along with two new decks! __________________ --Eeviee "Ignorance only makes Intolerance stronger..."

30-06-2012	Ask a Professional Tarot Reader Top #4

Eeviee Citizen Join Date: 20 Jun 2012 Location: New York, USA Posts: 394	I've had and used this book for a couple of days now... This book is very small compared to most of Pollack's works. It's a very compact guide, and will not provide much new information for those who have read Pollack's other works. She even states in it that it is the reverse of 78 Degrees & Tarot Wisdom, where she compiled 40+ years of her study. In this Handbook, she has done quite the opposite, where she distills that information into key concepts and factoids. Definate reccomendation for the beginner. As I have many other "beginner" works, alongside other intermediate books (including her notorious 78 Degrees), I find myself disappointed in the purchase for myself. Oh, well. Perhaps it will become my book filled with personal notes, as it is quite a handy size! ETA: The best thing I got out of this book was the spreads for the Major Arcana cards! Very enlightening, though, I believe she stated that they can be found in one of her other works as well. __________________ --Eeviee "Ignorance only makes Intolerance stronger..." Last edited by Eeviee; 11-07-2012 at 23:02.

11-07-2012	Ask a Professional Tarot Reader Top #5

Frindle Resident Join Date: 14 Jun 2011 Location: Fl, USA Posts: 57	@ Swedishfish In "Tarot Wisdom" there are spreads for each of the Major Arcana. Worth the price of admission alone. I feel as though it is her most mature work, and if I could only keep of Ms Pollack's books, it would be "Tarot Wisdom". ~Frindle

30-07-2012	Ask a Professional Tarot Reader Top #9

bogiesan Citizen Join Date: 25 Dec 2005 Location: usa Posts: 299	Groovy, thanks for the heads-up, I shall be watching for this book. At the 1996 (or was it 1997?) Tarot symposium in Chicago, Eden Grey was our guest of honor. In the early 1970s I had an Albano-Waite and a Rider. Eden's little black paperback was in my Levi's back pocket till it disintegrated. I got another copy many years later and have recently located and acquired some old hardcover editions of her books. Pollack rocks.

29-04-2012	Ask a Professional Tarot Reader Top #2

Emerald Isles Resident Join Date: 30 Jul 2012 Location: USA Posts: 37	I've been using this to learn the basics of Tarot and I really enjoy it. The author occasionally describes/analyzes the color scheme of some of the cards, which can be mildly confusing for those who don't have the classic RW (I have an Albano myself). Also, I most enjoyed how Rachel Pollack wrote the Minor Arcana and Court Cards sections. The descriptions are succinct and have just the right amount of detail/insight on the imagery and/or symbolism. While the Major Arcana is certainly the cornerstone of Tarot, I felt as though this section of the book could have been a bit more focused. Overall I think it's a great book for beginners like me.

30-07-2012	Ask a Professional Tarot Reader Top #8

swedishfish612 Citizen Join Date: 28 Jun 2012 Location: Southeast, USA Posts: 519	Frindle- Thanks for the info! I have 78 Degrees and am really enjoying diving deep into the cards. I will definitely have to pick up Tarot Wisdom next!

31-07-2012	Ask a Professional Tarot Reader Top #10

Support the Forum via Google Adsense
	#ADS