A Newbie ISO Guidance...

MacMorrighan

Hey guys, I have been a Witch for almost 20 years, and during that time I have been meticulously forging my own unique Path drawn from quantum physics, folk-lore, Celtic and Indo-European Studies (at an academic level, I might add!). However, in that time, while I have been immersed in scholarship (indeed, I consider myself a freelance scholar!), I have utterly ignored learning a divinatory system; so, I am hoping to focus on doing so with the Tarot, as I have long-been fascinated by the symbolism involved (as I was writing about Astrology I came upon a book by Aleister Crowley that explained *why* The Chariot is associated with Cancer....I've been curious about that for years!). However, when I approach something new, I like to do so methodologically or structurally. (This is also my approach as musician.) All to often, over the past several years, at least in my own general community, I have observed readers merely parroting the interpretations from the Rider-Waite-Smith "little white book of uselessness" as one acquaintance recently described it. LOL! That would seem to give very one-dimensional or cookie cutter-like readings from my point of view. I am hoping to learn a deeper significance to the cards and their Mysteries. At the moment I am reading Connoly's "Tarot: Handbook for the Apprentice", but I am interested in looking for some other "classic" or "traditional" books on learning this system of divination, including tarot journaling. Incidentally, now that I think about it, one of my early stumbling blocks was reading the Celtic Cross spread as it seems somewhat convoluted.

All my best,
Wade
 

Citrin

Hi Wade!

I think you would really like the book Holistic Tarot by Benebell Wen. She has a very "scholarly" approach to learning tarot. Her book is very structured and clear in that manner. If you buy it, don't forget to download Benebell's study guides from her website, sooo helpful and again, really structures the learning process. It's quite a new book, but if you ask me it's definitely a future classic! ;)

Good luck! :)
 

chongjasmine

I recommend tarot plain and simple.
It is clear, and simple to read.
The card meanings section of tarot plain and simple is especially good.
 

rwcarter

I recommend tarot plain and simple.
It is clear, and simple to read.
The card meanings section of tarot plain and simple is especially good.
I began my tarot journey back in 1991 when there were nowhere near the plethora of books available that there are now. I have 700 or so tarot books, and I keep TP&S next to my computer if I get stuck on an interpretation or need a new thought to answer a question. So I wholeheartedly second that recommendation!

Rodney
 

thorhammer

You sound like the sort of person who'd get a lot out of Paul Hughes-Barlow's "Tarot and the Magus". I know I loved it the first time I read it and it's very firmly entrenched in my magickal/Tarot library now. In it, PHB goes into detail about the working of the Opening of the Key method of reading, a spread of sorts but more complex, detailed and infinitely more rewarding to work than the CC (which, btw, I abhor).

Ricklef's "Tarot Tells the Tale" is another studious approach to reading, wherein he reads for fairytale characters. It's fun but a really useful approach as well.
 

MacMorrighan

I'm not sure if I cored it, but I am also interested in learning a variety of other methods for developing a relationship with my cards. I'd love to meditate with each card, and even blend an incense for each card. I'd like to look up what herbs are associated with each card, but Crowley's "777" doesn't seem to have the tables that I thought it had. (The memory is a funny thing.)
 

MacMorrighan

Hi Wade!

I think you would really like the book Holistic Tarot by Benebell Wen. She has a very "scholarly" approach to learning tarot. Her book is very structured and clear in that manner. If you buy it, don't forget to download Benebell's study guides from her website, sooo helpful and again, really structures the learning process. It's quite a new book, but if you ask me it's definitely a future classic! ;)

Good luck! :)

Thank you, I've been seeing it in a lot of random searches over the past couple of weeks. I'm more interested in it after seeing Angelo Nossios's youtube review of it.