Tarot made easy by Nancy Garen

I need some advice on this book...I just aquired it used on e-bay. I also own Power Tarot by Trish McGregor and Phyllis Vega...I find some of the DM's in Tarot made easy opposite, or negative aspected from Power Tarot, or many other books based on the Rider Waite deck...Eg, the 3 of Cups, according to Nancy Garen under "Work/Career" say "your mind won't be on your work and you will wish you could put it off, or take some time off;and you will wonder if you should look for a new line of work" In Power of Tarot under "work" it says "the office mood is festive, raises, and bonuses are forthcoming. Your accomplishments and contributions are recognized" The Ace of Cups, Tarot made easy says under "Romance" says "you are going to have a surprise call from an admirer, but not necessarily the one you want to hear from or are attracted to" Power Tarot says under "Romance" "Love at first sight quickly deepens into a serious romantic attachment. Everything in the romance department clicks along far better than you ever expected"...These are only 2 examples...I could list several more I noticed...Can someone please explain this to me? I thought Tarot made easy would expand or give more info similar to the DM information found in Power Tarot, but it has me confused as it almost seems opposite???

Hi, yve --

I think you'll find the same kinds of discrepancies if you look at any two tarot books. There really aren't any set-in-stone meanings to the cards, and two authors can see the same card totally differently. You basically have a few choices. First, you can simply decide you like one author's approach, and just stick with that one and learn it thoroughly. Second, you can read several tarot books and pick and choose which meanings you'd like to take from each. You might even keep a notebook where you can collect these meanings. Third, you could forget about the books altogether, and simply go through the deck card by card, writing down in your notebook your impressions of the card, what comes into your mind when you look at it, how it makes you feel, what meanings popped into your head when that card came up in a reading.

Probably most people don't pick one of these three choices as a permanent choice. I would venture to guess that most people, like me, have tried the different approaches I've outlined and spent some time doing each one. All of these approaches are valuable, but if I were forced to say which one is the most valuable, I would have to say it would be the third one, where you forget about the books and develop your own meanings. After all, the authors who wrote the books did the same thing, and there's no reason that you can't come up with meanings just as easily as they did. And those meanings will be better for you than some author's, because they'll be yours.

Here's a book which I like which teaches you how to read the cards completely intuitively, without using memorized meanings:

A Magical Course in Tarot by Michele Morgan

Have fun!

-- Lee

I would just like to second Lee's suggestion. A Magical Course in Tarot is one of the most liberating books I've read on tarot. You can't go wrong with that one.

Hi Lee, thanks for responding...Actually the very first thing I did, before i bought any books, and before I took an online course in tarot, was to go through the whole deck and write down my own interpretations and meanings..I have that in a binder. I then did added/revised meanings as I learned...however, while I agree to what you are saying, it just seems that many of Nancy Garen's meanings to many cards seem to be opposite of what many DM's say, and I've compared many books, online sources and discussions...it is almost as if she saw only the negative or reversed meanings of many (but not all) of the cards...And in fact, after reading much of this book my first thought was that it might be useful for reversed or negatively aspect interpretations, but of course that isn't what it was meant be, and the DM's in this book aren't in reality reversed meanings, it was just an initial thought.... 3 of Cups in many DM's represent in general celebration, abundance, and elevated emotions and good events (of course it would depend on the exact question asked or the spread)...but somehow she took the joy expressed on this card and made it mean repressed/delayed celebration and joy...it just seemed to be quite a leap...that is the only point I was making...I actually do have a Magical Course, and it was helpful, and just because of this book, I cannot look at the 3 of cups on it's own and see the negativity that Nancy Garen saw

Hi Yve.. I have several different books on tarot.. and sometimes they do contradict themselves...especially with the reversed meanings... This drove me nuts too.

The way I deal with this is to use my intuition... I may read the description of a card in three different books, but usually one sentence or a few words will just seem to "click" when I read it... and then I know that is the correct meaning at that time.

Cards can mean different things in different situations, so trust your gut..

I have Power Tarot.. (and used to own Tarot Made Easy.) While these books can be helpful, they are actually the ones I use least.. bc the meanings are so cut and dry... The books remind me of what someone uses that doesn't really want to "study" tarot.. but just do some fortune telling readings... Still, they do serve their purpose if you don't take them too literally...

(and I loved a Magical Course in Tarot too!!)

Hi Yve,
I have 'Tarot Made Easy' too and on the surface it seems like the ideal learners book, the only book you could ever need (sortof quoted from the book lol) but I think the main problem is there is too much information there and it gets confusing. There are around 30plus little sections for you to read - home, work, focus, romance - the list goes on and you'll find that it takes the fun out of doing a reading because once you've read all the little sections, you feel like going off for a coffee before round two lol.

I do still use this book for reference but I like 'Tarot Plain and Simple' by Anthony Louis, Seventy Eight Degrees of Wisdom and various other tarot reference books. Some of the deck specific books are good and even the books that only give basic meanings - then you can work on just looking at the card and seeing what they say to you.

Hi yve, in that case I think there's a simple solution. If Nancy Garen's book doesn't appeal to you... then don't use it! Life is too short to spend time worrying over why a book says things.

-- Lee

Lee said:

Hi yve, in that case I think there's a simple solution. If Nancy Garen's book doesn't appeal to you... then don't use it! Life is too short to spend time worrying over why a book says things.

-- Lee

Click to expand...

Yup, I guess it goes into the pile of things to be traded in the future...I'm actually quite happy with Power tarot and The Book of Tarot, I just got this fairly cheap on e-bay and thought it would enhance or add to the information in the other two books...but it is too different from the other two books and my intuition...

Yve, I know exactly what you are saying about The Tarot Made Easy book. I bought it over 3 years ago and it sits on a shelf because I do not like the negative tone of her interpretations. They are very contrary to what many other Tarot books describe.

I agree with Lee's comment - just ditch the book.

I have Nancy Garen's book too and it and I do not get on - it was a waste of money as far as I'm concerned. Now I'm not saying she's wrong, merely that she and I are on different wavelengths.

I tend to use books by Mary K Greer, Rachel Pollack and Tony Louis (though his Tarot Made Simple isn't up to the standard of his excellent book on Horary Astrology). I also have PowerTarot. I haven't read The Magical Course in Tarot but will look out for it.