Recommend me a book

Marua

Hi everyone, I was wondering if any of you have a book recommendation?
I'm looking for a good all round tarot book, preferably one that doesn't follow a specific deck.
Nothing too advanced, but not completely beginner either.
Show me what you got :eek:)
Thanks :eek:)
 

Redfaery

Tarot 101 by Kim Huggens. It's a really good nuts-and-bolts approach to the cards. It's actually quite thoughtfully constructed and written; it really engaged me and helped me grow.
 

empress's dress

Hi everyone, I was wondering if any of you have a book recommendation?
I'm looking for a good all round tarot book, preferably one that doesn't follow a specific deck.
Nothing too advanced, but not completely beginner either.
Show me what you got :eek:)
Thanks :eek:)

Even though "The Way of Tarot" by Jodorowsky does follow the Comoin-Jodorowsky deck based on TdM, it's beautifully written and has a visionary quality. It's a move into the 21st century away from the 20th century and its tarot canon as envisioned by the Golden Dawn.

extra thought: It is one of the few books that sees the beauty of swords. It sees thought/reasoning/logic/concept/idea as a gift/guilded pathway -- not a burden or a trial or the cause of neurosis or put another way as the uncool nerdy dysfunctional brother in the room. This bias still permeates most Tarot books and it's really unfortunate.
 

EmpyreanKnight

Holistic Tarot by Benebell Wen is magisterial, immensely informative, does not have a proficiency bias, and the supplementary learning documents in her website are just astounding. You really cannot fault her book with anything, except that it has an RWS slant.

I would also very highly recommend Tarot Wisdom by Rachel Pollack. Dense with info, immensely helpful, and easily understandable, it features a handful of the major decks, so it is not biased towards a specific one.

If you're into esotericism like the Qabala, Sheshamphoresh angels, astrological and other attributions, etc., The Qabalistic Tarot by Robert Wang would be very useful to you, featuring as it does the Golden Dawn, Thoth, RWS, and Marseilles Tarot decks. By its pretty complex nature though, the Qabala may require a separate introductory book, although in this one the author did try to make that as simple, straightforward, and beginner-friendly as he can.
 

CrystalSeas

I'm going to second Wen's Holistic Tarot.

It's probably as important to 21st Century tarot enthusiasts as the Rider Waite Smith deck was for the 20th Century.

Quite spendy, but worth every penny
 

bradford

Get a couple that are fairly thoughtful and reputable, no matter if they're hard.
And don't get one that says "beginners" in the title, or implies it.
Our associations to the cards are built from the ground up and if you start with inferior information you build on a poor foundation, or you're stuck with having to unlearn a bunch of errors later, which is lots harder than learning in the first place.
There are some good study links in the Tarot section here
http://www.hermetica.info/TongLink.htm
And there are lots of study resources listed all around this forum's website.
And there are lots of books listed on the page below that are noted "A List" or "B List"
I didn't find the "C List" books to be all that good, but many are favorites of people here.
The Tarot section starts about halfway down the page
http://www.hermetica.info/TongBib.htm
Lots of these have reviews published on this forum too.
This is a field where you definitely can't trust Amazon book reviews.
 

Calcifer

...just another plug for Holistic Tarot.... I got it some months ago and just love it :)
Michael
 

decan

"Tarot Plain and Simple" by Anthony Louis is great!
 

Marua

Thanks, everyone

I will be looking at all of them, and then decide. Heck, maybe I'll even buy 2!
Feel free to keep recommending. Don't have any books on tarot at all.
 

Marua

And there are lots of books listed on the page below that are noted "A List" or "B List"
I didn't find the "C List" books to be all that good, but many are favorites of people here.
The Tarot section starts about halfway down the page
http://www.hermetica.info/TongBib.htm
Lots of these have reviews published on this forum too.
This is a field where you definitely can't trust Amazon book reviews.

I took a look at the Encyclopedia of Tarot by Kaplan. Sounds interesting.
Thanks for link, Bradford :eek:)

Added: I ended up ordering vol. I of it. Hope it's good :eek:)