The Open Reading - Yoav Ben-Dov

Hi all,

I've noticed that quite a few people are reading or have read the really cool book The Open Reading by Yoav Ben-Dov. I had a search on the forums though, and aside from a few passing recommendations, I couldn't find any threads actually discussing the book and technique. (Mods, not sure if this thread belongs here, as I'm quite interested in talking about the Open Reading process, or in the Books section, as this is all detailed in Ben-Dov's book?)

I've found that the way Ben-Dov describes his open readings is similar to how I naturally read TdM cards, although he gets deeper into the process, which I find really fascinating. And though he is proposing you just "read what you see", he does go into a fair amount of detail about symbolism and numerology, i.e. he's not arguing in favour of just making up meanings, but is instead interested in treating everything as a symbol.

So - are you reading, or have you read the book? What do you think? Do you use these methods yourself?

...And maybe an open reading exchange could be interesting?

I am reading this at the moment. This is the gentlest book I have ever read. It is my first tarot book though (well, sort of), so I am not sure this is a genre thing, or a Ben-Dov thing. I am not entirely sure what an open reading is, other that by what others have helped me understand through this forum. But reading his book is like listening to a nice man telling you his story and sharing with you how he approach the tarot, rather than instructing or teaching you. Again, I do not have many tarot books to compare this with. But I highly recommend it! Especially if you are particularly interested in open reading. Which I have been told is not for everyone.

I also really like his writing style; I agree there is something gentle about it. Gentle yet very much to the point, and extremely clear. Perhaps this is something to so with his physics background; the approach is practical, rather than esoteric.

I could not agree more. It is one of the simplest yet most complete books that I've read about tarot reading. It is elegantly written and combines very well an intuitive approach with some basic symbolism and numerology. I always keep it at hand, and suggest it to people who struggle with meanings in TdM.

Kuroga

Not sure if either of you have tried his reading suggestions? Yesterday I tried out his spread suggestion where you turn over cards, one at a time, until a major shows up. Then you love to the next pile. You do this three times, and wind up with a three-card majors spread with varying cards underneath.

He proposes some really interesting ways to read the cards underneath, from just looking at the thickness of the stack (thick = complicated situation, thin=take the top card at face value ), to spreading them all out and reading those minors and courts to shed further light on the main reading) - and other options in between.

Loved it. Such a different way to look at the cards, and I found the reading itself to be pretty deep and interesting !

I have not gone that far I am ashamed to say
But I am now very much looking forward to that part!!

There is much said about Ben-Dov's teacher Jodorowsky. But I bought his book anyway "The Way of Tarot" and can't wait to hear what this artist had to say about Tarot de Marseilles and Tarot in general

I am also trying to play Tarocchi with my Marseilles decks

I feel awfully silly now but there is a plethora of threads around this book and deck, if you search for CBD Marseille. I'd been looking for threads specific to this book, not realising most of the conversations happened a while ago, when the deck came out!

haha. i do that all the time. behind in convo and could not find threads of earlier ones until i posted my questions i myself just started this book and deck

Isn't it great ? I also really like his descriptions of the reading process.

Very much. Very soothing and non-judgmental.