Best Book for Beginner?

Books are useful, true, but the most useful learning experience by far is actually doing a reading...for someone else!

There's tons of people here who are willing to get readings. Head over to the reading exchange and start getting some practical experience. That will illuminate the books more than anything. JMHO, o'course.

I have lots of tarot books, but I barely use them. I haven't even read 'em all...*shame shame shame*

I think I'll honestly have to say I think the best beginners books were the ones that came with the decks.
That's the advantage of having more than 1 deck ofcourse, because I compared the cards and learned alot more that way.

And ofcourse this forum...
Not a single book available will give as much information as this place.

Good luck!

I like to get a wide input on what other people feel the cards mean, but I consider that only a foundation now. Knowing something about the symbolism and reading the little white book helps in seeing what the author had in mind when then designed the card helps a lot, a lot of new decks aren't very traditional.

When I was younger and reading I was a literalist, I felt I had to memorize the definitions exactly and was disturbed by conflicting interpretations in different books I've read. Now that I've picked up Tarot reading again I see things in a new light. I have a gut feeling about what a card means in a spread and as it turns out my querrents have confirmed that I've hit the nail on the head. So I'm letting go of the definitions now, using them as guides, but not the definitive answer. When I was younger I had trouble understanding what the cards had to do with the questions asked, now it's like a door has opened up. I'm learning to trust my intuition and listen to my inner voice & I'm getting better answers.

21 Ways to Read a Tarot Card is all about this, I think it's a helpful book.

the most I ever learned about the Tarot , from a book,
was Jung's introduction to the I Ching by Richard Wilhelm

Jung's "Man and His Symbols" is also excellent for symbolism, though not the breeziest read, I must say.

Lurea said:

Books are useful, true, but the most useful learning experience by far is actually doing a reading...for someone else!

There's tons of people here who are willing to get readings. Head over to the reading exchange and start getting some practical experience. That will illuminate the books more than anything. JMHO, o'course.

Click to expand...

This is great advice.
Exchange readings are also very good and you'll build confidence doing them! Books are fine, but they encourage dependence. Read as many as you like, but put them away from time to time. Say, no books for two weeks. During this time, do small readings, maybe three cards each on simple questions, and write them down in a little notebook, along with your interpretations and questions. Leave some space under each one to come back later and write down how the situation actually played out.

And there are lots of exercise games going on here all the time. "Mystery Person" is lots of fun. I hope to see you there!

Unfortunately, as children we're taught that everything we need to know about a subject is found in a book and that the book is the end all and be all. We're taught not to think for ourselves. We're taught to memorize what the books say about a subject and then tested to see if we've memorized the "facts" right.
Therefore, we think hitting the books is where it's at with learning Tarot and it's not.

Take information from all your books if you will, but put that information second to what you feel about the cards yourself. Take each book and think, "Hmmm, what's this person's opinion?" and compare it to your own. Don't pick up the book and memorize what someone else tells you to think. Your own intuition and perception of the cards will be what the cards are about for you in readings. Trust yourself, don't trust the books. What's written in the book is only someone else's opinion, first of all, and second of all, it's all too often a regurgitation of what every book before it has said as to what the cards mean.

Card meanings change with every sitter, with every reading, and with every reader. It's a fluid thing, not something that's like math that's got facts and figures and concrete outcomes.

Ok, I agree with how we need to think for ourselves about the cards...yet there are certain agreed-upon, basic meanings for each card..

For instance:

A ten of swords comes up....I can't say (to myself or another) YAY, this is a GOOD card and means that I'm gonna be receiving ten dollars soon, because there are ten swords in the guys back

No, it has a general meaning (which I don't know what, but I think it's something probably NOT good).

See what I mean?

Silverlyn

It almost doesn't matter because you'll grow beyond whatever books you start with and keep some and toss others. So, whatever ones appeal to you on the shelf (or web page) are probably the ones for you. My personal opinion is also 'the book that comes with your deck', if there is one. It helps to have the details of the artwork pointed out to you, whether the artist's intention makes sense to you or not.

All that other stuff is fine and well (and true), but I don't see any reason to discourage someone from reading when they're asking for beginner book recommendations. Why not let people read without all this pressure? Reading is the key to learning for almost everything except sports and mundane physical tasks. Not everyone wants to be a free-for-all, personal meanings only, psychic/intuitive reader, and not everyone is primarily visually oriented either. They'd be lost without some sort of explanations until they get used to exercising that mental muscle.

Most people need some basis to start from and want to learn about tarot traditions - like, basic meanings of the cards. They want to peek into this mysterious practice and eventually become good at it. It takes time. Rome wasn't built in a day. The rest of that stuff will come later - or simultaneously.

Seems like Silverlyn has gotten several books now. Enjoy them and your deck(s) and the journey.

One thing I learned is that there isn't a right and wrong way and everyone has to find their own way. Do what you feel is best, follow your won star, listen to advice and use what's helpful and don't do what not. That's the main thing.

I personally love reading books and checking out different points of view, but that is me.