Tarot Theory and Practice by Ly de Angeles

Asher

My book arrived today...

and just perusing the table of contents, it's certainly like no other Tarot book I've ever read. The author has a unique vision of Tarot and I'm looking forward to seeing what it's all about.

Asher
 

sparkles

That when you idly lay out spreads, you're actually going to experience everything in the spreads you've put out. Geez---am I ever in trouble, then!

I get what she's saying about people reading over & over looking for what they want to see but i absolutely do not believe the above quote. I think tarot offers insight and alternative ways of looking at situations and can be predictive but not because the cards decide what will happen, just what is the most likely outcome based on your actions, or key people/events around you.
 

Asher

Grizabella said:
Has anyone else checked out this book? It's new but I thought it sounded interesting so I got it a few weeks ago or so... but I've noticed, in what I did get to investigate, that she's got some rather unconventional ideas.

Hmm, that's putting it mildly. I did like the sections on the Soul's Journey & found her take on card meanings to be solid (there are some quite interesting takes on some of the cards there). But the theoretical section was, well...uninspiring. Not really interesting, at all, to me. YMMV, however.

Not a keeper, IMHO. Glad to hear some of you are finding it useful.

Asher
 

Rootweaver

Study group?

Hi,

I would be interested in joining a study group. I have the book - Tarot Theory & Practice, and I am keen to get my teeth sunk into this one. Is anyone interested in doing this with me? Tarot gimp, are you still keen?

Cheers
Andi
~Tarot Nouveau
 

Bernice

fyreflye said:
"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away" - Philip K. Dick
I'm with fyreflye.

But in the end 'reality' doesn't give a fig for we do or don't belive in. (Unless magic is involved....). All is relative.

Bee :)

Philip K. Dick: Yes, I too have read some of his books :)
 

Shade

I loved de Angeles's book on witchcraft but I had issues with this one. In the first or second chapter of the book she makes it clear that only certain people will ever be able to successfully read the cards. It's possible I suppose but I have never held with the idea that one needed a special gift to read the cards.
 

rwcarter

Just finished this book. While she didn't say anything that made me raise an eyebrow and say "this woman is out of her mind," she does have some "rather unconventional ideas" as Grizabella so nicely put it. Like on page 172 where she says, "Never shuffle them yourself! Shuffling them at any stage is likely to contaminate the cards with your own future experiences." in reference to reading for others. Huh?

And the book is written too much from the "this is the only right way to do things" perspective instead of the "this is what works for me" perspective.

I thought that her relating the Majors to both the macrocosm (earth's history) and microcosm (individual's life) was an interesting idea, although in both cases I thought some of her associations were quite a reach.

I thought that some of her card meanings were interesting (in the sense of "now that you say that, I can see it") while others were just off the wall. This is where a "these interpretations work for me, your mileage may vary" disclaimer would've been useful instead of saying, "You do need to learn the following, though, and very well." (page 89).

Eight spreads for one client session? :bugeyed: Uh.... No. And she doesn't do a good job of explaining how some of those spreads are laid out. On page 177, she says, "Sometimes these three spreads are so awesome in their information and definition that I wish I didn't have to go further...." Since that comment was made in the Celtic Cross (Present, Future, Past) spread, I thought she meant laying out a Present Celtic Cross, a Past one and a Future one. This is buoyed by the third paragraph on page 178 where she says, "You begin with the pack that represents the PRESENT because you want to see what is of immediate influence. You will do the same with the pack representing the FUTURE and, lastly, the pack representing the PAST." But in her Example readings, she only lays out a Present Celtic Cross. Which is it?

I was also a little bothered by the fact that in some of her case histories, she didn't remember the exact cards that had been laid out, so she approximated with cards that gave her the same interpretation.

Now that I've read the whole book, Grizabella's original point
That when you idly lay out spreads, you're actually going to experience everything in the spreads you've put out. Geez---am I ever in trouble, then!

On page 225 she writes:

I have known of people who will get together and attempt to read Tarot over and over, seeking to see what they want to see and dealing out spread after spread until they think they have an outcome that suits them. The trouble is that everything else they have dealt out is going to also happen, so that if a series of disasters or unfortunate events is predicted on the way to seeking something ultimately pleasant,....the interpretations of discord will not go away and ultimately must occur.
is consistent with what the author says throughout the rest of the book with one tiny exception - it wasn't about people who idly lay out spreads, but those who keep laying out spreads until they get an answer they like. Just because the reader doesn't like the answer of the spread they've laid out doesn't mean that what is shown in the spread won't come to pass. (The book is definitely written from the point of predictive reading and not reading for insight.)

All in all, not a bad book. It has some highlights, but much of it doesn't resonate, so I am quite content to keep what resonates and reject what doesn't.

Rodney
 

Shade

You have much more stamina than I - I never did make it past the first few chapters. I like a writer to try something bold I really do, but it gets a bit "The Gospel According to..."
 

bhakti

I read this book a few months ago. I agree with many here, it has some interesting info that I haven't found in other books on the subject, and some info that really didn't resonate for me.

However, there is one quote that constantly rings in my head and gives me shivers when I think of it:

On page 11 (discussing time, reality, and matter) " What if the events predicted through the Tarot would never have occurred if they had not been predicted?"

Not sure how I feel about this, but it IS an interesting thought to chew on.
 

Lunalyn

I read this book a few months ago and I find all the comments here very interesting. I must read it again. I didn't understand most of it the first time round.
lyn