Barleywine
I always look at the base or shadow card, because I find it really sums up the whole reason a person is asking about something, or, sometimes reveals just *what* they are asking about (if they'd prefer not to tell me the question). So I find it very valuable in reading, myself.
I am not sure why it doesn't come up in tarot related books. Often, quint* card usage also doesn't get covered, though I find it a deeply meaningful association card to tie up the reading, at the end, and add insight.
*(quint = sum of all your card numbers added up, and reduced to the root number, for those who might not know what quint cards are). i.e., if the value of your cards added up to say 108, then 1 + 0 + 8 = 9 it would reduce to 9, the Hermit.)
Somewhere a while back I got the impression that the quint first appeared in German-language tarot books, perhaps by Hajo Banzhaf. I haven't read a huge number of modern tarot books in English, but I've yet to see it mentioned anywhere but here on the forum. I do find it useful in certain circumstances.
