What one book helped you the most?

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Always seeking....

I tried many books, and I continue to seek for deeper meaning and expanded interpretations of the cards. There are a few that I have used for years and I find myself going back to them often. Tarot for a New Generation by Janina Renee was written for young people, but it beneficial to everyone. She gives multiple interpretations for each card. She includes visualization, tarot spell, and practical ways that you can incorporate tarot into your everyday life. I also like Joan Bunning's Learning the Tarot.

I started off with Eden Gray and the writings of Mary K. Greer. The books were/are great, but I had to put them down sometimes to listen to my own intuition. Sometimes I went to the book when I was uncomfortable with the answers that were revealed to me. I am more confident with my own intuition and I use the books for clarification of reference afterwards.

Book to help me most

Right now, I would say the book that is helping me the most is the Complete Tarot Reader by Teresa Michelson. She presents all the info in a way that it is not intimating and take you through the different facets of the tarot. And you can learn it at your own rate of speed. I'm still not all the way through it. But, I do feel that I have learnt more from it, thus far, than I have any other book I have tried to work through. I highly recommend it!

My favorite Books

I have several books on tarot, all of which helped me out in different ways. Its nice to get several opinions. These are the books that I have [ones w/a star next to it are ones i really recommend]:

-Seventy Eight Degrees of Wisdom by Rachel Pollack****[a must!]
-Power Tarot by Trish MacGregor and Phyllis Vega****
-Tarot Card Combinations by Dorothy Kelly [a good one if your trying to learn how certain cards relate to others]
-Tarot Made Easy by Nancy Garen [its good but I don't think its one I would recommend unless asked specifically about]
-Learning the Tarot by Joan Bunning**
-Complete Idiots Guide to Tarot****[VERY informative! would recommend]
-Mastering the Tarot by Eden Grey
-How To: Use Tarot Spreads by Sylvia Abraham**
-Complete Book of Tarot Spreads by Evelin Burger and Johannes Fiebig**

All the books that I just listed are helpful in different ways. Tarot Made Easy is a very basic quick and easy type book. It breaks down each card into different situations. Example: If you were doing a reading about a relationship, you would read the Romance section, Union section, and there you would find your answer. If you found this book cheap I would say ok, but its more like a "Lazy Person's Guide" I guess you could say!

I had many people recommend Seventy Eight Degrees to me so I picked that one up. Its great so far...I just started it but am already impressed! Power Tarot is great too. It gives you over a hundred really nice spreads plus it gives some great information on the cards too. I would highly recommend it!

Hope this helped, I know I have some books to add to my wishlist!

**Alia**

mary k. greer-- tarot constellations and tarot for your self-- highly recommended.
the rest is really obsession, you get to a point that you've developed a relationship with every card and begin to know them intimately. That love affair is the best teacher. Get a deck that thoroughly fascinates you...

I am still adding new books to my tarot library, every now and then finding excitement and new knowlege in each and every one of them.

Right now I am mostly engrossed in reading James Ricklef's excellent book

• Tarot Tells the Tale

There are loads of three card readings that he goes into details about and in the process one learns to really look at the cards and their position in these particular spreads, but also learns much more about each card and its meaning applying different perspectives thus encouraging the imagination, observation, memory, and intuition accordingly. It's like having one's own private tarot tutor.

I have also started reading Rachel Pollack's

• Forest of Souls

I find her take on the tarot quite amusing and original. This is a spiritual book that will enhance my journey through tarot and through life for that matter. It is rather heavy so, I am taking it one teeny chapter, or part of it, at a time.

I also refer quite often to Mary Greer's

• The Complete Book of Tarot Reversals

It's a pity that the title does not give it all the credit it deserves. It is much more than a reversals book. It is more like a mini encyclopedia that consists of lots of meanings to all the cards upright and reversed, and much more.

A Magical Course in Tarot

I recently got "A Magical Course in Tarot" by Michele Morgan. I had been reading the reviews on Amazon for awhile, but the cheesey title kind of kept me from getting this book. Well I finally broke down and got it, and I'm so glad I did! It is indeed a "magical" book in that she helps you discover how to read intuitively. Basically she says to forget spreads, forget memorized meanings and just lay out three cards and start talking (out loud). Talk about what you see in each individual card and what you see in the group as a whole. Talk about what memories it brings up and what it seems to symbolize for you. Talk until you can't think of anything else to say. The talking somehow short circuits the rational side of the brain so the intuitive is free to come out. Morgan advocates avoiding the spreads and books until this intuitive reading becomes comfortable and automatic. I can't recommend this book enough!
Many Blessings,
Bodhran

I like pretty much what everyone has been listing, but a favourite, for me, is still "Mastering the Tarot", by Eden Gray. Not only does it get right down to business with pics of the original RW, symbolism and learning how to read each card, but it also is a regular size paperback, so you can snuggle in bed with it, carry it around, study it, etc. Perfect for a beginner and when you need to go back to the basics, or look something up for original imagery. I find it to be the perfect little study guide. Fun to tuck under your pillow and bring out to browse on those hot, humid nights that you can't sleep in. Like, tonight...for example!

There are actually three books that helped me the most:

The Book Of Tokens - Paul Foster Case
Seventy-eight Degrees Of Wisdom - Rachel Pollack
Tarot Of The Spirit - Pamela Eakins

I would have to say that Joan Bunning's book Learn the Tarot has helped me the most. I took a class on Barnes and Noble University and the book was used. I found it really thorough, and clearly written.
Samantha