The Only Tarot Book You'll Ever Need...
Mabuse
Not impressed
This is far from being the "Only Tarot book you'll need" There's a lot of the all too typical spurious history in the introduction and it's riddled with errors. One glaring error, which I hope is a typo, is the assertion that the earliest Tarots date from the 1840s. I hope it is not the only Tarot book people own. There are much better ones.
This is far from being the "Only Tarot book you'll need" There's a lot of the all too typical spurious history in the introduction and it's riddled with errors. One glaring error, which I hope is a typo, is the assertion that the earliest Tarots date from the 1840s. I hope it is not the only Tarot book people own. There are much better ones.
Soothsayer
Mabuse, thanks for replying. I'm not too concerned about the history of the Tarot in this instance; I've decided to purchase this book for the other information regarding the cards, spreads, etc. It's cheap, anyway, so I think it's worth a look. I shall post my thoughts when I've had a chance to read through it.
Soothsayer
Well, I've now had a chance to sit down with this book and my overall impressions are very good. I'm a little surprised there is no previous mention of this book on AT; I think this little book is ideal for a beginner like myself. It contains the meanings (both upright and reversed) for every card in the deck, as well as details on seven spreads. In addition, there are sections detailing other aspects of Tarot. This is a small format book containing just 184 pages, and most of them are concerned with card meanings, but the book is well written and easy to understand. I'm not sure how much use an experienced Tarot user would get from this, but to a novice like me this is great stuff.
I cannot vouch for the accuracy of the history chapter, but seeing as it is a very brief history (just two pages long), it takes up very little space in the book. I think it would be wrong to denounce this book based solely on the history section. It is not a book on the history of Tarot and should not be taken as such. The other information in this book more than makes up for any shortcomings and inaccuracies regarding Tarot's history.
This is a short book and as such does not go into great detail or depth when explaining card meanings or spreads. Nonetheless, it's very readable and only serves to encourage me to delve further into this fascinating subject. It may not be The Only Tarot Book You'll Ever Need, but it should certainly be in your collection if you are just starting out on the road to enlightenment....
I cannot vouch for the accuracy of the history chapter, but seeing as it is a very brief history (just two pages long), it takes up very little space in the book. I think it would be wrong to denounce this book based solely on the history section. It is not a book on the history of Tarot and should not be taken as such. The other information in this book more than makes up for any shortcomings and inaccuracies regarding Tarot's history.
This is a short book and as such does not go into great detail or depth when explaining card meanings or spreads. Nonetheless, it's very readable and only serves to encourage me to delve further into this fascinating subject. It may not be The Only Tarot Book You'll Ever Need, but it should certainly be in your collection if you are just starting out on the road to enlightenment....
Kathy24
Soothsayer said:
I agree with you Soothsayer. I have found the book to be very helpful in regard to the author's explanation of the card meanings and the other info she has provided. I am not that concerned with the history, as I have other books that are much more detailed on that area. Overall, I would recommend this book for the explanation of the card meanings and the other info associated with the study of the tarot. This book might be small in terms of pages, but I think there are some valuable info in there.
MomentoMori
yeah i agree with others i doubt there is a such thing as only needing one book to aid in learning the tarot but Tarot Plain and Simple is a good one.
hunter
This is my main book, due to it's small size. I live a very mobile lifestyle and this is all the weight I'm willing to carry for a hardcopy. I have scanned other books for reference, but this is all I have for off computer use.
I'm slowly filling in the borders with notes from other books.
It's the only hardcopy I'll ever need, but not the only book
I'm slowly filling in the borders with notes from other books.
It's the only hardcopy I'll ever need, but not the only book
MantraTarot
Thanks for saving me the trouble. So much for truth in advertising!
superhp
A buddy of mine suggested the Tarot Bible. Don't know if any of you have used that one and know about it, but thought I'd throw it out there. Feedback, please, if you have or do!!!
Manda
I doubt it is the only tarot book you'll ever need, as others have mentioned, but it is a good place to start, both in time and money investment. It is clear, concise, and covers all the basics in the small space. I sometimes toss it in my bag if space is going to be a problem.
The Tarot Bible, by Sarah Bartlett, is also fabulous. It is larger, and with more spreads and general information, and with full color illustrations. The space devoted to meanings is probably the same as the The Only Tarot Book You'll Ever Need, but both are good, workable sources for information.
The Tarot Bible, by Sarah Bartlett, is also fabulous. It is larger, and with more spreads and general information, and with full color illustrations. The space devoted to meanings is probably the same as the The Only Tarot Book You'll Ever Need, but both are good, workable sources for information.
