Best/Most Comprehensive Book on (Tarot) Symbolism

Teheuti

Marie-Bernard said:
I ordered the Penguin Dictionary of Symbols (along with the Morgan Greer :)). I do find myself wanting to understand the astrological attribution more (how do Venus or Mercury influence things when visiting other signs). Every book I have so far is how astrology relates specifically to Tarot so Qabala is already in the mix, too. I'd like to pull those apart and look and them alone so I could better understand exactly how they've been blended together.
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I'm not clear what you want to know about astrology and tarot. If you want to understand the planets in signs then you'll need a good astrology book or website. Ask at the astrology thread here on aeclectic. There's no single system of correspondences between astrology and tarot - but, rather, at least three main systems and lots of variations within those. So, first you have to pick a system. If you want it to know how astrology relates to Qabala, that has it's own history and variations - google the "Sepher Yetzirah", which provides the basis for all later correspondences. If you are interested in the Golden Dawn system (Crowley-Harris Thoth deck and the Rider-Waite-Smith or BOTA decks) then the Chicken Qabalah of Rabbi Lamed Ben Clifford is a good place to start: http://www.amazon.com/Chicken-Qabalah-Rabbi-Lamed-Clifford/dp/1578632153

A great place to get information on all three items: symbolism, astrology and Qabalah as it relates to the BOTA deck (based on the Rider-Waite-Smith) is Paul Foster Case's: The Tarot: A Key to the Wisdom of the Ages. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
 

Marie-Bernard

Teheuti said:
I'm not clear what you want to know about astrology and tarot. If you want to understand the planets in signs then you'll need a good astrology book or website. Ask at the astrology thread here on aeclectic. There's no single system of correspondences between astrology and tarot - but, rather, at least three main systems and lots of variations within those. So, first you have to pick a system. If you want it to know how astrology relates to Qabala, that has it's own history and variations - google the "Sepher Yetzirah", which provides the basis for all later correspondences. If you are interested in the Golden Dawn system (Crowley-Harris Thoth deck and the Rider-Waite-Smith or BOTA decks) then the Chicken Qabalah of Rabbi Lamed Ben Clifford is a good place to start: http://www.amazon.com/Chicken-Qabalah-Rabbi-Lamed-Clifford/dp/1578632153

A great place to get information on all three items: symbolism, astrology and Qabalah as it relates to the BOTA deck (based on the Rider-Waite-Smith) is Paul Foster Case's: The Tarot: A Key to the Wisdom of the Ages. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
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For instance, the book by Corrine Kenner, Tarot and Astrology gives a meaning for the 9 of Pentacles that includes the Golden Dawn title and Yesod, it's Sephiroth (Sephira? not sure how that should be pluralized or singularized). In the Mythical Goddess Tarot there are astrological correspondences on each card and 9 of Earth is Venus in Virgo like GD, but the card title is Community. I don't understand enough about astrology to decide if I think the Mythical Goddess card title is a good alternative, or if I think it's completely wrong.

I'll get a book after I've done some reading online, right now I know so little I don't even know what I don't know. :D

I had started reading PFC then someone mentioned on another thread that the Morgan Greer uses PFC's color correspondences so I'm holding off on it until my Morgan Greer Tarot arrives; I think it will be fun to compare them.
 

3ill.yazi

Sephirah singular, sephiroth plural.
 

Teheuti

Marie-Bernard said:
For instance, the book by Corrine Kenner, Tarot and Astrology gives a meaning for the 9 of Pentacles that includes the Golden Dawn title and Yesod, it's Sephiroth (Sephira? not sure how that should be pluralized or singularized). In the Mythical Goddess Tarot there are astrological correspondences on each card and 9 of Earth is Venus in Virgo like GD, but the card title is Community. I don't understand enough about astrology to decide if I think the Mythical Goddess card title is a good alternative, or if I think it's completely wrong.
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Yesod is a Sephira (singular). There are ten Sephiroth.

A card's keyword can be based on many things - not just the astrological association. "Community" sounds like a concept that may be unique to the Mythical Goddess Tarot.

The Golden Dawn Minor Arcana correspondences are to the Decans (the zodiac divided into 36 groups - three for each sign of the zodiac). There are lots of ways to think about the decans and they are not exactly the same as a simple planet-in-a-sign. You are headed into an area that requires many years of dedicated study to fully understand. There are several lo-o-o-ong threads on decans in the Thoth section of the forum and maybe in the Historical Research section, too.

BTW, the Paul Foster Case book does not go into the Minor Arcana and, anyway, he worked with a different decan system than did the Golden Dawn. Still, his book could be helpful to you regarding the Majors.
 

Wendywu

I read mainly TdM and the best book on symbolism that I have found is Robert O'Neill's Tarot Symbolism. A couple of reviews were posted here http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/books/tarot-symbolism/. It was re-printed by the fourhares imprint (aka Jean Michel David) and was only obtainable through them. The book is expensive (I sold several decks to raise the purchase price) but a quick google search will bring up a site which has very full extracts which can be printed and provide a wealth of information on the symbolism within the TdM.

I first read this book in conjunction with Jean-Michel David's "Reading the Marseilles Tarot" whilst I worked through the exercises in the latter. I thoroughly recommend it (well, both actually).
 

RunningWild

It seems that Tarot Symbolism is being reprinted. Cost is $35 AUD/ $28 USD/ 22 Euros plus shipping and handling.
 

Marie-Bernard

RunningWild said:
It seems that Tarot Symbolism is being reprinted. Cost is $35 AUD/ $28 USD/ 22 Euros plus shipping and handling.
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Thank you, that's great news! Where did you get this price? Where can I order it?
 

RunningWild

It's on a site I wouldn't want to mention here? Just do a search for the book and you'll come up with several sites...the one I found that sells the book itself is in Australia.
 
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