An honest book

Jerusalem

Hi guys,

This is my first post here and I decided to take the opportunity to ask a question that has been bothering me for the past couple of days.

It seems like just about every book I pick up is somewhat wrong for me. There seems to be two sides to the problem. The books for beginners are so afraid of scaring the reader off that their card interpretations are total softballs. All light and fluffy with only hints at real shadow, negativity, and misfortune. Personal enrichment is alright, but are not the elements that these cards are representing equally negative as positive? I feel like I'm getting a G-rated representation here and it irks me some. On the other side of the coin, the more advanced discourses all seem to cloak themselves in the inpenetrable enigma of the Cabalah. Some parts of this I like, but how many pages can you go on and on for speaking only abstractly without reference to anything in the solid tangible world?

If this makes sense to anyone and they could recommend a resource for me to examine, I would very much appreciate it. Thank you for reading.

--Jerusalem
 

Geenius at Wrok

"Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom" is pretty good, but I don't think it's right for the absolute beginner. I think your best bet is to visit www.learntarot.com and go through the online course there. The card explanations aren't sugarcoated, nor are they overly esoteric, and Joan Bunning (the author) gives terrific guidelines on how to relate different cards in a spread to one another.
 

Moose

Welcome!

You have found the best Tarot site for Beginners and Experts. Everyone is here to assist and to learn.

The best place to start is at the Tarot Basic by Thirteen. This well-done course will give you a solid foundation on which to build your Tarot education. You will probably copy it (as many of us have), and use it as great resource material.

If you're interested in Astrology don't miss any of Aquarian Goddess' posts. She has become our astrological mentor.

So enjoy! We are looking forward to your future posts.

Blessings...................Moose
 

Umbrae

Tarot Reversals, Greer
 

truthsayer

i think the favorites here are generally:
1. 78 degrees of wisdom--rachel pollack
2. tarot for yourself: 2nd edition--mary k. greer (this was a 3 book series and more for self discovery. her newest book is tarot reversals which ppl who've gotten rave on)
3. learning the tarot by joan bunning. you can download the course for free or buy the book.
 

jmd

Welcome to Jerusalem!

Most books do have what appears to be an impenetrable Wall, surmounted by a structure which doesn't seem to really belong there (whether this be astrological, Kabalistic or other!).

I would also recommend reading the posts by Thirteen in Tarot Basics... and the posts in the Study Groups... and those in all the other Forums!

Apart from that, I personally do not think there is any book out there which will meet all your needs, nor can there be, as we all progress in own understanding of each card, and in their combinations, individually.

This is one of the reasons I find this Forum so useful. Here one can post a question, and, if it is reasonably clear, the variety of possible answers begin to emerge from this wonderful community!

I would also suggest doing a search (clicking the 'search' button to the right of Aeclectic Tarot at the top of this page) for any topic you may wish to post. It is surprising what can come up!
 

Jimilyn

Well, truthsayer posted my three favorites. :)

Learning the Tarot by Joan Bunning
78 Degrees of Wisdom by Rachel Pollack
Tarot for Your Self by Mary K. Greer

I have others, but these are the three that I always turn to.

Jimilyn
 

DestroyTheHuman

forme...

I read thirteens bassics and I was very pleased with the section with the journey of a fool. The discriptions are all pretty good, but I use Joan Bunnings tarot interpertations because they are all very solid, I can relate to them, and I like her approach to tarot.
 

HOLMES

old school ?

i alwasy like eden gray books they were very easy to understand and the first month i read the book a hundred time just to read the stories and to understand the book better. in fact i still have a copy called mastering the tarot

anther good book was the psychic tarot based on the aquarian tarot first book i read that dealt with psychic impressions at the end.

how to read the tarot keyword system abraham
a good book but i havne't master the keyword system yet as i have a bad memory which i look at the keywords and the picture and converted their keywords into my own keywords. where did i get other keywords from ?
the jungian tarot when i got it came with a book and it has keywords for every tarot card like the fool the source,
the magician the son , the emperor the father , the empereres the mother .


but a really good book i have is called mystical tarot by rosemary ellen guiley it is a good primer.

so these are good beginner books all but the jungian tarot book and deck.
 

JesusGypsy

Welcome! I'm a newby too and this site appears to be a great resource for info and support. Keep visiting!

Otherwise,
I agree with Geenius...
www.learntarot.com is really good.

I also recommend "Beyond Prediction" by John Drane, Ross Clifford and Philip Johnson. It is a hard book to find (UK) but well worth the search.