What about "Tarot Made Easy By Nancy garden"

I have this books and have to say I use it for simple clarification. Is almost like flowchart, explaning a specifica card meanin in a specific topic. If you were to follow it blindly, it really take the divinatory/interpretation step in a reading.

My question is, who many of know this book and what are the opinions.

Comments, please!

Thanks!

It was one of the first Tarot books I got. It was highly recommended to me by my friend who introduced me to Tarot.

One of the things the book did, was show me the vast range of meanings each card could have - I think this was the first real step toward reading intuitively I took. I realized that there could be many different meanings for particular cards, and knowing that, realized that there could be even more meanings that could come to me...and that would be ok.

I hope you enjoy that book! Another great book is Tarot Tells the Tale by James Ricklef. It is a book of 3 card spread readings that were done for fictional people. It really shows the power of the 3 card spread and how to properly phrase questions as well as interpret the cards within the context of the spread and the question asked.

And welcome to AT! This forum is an excellent source of information, too!

valeria

I have this book too. I found that it made me too lazy to explore my own meanings of the cards, or to do any study, so I put it away. I got her workbook which enables you to come up with meanings in the categories that she uses. That was when I discovered that the laziness was really an attribute of me, and not of using Garen's book.

These days I do use her Spiritual Guidance spread from the Tarot Made Easy book. I love it ... but I don't use her meanings any more.... unless I am really stuck. It is a good book to help you grasp the multitudinous meanings that cards can have depending on the question. What it doesn't do is help you become an independent reader. It is too easy to rely on it, and not risk yourself in the process of reading for yourself and others by which you learn your strengths and limitations as a reader, develop your own skills and confidence. Nor does it help you explore the cards in relation to one another. Still, you can't expect one book to have everything.

I rarely read the cards ... it is not my area of tarot interest ... but I would never part with this book. So for all my criticisms, I do recommend it.

mythos

valeria said:

It was one of the first Tarot books I got. It was highly recommended to me by my friend who introduced me to Tarot.

One of the things the book did, was show me the vast range of meanings each card could have - I think this was the first real step toward reading intuitively I took. I realized that there could be many different meanings for particular cards, and knowing that, realized that there could be even more meanings that could come to me...and that would be ok....

Click to expand...

Valeria, thanks for the though. Thats an aspect of the book that puzzles me.. how a card can have all this meaning... and where does she get all that information... Most be a really Pro. I see a card and dont see all that answers.... Got to learn more.... I will get the Tarot Tell a tale.. thanks for the reference.

Reading and interpreting

mythos said:

I have this book too. I found that it made me too lazy to explore my own meanings of the cards, or to do any study, so I put it away. I got her workbook which enables you to come up with meanings in the categories that she uses. That was when I discovered that the laziness was really an attribute of me, and not of using Garen's book.

These days I do use her Spiritual Guidance spread from the Tarot Made Easy book. I love it ... but I don't use her meanings any more.... unless I am really stuck. It is a good book to help you grasp the multitudinous meanings that cards can have depending on the question. What it doesn't do is help you become an independent reader. It is too easy to rely on it, and not risk yourself in the process of reading for yourself and others by which you learn your strengths and limitations as a reader, develop your own skills and confidence. Nor does it help you explore the cards in relation to one another. Still, you can't expect one book to have everything.

I rarely read the cards ... it is not my area of tarot interest ... but I would never part with this book. So for all my criticisms, I do recommend it.

mythos

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I agree with you.. is to easy and can one lazy...but you narrow it down... THere is a difference between reading an interpreting... I have to learn more of the later.

Originally posted by mythos:
It is a good book to help you grasp the multitudinous meanings that cards can have depending on the question. What it doesn't do is help you become an independent reader. It is too easy to rely on it, and not risk yourself in the process of reading for yourself and others by which you learn your strengths and limitations as a reader, develop your own skills and confidence. Nor does it help you explore the cards in relation to one another. Still, you can't expect one book to have everything.

Click to expand...

This is so true, mythos! I completely agree. When I first started studying Tarot and started doing readings for myself, I couldn't part with the book - I would go over and over the categories, and sometimes readings would take hours because I wanted to "get it right." This was so exhausting that I would go for very long periods of time without doing readings because I was too tired to commit the energy to the reading. Not cool.

Then I joined this forum and was exposed to all the members and their wealth of experience and new members that had the same questions that I did. I found out that I didn't need a book to do readings, that it was within myself to do the interpreting, and there is no right or wrong way...just MY way that is unique for me. This has given me the freedom to buy used decks or foreign decks that have no LWBs or no books about them to guide me.

It was very liberating to give up the books and become an intuitive reader. It has allowed me the opportunity to get to know the cards and not what someone else has written about the cards.

Fulothrop, you have taken the biggest and best step toward learning the Tarot by joining the forum. Now, have some fun and play with the cards, and post some readings, offer some readings, join in reading exchanges...this forum will expand your knowledge and experience in leaps and bounds - keep the book, put it on a shelf - then come learn and explore the world of the Tarot with us here!

fulothrop said:

I have this books and have to say I use it for simple clarification. Is almost like flowchart, explaning a specifica card meanin in a specific topic. If you were to follow it blindly, it really take the divinatory/interpretation step in a reading.

My question is, who many of know this book and what are the opinions.

Comments, please!

Thanks!

Click to expand...

I've bought, borrowed and read a lot of "tarot and you" type of books over the years. I'm not going to do it any more. They tend to be pretty much the same...same format, same topics, usually a similar tone, lots of differences in the details. I say: the best for me was just reading Thirteen's introduction to the cards in the "learn" link (upper right) and then opening my heart. (This doesn't apply if you want more on Tarot history--that's a real speciality!)