Best Book Ever..

What in your opinion is the best book on the Tarot ever written? I have so many, but i have yet to find a better one then 'Seventy-eight Degrees of Wisdom" by Rachel Pollack.

What is your opinion?

Hey Uwe,

What do you mean by "Best" exactly? Best study guide? Best deck companion? Best meditative resource? Best history? Best theoretical musing? I love the question, but "Best" is such a vague designator that I don't know how to answer.

Scion

The best book you have personally read. The 'all encompassing' book
on the subject. The one which embraced the tarot most intimately.

I have to agree with Scions questions. Each type of book offers something different as the topics will largely vary and it becomes comparing apples to oranges.

Tarot is a huge topic and I cannot say that the book I ever read encompassed them all.The best books I have read are focused as described by Scion's topic breakdown. 78 Degrees of Wisdom is by far the best book that I have read on the RWS deck, but there are other books I hold in equal esteem on other tarot topics and even inclusive of info contained in 78 Degrees (i.e. history, companion books, etc).

i'm presently reading the book Portable Magic by donald Tyson and it's really good, and i mean really really really Good ;-)

prolly the best english book i'v read on tarot

I agree that the term 'best' will be subject to qualifiers - yet that does not preclude some kind of possible answer given our own personal orientation or preferences.

For myself, the book that stands out the most is:There are a small number of other books that also stand out as absolutely important contributions that are also a joy to read. One of these is undoubtedly (for me)In addition, the best historical and brief overview I have read is inThe only other book that I have a personal inclination towards (despite aspects I would like to change) is
Of course, this is not to take away from such key references that remain, at this stage, Kaplan's Encyclopedia of Tarot (4 volumes); Dummett &al's Game of Tarot; Wicked Pack of Cards; and History of Occult Tarot; and Jensen's Story of the Waite-Smith Tarot.

Hey Uwe,

All "bests" aside, I'm going to echo almost all of JMD's (apparently we have very similar bookshelves).

Bob Place's new book, Tarot: History, Symbol, Divination, as a tight, intelligent history, a solid theory about the ideological underpinnings, a terrific look at the way TdM evolved into GD-based decks, and even a handy overview of divinatory usage.

Robert O'Neill's Tarot Symbolism for open ended rumination on theoretical possibilities and an infectious love of history that spills over into every deck.

Dummett's A Wicked Pack of Cards, which is the de facto source of most Tarot authors wanting to include researched history in their writing on the topic. Ferociously clear-sighted.

(edited to add: I almost forgot! ) Huson's Mystical Origins of the Tarot, although I don't fully buy his origin theory, has superb history, and may be the only book in English to reallycover the Decans, and the historical associations of the court cards. Equally invaluable are his compiled interpretations of meanings for all the cards from cornerstone Tarot authors: de Gebelin, Etteilla, Levi, Christian, Mathers, GD, Waite.

DuQuette's Understanding Aleister Crowley's Thoth Tarot is one of the best books on any Book T derived deck. Hilarious and practical.

Meditations on the Tarot for a genuinely mystical look at the Trumps that reveals more and more each time you return to it.

Other faves for various moments and uses include Crowley's Book of Thoth (though not for all people), Wang's Qabalistic Tarot, Mary Greer's Tarot Reversals, Tarot Tells the Tale, Tarotbear's It's All in the Cards as a keyword guide rec for WS beginners.

(n.b. I just bought Payne-Towler's book, and very much look forward to it, so in a few weeks I may be adding it to my list of must-haves.)

Hi Scion..

Interesting answers. Have you or anyone heard of a book by 'Hopper' called "Medieval Number Symbology"? This one is available on Amazon. It is apparently very popular for people studying the TdM. I haven't got this one yet. I just wondered whether anyone else has read it, and their opinions on it.

I do have it, but I read it as research for a medieval project rather than specifically Tarot study. It's an older book, from the 30s I think, so the language is crusty, and the scholarship gets awfully labroious as you get deeper into the book. His stuff on Pythagoras is terrific.

Now that you mention it I can see how the information would be useful to people looking for ways to examine the pips in cultural context. Definitely more appropriate and meaty than syncretic New-Age-y numerology books. Among many other things, the TdM is a historical document. Still, I'm not a hardcore TdMer; I'd love to hear what JMD or Diana would have to say about this Hopper title.

If you're doing TdM specific study, a great trio would be the Meditations on the Tarot for the Trumps and the Hopper book for the "pips." For the remaining 16 court cards, Huson's Mystical Origins of the Tarot has a fantastic examination of the legendary figures associated with the royals, although many TdMers might object to the Decans attributions in the minors and discussion (which are essentially BookT/Waite-Smith derived).

I think if you can find the Hopper for not much money, I'd encourage a purchase.

JMD, wanna weigh in here?

Scion

Scion..

There is a paperback version available from Amazon for the 'usual'
price. I'm gonna buy this one on the strength of your recommendation.

Excellent