Bunnings "Learning the Tarot"--why doesn't it make sense to me?

[ambermoon]

It's not one of my favorite books, either, but I occasionally dip into it when I am stuck on putting words to something that is visual for me.

And therein lies my problem with the book. It's totally verbal. I am visual.

The Barnes and Noble online tarot course alsouses this book. I dropped the course for that reason (among others, but the book was so dry and colorless that I couldn't get through it).

ambermoon

 

[tarotbear]

While we're on the subject ...

{A moderator can move this, if they wish - TB}

When I found out about Greer's 'Tarot Reversals' I begged my boyfriend to buy it for me for my birthday ... I cannot get into it! I figured a book on nothing but card reversals would be fascinating ... and it's cooly boring and academic - an insomniac's delight!

Does anyone feel the same way I do?

 

[Fulgour]

I figured that I should have at least ONE book by
Mary K. Greer (same so, Rachel Pollack) and it was
"Tarot Reversals" which was out new at the time.

Authors live in a publish or perish kind of world
at least so far as keeping up an endless production.
But since I don't need these books to pay my bills,
I enjoy them just as they are for all they're worth.

*

PS: I am the proud owner of a wonderful new book,
"It's All in the Cards ~ Tarot Reading Made Easy"

Rachel & Mary are on the shelf, this one's in reach!

 

[tarotbear]

sense & sensibility

PS: I am the proud owner of a wonderful new book,
"It's All in the Cards ~ Tarot Reading Made Easy"

Rachel & Mary are on the shelf, this one's in reach!

LOLOLOLOLOLOL! May it serve you well! (and thank you!)

 

[Stregaverde]

PS: I am the proud owner of a wonderful new book,
"It's All in the Cards ~ Tarot Reading Made Easy"

Rachel & Mary are on the shelf, this one's in reach!

I can't WAIT to get this book! My mom will be bringing it when she visits in March (I'm ordering it from Amazon now). Whee! And my Bunning book is up for grabs in the Trade section.

 

[Sophie]

I just can't get on with keyword systems, and with blank statements about anything. For me, tarot flows. It always did. As Umbrae says, she tells - she does not reveal. None of the true mystery of tarot is there. But she is a generous teacher and for people who do learn better that way, for people who are left-brain dominant, then she can be a way into tarot.

I do like one of her spreads I saw on her website - the Ying-Yang spread, though I adapted to show an interraction between the two - the flow of chi, if you like (a bit like Umbrae's central column in his relationship spread).

 

[Aure]

Oh thank god I'm not the only one!!! I've been trying and trying and... More than once I've fallen asleep on the book and haven't been able to understand anything.

I have several books now and most of them are on the shelf because I just don't like books that give you bunch of ready-chewed interpretations you have to memorize. Recently I've read 78 degrees and although Rachel Pollack seems to love mixing some psychobabble in the book, she makes me actually think 'so that's what is in there...'

I dunno which book would do the trick for me, I'm eagerly waiting for Art and Arcana on the Medieval Scapini since that deck has become my favorite and the only one that really makes my intuition flourish.

 

[catdoc]

I have been following this thread for a few days now. Joan Bunning's on-line course was my introduction to the study of the Tarot. So the question I have been asking myself is "Why did this book work so well for me?" I am not sure that anyone can know why something does not work for another....

First and foremost Joan has created an introduction to the Tarot based on her own journey. A beginners course. In 1999 I was a beginner. The match between what I was looking for and what she provided was perfect.

But she is a generous teacher and for people who do learn better that way, for people who are left-brain dominant, then she can be a way into tarot.

I probably do have a rather strong "left brain", analysis being the basis for my approach to most pursuits. However, I find that I learn by pattern recognition rather than memorization , so that "right brain" must be getting in on the action as well. For me Joan Bunning provided a well organized presentation of the structure, the "system" of the Tarot if you will. Based upon this framework I was then able to broaden my study of the Tarot, which continues to this day.

The Tarot for me, is primarily a visual medium. It consists of evocative images on cards, which taken as a whole cover the depth and breadth of the experience of living. Each individual card is like a piece in a puzzel. In order to "learn" the meaning of a card, I needed to learn how each one related to the whole. Joan provided this sense of pattern and organizational integrity in her approach to the Tarot. Based on the number of people who continue to ask "...but what does this card actually mean?" I think that many could benefit from learning the overall structure of the Tarot deck in order to have an organizational foundation on which to confidently build their own body of knowledge about the Tarot.

"Reading" the Tarot by its very nature involves the translation of the visual, intuitive, or cultural response to the images into language. Most things loose a bit in the translation. Still, if we are going to talk about the Tarot and what it means we are stuck with words as our medium. I find Joan Bunning's method of organization and her clean clear writing style worked for me. I am not sure I would have been as comfortable and confident as I set forth on my own exploration of the Tarot had I not had Joan's course as an introduction.
I guess that is what it boils down to. Joan's book is not about adding depth to ones Tarot study, it is about beginning the journey.

Deb

 

[Kissa]

I feel pretty much like catdoc. Joan's book was my first book on tarot and it was a brilliant introduction. I loved her down-to-earth, open, user-friendly way of presenting this mysterious thing that was (is...) Tarot. When Joan started to develop her method and her FREE course on the internet, she was a young mom at home and there are many things I can relate too in her book.

Joan's book on reversals also helped me dropping the "Upright=positive, Revearsed=negative" approach I had, which is a great opportunity really, though I usually don't read reversals. Sometimes though...

To conclude, I also had a personal experience with Joan when purchasing from her website and she is just one of the sweetest and most amazing persons I've "met"...

Many of you think that Mary Greer's Tarot for Your Self is a jewel, well I couldn't ever get a grip on this one, it just seemed like an empty new-age mixing of everything I dislike about Tarot. For some of you though, it is the best book ever...

Kissa

 

[Stregaverde]

I really think that it comes down to a difference in learning styles. Bunning's book IS full of information, well-written, and comprehensive. I just can't get into her way of explaining the cards, though. Greer's methods (I have both Tarot For Yourself and Understanding the Tarot Court by her) 'click' with me. Is one better than the other? I honestly don't think so, it's just that one type of writing (Greer seems more roundabout, much less linear) makes the concepts easier to grasp for certain folks.

I'm so glad I'm not the only one for who couldn't get my head around Learning The Tarot, though! I kept thinking that there was something wrong with me!