Tarot Book Club: Holistic Tarot

Shade

Here goes everything; this will be our attempt at a book club here on Aeclectic that will allow us to explore one tarot tome at a time and hopefully get into a lively discussion.

Below is a schedule of dates when we will begin to discuss certain chapters within the book. The majority of the responses wished to participate in May rather than April so we will wait until the very last week of April to begin and that week we will start off with just the first three chapters (a quick 24 pages to get through). If you fall behind a bit, fear not! This isn't a novel and you can skip ahead and read the chapters next up for discussion.

I will be sure to post questions that we can discuss on the below dates. Anyone can post their own discussion questions for the chapters being discussed.

I have personally found that the most enjoyable book club discussions I have taken part in have centered on discussing the themes and ideas of the book rather than spending too much time on whether members liked it or not.

Schedule:

April 27 Discussion begins for
Chapter 1: Tarot Analytics: A Holistic Approach
Chapter 2: A Concise History of Tarot
Chapter 3: Allaying fears and offering theories
Pages: 24

May 4 Discussion begins for:
Chapter: Choosing Your Deck
Chapter 5: Anatomy of the Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot
Chapter 6: The Personal Journal
Chapter 7: Beginner Rote Learning
Chapter 8: Keywords
Pages 34

May 11 Discussion begins for:
Chapter 9: Cycolpedia of Card Meanings
Pages 151

May 18 Discussion begins for:
Chapter 10: Signifier Cards
Chapter 11: The First Operation
Chapter 12: Interpreting Court Cards
Pages 39

May 25 Discussion begins for:
Chapter 13: On Shuffling Drawing and Cutting
Chapter 14: The Fundamentals of Reading Spreads
Pages 139

June 1 Discussion begins for:
Chapter 15: Consideration of the Spread Landscape
Chapter 16: Devising Tarot Spreads
Chapter 17: Tarot Readings: A Step-by-Step Analytical Process

June 8 Discussion begins for:
Chapter 18: The Five Components of Circumstance 484
Chapter 19: Assuaging Seekers when a reading seems negative
Chapter 20: Reading for Yourself
Chapter 21: The Setting of a Tarot Reading and Energetic Supplements
Pages: 44

June 15 Discussion begins for:
Chapter 22: Immediate Ruminations and Practicum
Chapter 23: the Value of Meditation to Tarot Practice
Chapter 24: Inappropriate Questions
Chapter 25: Ethical Considerations of the Tarot
Chapter 26: Tarot and Love

June 22 Discussion begins for:
Chapter 27: Tarot and Professional Development
Chapter 28: Using Tarot to Build Resilience
Chapter 29: Depth Diagnostics
Chapter 30: The Opening of the key
Pages: 51

June 29 Discussion begins for:
Chapter 31: Tarot de Marseille and the Thoth
Chapter 32: The Professional Practice of Tarot
Chapter 33: A personal Essay: How I started
28 Pages

July 6 Discussion begins for the book as a whole.

If Holistic Tarot isn't your cup of tea, fear not, if this goes well we will start up with Marseilles Tarot: Towards the Art of Reading in the summer.

OK everyone, get reading.
 

swedishfish612

Oh, what a great idea! Just last night, I was trying to decide if I want to buy this book or one about learning Lenormand. A book club definitely pushes me in the direction of this book! lol
 

Citrin

Yay! So excited, I'd love to discuss this book. I also hope the discussions will revolve around ideas and kind of "Well, I don't do it like the author BECAUSE..." etc. Could be really interesting. :)
 

MaryHeather

Sign me up! And thanks for including the chapters- the pagination is different on e readers... although I suspect I will end up buying a hard copy also.
 

kalliope

Thanks for making this official! I look forward to discussing the book. :)
 

Critty

I am coming out of lurker-mode to say I would love to be a part of this book club :)
 

kalliope

I am coming out of lurker-mode to say I would love to be a part of this book club :)

Welcome to Aeclectic, Critty! And to the book club. The more the merrier!
 

Featherflight

What a great idea! I would love to participate but have a question first: is this book accessible for tarot beginners? Or would I be in over my head?
 

kalliope

What a great idea! I would love to participate but have a question first: is this book accessible for tarot beginners? Or would I be in over my head?

I'm pretty sure she meant for the book to be used by beginners, but also that it would contain enough information to be useful for intermediate students and beyond. I'd definitely join in with us! It could be that you won't use all of the information right away, but that doesn't mean you won't get a lot out of it.
 

SarahJoy

What a great idea! I would love to participate but have a question first: is this book accessible for tarot beginners? Or would I be in over my head?
The book is intended to be accessible to all readers. The author has Study Guides and Supplements available for beginner, intrmediate, and advanced readers on her website.