Books Recommendation For Practical Tarot

[nel200586]

Hello everyone, I am just curious what books you read to improve your Tarot Reading Skill? I, myself learn a lot from Seventy Degree of Wisdom from the life philosophy and psychology aspects. However, I am looking for more information about interpretation in daily life / practical basis. Sometimes the meaning of the cards does not make sense to the heart of the matter of daily life. Thanks.

Edited February 20, 2023 by nel200586

[DanielJUK]

I like Mary Greer's books, they are very practical about each card. Both Greer and Rachel Pollack are in my reference collection and I turn to them from time to time to look up other ideas.

 

Greer's Main Books...

 

21 Ways To Read A Tarot Card - this offers 21 steps to reading each card. It's a little like Seventy Degrees and is a learning journey type book

Tarot For Yourself - I think this might be a good book for you. It has sections about reading for yourself but also goes through each card and is quite practical in the meanings

She also does two smaller specialist books about Court Cards and Reversals which are quite useful to own later on as you get more experienced.

 

I have found though that whatever books and online websites I use for my card readings, using them in daily life and practically, involves using them and working them out for yourself. Like the theory and ideas from different sources are great but when I pulled a card each day, the best thing was to spend some time with the card and see how it fitted myself. Reading the card image and thinking about it. Actually reading with them really helped this area for me 🙂 .

[Nemia]

I liked Josephine McCarthy's Tarot Skills for the 21th Century very well; she presents a lot of tips for what she calls mundane readings. 

 

Tom Benjamin, whose Youtube channel I follow and love, has written a book called Your Tarot Toolkit, and it's on my list. I didn't read it yet (only the Kindle sample whichis very good) but I have the feeling might be exactly what you're looking for 🙂

[nel200586]

@DanielJUK Thank you for the recommendation. I will definitely look for it. Yes, that's true that the best way to learn is to spend some time with the card and see how it connects with myself. The thing is, sometimes, I deny the meaning of the cards to what really applies to me lol... and I search for other meaning on the internet, but mostly they have the same theme.

[nel200586]

1 minute ago, Nemia said:

I liked Josephine McCarthy's Tarot Skills for the 21th Century very well; she presents a lot of tips for what she calls mundane readings. 

 

Tom Benjamin, whose Youtube channel I follow and love, has written a book called Your Tarot Toolkit, and it's on my list. I didn't read it yet (only the Kindle sample whichis very good) but I have the feeling might be exactly what you're looking for 🙂

 Thank you... yes, something like the way how to read tarot for mundane readings, that's what I need. I will check your recommendation.  

[akiva]

Complete book of tarot by Anthony Louis is always by my reading space. It has RWS, Etteilla, GD/Crowley and his own interpretations on the cards. It's all quite mundane and down to earth, not being too 'out there'. (I'm a lover of mundane daily life reading too).

He also shows you elemental dignity, number symbolism, kabbalah (if you're into that), astrology, suit meanings and a great breakdown of court cards. It's definitely worth reading. You can pick and choose what you use basically.

 

To add to what's been said about learning to apply tarot meanings to everyday life, a good method I've found is to read for tv shows and films. Or even news stories. They tend to cover all kinds of mundane topics, and you can get feedback really quickly.

My favourite was reading for game shows. Who will win? Who will be the next to be voted off? All kinds of things are possible 😊

[Nemia]

Oh yes, I did some of my best readings about people from novels and movies 😉 It works really well, and  I also second Anthony Louis. All this books are great. 

 

For mundane readings, it's also important imo which deck to use. I wouldn't read with the Hermetic Tarot or the Tarot of Sephiroth for a question about a house move or some practical question. (The Thoth works for those, too, but the Thoth can do anything!) I found the Housewives Tarot very helpful for readings about conflicts within the family, especially with my children - problems that might look trivial to outsiders but are really important when it's your own family. Some decks are really down to earth and that can help - but that's just my personal experience, maybe I should try using esoteric decks also for mundane readings, they should work for that, too. 

[BradGad]

Hi @nel200586 ,

 

If you’re specifically wanting a helpful book about using tarot for daily, practical matters, I would recommend Your Tarot Toolkit, by Tom Benjamin. 

 

I haven’t read Benjamin’s Tarot on Earth, but it’s probably even more on point. 

 

Edited February 20, 2023 by BradGad