LacieNoodles Posted March 2 Posted March 2 As I learn tarot, I am using "The Big Book of Tarot" by Joan Bunning. I came across her website and bought the book. It has everything I could possibly need, including in-depth descriptions and associations for each and every card. I am primarily using this book as a means to familiarize myself with each card. However, the little booklet with the card descriptions that came with my tarot deck differs a little bit from what's in Joan Bunning's book. For the most part, they are primarily similar but some seem to differ a little more significantly. As I learn, I'm just curious: is it better to go with the more general/accepted descriptions for the cards, or go more by the descriptions in each decks booklet?
gregory Posted March 2 Posted March 2 The best way is to make a booklet of your own, note the meanings that resonate with you, and add to them as you find more possibilities. My preferred source is this one: https://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/tarot-card-meanings/ Thirteen, who write these, is one of the best tarot practitioners I have ever come across. Some LWBs (the liitle white books that come with decks) are simply generic rubbish; others have excellent insights. Read and absorb !
DanielJUK Posted March 2 Posted March 2 Seconding what gregory said In my first year of learning, I bought a blank, lined notebook. I made a section for each card and the reversed card. I added to it, meanings I liked or resonated with from authors I read or from people on forums and online. So I would scribble down quotes, ideas, concepts and other things about each card. I also wrote at the top the key keywords for each card (the keywords that which were the most important to me). I still turn to that book sometimes, like when not reading intuitively or replying to help a reading here. It's still important as a reference to me. The big mistake I made with my personal meanings journal / notebook was not writing down the sources! Like what book did I get that from or where did I see that line of text? It's annoying now as I don't know where it came from. I wish I could cite them easily now. When you get to 5 posts, you can post to discuss individual cards and also join in the past threads in this section - Individual Card Meanings That area is just for discussing the cards in a general way, you can also get help with readings in the reading areas after 5 posts, which is more personal help.
Chariot Posted March 4 Posted March 4 On 3/2/2026 at 5:33 PM, LacieNoodles said: As I learn tarot, I am using "The Big Book of Tarot" by Joan Bunning. I came across her website and bought the book. It has everything I could possibly need, including in-depth descriptions and associations for each and every card. I am primarily using this book as a means to familiarize myself with each card. However, the little booklet with the card descriptions that came with my tarot deck differs a little bit from what's in Joan Bunning's book. For the most part, they are primarily similar but some seem to differ a little more significantly. As I learn, I'm just curious: is it better to go with the more general/accepted descriptions for the cards, or go more by the descriptions in each decks booklet? I learned tarot basically by the seat of my pants. I started in the 1970s, and didn't have any tarot book OTHER than the little white book (written by Stuart Kaplan, if memory serves me right) that came with my Rider Waite Smith deck. It wasn't till much much later that I encountered real books about the tarot ...probably not till I moved to Scotland (from the USA) in the mid 1980s. They opened my eyes to possibilities, and I've been learning new ways to approach individual cards ever since. However, like @gregory and @DanielJUK suggested, I did start writing a small book of my own, back in the 70s. I had a page for every card, and wrote down what I thought the cards meant as I did more readings with them. This expanded on the little white book to quite an extent. I could reference my own book during a reading, if need be. Sometimes a phrase in the book would hit me as being particularly relevant to that particular reading. I have since written THREE of these wee books, and each time, my understanding of the cards has sharpened. What you learn by this method is to recognise what thoughts and emotions you experience, when a particular card turns up. Whenever you get a new insight, add it to the description in your personal book in your own words ...sooner or later, you'll want to re-write the book! Do that very thing! One of my favourite authors, when it comes to learning tarot meanings, is Theresa Reed. Her book, entitled Tarot: No Questions Asked, is readily available in an inexpensive paperback edition. It's very well organised, interestingly chatty, and the card meanings—both upright and reversed— that she discusses for each (pictured) card are straightforward and instantly applicable to a reading. She also offers a 'question to ponder' that relates each card to your own life. And then a wee exercise that encourages you to have a bit of fun with the card's meaning. I can't recommend her book highly enough, really. I learned a lot from her, both in terms of meanings and also in terms of how to use the meanings when it comes to interpreting spreads.
ravailan Posted March 4 Posted March 4 On 3/2/2026 at 12:33 PM, LacieNoodles said: As I learn tarot, I am using "The Big Book of Tarot" by Joan Bunning. I came across her website and bought the book. It has everything I could possibly need, including in-depth descriptions and associations for each and every card. I am primarily using this book as a means to familiarize myself with each card. However, the little booklet with the card descriptions that came with my tarot deck differs a little bit from what's in Joan Bunning's book. For the most part, they are primarily similar but some seem to differ a little more significantly. As I learn, I'm just curious: is it better to go with the more general/accepted descriptions for the cards, or go more by the descriptions in each decks booklet? Every tarot book and guidebook is going to define things differently, because every author has their own personal interpretation of the cards- the Shadowscapes guidebook that came with my Shadowscapes Tarot deck has different definitions for the cards than my favorite tarot companion book, but neither one is "wrong", they're just different ways of looking at it. Ideally, you should learn how to synthesize meaning from more than one guide instead of relying on just one as the ultimate source.
gregory Posted March 5 Posted March 5 If we look at BOOKS, I am particularly fond of Barbara Moore. Especially Your Tarot Your Way.
Sar Posted March 6 Posted March 6 The cornerstone book for me was 78 degrees of Wisdom by Rachel Pollack (1997 edition) and Mary K Greer's 21 ways to read a Tarot Card. I learned the Whimsical Tarot and Vanessa Tarot inside out with the last mentioned book, and couple of other decks too. And it is the book I use when I need to extract the secrets of a deck for myself. Absolutely fantastic books about Tarot and I don't think I need more now really, though Caitlin Matthews have a book out about old ways of reading tarot and I think I am picking that up during this year.
Celine Posted March 8 Posted March 8 If your deck is the RWS the booklet might be from the Pictorial key to the Tarot, written by Waite. And it sources back to Book T. The latter is a bit much for me but it does help a lot. I'm still a beginner but reading a lot of threads here, I have found the following advice really important/ helpful: - stick to a set of meaning for a while rather than jumping from book to book (I jumped A LOT which is exactly why I'm now back to PKT and Eden Gray, I need to get the bare bones, I've muddled things too much). - beware of authors choosing to tone down "bad" cards beyond recognition - trust that the cards you draw are "the right ones" (the fear i've had of not having what it takes to draw the cards really blocked me a long time): if they don't make sense to you, they might later, and/or as you learn And something I've noticed but everyone is different: when it comes to meanings, it's the lean, small books that matter (for me), exactly because they have the bare bones and less fluff. The super big lists and long texts have confused me a lot. I thought i was getting more of it but it turned every card in a fuzzy mushy thing. Maybe when I have the core down really well I'll manage to make use of those big lists. Maybe i won't feel the need for them anymore. Good luck with your learning!
EMarieHasADHD Posted April 8 Posted April 8 On 3/2/2026 at 9:33 AM, LacieNoodles said: is it better to go with the more general/accepted descriptions for the cards, or go more by the descriptions in each decks booklet? There are many different descriptions of the possible meanings of each card. There are thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of Tarot books, websites, courses, etc. and each one will have either drastically or slightly different versions. I suggest starting with learning the traditional meanings from a highly respected and trusted teacher, such as Rachel Pollock, The Tarot Lady ( blanking on her name right now), Benebell Wen (I highly recommend her book Holistic Tarot), etc. Then, incorporate your intuition with the memorized meanings when doing spreads. Additionally, the same card can have 5 different meanings during 5 different readings for 5 different people because the circumstances will be different each time. I definitely recommend keeping a tarot journal and journaling your first impressions, intuitive thoughts, etc. and recording each reading you do for yourself and others. Many people draw a card of the day and study it, meditate on it, etc.
Nemia Posted April 9 Posted April 9 Joan Bunnings' book is a very good start if you work with the RWS or a deck that follows the RWS very closely. Many decks are based on this deck; it has become a kind of prototype, especially but not only in the English-speaking world. Obviously, if you work with a deck from another tradition, Bunnings won't be enough. Even if you stay in the RWS sphere, you'll notice that each artist who re-interprets the RWS has a different take on the cards. The LWB accompanying the deck can show you where the artist came from and what was important to them. This is especially true when the artist who made the cards also wrote the book. However, companies like Lo Scarabeo often produce generic booklets, as mentioned above, which won't help you very much. However, the cards are always more important than the text that comes with it. As others have said, keeping track of your readings and writing down your own interpretations of the cards is very important. It also allows you to re-visit the cards later and understand them better. You can write a journal - make it as beautiful or as simple as you like. You can also use a digital notebook (Scrivener, Evernote, UpNote, OneNote... there are so many possibilities). I would always recommend looking at the cards first, how they relate to each other, whether there are recurring symbols, whether there is a connection between them (e.g. figures in adjacent cards looking at each other or turning their backs to each other), whether there is a flow in the reading or blockage. You might wish to consider the elemental or astrological associations as well if you know them. Keep zooming in and out. Look at the whole, then at each card, then at the details in each card, and then at the whole again. Only when you have written down what you could see, open the book. Otherwise, the written words will drown out your own intuition. Trust your intuition. When your mind is busy with financial problems, a card interpretation that focuses on love issues or symbolism won't help you. But the cards always give an answer, trust them and trust yourself. Your personal answer won't be found in a book anyway. Tarot is a language, and learning it is like learning a language. When you start, you need a dictionary, and your vocabulary is limited. Once you feel more secure, you may work with a thesaurus that helps you understand the nuances of each word. And like a language learner, you start with words. Only later, you'll be able to make your own sentences. It's a natural process, it's not linear, and it's fun.
Natural Mystic Guide Posted April 9 Posted April 9 5 minutes ago, Nemia said: Joan Bunnings' book is a very good start I think that this is an excellent way to learn Tarot. I found it very helpful when I was studying more than 20 years ago...
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