EmpyreanKnight Posted September 27, 2017 Posted September 27, 2017 If you plan to delve into the Thoth, Lon Milo Duquette's Understanding Aleister Crowley's Thoth Tarot will be very helpful into easing you into the system. There's a new edition that Weiser released just this month, and I got so tempted that I ordered it lol. Make sure that you get the newest edition if you plan to buy it. If you want a quick nuts-and-bolts approach to the Thoth that would jumpstart your practice and give you practical divinatory meanings to the cards, Akron and Hajo Banzhaf's The Crowley Tarot: The Handbook to the Cards will be your prime pick.
chongjasmine Posted September 27, 2017 Author Posted September 27, 2017 Thanks for your recommendation. I am more looking for RWS, though.
EmpyreanKnight Posted September 27, 2017 Posted September 27, 2017 For the RWS, although it seems like a thick and daunting doorstopper, beginners should not really be fazed with Benebell Wen's Holistic Tarot. I bought it just when I was beginning with my IDS of the RWS, and it was quite an easy read, really. Full disclosure tho: I have already been using the Thoth for about a year before that, and since both the Thoth and RWS sprang from the Golden Dawn system, I wasn't really a spring chicken when I read it. I think another truly good guide for the complete beginner would be Jane Lyle's The Illustrated Guide to Tarot. Succinct, relatively brief but potent, it also presents some of the mythological, symbolic, and esoteric underpinnings of the majors, alongside practical meanings for every card. Liz Dean's The Ultimate Guide to Tarot is quite similar in this respect, and is one of the few beginner books that includes the Kabbalistic aspects of the cards in an approachable way. Some people are put off by the scholarly and seemingly pedantic tone of Rachel Pollack's 78 Degrees of Wisdom, but since I love myths and legends and history, I am a huge fan of this book. Some might argue that it is too heavy for complete newbies, but since it is very much up my alley I never had a problem with it. So were a lot of beginners who started with this book. It's just utterly fascinating. I hope that helped, chongjasmine. :)
chongjasmine Posted September 27, 2017 Author Posted September 27, 2017 Thanks, EmpyreanKnight. I will be sure to check the books up.
Trogon Posted October 4, 2017 Posted October 4, 2017 I started with "The Complete Guide to the Tarot" by Eden Gray. It is fairly succinct, giving short write-ups on each card which gives some of the basics on the imagery in each card, plus the card meanings (both upright and reversed). Her card meanings are primarily based on Waite's own. It is available for Kindle from Amazon for like, $6. But it shows up fairly regularly in the used-book store here as well. "The New Tarot Handbook" by Rachel Pollack is also very good. This one delves a little deeper into each card's symbolism, but gives pretty short and easy to learn meanings for the cards. I feel this one is a bit in-between Eden Gray's book and "Seventy-eight Degrees of Wisdom" also by Pollack. I agree with Empyrean Knight about "78 Degrees ...", it may seem like too much at first, but it really depends a lot on how you like to learn. "78 Degrees ..." definitely delves deeper into where the imagery and symbols of a given card come from, but that may be what you're looking for. Ms. Pollack also gives a little more depth to the divinatory meanings of each card as well. All 3 of these would get my recommendation. And I have and use all 3 of them.
Amethyst indigo Posted October 5, 2017 Posted October 5, 2017 I really really love A magical course in tarot by Michele Morgan
Maggie Gordon Posted October 15, 2017 Posted October 15, 2017 Learning the Tarot by Joan Bunning was one of my first, and it is an excellent resource! Covers basics of how to do readings, and has a write-up for every card. I also loved 78 Degrees of Wisdom as a way of deepening what I learned from the Bunning book :)
gregory Posted October 15, 2017 Posted October 15, 2017 I love everything by Barbara Moore, and her Your Tarot, Your Way is great. Very easy to read; covers everything you need, is RWS based, and is totally non-prescriptive, which I find vital in any tarot book. I can't stand books that say this card always means this and reversed it always means that....
~D~ Posted October 15, 2017 Posted October 15, 2017 There is this trilogy... Tarot Fundamentals by Tali Goodwin (Author), Sasha Graham (Author), Marcus Katz (Author), Mark McElroy (Author), Riccardo Minetti (Author), Barbara Moore (Author), Giordano Berti (Author), Lo Scarabeo (Author) Tarot Experience by Lo Scarabeo (Author) and not quite released yet, but soon in 2018 Tarot Compendium by Lo Scarabeo (Author) They look beautiful and are hard cover books, and reasonable price through Amazon...I saw at localish metaphysical bookstore... ps/can buy them separate too
EmpyreanKnight Posted October 15, 2017 Posted October 15, 2017 There is this trilogy... Tarot Fundamentals by Tali Goodwin (Author), Sasha Graham (Author), Marcus Katz (Author), Mark McElroy (Author), Riccardo Minetti (Author), Barbara Moore (Author), Giordano Berti (Author), Lo Scarabeo (Author) Tarot Experience by Lo Scarabeo (Author) and not quite released yet, but soon in 2018 Tarot Compendium by Lo Scarabeo (Author) They look beautiful and are hard cover books, and reasonable price through Amazon...I saw at localish metaphysical bookstore... I was interested in this trilogy, but I've since heard that the first two had editorial lapses, formatting mistakes, and errors which made it seem almost too rushed and sloppy. Is this true?
gregory Posted October 15, 2017 Posted October 15, 2017 What's a mistake ? I don't know that I have a book without any.... The English is sloppy in places - they do need a decent proofreader - but the content is fine. And as for formatting - well, I will so live. I do wish they hadn't used stock photographs all through - but that seems to be what people WANT these days - and they need it to sell. Rushed - probably. We've all seen how we tarotistas scream when release dates get pushed back... and as these were kickstarter books, if they'd run late, backers would have been muttering about having been scammed.... I'd say they are worth having (I bought them :)) - but for a beginner wanting to dive in, Barbara is a better bet.
~D~ Posted October 15, 2017 Posted October 15, 2017 There is this trilogy... Tarot Fundamentals by Tali Goodwin (Author), Sasha Graham (Author), Marcus Katz (Author), Mark McElroy (Author), Riccardo Minetti (Author), Barbara Moore (Author), Giordano Berti (Author), Lo Scarabeo (Author) Tarot Experience by Lo Scarabeo (Author) and not quite released yet, but soon in 2018 Tarot Compendium by Lo Scarabeo (Author) They look beautiful and are hard cover books, and reasonable price through Amazon...I saw at localish metaphysical bookstore... I was interested in this trilogy, but I've since heard that the first two had editorial lapses, formatting mistakes, and errors which made it seem almost too rushed and sloppy. Is this true? I will let you know soon...:) Took them long time to come out with them, 10 years in the making...
Hedera Posted October 15, 2017 Posted October 15, 2017 I really really love A magical course in tarot by Michele Morgan
~D~ Posted October 15, 2017 Posted October 15, 2017 There is this paper back that's handy, and its been around a number of years..."Mastering The Tarot" by Eden Gray....it uses RW .
katrinka Posted October 15, 2017 Posted October 15, 2017 There is this paper back that's handy, and its been around a number of years..."Mastering The Tarot" by Eden Gray....it uses RW . I started with that one. Seconded. One author that doesn't get mentioned much is Sasha Fenton. I think her stuff is good for beginners. She has one called SuperTarot that explains combining cards. It's the only Tarot book I've seen that does this. I wish I'd seen it years and years ago, I had to learn Lenormand to get a handle on card combinations. Most Tarot books tell you that a card has an effect on the card next to it, but they don't explain how to read that way. Sasha does.
~D~ Posted October 15, 2017 Posted October 15, 2017 another oldie is, The Tarot by Nancy Shavick, but she doesnt do reversals in that book...
EmpyreanKnight Posted October 16, 2017 Posted October 16, 2017 What's a mistake ? I don't know that I have a book without any.... The English is sloppy in places - they do need a decent proofreader - but the content is fine. And as for formatting - well, I will so live. I do wish they hadn't used stock photographs all through - but that seems to be what people WANT these days - and they need it to sell. Rushed - probably. We've all seen how we tarotistas scream when release dates get pushed back... and as these were kickstarter books, if they'd run late, backers would have been muttering about having been scammed.... I'd say they are worth having (I bought them :)) - but for a beginner wanting to dive in, Barbara is a better bet. I will let you know soon...:) Took them long time to come out with them, 10 years in the making... Thanks gregory and Deeisme. I still have misgivings about them, altho when it comes to the quality and creativity of their decks, they rarely disappoint. I agree with gregory about Moore tho. Her Tarot For Beginners is a very beginner-friendly guide to the world of Tarot. If one is having a hard time breaking into it, she should try out that one.
Ix Chel Posted October 16, 2017 Posted October 16, 2017 Tarot, plain and simple from Anthony Louis is also very good. It mentions by each card, what kind of person it would be.
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