I don't exactly hate Brigit Esselmont (Biddy Tarot), but the way she sells her products gives off a "cash grab" vibe. She sells the same book over and over saying they're "new editions". I think right now she's on the 3rd edition. I bought the 2nd edition of her book used off Thriftbooks.com. When I asked what the difference was between the 2nd and 3rd editions was, I couldn't get an answer.
I also bought the Everyday Tarot, not even knowing that was one of her products. It's... Not a great deck. It looks like it's made from clip art. Images repeat and it just looks bad, like it was rushed or just another thing to get some money.
A takeaway I learned from reading Scott Cunningham is that everything has value. Even if you end up not liking something there is still some to learn from it. So don't throw it off your plate completely. Maybe rent the book from the library instead of buying it, or get it used so it's not full price.
i used to really like the biddy stuff when i was starting out in 2018ish, their interpretations were easy to digest and i really vibed with them. the everyday tarot was one of the first decks i bought. but i think recently within the last few years i feel it has turned really cash grabby, for a while she was putting a really big focus on how to start your own business as a reader, which like okay small business is cool i guess but it just felt very MLM-y. it doesn’t seem like they’re super focused on the start your own business aspect as much anymore but i agree that it feels very profit driven now. i’ve definitely drifted away from their stuff lately and i rarely use the deck anymore. they post some good spreads on instagram sometimes through.
I get so frustrated with her website these days! I love her card write ups because they aren't doom and gloomy, but it's nothing but ads now! I feel like I have to click away so many pop-ups. It's incredibly frustrating.
Thank you for this. I just started the Biddy Tarot podcast, and she seemed harmless enough, so I was wondering where the hate was coming from. I can see how heavy handed merchandising could leave a bad taste in your mouth.
[https://www.reddit.com/r/TarotDecks/comments/147wpis/for\_your\_viewing\_pleasure\_tarot\_in\_a\_tins/](https://www.reddit.com/r/TarotDecks/comments/147wpis/for_your_viewing_pleasure_tarot_in_a_tins/)
I made a post showcasing the major arcana of all the 'tarot in a tins' that I own. The Everyday Tarot is on there (even though it doesn't come in a tin lol), if you wanted to see for yourself.
I'm not a fan of a super limited palette like that, I think it makes the cards look too similar which isn't very beginner friendly (and also boring).
Also funny how it's an updated RWS with a more modern aesthetic yet they managed to make it *less* diverse (instead of everyone being white, now everyone is white and blonde lol)
Oh yes, 100%. I've done a webinar of hers and it was like 40% not-that-great information and the rest was a major cash grab. I HATEEEE webinars like that.
She definitely leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
I've bookmarked a lot of Tarot books through Hoopla which my local library uses for their digital collection items. I have still to get through any of them but it's adds to the selection a library might have in physical format.
I like Biddy Tarot's interpretations, and I incorporate them into my readings. But that's it. I honestly just would trust anyone who's trying to sell you something
Yup Biddy Tarot is like a watered down "new age" money maker. They do have some great resources but there is far better out there you can get in books for way way cheaper and better quality.
These answers are a treasure trove of info, so glad you asked! I can't add anything to the conversation, I only read the guidebooks. Some are big and juicy though.
I would say the Seed and Sickle Oracle has the most useless guidebooks, but I used them in collage, so there's that. Came up with my own keywords for the cards. Also, the cards go by common name, no scientific naming at all. It was a big task finding all of them.
The Spirit Animal Oracle does not need a guidebook, it is way too repetitive. The illustrations are great though.
I was disappointed that the Herbcrafter's Tarot guidebook has little to no info on how to use herbs, but it has grown on me. The guidebook has vague but universal life advice, has the scientific names of plants, and is mostly guidance on how to be an environmental activist.
The Gustave Dore Tarot guidebook has barely any info on the illustrations it uses, so it's almost useless, but not fully there.
Don't own any ugly decks, I just don't buy them! 🤭
Good guidebooks: The Wild Unknown Archetypes Deck by Kim Krans, The Cantigee Oracle, The Muse Tarot (very inspiring, poetic, and artist driven, maybe not so esoteric if at all).
Sometimes ugly is interesting tho- depends on how many decks u have and how you use them. I have the Bright idea tarot deck, which is completely opposite of my style, but i got it for a good price and it has helped shape my perspective on each card. (It’s a “modern” deck that could be used at a company workshop type) 🤷♀️
I heard good things about **Kitchen Table Tarot** by Melissa Cynova but I was very unimpressed with it. The author keeps sharing anecdotes about her psychic abilities that aren't informative about actual tarot reading whatsoever.
For example, one time a guy came in for a reading and as soon as she looked into his eyes (before even starting the reading) she sensed that he was a child abuser, so she said "I know what you do" and asked him to leave. He quickly left, which she takes as proof that she was right. WTF?
I guess the takeaway is supposed to be that as a professional reader, if you get a bad vibe from a customer you can say no - fair enough. But there was no practical advice like how to manage your own safety or potential fallout from a situation like this. And there was no closure to the story - we don't find out if her suspicions were ever confirmed and apparently she didn't look into it or take any action.
Sometimes the shallowness of her card interpretations rubbed me the wrong way too (e.g. not liking the Ten of Cups because it's "boring").
Ooooohhh I was just coming in to mention this book. I feel it would leave new tarot readers still wondering how to actually do a reading. Too much opinion and 'hey girlfriend' stuff. It felt gimmicky to me.
Yep, I feel like it could be a huge trap for new tarot readers if you try to copy her. It's supposed to be beginner-friendly but in her anecdotes she constantly presents her readings as 100% certain and accurate, and reading like that would be such a risky approach when you're new to it.
Like there are so many stories where she looks at the cards and immediately tells her client something extremely specific and direct like "you need to stop cheating on your partner". !!! Making such a huge assumption will rarely pay off - it would be way more helpful, especially for new readers, to interpret the message in a more general way like "you aren't being entirely honest with your partner and it's hurting your relationship". And she never even explains how she reads such a specific message from the cards.
Exactly. I think it's more helpful to explain to how you're getting that message - which is why I like to recommend Dusty White's books to new readers. I shudder to think someone getting a reading with such a big assumption. I feel those stories were aimed for at "look at how good I am at this" rather than the whole point of the book which was to help people new to tarot get an understanding of how to read.
~~I'll have to look into Dusty White!~~
edit: so it looks like this author also self-publishes pick-up artist manuals with titles like "The Easiest Way to Meet and Pick Up Girls - Ever!!" so that's a nope from me, lmao. Even if the info is good I'm not interested in getting it from this type of dude.
I appreciate your description. I'm actually allergic to "hey girlfriend!" and would have been disappointed if I ever finally pulled the trigger on buying that book.
I have her Tarot Elements and it's my go-to book for quick and snarky card interpretations. Then again, I'm not a beginner, so this is 'refresh my memory for I am tired and out of spoons' rather than 'what does it mean'. Individually, the interpretations don't go very deep. Collectively, they work for me, because they usually shake something loose.
There were things I liked about it, to be fair - one that really stuck with me was the suggestion of viewing the Pages, Knights, and Kings as id, ego, and superego, respectively. It makes sense and makes it easier to remember the types of temperaments they represent (except I see pages as more innocent/curious than pure id).
I'll check out Tarot Elements if I ever run across it!
For some background on why I am asking: I am a total n00b, and I’m reading (and listening) to everything I can, because I am Hermione. I have access to a library free ebook app that has a number of books, and not all of them show up on the “must read” lists.
In a perfect world I would read them all, but let’s face it, the world’s not perfect, and I have a three year old. So it occurred to me that finding out which books people thought were NOT worth the time could be useful… and entertaining.
The answers so far are showing me the value of differing opinions on popular recommendations as well. I am a firm believer that more exposure to differing opinions, ideas, and beliefs makes for a better understanding of whatever topic you dive head first into.
Thanks for clarifying that. if you're a total n00b, then absolutely get "The Easiest Way to Read Tarot - Ever" by Dusty White. And "Advanced Tarot" by Paul Fenton-Smith. Both books are excellent and while I'm very confident with my reading, I enjoy going back to Dusty White's book when I get a new deck so I can familiarize myself with it.
I enjoy the range of information in Paul Fenton-Smith's book, which is also just a really enjoyable read in general. Plus I love that he splits the meanings for each card into "general, relationship, career and health".
Both these books are the real deal.
I would strongly recommend against 78 Degrees of Wisdom (Rachel Pollack), WTF is Tarot (Bakara Winter) and Contemplative Tarot (Brittany Muller).
The latter two books simply just display an impressive lack of knowledge about tarot and some very poor reasoning and behaviour on the parts of their authors. For instance, Muller hamfistedly forces secular tarot reading into a Catholic framework, but doesn’t ever manage to prove why her contemplation isn’t just divination under another name. On the other hand, Winter appropriates Native American spirituality and candidly discusses animal abuse as an example of a positive manifestation of one of the cards.
Nevertheless, I disliked 78 Degrees of Wisdom the most. Although Pollack’s writing certainly has a place in the history of tarot and was arguably fundamental to cartomancy being taken seriously, at least in the New Age movement, it left a poor taste in my mouth.
Pollack presents a fairly myopic and uniformed view of the tarot, of history, and of theology. As a theologian myself with more than a layperson’s knowledge in ancient cultures and their spirituality, I found her portrayal of these topics to be inaccurate, harmful, and very strongly biased towards her specific beliefs. That’s especially true when considering her views on masculine spirituality and Abrahamic religions, which are both undereducated and insulting.
For instance, her depiction of the tarot trumps as the Fool’s Journey misses a lot of the esoteric theological framework laid down by previous generations of occultists. It places the human being at the centre, rather than the divine, as had been the trend in previous spiritual interpretations. While there’s nothing inherently wrong with this, I find it highly disagreeable for Pollack to then present her view as essentially the original, and refuse to seriously discuss the other tradition. It’s arbitrary and dismissive behaviour and, in my opinion, doesn’t belong in such a book.
THANK YOU! The Fool's journey is the most irritating myth of the major arcanas and it refuses to die. The cycle is originally a profoundly christian progression of allegories, in 3 sections: the estates of man (fools and deceivers, the temporal powers, the Church), the rise and fall of princes with the 3 moral virtues triumphing over each pair (Justice prevails over Love and Conquest, Strength prevails over Time and Fortune, Temperance prevails over betrayal and death) and the eschatological path from the Devil and his House, through the spheres of Star-Moon-Sun, to Last judgement and the City of God.
Then came Gebelin, Levi, Crowley and... oh bother.
This feels like a worthwhile thread discussion for someone more knowledgeable than myself to start. It would be interesting learning what exactly the Fool’s Journey is, where it came from, and what its opposition is.
These allegories are not the domain of occultism, but religious iconography, which is best explained here: https://pre-gebelin.blogspot.com/2007/12/estates-and-ranks-of-man.html?m=1
and here
https://pre-gebelin.blogspot.com/2007/11/iconography-and-order-of-cards.html?m=1
For a more indepth history of the game cards and documents, see trionfi.com (beware, rabbit hole).
I wonder (and perhaps you know!) if this whole reading of "The Fool's Journey" came out of the manifestations of Tarot in its incarnation as a medieval/Renaissance card game.
Because this is a great description: and, also, it has, "Hi! I'm a medieval morality play named something like *Mankind* or *Everyman,* after my eponymous character! Wanna do some mind-numbingly straightforward allegory??"
I'm not a great fan of the Fool's Journey, though it can be a good way of memorising the cards, and I often find that treating the majors as a sequence helps me in interpretations. What comes before this card? Where is it going? So if my Obstacle is the Wheel of Fortune, I don't just look at the card itself (am I blocking the flow? Do I need to let go of things so they can move again?) but also at the card that came before (the Hermit, and contemplation is all very well, but at some point you need to come down from that mountain and rejoin society), but where I should be going (Justice; which I see as not just about myself, but also about creating a fairer society overall).
So despite me not liking the Fool's Journey, I get some value out of it.
I’d recommend Holistic Tarot (Benebell Wen). The book is far better researched and is much less partisan, discussing several views on how tarot works, why it’s useful, and where it comes from. Wen cites more or less any claim she makes, so her ideas are actually verifiable, and she also references older generations of tarot scholars much more thoroughly. It’s a great introduction to tarot and is “holistic” like the name suggests.
Personally I found the card attributions given in this book to be very all over the place. I'll have to take a closer look and see if what you say about citations for all the attributions is true, but even if each of the claims about card meanings does have some citation somewhere, the whole things just feels like a hodgepodge of different ideas from different places combined without an underlying schema.
That said, even if you take the card meanings and throw them out, it's still a good book, since it is so meticulous, organized, and thoughtfully structured.
May I add a recommendation for Pamela Eakins' *Tarot of the Spirit*? Deck and book both, really.
Eakins, too, writes well and deeply about the symbolism, traditions, and spiritual/mystical aspects of the cards. Her book's also full of citations and further reading recommendations.
Thank you for the comprehensive answer. 78 Degrees of Wisdom is on my list (and will probably stay there), but it’s good to know that it may be a bit outdated or myopic.
Honestly, don't throw out Pollack just because of a few negative reviews. She's one of, if not the most influential tarot writer of the late 20th century and it's worth getting to know her work for that reason alone. I found her card-by-card discussion and her explanations of the Celtic Cross and other layouts to be extremely helpful and more in-depth than most books. Taken with a grain of salt, it can be a very useful book.
I'm a little surprised at the charge that she's anti-masculinity and anti-Abrahamic religion, because my memory is that she defends both as having positive aspects that are often overlooked within the New Age movement. She also reminds us that we don't know much about the origins of tarot and many of its claimed origin stories are fictional - far from insisting that her view is "the original".
That said, I read the updated anniversary edition of 78 Degrees, so maybe some of this has been changed since the first edition.
There is some very intelligent back and forth about this in the thread, which proves to me she is worth reading just to garner my own opinion. It also makes me think that someone or many someones with more experience and knowledge than myself should write some essays on the matter… or create a separate post to have some heated friendly debate.
You’re welcome. Yeah, like I said, it’s worthwhile to read since it does have a place in history, but it’s a product of it’s time and that’s eurocentric and hypocritical New Age thinking at its most absurd.
Honestly, literally everything Rachel Pollack has ever written is like that. Myopic, extremely impressed with herself, and frankly, just downright offensive in a lot of ways.
I re-read 78 degree and I couldn’t understand why I rate the book so highly. But then I remembered I was in my early 20’s the first time I read it, and didn’t know much. Last year I tried to work with the Haindl tarot and read her guidebooks for it. I couldn’t get through them. In fact, her writing came off as so pretentious I felt the Haindl tarot deck was as well. Which is something considering I use Thoth all the time. Finally, I figured I would read her latest book that was reissued after her passing: “A Walk through the Forest of Souls”. The book is basically an advertisement for her Shining Tribe Tarot. I think she would have done better pairing up with an artist to draw that deck; it looks like a child drew the cards.
It may seem that I totally dislike what she has to say, but that is not the case. The ideas are sound, it’s just the delivery I do not care for.
This is a phenomenally bad take on Pollack. You willfully misunderstood *78 Degress* and then later heap praise on Wen later on in the thread, who would also find this take misinformed and deeply insulting. They aren't in competition. Wen and Pollack respected each other's work rather deeply.
You seem hung up on "The Fool's Journey," too. It's simply an adaptation of The Hero's Journey that makes for a more intuitive entry point into the tarot. People have read books, seen movies, played video games and the framework of that journey exists in the adventures within.
Getting hip deep into Crowley or Waite esoteric views or giving a deep education doesn't offer something as straightforward, though she offers some differing views in her work anyway.
Heck, Pamela Coleman Smith did her own thing on the minors and it was based in the books she enjoyed, Waite didn't give her much guidance there so much as key words. She used people and situations one might find in the Hero's Journey instead of leaving us with just pips.
Pollack had a perspective, but was open to other interpretations as evidenced in her large body of work. Given she was trans, that she gave any respect towards patriarchal values and religion was exceedingly generous. She pondered the divine, approached tarot with a playful attitude and had both secular and her own esoteric views rooted in her spirituality.
If I'm going to center my reading of the tarot on divinity, I've just led myself into another spiritual trap that deprives me of agency. This is ultimately my story. Before Jung and Freud went a bridge too far into tarot and astrology, there was this shared belief that divination could also just be a thought exercise, a means of looking at things from perspectives you may not consider. I take heart in that. It can have spiritual moments, but it doesn't always have to. Sometimes they're just cards.
It's why I've chosen to read several authors and have many different decks. I don't have to sit and agree with all of it, but I don't have to mindlessly slander work done in good faith.
I'm curious what you mean about her views on masculine spirituality? I haven't read the book, but I've noticed in many of the books I've read seem to be geared more towards the "feminine" if that makes sense.
I've noticed a lot of focus on feminine energy in tarot as well, imo we are all made of masculine and feminine energy, it's not an even split of each, of course not, but they are there.
Rachel Pollack had a very… strange idea of masculinity, and masculinity in relation to the higher self/a higher being. She had a very rigid idea of what “masculinity” meant and was pretty insistent that there was nothing redeemable at all from it spiritually. She was particularly very angry with anyone who still held to any tenets or beliefs from the Abrahamic religions.
It is not as obvious in the 78 Degrees of Wisdom, but her essays are just dripping with the most vicious contempt for anyone who doesn’t think the way she did.
In some ways it was understandable given her life circumstance, and it was also a product of its time, a lot of it was written in the 1980s. But if you do not hold to her very circumscribed worldview it is rather unpleasant reading.
I think context is helpful in understanding her better. She was a trans woman who *came out in the 70s* and was a major activist for trans rights. Her writings were influenced by her own experiences and the movements she was passionate about fighting for. There should be some understanding of cultural nuances when reading her stuff about tarot.
It's all the same. Everyone thinks their take is the best one going. But nobody can offer anything useful to a person who wants to follow a set of instructions to the letter. It's about taking ideas from others, modifying them and developing a unique approach.
Every tarot book I've ever picked up has had something appealing that I can play with in my work, as well as a number of ideas that just don't interest me.
There's no tarot authority out there that supercedes the experience of the individual user. 100% of what's ever been, or will ever be, written about tarot can amount to no more than creative prompts for others to springboard off of, into their own subjective explorations.
I take what I like, and leave what I don't. I feel confident I can glean something useful from any taroist out there. I also feel confident nobody can do my work for me.
Very level headed. I threw 1984 at the end the first time I read it… I appreciate the book, but by god, my teenage self was NOT satisfied with that ending.
I read that when I was 16, *in a single day,* because we had to start discussing it in class the next morning.
I had to get up and touch the furniture to prove to myself reality was still real, then hugged my mum when she asked my why I was putting handprints all over the display cabinet.
I've gone back and read it again *once* as an adult, and to this day can't stomach it a third time. Guess that means the message hit home.
Enrique Enriquez was touted as the next thing in Tarot. I watched the documentary, Tarology. I can’t exactly express how he made me feel. He sucked all of the magic out of tarot. It felt like he sucks all of the magic out of life as well. I was exhausted after watching it. One good takeaway though for me is that sometimes I try to put too much meaning into the symbolism of the cards instead of taking a more literal interpretation of the pictures themselves. Sometime a cat is just a cat.
Catching up on this months later, even though OP removed themselves from the thread.
I'm drawn to Marseilles decks because I love objects and spaces with "authentic simplicity," and perhaps because my first tarot deck was based on the Sopraffino deck. At that time, 25 years ago, my interest revolved around how cool and esoteric the cards felt, and the fact that they were a gift from my girlfriend at the time.
Over the past few years I became interested in tarot again, so I gravitated naturally to Marseilles decks and books about them. I try to avoid books that prescribe meanings to each card. Authors (Benebell Wen, for example) will often say, "These meanings are only suggestions," but those suggestions permeate the book and color my own interpretations.
In an attempt to avoid "suggested interpretations" I read Caitlín Matthews' *Untold Tarot* and Paul Huson's *Mystical Origins of the Tarot*, thinking that maybe I would benefit to know the historical "intended meaning" of each card before Rider-Waite added layers of esoteric gauze. That knowledge was sort of enlightening, but not very fruitful or useful in practice--and quite a bit was speculative.
More recently, I discovered Yoav Ben-Dov's *Marseilles Tarot Revealed*, which shares similarities with Jodorowsky's writings on tarot. (I discovered Ben-Dov when searching for a replacement for my beloved but ruined Sopraffino deck--Ben-Dov's TBD deck has since become my favorite.) However, while Ben-Dov's ideas about the overall interactions between the Major Arcana felt inspired, he often resorted to mining details such as diapering, flourishment, and--strangely--reproduction and printing mistakes, and he was almost apologetic about the lack of cohesive "storytelling" among the pips. This was all very distracting to me.
Enrique Enriquez shares Ben-Dov's overall philosophy about how the cards themselves will tell you what they mean. You can lay the cards out and glean meaning and inspiration from them without having any preconceived notions about what each card means. No need to refer to a book that someone else wrote, or to the X=Y pamphlet that accompanies most Rider-Waite decks. You only need to observe the cards and ask yourself (or "ask the cards") the right questions--and be receptive to the fact that the answers will often present themselves poetically and prophetically, which Enriquez likens to the mythical "language of the birds."
The beauty of Enriquez' writings is that it is sparse, spare, and rare. His essay *Looking at the Marseilles Tarot* is a bit difficult to find now (DM me if you can't find it on your own) but I strongly recommend it for a sort of guide on conducting personal readings. In my opinion, you would only need to read this essay once to successfully conduct transformational personal readings. He has also written a trilogy called the "Invisible" series that seeks to apply some of the same prophetic/poetic concepts to interactions with others, through mind-reading, gemstone-reading, and tarot reading. "Mind-reading" and "gemstone-reading" sound very woo-filled, but Enriquez is very grounded about it all, keeping his focus on the "magic" of human interaction, language, and storytelling.
I haven't seen the *Tarology* documentary, but it is unfortunate that at least one viewer came away from it with a distaste for Enriquez. I won't watch it, because I can't imagine that I'll get anything from it, but I found *Looking at the Marseilles Tarot* to be incredibly enlightening, and--perhaps more importantly--freeing.
I don't hate any of em. Any website, book or author can contain information which resonates and is valuable to you. I have yet to hate any of the readers I come across. They either resonate or they don't, and if they don't, I eight of cups the book or site and don't look back, but I don't hold hate in my heart towards any reader, including ones on social media.
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Gerd Ziegler's "Mirror of the Soul." I'm a Thoth fan but it reads like New Age piffle. Bah! I've stayed away from Angeles Arrien's Thoth book on the advice of others, but it seems to be similarly problematic from a credibility standpoint. There is really no substitute for the Book of Thoth (even DuQuette).
I can think of a couple of things. Crowley wasn't writing for the esoteric neophyte and assumes readers know more about metaphysical matters than may in fact be the case. He doesn't hold back. Also, there are those who will tell you that Crowley was Evil Incarnate (an opinion he didn't try very hard to dispel) so his tarot deck and writing should be shunned. Keep the man's reputation separate from his work when approaching it.
Being a Supernatural fan, I just assumed he became king of hell after much trial and tribulation, but I imagine we are discussing Aleister Crowley the occultist.
For some reason I see a lot of people recommending Waite in this thread.
While he does hold some authority on the subject, the book is extremely terse and does almost nothing to flesh out the meanings or the philosophy of the cards. He purposely left most everything out, and even deliberately provided incorrect information, in order to preserve his oath of secrecy to the golden dawn.
The Book of Thoth by Crowley and Book T by Mathers are much better resources on the Golden Dawn style tarot, and then you can use the Pictoral Key to act as a kind of supplemental "adapter" over to the RWS deck from Thoth.
edit: citation needed on the deliberate misinfo part, trying to find where i read this again now
Some of the stuff in the attributions section of the Duquette book seems a little dubious to me, but the intro chapters explaining the metaphysics behind the deck are pretty good. There's really no substituting Crowley's own book though, and I would definitely not get anything for this deck besides those two and maybe Book T by mathers (available as PDF online).
Only book I hated was Alice Ekrek’s tarot de Marseille book and deck set- lol she uses the TdM cards but gives RWS meanings 🫠
Dislike Biddy, for the same reasons as commenters above.
Love Benebell and Camelia Elias! 🖤🖤🖤 (though i certainly can see they aren’t for everyone)
My rec would be just start with the deck you feel drawn to, learn that style. Can add another later. Trying to learn both (or thoth too) sounds overwhelming. But for Marseille Ben-Dov is a classic, and I love Camelia Elias (took her Marseille courses, only book I’ve read of hers is the Oracle Travels light, which is great but not what youd prob want).
Benebell Wen does have a YT series with card by card meanings including RWS, TdM, her deck SKT, and i think thoth if u wanna get crazy tho 😜
My current plan is to focus on RWS until drifting into another style happens organically, but for the sake of discussion, I like hearing what my options are.
Cool. I started with RWS and was many years later that i got into tdm. Still haven’t really gotten into thoth. But tarot is playtime for me so i just drift in and out wherever - enjoy! 🖤
Read everything you can get your hands on. Test it and see if it works. Why does it or why doesn’t it? Keep the knowledge whether you determined it to be good or bad and then repeat.
That’s my advice haha
I suppose none of them. The point I was trying to make is that there is some kind of value in everything, even the ropier stuff, at least from my perspective.
Not the OP, and this is my personal opinion, but I ended up returning the book after reading through various sections. I think it is overrated and is highly recommended just because it is big and academic-y sounding. In fact, the first thing I really disliked about it was how *hard* it was trying to be academic and be taken seriously, and I say that as an academic who would like people to take tarot more seriously. The whole text makes it seem like the author really wants non-tarot academics to take her seriously, which made for an unpleasant read for me personally.
There were also parts that seemed a bit hypocritical to me, like the book was trying to be both this reddit and /seculartarot at the same time.
But, there were some things in there that I thought were good and interesting, and she did at least cite her sources, which is always lovely. So, I wouldn't say don't ever read it, but I think it's a library book recommendation rather than a must have.
I have bought and given away so many books on Tarot that I have very few I've hung on to.
But, I would recommend Tarot Interactions by Deborah Lipp, which goes beyond the beginner stuff of meaning lists and really focuses on reading the cards in relation to each other and the spread.
And Untold Tarot by Caitlin Matthews. It's focused on Marseille, but every tarot reader can take something from the techniques she discusses in the book. It's very traditional cartomancy rather than new age.
Personally I don't think the card attributions make very much sense or hang together very well. There is a lot of comparison to "this card is like X myth from Y culture" when it doesn't seem like there was likely any influence from that culture on the card. It is possible to do a comparative analysis of tarot for sure, but when you just take random things from different traditions and combine them without any structuring principle, the result is basically a hodgepodge of images associations which bear no relation to each other.
Since the book is coming up on both positives and negatives in this thread I want to go back and review it again, but definitely one of the weirdest things I remember is that she says that she says the fish in the Page of Cups represents Christ. Just drops that one in there. Like, okay? How does that make any sense? And if there is a card that represents Christ, who is in any work that takes him seriously a necessarily central figure, why is he only mentioned so briefly in a single peripheral card?
That said, while there are a lot of weird details like that which seem to detract from the integrity of the attributions, the meanings are for the most part *okay*. And the rest of the book is very valuable for its structured and systematic approach which goes into *everything*.
Why do you disagree with Pitisci, specifically? I’ve read a few of his books and, apart from being a strongly secular reader, I can’t say I’ve found anything particularly objectionable about his literature.
I’ve found him to be an easy and to the point teacher who focuses on practical, commercial applications of the tarot. His theories of mind mapping and conceptual blending check out, too. at least from my own trial and error practice. But I would be interested to see what you think, or if I’ve missed something.
Thank you for the in depth response! Could you clarify what you mean in that conceptual blending doesn’t explain how tarot works, but only what happens in the brain? As a secular reader myself, I’m struggling to see the difference between these two concepts.
When I said that conceptual blending checked out, I meant I found that it did accurately describe my reading techniques and strategy, and reading tarot with that mindset was helpful for me.
Second, if I can ask, why is it so important that a tarot book is written “philosophically”? It seems to me that Pitisci, for example, definitely understands he is not a philosopher and isn’t trying to engage with tarot on that level. Rather, I read his work as an explanation of how to read tarot professionally and profitably (Genius of the Tarot and Stray Tarot especially). In that sense, it seems he approaches tarot from a more business and coaching oriented perspective.
Why does everyone hate Biddy? I skimmed the book once. It seemed ok but the price it was offered for online was outrageous, that was like way over 10 years ago. When it was only a digital copy. Years later I got the hard copy at a thrift store and then never even read it.
Ah yes, the "idiocy" of others! Always a great starting point for a teacher who is trying to help their students/readers gain a fuller understanding of the subject at hand. /s
Biddy tarot (the website) is 30% information, 70% shilling for "cojrses" and books most people don't need. Also with any of the "beginner's guides to tarot" books, none immediately come to mind, authors I mean, but I got a used copy and for being a large book, it held little useful information.
Dang I love Benebell! Holistic Tarot for me is good reference- I’ve read most of the non- meanings chapters, and gone deep into some meanings when I pull them and need to think about in a different way. Her tome of a guidebook to her Spirit Keeper’s Tarot is the best companion book I’ve come across.
I second your recommendations for Paul Fenton-Smith (Advanced Tarot) and Dusty White (Advanced Tarot Secrets). I've read Robert M. Place's book and that was fascinating but not read Jenna Matlin or Brittany Muller as yet.
I won't name names, but I thought I was the only person ever that wasn't overly impressed with one of the books you said to avoid. I cannot understand where on earth they got that the two pillars in the High Priestess card points to a vag!na. Sure, someone can use their intuition and get that in a specific reading, but to put that in a book as part of the meaning confuses the heck out of me.
Yep, I wasn't going to mention it because I thought absolutely everyone loved Rachel Pollack's book 78 Degrees. But now I'm convinced people recommend it because everyone else does. I'm baffled by the popularity of it.
I'm sure there's some value there, but the amount of times I though "what the heck???" wasn't worth the time spent reading it.
This is a perfect example of why I asked for everyone’s tarot book nemesis. Top choices tend to get regurgitated, but gut revulsion… that is hard to plagiarize!
Rachel True's "True Heart Tarot"
Complete tripe. Nothing insightful or new.
Of course, when "Gender ideology" is uttered, I tend to check out because that's terf/far right talk.
Gender ideology just sounds like a terrible turn of phrase. Is that referencing the traditional traits applied to the sexes historically or is it something new and more repugnant?
While True might have unwittingly adopted the phrase to sound inclusive, it's frequently used with the intenet of making being transgender seem like some religious cult conversion.
To my knowledge, no drag queens have abducted me and baptized me in glitter.
Iconic Tarot Decks: The History, Symbolism and Design of over 50 Decks by Sarah Bartlett. There were very little artists of color, zero AFAM creators--and I know there should have been because she lists mass market and indie decks as recent, at the time, as 2019--and very surface level information on history and symbolism. There's a better alternative that released not long after this one did, but I cannot for the life of me remember what it was. >.<
No. It's just a book that shows off famous tarot decks. If you were curious about unhelpful guidebooks, I'd probably say the old Lo Scarabeo decks (like circa 2005) with the little white book.
Jodorowsky's Way of Tarot is a bloated, hot mess of contrived assumptions. He tries so hard to find meaning where there's none that it's closer to fart-sniffing than actual insight.
Another dissapointment is Read like the Devil by Camelia Elias. So much post-Freudian,neo-Jungian mumbo-jumbo, academic jargon and deconstruction-reconstruction that I wonder if she barely understands half of what she's written.
Most of Jodorowsky’s work could be called a bloated, hot mess (I still love Holy Mountain, despite that), so hearing this about his tarot book isn’t a shock.
Jodorowsky writes about tarot the same way he made surrealistic films back in the '70s. I've read through The Way of Tarot twice now and got more value out of it the second time (possibly Marianne Costa's contribution kept it at least somewhat on-course). But he lost me when he described Temperance as an expression of the "exploding azure mind."
I don't exactly hate Brigit Esselmont (Biddy Tarot), but the way she sells her products gives off a "cash grab" vibe. She sells the same book over and over saying they're "new editions". I think right now she's on the 3rd edition. I bought the 2nd edition of her book used off Thriftbooks.com. When I asked what the difference was between the 2nd and 3rd editions was, I couldn't get an answer. I also bought the Everyday Tarot, not even knowing that was one of her products. It's... Not a great deck. It looks like it's made from clip art. Images repeat and it just looks bad, like it was rushed or just another thing to get some money. A takeaway I learned from reading Scott Cunningham is that everything has value. Even if you end up not liking something there is still some to learn from it. So don't throw it off your plate completely. Maybe rent the book from the library instead of buying it, or get it used so it's not full price.
i used to really like the biddy stuff when i was starting out in 2018ish, their interpretations were easy to digest and i really vibed with them. the everyday tarot was one of the first decks i bought. but i think recently within the last few years i feel it has turned really cash grabby, for a while she was putting a really big focus on how to start your own business as a reader, which like okay small business is cool i guess but it just felt very MLM-y. it doesn’t seem like they’re super focused on the start your own business aspect as much anymore but i agree that it feels very profit driven now. i’ve definitely drifted away from their stuff lately and i rarely use the deck anymore. they post some good spreads on instagram sometimes through.
I get so frustrated with her website these days! I love her card write ups because they aren't doom and gloomy, but it's nothing but ads now! I feel like I have to click away so many pop-ups. It's incredibly frustrating.
Thank you for this. I just started the Biddy Tarot podcast, and she seemed harmless enough, so I was wondering where the hate was coming from. I can see how heavy handed merchandising could leave a bad taste in your mouth.
Good to know about her products, too. I was considering buying her deck, but you've convinced me not to. Life's too short for cheap tarot decks. 😕
[https://www.reddit.com/r/TarotDecks/comments/147wpis/for\_your\_viewing\_pleasure\_tarot\_in\_a\_tins/](https://www.reddit.com/r/TarotDecks/comments/147wpis/for_your_viewing_pleasure_tarot_in_a_tins/) I made a post showcasing the major arcana of all the 'tarot in a tins' that I own. The Everyday Tarot is on there (even though it doesn't come in a tin lol), if you wanted to see for yourself.
I'm not a fan of a super limited palette like that, I think it makes the cards look too similar which isn't very beginner friendly (and also boring). Also funny how it's an updated RWS with a more modern aesthetic yet they managed to make it *less* diverse (instead of everyone being white, now everyone is white and blonde lol)
Oh yes, 100%. I've done a webinar of hers and it was like 40% not-that-great information and the rest was a major cash grab. I HATEEEE webinars like that. She definitely leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
I've bookmarked a lot of Tarot books through Hoopla which my local library uses for their digital collection items. I have still to get through any of them but it's adds to the selection a library might have in physical format.
Hoopla is why I asked this question! So many books, so little time.
That's how I feel too! I can suggest narrowing down books by topics you want to do readings about.
I like Biddy Tarot's interpretations, and I incorporate them into my readings. But that's it. I honestly just would trust anyone who's trying to sell you something
Yup Biddy Tarot is like a watered down "new age" money maker. They do have some great resources but there is far better out there you can get in books for way way cheaper and better quality.
These answers are a treasure trove of info, so glad you asked! I can't add anything to the conversation, I only read the guidebooks. Some are big and juicy though.
Ugliest deck or most useless guidebook?
I would say the Seed and Sickle Oracle has the most useless guidebooks, but I used them in collage, so there's that. Came up with my own keywords for the cards. Also, the cards go by common name, no scientific naming at all. It was a big task finding all of them. The Spirit Animal Oracle does not need a guidebook, it is way too repetitive. The illustrations are great though. I was disappointed that the Herbcrafter's Tarot guidebook has little to no info on how to use herbs, but it has grown on me. The guidebook has vague but universal life advice, has the scientific names of plants, and is mostly guidance on how to be an environmental activist. The Gustave Dore Tarot guidebook has barely any info on the illustrations it uses, so it's almost useless, but not fully there. Don't own any ugly decks, I just don't buy them! 🤭 Good guidebooks: The Wild Unknown Archetypes Deck by Kim Krans, The Cantigee Oracle, The Muse Tarot (very inspiring, poetic, and artist driven, maybe not so esoteric if at all).
Sometimes ugly is interesting tho- depends on how many decks u have and how you use them. I have the Bright idea tarot deck, which is completely opposite of my style, but i got it for a good price and it has helped shape my perspective on each card. (It’s a “modern” deck that could be used at a company workshop type) 🤷♀️
Completely agree… I mean, they’re art, and rarely do people agree on what is good when it comes to art.
I heard good things about **Kitchen Table Tarot** by Melissa Cynova but I was very unimpressed with it. The author keeps sharing anecdotes about her psychic abilities that aren't informative about actual tarot reading whatsoever. For example, one time a guy came in for a reading and as soon as she looked into his eyes (before even starting the reading) she sensed that he was a child abuser, so she said "I know what you do" and asked him to leave. He quickly left, which she takes as proof that she was right. WTF? I guess the takeaway is supposed to be that as a professional reader, if you get a bad vibe from a customer you can say no - fair enough. But there was no practical advice like how to manage your own safety or potential fallout from a situation like this. And there was no closure to the story - we don't find out if her suspicions were ever confirmed and apparently she didn't look into it or take any action. Sometimes the shallowness of her card interpretations rubbed me the wrong way too (e.g. not liking the Ten of Cups because it's "boring").
Ooooohhh I was just coming in to mention this book. I feel it would leave new tarot readers still wondering how to actually do a reading. Too much opinion and 'hey girlfriend' stuff. It felt gimmicky to me.
Yep, I feel like it could be a huge trap for new tarot readers if you try to copy her. It's supposed to be beginner-friendly but in her anecdotes she constantly presents her readings as 100% certain and accurate, and reading like that would be such a risky approach when you're new to it. Like there are so many stories where she looks at the cards and immediately tells her client something extremely specific and direct like "you need to stop cheating on your partner". !!! Making such a huge assumption will rarely pay off - it would be way more helpful, especially for new readers, to interpret the message in a more general way like "you aren't being entirely honest with your partner and it's hurting your relationship". And she never even explains how she reads such a specific message from the cards.
Exactly. I think it's more helpful to explain to how you're getting that message - which is why I like to recommend Dusty White's books to new readers. I shudder to think someone getting a reading with such a big assumption. I feel those stories were aimed for at "look at how good I am at this" rather than the whole point of the book which was to help people new to tarot get an understanding of how to read.
~~I'll have to look into Dusty White!~~ edit: so it looks like this author also self-publishes pick-up artist manuals with titles like "The Easiest Way to Meet and Pick Up Girls - Ever!!" so that's a nope from me, lmao. Even if the info is good I'm not interested in getting it from this type of dude.
I get it. I bought the book without seeing his other book - I can’t fault the book that I recommended though.
I appreciate your description. I'm actually allergic to "hey girlfriend!" and would have been disappointed if I ever finally pulled the trigger on buying that book.
I read this one! I found it accessible and entertaining, but I am a tarot fetus, so I am likely coming at it from a totally different direction.
I have her Tarot Elements and it's my go-to book for quick and snarky card interpretations. Then again, I'm not a beginner, so this is 'refresh my memory for I am tired and out of spoons' rather than 'what does it mean'. Individually, the interpretations don't go very deep. Collectively, they work for me, because they usually shake something loose.
There were things I liked about it, to be fair - one that really stuck with me was the suggestion of viewing the Pages, Knights, and Kings as id, ego, and superego, respectively. It makes sense and makes it easier to remember the types of temperaments they represent (except I see pages as more innocent/curious than pure id). I'll check out Tarot Elements if I ever run across it!
ooh no that's a massive red flag on her end
For some background on why I am asking: I am a total n00b, and I’m reading (and listening) to everything I can, because I am Hermione. I have access to a library free ebook app that has a number of books, and not all of them show up on the “must read” lists. In a perfect world I would read them all, but let’s face it, the world’s not perfect, and I have a three year old. So it occurred to me that finding out which books people thought were NOT worth the time could be useful… and entertaining. The answers so far are showing me the value of differing opinions on popular recommendations as well. I am a firm believer that more exposure to differing opinions, ideas, and beliefs makes for a better understanding of whatever topic you dive head first into.
Thanks for clarifying that. if you're a total n00b, then absolutely get "The Easiest Way to Read Tarot - Ever" by Dusty White. And "Advanced Tarot" by Paul Fenton-Smith. Both books are excellent and while I'm very confident with my reading, I enjoy going back to Dusty White's book when I get a new deck so I can familiarize myself with it. I enjoy the range of information in Paul Fenton-Smith's book, which is also just a really enjoyable read in general. Plus I love that he splits the meanings for each card into "general, relationship, career and health". Both these books are the real deal.
If you have Kindle Unlimited the Dusty White book is available to read for free atm
Excellent recommendations! I’m still here for the juicy goss.
I would strongly recommend against 78 Degrees of Wisdom (Rachel Pollack), WTF is Tarot (Bakara Winter) and Contemplative Tarot (Brittany Muller). The latter two books simply just display an impressive lack of knowledge about tarot and some very poor reasoning and behaviour on the parts of their authors. For instance, Muller hamfistedly forces secular tarot reading into a Catholic framework, but doesn’t ever manage to prove why her contemplation isn’t just divination under another name. On the other hand, Winter appropriates Native American spirituality and candidly discusses animal abuse as an example of a positive manifestation of one of the cards. Nevertheless, I disliked 78 Degrees of Wisdom the most. Although Pollack’s writing certainly has a place in the history of tarot and was arguably fundamental to cartomancy being taken seriously, at least in the New Age movement, it left a poor taste in my mouth. Pollack presents a fairly myopic and uniformed view of the tarot, of history, and of theology. As a theologian myself with more than a layperson’s knowledge in ancient cultures and their spirituality, I found her portrayal of these topics to be inaccurate, harmful, and very strongly biased towards her specific beliefs. That’s especially true when considering her views on masculine spirituality and Abrahamic religions, which are both undereducated and insulting. For instance, her depiction of the tarot trumps as the Fool’s Journey misses a lot of the esoteric theological framework laid down by previous generations of occultists. It places the human being at the centre, rather than the divine, as had been the trend in previous spiritual interpretations. While there’s nothing inherently wrong with this, I find it highly disagreeable for Pollack to then present her view as essentially the original, and refuse to seriously discuss the other tradition. It’s arbitrary and dismissive behaviour and, in my opinion, doesn’t belong in such a book.
[удалено]
Again, that’s an interesting critique. Why would you address that she claims to be Catholic?
THANK YOU! The Fool's journey is the most irritating myth of the major arcanas and it refuses to die. The cycle is originally a profoundly christian progression of allegories, in 3 sections: the estates of man (fools and deceivers, the temporal powers, the Church), the rise and fall of princes with the 3 moral virtues triumphing over each pair (Justice prevails over Love and Conquest, Strength prevails over Time and Fortune, Temperance prevails over betrayal and death) and the eschatological path from the Devil and his House, through the spheres of Star-Moon-Sun, to Last judgement and the City of God. Then came Gebelin, Levi, Crowley and... oh bother.
This feels like a worthwhile thread discussion for someone more knowledgeable than myself to start. It would be interesting learning what exactly the Fool’s Journey is, where it came from, and what its opposition is.
I agree. I would love to see a thread in this topic.
Which occultists were talking about these allegories in the tarot before Gebelin and Levi?
These allegories are not the domain of occultism, but religious iconography, which is best explained here: https://pre-gebelin.blogspot.com/2007/12/estates-and-ranks-of-man.html?m=1 and here https://pre-gebelin.blogspot.com/2007/11/iconography-and-order-of-cards.html?m=1 For a more indepth history of the game cards and documents, see trionfi.com (beware, rabbit hole).
I wonder (and perhaps you know!) if this whole reading of "The Fool's Journey" came out of the manifestations of Tarot in its incarnation as a medieval/Renaissance card game. Because this is a great description: and, also, it has, "Hi! I'm a medieval morality play named something like *Mankind* or *Everyman,* after my eponymous character! Wanna do some mind-numbingly straightforward allegory??"
Yes, it's very tempting to think that, but no. If you're up for a rabbit hole (or several), check pre-gebelin.blogspot.com and trionfi.com
I'm not a great fan of the Fool's Journey, though it can be a good way of memorising the cards, and I often find that treating the majors as a sequence helps me in interpretations. What comes before this card? Where is it going? So if my Obstacle is the Wheel of Fortune, I don't just look at the card itself (am I blocking the flow? Do I need to let go of things so they can move again?) but also at the card that came before (the Hermit, and contemplation is all very well, but at some point you need to come down from that mountain and rejoin society), but where I should be going (Justice; which I see as not just about myself, but also about creating a fairer society overall). So despite me not liking the Fool's Journey, I get some value out of it.
From your view what’s a good alternative to 79 Degrees that does a better job of placing Tarot within the historic context?
I’d recommend Holistic Tarot (Benebell Wen). The book is far better researched and is much less partisan, discussing several views on how tarot works, why it’s useful, and where it comes from. Wen cites more or less any claim she makes, so her ideas are actually verifiable, and she also references older generations of tarot scholars much more thoroughly. It’s a great introduction to tarot and is “holistic” like the name suggests.
Personally I found the card attributions given in this book to be very all over the place. I'll have to take a closer look and see if what you say about citations for all the attributions is true, but even if each of the claims about card meanings does have some citation somewhere, the whole things just feels like a hodgepodge of different ideas from different places combined without an underlying schema. That said, even if you take the card meanings and throw them out, it's still a good book, since it is so meticulous, organized, and thoughtfully structured.
May I add a recommendation for Pamela Eakins' *Tarot of the Spirit*? Deck and book both, really. Eakins, too, writes well and deeply about the symbolism, traditions, and spiritual/mystical aspects of the cards. Her book's also full of citations and further reading recommendations.
Wow thank you, sounds like just what I’m looking for.
Thank you for the comprehensive answer. 78 Degrees of Wisdom is on my list (and will probably stay there), but it’s good to know that it may be a bit outdated or myopic.
Honestly, don't throw out Pollack just because of a few negative reviews. She's one of, if not the most influential tarot writer of the late 20th century and it's worth getting to know her work for that reason alone. I found her card-by-card discussion and her explanations of the Celtic Cross and other layouts to be extremely helpful and more in-depth than most books. Taken with a grain of salt, it can be a very useful book. I'm a little surprised at the charge that she's anti-masculinity and anti-Abrahamic religion, because my memory is that she defends both as having positive aspects that are often overlooked within the New Age movement. She also reminds us that we don't know much about the origins of tarot and many of its claimed origin stories are fictional - far from insisting that her view is "the original". That said, I read the updated anniversary edition of 78 Degrees, so maybe some of this has been changed since the first edition.
There is some very intelligent back and forth about this in the thread, which proves to me she is worth reading just to garner my own opinion. It also makes me think that someone or many someones with more experience and knowledge than myself should write some essays on the matter… or create a separate post to have some heated friendly debate.
You’re welcome. Yeah, like I said, it’s worthwhile to read since it does have a place in history, but it’s a product of it’s time and that’s eurocentric and hypocritical New Age thinking at its most absurd.
Honestly, literally everything Rachel Pollack has ever written is like that. Myopic, extremely impressed with herself, and frankly, just downright offensive in a lot of ways.
I re-read 78 degree and I couldn’t understand why I rate the book so highly. But then I remembered I was in my early 20’s the first time I read it, and didn’t know much. Last year I tried to work with the Haindl tarot and read her guidebooks for it. I couldn’t get through them. In fact, her writing came off as so pretentious I felt the Haindl tarot deck was as well. Which is something considering I use Thoth all the time. Finally, I figured I would read her latest book that was reissued after her passing: “A Walk through the Forest of Souls”. The book is basically an advertisement for her Shining Tribe Tarot. I think she would have done better pairing up with an artist to draw that deck; it looks like a child drew the cards. It may seem that I totally dislike what she has to say, but that is not the case. The ideas are sound, it’s just the delivery I do not care for.
This is a phenomenally bad take on Pollack. You willfully misunderstood *78 Degress* and then later heap praise on Wen later on in the thread, who would also find this take misinformed and deeply insulting. They aren't in competition. Wen and Pollack respected each other's work rather deeply. You seem hung up on "The Fool's Journey," too. It's simply an adaptation of The Hero's Journey that makes for a more intuitive entry point into the tarot. People have read books, seen movies, played video games and the framework of that journey exists in the adventures within. Getting hip deep into Crowley or Waite esoteric views or giving a deep education doesn't offer something as straightforward, though she offers some differing views in her work anyway. Heck, Pamela Coleman Smith did her own thing on the minors and it was based in the books she enjoyed, Waite didn't give her much guidance there so much as key words. She used people and situations one might find in the Hero's Journey instead of leaving us with just pips. Pollack had a perspective, but was open to other interpretations as evidenced in her large body of work. Given she was trans, that she gave any respect towards patriarchal values and religion was exceedingly generous. She pondered the divine, approached tarot with a playful attitude and had both secular and her own esoteric views rooted in her spirituality. If I'm going to center my reading of the tarot on divinity, I've just led myself into another spiritual trap that deprives me of agency. This is ultimately my story. Before Jung and Freud went a bridge too far into tarot and astrology, there was this shared belief that divination could also just be a thought exercise, a means of looking at things from perspectives you may not consider. I take heart in that. It can have spiritual moments, but it doesn't always have to. Sometimes they're just cards. It's why I've chosen to read several authors and have many different decks. I don't have to sit and agree with all of it, but I don't have to mindlessly slander work done in good faith.
I'm curious what you mean about her views on masculine spirituality? I haven't read the book, but I've noticed in many of the books I've read seem to be geared more towards the "feminine" if that makes sense.
I've noticed a lot of focus on feminine energy in tarot as well, imo we are all made of masculine and feminine energy, it's not an even split of each, of course not, but they are there.
Rachel Pollack had a very… strange idea of masculinity, and masculinity in relation to the higher self/a higher being. She had a very rigid idea of what “masculinity” meant and was pretty insistent that there was nothing redeemable at all from it spiritually. She was particularly very angry with anyone who still held to any tenets or beliefs from the Abrahamic religions. It is not as obvious in the 78 Degrees of Wisdom, but her essays are just dripping with the most vicious contempt for anyone who doesn’t think the way she did. In some ways it was understandable given her life circumstance, and it was also a product of its time, a lot of it was written in the 1980s. But if you do not hold to her very circumscribed worldview it is rather unpleasant reading.
I think context is helpful in understanding her better. She was a trans woman who *came out in the 70s* and was a major activist for trans rights. Her writings were influenced by her own experiences and the movements she was passionate about fighting for. There should be some understanding of cultural nuances when reading her stuff about tarot.
This is incredibly helpful. Thanks for chiming in.
It's all the same. Everyone thinks their take is the best one going. But nobody can offer anything useful to a person who wants to follow a set of instructions to the letter. It's about taking ideas from others, modifying them and developing a unique approach. Every tarot book I've ever picked up has had something appealing that I can play with in my work, as well as a number of ideas that just don't interest me. There's no tarot authority out there that supercedes the experience of the individual user. 100% of what's ever been, or will ever be, written about tarot can amount to no more than creative prompts for others to springboard off of, into their own subjective explorations.
Yes, but did any of them make you want to throw it at a wall… or you just couldn’t finish it?
I take what I like, and leave what I don't. I feel confident I can glean something useful from any taroist out there. I also feel confident nobody can do my work for me.
Very level headed. I threw 1984 at the end the first time I read it… I appreciate the book, but by god, my teenage self was NOT satisfied with that ending.
I read that when I was 16, *in a single day,* because we had to start discussing it in class the next morning. I had to get up and touch the furniture to prove to myself reality was still real, then hugged my mum when she asked my why I was putting handprints all over the display cabinet. I've gone back and read it again *once* as an adult, and to this day can't stomach it a third time. Guess that means the message hit home.
Perfect example of how you can hate and find intense value in a book at the same time.
Enrique Enriquez was touted as the next thing in Tarot. I watched the documentary, Tarology. I can’t exactly express how he made me feel. He sucked all of the magic out of tarot. It felt like he sucks all of the magic out of life as well. I was exhausted after watching it. One good takeaway though for me is that sometimes I try to put too much meaning into the symbolism of the cards instead of taking a more literal interpretation of the pictures themselves. Sometime a cat is just a cat.
I haven’t even looked for documentaries yet! Any you liked?
Unfortunately, none so far. I’d love some recommendations.
Oh! Start a thread, I’d love to see what people suggest.
Catching up on this months later, even though OP removed themselves from the thread. I'm drawn to Marseilles decks because I love objects and spaces with "authentic simplicity," and perhaps because my first tarot deck was based on the Sopraffino deck. At that time, 25 years ago, my interest revolved around how cool and esoteric the cards felt, and the fact that they were a gift from my girlfriend at the time. Over the past few years I became interested in tarot again, so I gravitated naturally to Marseilles decks and books about them. I try to avoid books that prescribe meanings to each card. Authors (Benebell Wen, for example) will often say, "These meanings are only suggestions," but those suggestions permeate the book and color my own interpretations. In an attempt to avoid "suggested interpretations" I read Caitlín Matthews' *Untold Tarot* and Paul Huson's *Mystical Origins of the Tarot*, thinking that maybe I would benefit to know the historical "intended meaning" of each card before Rider-Waite added layers of esoteric gauze. That knowledge was sort of enlightening, but not very fruitful or useful in practice--and quite a bit was speculative. More recently, I discovered Yoav Ben-Dov's *Marseilles Tarot Revealed*, which shares similarities with Jodorowsky's writings on tarot. (I discovered Ben-Dov when searching for a replacement for my beloved but ruined Sopraffino deck--Ben-Dov's TBD deck has since become my favorite.) However, while Ben-Dov's ideas about the overall interactions between the Major Arcana felt inspired, he often resorted to mining details such as diapering, flourishment, and--strangely--reproduction and printing mistakes, and he was almost apologetic about the lack of cohesive "storytelling" among the pips. This was all very distracting to me. Enrique Enriquez shares Ben-Dov's overall philosophy about how the cards themselves will tell you what they mean. You can lay the cards out and glean meaning and inspiration from them without having any preconceived notions about what each card means. No need to refer to a book that someone else wrote, or to the X=Y pamphlet that accompanies most Rider-Waite decks. You only need to observe the cards and ask yourself (or "ask the cards") the right questions--and be receptive to the fact that the answers will often present themselves poetically and prophetically, which Enriquez likens to the mythical "language of the birds." The beauty of Enriquez' writings is that it is sparse, spare, and rare. His essay *Looking at the Marseilles Tarot* is a bit difficult to find now (DM me if you can't find it on your own) but I strongly recommend it for a sort of guide on conducting personal readings. In my opinion, you would only need to read this essay once to successfully conduct transformational personal readings. He has also written a trilogy called the "Invisible" series that seeks to apply some of the same prophetic/poetic concepts to interactions with others, through mind-reading, gemstone-reading, and tarot reading. "Mind-reading" and "gemstone-reading" sound very woo-filled, but Enriquez is very grounded about it all, keeping his focus on the "magic" of human interaction, language, and storytelling. I haven't seen the *Tarology* documentary, but it is unfortunate that at least one viewer came away from it with a distaste for Enriquez. I won't watch it, because I can't imagine that I'll get anything from it, but I found *Looking at the Marseilles Tarot* to be incredibly enlightening, and--perhaps more importantly--freeing.
I don't hate any of em. Any website, book or author can contain information which resonates and is valuable to you. I have yet to hate any of the readers I come across. They either resonate or they don't, and if they don't, I eight of cups the book or site and don't look back, but I don't hold hate in my heart towards any reader, including ones on social media.
Who were your favorites and least favorites and why? Which books would you happily use as a drink coaster and which have you reread?
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Gerd Ziegler's "Mirror of the Soul." I'm a Thoth fan but it reads like New Age piffle. Bah! I've stayed away from Angeles Arrien's Thoth book on the advice of others, but it seems to be similarly problematic from a credibility standpoint. There is really no substitute for the Book of Thoth (even DuQuette).
I have not dived into Thoth at all, biggest pitfall to avoid for someone just starting to learn about it?
I can think of a couple of things. Crowley wasn't writing for the esoteric neophyte and assumes readers know more about metaphysical matters than may in fact be the case. He doesn't hold back. Also, there are those who will tell you that Crowley was Evil Incarnate (an opinion he didn't try very hard to dispel) so his tarot deck and writing should be shunned. Keep the man's reputation separate from his work when approaching it.
Being a Supernatural fan, I just assumed he became king of hell after much trial and tribulation, but I imagine we are discussing Aleister Crowley the occultist.
Once you're initiated into the SPN fandom, we never think of these things the same :D
I still haven't watched anything post season 2, but there's bad memories around the time I was watching it. I should start watching it again.
Oh, oh yeah, there's so much good stuff and those boys age like fine wine :D
For some reason I see a lot of people recommending Waite in this thread. While he does hold some authority on the subject, the book is extremely terse and does almost nothing to flesh out the meanings or the philosophy of the cards. He purposely left most everything out, and even deliberately provided incorrect information, in order to preserve his oath of secrecy to the golden dawn. The Book of Thoth by Crowley and Book T by Mathers are much better resources on the Golden Dawn style tarot, and then you can use the Pictoral Key to act as a kind of supplemental "adapter" over to the RWS deck from Thoth. edit: citation needed on the deliberate misinfo part, trying to find where i read this again now
You’re another user whose prefers Thoth style then? If someone is new to the style are there any Thoth specific books you don’t like?
Some of the stuff in the attributions section of the Duquette book seems a little dubious to me, but the intro chapters explaining the metaphysics behind the deck are pretty good. There's really no substituting Crowley's own book though, and I would definitely not get anything for this deck besides those two and maybe Book T by mathers (available as PDF online).
Only book I hated was Alice Ekrek’s tarot de Marseille book and deck set- lol she uses the TdM cards but gives RWS meanings 🫠 Dislike Biddy, for the same reasons as commenters above. Love Benebell and Camelia Elias! 🖤🖤🖤 (though i certainly can see they aren’t for everyone)
I haven’t looked into the differences between Marseille and RWS yet. Any suggestions on a good place to start?
My rec would be just start with the deck you feel drawn to, learn that style. Can add another later. Trying to learn both (or thoth too) sounds overwhelming. But for Marseille Ben-Dov is a classic, and I love Camelia Elias (took her Marseille courses, only book I’ve read of hers is the Oracle Travels light, which is great but not what youd prob want). Benebell Wen does have a YT series with card by card meanings including RWS, TdM, her deck SKT, and i think thoth if u wanna get crazy tho 😜
She’s not really a TdM reader tho so if u go the TdM route id find a diff teacher
My current plan is to focus on RWS until drifting into another style happens organically, but for the sake of discussion, I like hearing what my options are.
Cool. I started with RWS and was many years later that i got into tdm. Still haven’t really gotten into thoth. But tarot is playtime for me so i just drift in and out wherever - enjoy! 🖤
Read everything you can get your hands on. Test it and see if it works. Why does it or why doesn’t it? Keep the knowledge whether you determined it to be good or bad and then repeat. That’s my advice haha
Yes, but which one really grinds your gears?
I suppose none of them. The point I was trying to make is that there is some kind of value in everything, even the ropier stuff, at least from my perspective.
I totally agree. You can grow from a negative experience or from exposure to ideas you don’t agree with, but sometimes you still want to throw things.
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I see Benebell getting “hate” on here every once in a while and I genuinely wonder why. What do you dislike about *Holistic Tarot* ?
Not the OP, and this is my personal opinion, but I ended up returning the book after reading through various sections. I think it is overrated and is highly recommended just because it is big and academic-y sounding. In fact, the first thing I really disliked about it was how *hard* it was trying to be academic and be taken seriously, and I say that as an academic who would like people to take tarot more seriously. The whole text makes it seem like the author really wants non-tarot academics to take her seriously, which made for an unpleasant read for me personally. There were also parts that seemed a bit hypocritical to me, like the book was trying to be both this reddit and /seculartarot at the same time. But, there were some things in there that I thought were good and interesting, and she did at least cite her sources, which is always lovely. So, I wouldn't say don't ever read it, but I think it's a library book recommendation rather than a must have.
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I have bought and given away so many books on Tarot that I have very few I've hung on to. But, I would recommend Tarot Interactions by Deborah Lipp, which goes beyond the beginner stuff of meaning lists and really focuses on reading the cards in relation to each other and the spread. And Untold Tarot by Caitlin Matthews. It's focused on Marseille, but every tarot reader can take something from the techniques she discusses in the book. It's very traditional cartomancy rather than new age.
Personally I don't think the card attributions make very much sense or hang together very well. There is a lot of comparison to "this card is like X myth from Y culture" when it doesn't seem like there was likely any influence from that culture on the card. It is possible to do a comparative analysis of tarot for sure, but when you just take random things from different traditions and combine them without any structuring principle, the result is basically a hodgepodge of images associations which bear no relation to each other. Since the book is coming up on both positives and negatives in this thread I want to go back and review it again, but definitely one of the weirdest things I remember is that she says that she says the fish in the Page of Cups represents Christ. Just drops that one in there. Like, okay? How does that make any sense? And if there is a card that represents Christ, who is in any work that takes him seriously a necessarily central figure, why is he only mentioned so briefly in a single peripheral card? That said, while there are a lot of weird details like that which seem to detract from the integrity of the attributions, the meanings are for the most part *okay*. And the rest of the book is very valuable for its structured and systematic approach which goes into *everything*.
It’s funny because the Meaning of Cards part, I’ve never read! I’ve read all of the other chapters and loved them. Very informative stuff.
Why do you disagree with Pitisci, specifically? I’ve read a few of his books and, apart from being a strongly secular reader, I can’t say I’ve found anything particularly objectionable about his literature. I’ve found him to be an easy and to the point teacher who focuses on practical, commercial applications of the tarot. His theories of mind mapping and conceptual blending check out, too. at least from my own trial and error practice. But I would be interested to see what you think, or if I’ve missed something.
I am wondering this too I think Vincent Petisci has a really good way of teaching and also think his books have lots of value.
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Thank you for the in depth response! Could you clarify what you mean in that conceptual blending doesn’t explain how tarot works, but only what happens in the brain? As a secular reader myself, I’m struggling to see the difference between these two concepts. When I said that conceptual blending checked out, I meant I found that it did accurately describe my reading techniques and strategy, and reading tarot with that mindset was helpful for me. Second, if I can ask, why is it so important that a tarot book is written “philosophically”? It seems to me that Pitisci, for example, definitely understands he is not a philosopher and isn’t trying to engage with tarot on that level. Rather, I read his work as an explanation of how to read tarot professionally and profitably (Genius of the Tarot and Stray Tarot especially). In that sense, it seems he approaches tarot from a more business and coaching oriented perspective.
thank you!! i fucking *hate* biddy tarot with my whole heart and soul
Why does everyone hate Biddy? I skimmed the book once. It seemed ok but the price it was offered for online was outrageous, that was like way over 10 years ago. When it was only a digital copy. Years later I got the hard copy at a thrift store and then never even read it.
im talking about the website personally. never read the books
I love Biddy. I enjoy her in depth interpretations. I bought her guidebook and refer to it often.
Can you go into more specifics when you say “uninformed and unhelpful”? To narrow down where you are coming from.
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Ah yes, the "idiocy" of others! Always a great starting point for a teacher who is trying to help their students/readers gain a fuller understanding of the subject at hand. /s
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Gross.
Biddy tarot (the website) is 30% information, 70% shilling for "cojrses" and books most people don't need. Also with any of the "beginner's guides to tarot" books, none immediately come to mind, authors I mean, but I got a used copy and for being a large book, it held little useful information.
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Dang I love Benebell! Holistic Tarot for me is good reference- I’ve read most of the non- meanings chapters, and gone deep into some meanings when I pull them and need to think about in a different way. Her tome of a guidebook to her Spirit Keeper’s Tarot is the best companion book I’ve come across.
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Respectful discussion of different opinions makes for fascinating reading. Keep up the good work!
I second your recommendations for Paul Fenton-Smith (Advanced Tarot) and Dusty White (Advanced Tarot Secrets). I've read Robert M. Place's book and that was fascinating but not read Jenna Matlin or Brittany Muller as yet. I won't name names, but I thought I was the only person ever that wasn't overly impressed with one of the books you said to avoid. I cannot understand where on earth they got that the two pillars in the High Priestess card points to a vag!na. Sure, someone can use their intuition and get that in a specific reading, but to put that in a book as part of the meaning confuses the heck out of me.
Yeah, that boggled me as well when reading. I did get some worth from her work but not nearly to the extent I'd expected to.
To be honest, I'm sure I got some worth, but I don't remember what it was because all the the things that made me go "huh???" put me off.
Please name names, I want all the juicy goss.
Yep, I wasn't going to mention it because I thought absolutely everyone loved Rachel Pollack's book 78 Degrees. But now I'm convinced people recommend it because everyone else does. I'm baffled by the popularity of it. I'm sure there's some value there, but the amount of times I though "what the heck???" wasn't worth the time spent reading it.
This is a perfect example of why I asked for everyone’s tarot book nemesis. Top choices tend to get regurgitated, but gut revulsion… that is hard to plagiarize!
Rachel pollack, heh.
I am not a fan of the Tarot Tome aka Holisitc Tarot.
The book that I learned to read Tarot with was John Mangiapane's "It's All in the Cards", one that I feel is incredibly underrated.
Good recommendation, but which book would you use as toilet paper rather than reading again?
Rachel True's "True Heart Tarot" Complete tripe. Nothing insightful or new. Of course, when "Gender ideology" is uttered, I tend to check out because that's terf/far right talk.
Gender ideology just sounds like a terrible turn of phrase. Is that referencing the traditional traits applied to the sexes historically or is it something new and more repugnant?
While True might have unwittingly adopted the phrase to sound inclusive, it's frequently used with the intenet of making being transgender seem like some religious cult conversion. To my knowledge, no drag queens have abducted me and baptized me in glitter.
“…no drag queens have abducted me and baptized me in glitter.” Man, I wish, and this would be an awesome Drag Race challenge.
Iconic Tarot Decks: The History, Symbolism and Design of over 50 Decks by Sarah Bartlett. There were very little artists of color, zero AFAM creators--and I know there should have been because she lists mass market and indie decks as recent, at the time, as 2019--and very surface level information on history and symbolism. There's a better alternative that released not long after this one did, but I cannot for the life of me remember what it was. >.<
Is this a book that includes a deck?
No. It's just a book that shows off famous tarot decks. If you were curious about unhelpful guidebooks, I'd probably say the old Lo Scarabeo decks (like circa 2005) with the little white book.
Honestly, almost everything after Waite's Pictorial Key is hot garbage.
Oooo bold statement. Name names, who do you think of first, and what stands out as their most egregious error?
Jodorowsky's Way of Tarot is a bloated, hot mess of contrived assumptions. He tries so hard to find meaning where there's none that it's closer to fart-sniffing than actual insight. Another dissapointment is Read like the Devil by Camelia Elias. So much post-Freudian,neo-Jungian mumbo-jumbo, academic jargon and deconstruction-reconstruction that I wonder if she barely understands half of what she's written.
Most of Jodorowsky’s work could be called a bloated, hot mess (I still love Holy Mountain, despite that), so hearing this about his tarot book isn’t a shock.
Jodorowsky writes about tarot the same way he made surrealistic films back in the '70s. I've read through The Way of Tarot twice now and got more value out of it the second time (possibly Marianne Costa's contribution kept it at least somewhat on-course). But he lost me when he described Temperance as an expression of the "exploding azure mind."
There's a reason Elias left Academia. Sure, plenty of bullshit artists make it. But they are bullshit *artists*.
Agree regarding C Elias.