One Tarot Book [to rule them all!]

[Inconnu]

As a beginner I found Eden Grays "Complete guide" very helpfull, along with Kaplans "Encyclopedia, vol I".

As I advanced I leaned heavily on Crowleys "Book of Thoth" as wall as DuQuettes "Understanding Aleister Crowleys Thoth".

As far as the OP, just one?...I guess it would be Grays. That would get someone started.

[Sulis]

Originally Posted by minotaur

My choice for the one and only book would be a blank book with lots of pages. I could then write my thoughts as they develop and I would then have the best tarot book for me.

This.

The best tarot text book that I have are the journals that I've kept over the last 12 years or so.... They show how the cards have related to and communicated with ME over the last 12 years.. They show the nuances that are there in the cards, in real-life reading situations for me.
Reading back through journals has helped me understand my cards more than any other tarot book.

I do really like the Paul Huson book and the Robert Place book for tarot history too but I really do think that if you want a book to rule them all then it's best to get personal and do your own, unofficial one... Card meanings change from reading to reading, from situation to situation - if you journal, you'll see what the cards mean to you in different situations - no book bought, from the shelf will do that.

[jema]

yes to your own journal.
As for published books, when I started out I didn't even know there were books on the tarot. I thought I HAD to write my own, so I did. Then I bought some swedish booklet with meanings and I remember how I thought that was a load of crap but if there were one book, there had to be others, in english, so then I found Ziegler (that I hated) Gareth Knight (That I failed to understand at the time) and then this forum some 13 years ago (well, the predecessor to this one)
Imagine finding a book like Greer's 21 ways in the late 80:ies! It would have been just amazing.
I love that there are so many books out now. Of course I get a bit tired of seeing all the tarot 101 books, but then no one said I had to buy them :-p
I feel blessed to have a decently sized occult library, now I just need some new book shelfs :-D

[angeltreats]

My very first Tarot book when I was about 12 was The Handbook of Fortune Telling by Francis A Bevan (published in 1990). I have no idea if he's well thought of or not (although I think he's some sort of TV psychic celebrity in Australia), but I loved his descriptions of the pictures and symbolism on the Rider Waite cards used in the book.

The book also deals with using playing cards, numerology, astrology among other things and none of them interest me, but I quite recently tracked down another copy of the book just for the tarot section and still love the descriptive paragraphs.

[SoapDance]

One book not mentioned that I "REALLY" love is:

Choice Centered Tarot by Gail Fairfield.

In fact, I have an extra copy if anyone would like it!

Just let me know and I can send it out,
Patti

[Carla]

I think one of the most useful things for me is to keep copies of all readings I do for others. It's really interesting to see how my interpretations evolve over time, how they morph to relate to the question, how I link them together to create a story. Because I never refer to any kind of book when reading for others, it's all coming from me--an amalgamation of everything I've ever read or thought about the card, plus any intuitive flashes that occur in the moment.

Readings for myself not so much. They are a bit rambling and wild-ass guessy.