best companion book(s)?

This week I began using the MRP Fairytale Tarot as a reference deck for my daily draw -- I draw a card from my main deck, then pull the same card from several other decks to gain perspective. Yesterday I pulled 9 of Cups from my main deck, which in the MRP Fairytale Tarot is Puss in Boots. Okay. But why this particular tale for the 9 of Cups? I opened Karen Mahony's MRP companion book for the Fairytale Tarot and began to read. I have never gained as much insight into a card as I did from this companion book. First, a b/w illustration of the card, alongside a telling of the fairy tale; then, and most important, a section titled "keywords and phrases" wherein Karen states precisely (no beat-round-the-bush weasel language) what makes the tale appropriate to the card and its meaning. 9 of Cups = Simple pleasures. Never have I had a card explained so well and so concisely.

I got out my other MRP decks and companion books and read in each about the 9 of Cups. Karen is consistent in her interpretations, but the WHY the particular art in each deck was chosen was an eye-opening revelation.

My choice for #1 in companion books is Karen Mahony, Magic Realist Press. Any deck, any book, they are all superb.

Running a very close second is Granny Jones' Australian Tarot Book. Each day after I've studied the card I've drawn, I ask myself "What does Granny say?" I open the book, look at the b/w illustration of the Granny Jones tarot card, and read about what Granny put into the card and why each symbol is there, her description is followed by a General Meaning paragraph. 9 of Cups = Well being. Thank you, Granny.

What are YOUR choices for best companion books?

That one is easy ;-)!

The Tarot of the Spirit, for me. By Pamela Eakins or by Joice. I can´t hold them apart...
They did the deck and the book, mother and daughter one as artist, one as author. It´s a fascinating deck and a great book. The focus on positivity is very provoking but really enhanced my view on certain cards.

Closely followed by Marie White´s Landscapes of the Abyss, companion to the Mary-El (even if I tend to see this as LWB, because there is no "smaller little white booklet" to read - it´s a BCB, a big coloured book!). This is a very cryptic one, hard to understand without research or knowledge but it´s like art flowing into words. Very poetic.

I really find that each deck has a distinct set of meanings to me, and that often the LWB for that deck gives the great pithy info (like my new Universal Fantasy deck) that applies to that deck but not across the decks. I bought half a dozen or so decks last week and have been working my way through them, and have found such differences in things, like eight of wands meaning in Dark Angels deck to conserve energy since if that is lost and wasted, all is lost, or in the Universal Fantasy the four of wands meaning to get the heck away from work and take a break--not four of swords, but four of wands. These are unusual to me as far as comparison with other decks or other books go, so I keep a few books like Tarot for the Green Witch (and actually a lot of others) around, but I do not apply any companion book to a deck that it was not meant for yet--if I find an energetic match, then sure, I might, but so far it has not happened. I am so intrigued that so many decks just plain mean different things to different people--

For me by far it's the Book of Thoth.

Sometimes the companion book is absolutely essential. The Vampyre tarot is a unique hybrid of the Thoth/RWS, with a strong flavour of astrology running through it. The Ludy Lescot is equally non traditional. Without the manuel and LWB respectively, I'd be floundering.

Farzon said:

That one is easy ;-)!

The Tarot of the Spirit, for me. By Pamela Eakins or by Joice. I can´t hold them apart...

Click to expand...

Agree with this 100%
Close second is Rachel Pollacks Shining tribe tarot book.

I also like the quirky books, like Silicon Dawn and Cardings booklet for Tarot of the Sidhe.

Barbara Moore's Steampunk Tarot Manual is really good.

Her spreads and exercises and the nuanced meanings for the cards in this deck are all just fantastic.

Tarot for Life by Paul Quinn is also really good for pairing with a traditional RWS deck.

A. Crowley: The Book of Thoth
A. E. Waite: The Pictorial Key to the Tarot