Similar books to 78 Degrees of Wisdom?

staticfuzz

Hello :) I’m a huge fan of Rachel Pollack’s 78 Degrees of Wisdom and I was wondering if anyone could recommend similar books? I have other books that are good (21 Ways to Read a Card, Tarot Plain and Simple), but I just LOVE 78 Degrees of Wisdom and Pollack’s approach in it. I like that she includes stuff from "all over," so to speak--psychotherapy/psychology, Jewish tradition, early tarot, etc., mixed with what seems like her own conclusions and speculation. I like her tone, writing, and perspective on things as well. Can anyone recommend a book in this vein? Or that matches on a couple of these things?

Failing that, what about books that approach the tarot from just one of those perspectives, like one that relates to tarot through a gestalt therapy perspective, or a Jungian perspective, or a legend/fairy tale perspective?

Thanks so much :)
 

rwcarter

The forum index has a section on tarot books with a Jungian perspective to them.

Have you read Pollack's Tarot Wisdom book?

Rodney
 

staticfuzz

The forum index has a section on tarot books with a Jungian perspective to them.

Have you read Pollack's Tarot Wisdom book?

Rodney

Oh man, I didn't even think to check the index. So sorry! Thanks for pointing me there.

I haven't read Tarot Wisdom, although I did see a couple recommendations of it when I did a search for Rachel Pollack before I wrote this. I didn't know if it was similar to 78 Degrees or if it was more just like stories from her life. I'm guessing that you recommend it?
 

rwcarter

I've read it and it goes into the history of interpretations for each card. So you don't just get RWS or Thoth or Marseilles, but all of those and more. There are also spreads based on the position of objects in the cards, but I think those are only for the Majors.

Rodney
 

staticfuzz

I've read it and it goes into the history of interpretations for each card. So you don't just get RWS or Thoth or Marseilles, but all of those and more. There are also spreads based on the position of objects in the cards, but I think those are only for the Majors.

Rodney

Thanks for the info, Rodney! :) I've put it on my list.

I checked out the Jungian books in the index and they have allllll piqued my interest. Do you have an opinion on any of them? Which are the best?
 

Richard

Jung and Tarot: An Archetypal Journey by Sallie Nichols is a fairly heavy, technical read, but many think that it is one of the best for an in-depth analysis of the Majors from a Jungian perspective.
 

Zephyros

Well... The Book of Thoth may be Thoth-specific in some ways, but it is as complete a treatise on Tarot as anyone could wish for, and goes into literally everything.

Liber Theta is the basic, highly abstract blueprint for practically all modern Tarot decks, so I recommend that as well.

Both these books are free for download.
 

staticfuzz

LRichard, heavy reads don't bother me a bit (well when they're required reading by a certain set deadline and I then get tested on them, they can get trying ;) ), so I think I will check this out. Thank you!

closrapexa, thanks for the tip with the Book of Thoth. Although I think the artwork is so beautiful, I have never been called to that deck because the images don't speak to me at all. However I'm glad to hear that the book's insights can be applied to other decks as well, and I'm actually glad because this way I can learn about the Thoth without actually having to use it ;) Also--it's free?! I'm sold!! :D
 

Hedera

but I just LOVE 78 Degrees of Wisdom and Pollack’s approach in it. I like that she includes stuff from "all over," so to speak--psychotherapy/psychology, Jewish tradition, early tarot, etc., mixed with what seems like her own conclusions and speculation. I like her tone, writing, and perspective on things as well. Can anyone recommend a book in this vein? Or that matches on a couple of these things?


Have you read 'The forest of souls: A walk through the tarot' by Ms Pollack?

I think that's probably one of my favorite tarot books.
It doesn't focus as much on individual cards as 78 Degrees does, but it does have the pulling things together, history and psychology and mythology and tradition etc aspect - probably even more so.
I lovelovelove what she does with the tarot in that book!
 

Teheuti

Have you read 'The forest of souls: A walk through the tarot' by Ms Pollack?

I think that's probably one of my favorite tarot books.
It's a wonderful book. Possibly her best/deepest Tarot book.