The Fool
LisaHuntArt said:
Thanks, that is one I'll have to read.
Most helpful books for beginners in your opinion?
Thanks, that is one I'll have to read.
happyphantom
Easy and thorough meanings!
Tarot: Plain and Simple, by Anthony Louis
Well-organized, concise. Great if you read reversals. The pictures in the book are from the Robin Wood deck.
Each card has:
1. Key words and phrases
2. Situation and advice
3. People
for upright and reversed meanings!
I've looked at a ton of Tarot books, and this is the best I have found for beginners (or advanced readers who want a little more insight). I've even purchased 3 more copies for friends, and they all love it. One commented that all the other books she had seen were too difficult to get through, and she had almost given up on Tarot, but this book renewed her interest.
You can get it used on Amazon for about $2 US.
Tarot: Plain and Simple, by Anthony Louis
Well-organized, concise. Great if you read reversals. The pictures in the book are from the Robin Wood deck.
Each card has:
1. Key words and phrases
2. Situation and advice
3. People
for upright and reversed meanings!
I've looked at a ton of Tarot books, and this is the best I have found for beginners (or advanced readers who want a little more insight). I've even purchased 3 more copies for friends, and they all love it. One commented that all the other books she had seen were too difficult to get through, and she had almost given up on Tarot, but this book renewed her interest.
You can get it used on Amazon for about $2 US.
crystal09
Tarot: Plain and Simple, by Anthony Louis
i LOVE this book and I'm also a fan of Tarot Made Easy by Nancy Garen.
i LOVE this book and I'm also a fan of Tarot Made Easy by Nancy Garen.
Jewel
Lisa I totally agree with your statement.LisaHuntArt said:
21 Ways teaches the student about tarot through a series of execises designed to be fun, teach, and build your trust in your intuition. Getting to know your deck regardless of what style of deck it is. In about chapter 6 or so (maybe a little later) it finally has you do a little search into other books. What is so very cool about this book, is that in a way it teaches you how to use books in relation to tarot, not as crutches but as information sources, while at the same time building your confidence as you progress through the chapters.
I still have not finalized the Adept Steps (I am half way through them), but did complete the Apprentice Steps, and the experience was rewarding, amazing, educational, fun, and believe it or not led to personal growth! I have been involved with tarot for 15+ years now, and this book has something offer the newbies and experienced alike.
Another book I find quite educational, interesting and fun, is Tarot Tells the Tale. It is an easy read, with some good info, and shows the power of 3 card spreads which are excellent for beginners (and experienced alike). 1/2 the book is sample readings, which are educational, fun to read, and great springboards for learning.
Getting started is tough, but just remember that learning tarot is journey not a destination. Good luck!
Kathy24
There are so many good suggestions on here, looks like my tarot library is going to grow some more. lol
So far I have been using the following books:
Joan Bunning's Learning The Tarot, Learning Tarot Spreads & Learning Tarot Reversals
Dorothy Kelly's Tarot Card Combinations
Mary Greer's Tarot For Yourself & 21 Ways To Read A Tarot Card
Trish MacGregor & Phyllis Vega's Power Tarot
Corrine Kenner's Tarot Journaling
*** latest purchase Rachel Pollack's 78 Degrees of Wisdom (thanks Keigh - you're the bestest) lol
Of all the books I love Power Tarot the best, besides more than 100 spreads this book gives down to earth details when interpreting the cards. I find myself referencing back to this book more then Joan Bunning's Learning The Tarot, but I do still rank that one as a great beginner book.
So far I have been using the following books:
Joan Bunning's Learning The Tarot, Learning Tarot Spreads & Learning Tarot Reversals
Dorothy Kelly's Tarot Card Combinations
Mary Greer's Tarot For Yourself & 21 Ways To Read A Tarot Card
Trish MacGregor & Phyllis Vega's Power Tarot
Corrine Kenner's Tarot Journaling
*** latest purchase Rachel Pollack's 78 Degrees of Wisdom (thanks Keigh - you're the bestest) lol
Of all the books I love Power Tarot the best, besides more than 100 spreads this book gives down to earth details when interpreting the cards. I find myself referencing back to this book more then Joan Bunning's Learning The Tarot, but I do still rank that one as a great beginner book.
Rob
I've read many beginner books, but to be honest, the choice for me of what I'd recommend to a beginner isn't entirely based on the book itself, but the distribution medium.
I recommend Learning the Tarot by Bunning not only because it is an excellent book, but because it's available for free online at Bunning's website, www.learntarot.com. Many beginners (myself included) were/are reluctant to put a lot of money into something like tarot starting out, especially people who had no previous interest in metaphysical/occult/new-age pursuits. The less money they have to spend, the more likely I can get them to try it with an open mind...all they have to buy is a deck (or I can give them one) and use learntarot.com, and they'll get a solid background on the fundamentals and hit the ground running with little or no financial burden.
One might argue that a financial investment is a good motivator to stick with it, but I argue that there's nothing to "stick with" if someone won't shell out the money for a book and deck initially.
I think the biggest part of initially learning tarot isn't technique, interpretation, spreads, meanings, etc., as all of that can be learned in time. The most important thing is getting past ridiculous preconceived notions that people have about what tarot is and isn't...and the best way to do that for a person is to get him or her working with the deck and a solid, realistic text straight away. A simple link to a free book on a website is a great way to accomplish that - nothing to invest, no trip to the bookstore, no ordering and waiting for something to ship.
Just my take!
I recommend Learning the Tarot by Bunning not only because it is an excellent book, but because it's available for free online at Bunning's website, www.learntarot.com. Many beginners (myself included) were/are reluctant to put a lot of money into something like tarot starting out, especially people who had no previous interest in metaphysical/occult/new-age pursuits. The less money they have to spend, the more likely I can get them to try it with an open mind...all they have to buy is a deck (or I can give them one) and use learntarot.com, and they'll get a solid background on the fundamentals and hit the ground running with little or no financial burden.
One might argue that a financial investment is a good motivator to stick with it, but I argue that there's nothing to "stick with" if someone won't shell out the money for a book and deck initially.
I think the biggest part of initially learning tarot isn't technique, interpretation, spreads, meanings, etc., as all of that can be learned in time. The most important thing is getting past ridiculous preconceived notions that people have about what tarot is and isn't...and the best way to do that for a person is to get him or her working with the deck and a solid, realistic text straight away. A simple link to a free book on a website is a great way to accomplish that - nothing to invest, no trip to the bookstore, no ordering and waiting for something to ship.
Just my take!
Grizabella
I agree that 21 Ways is a great book but another one I've found that I'd recommend highly to a beginning reader is The 2 Hour Tarot Tutor. I think it's excellent for teaching you to read the cards intuitively and I wish I had found it earlier on myself.
crystal09
Just picked this up, excellent book IMO
tarotgimp
hey guys i'm sorta new here only just got my membership a few days ago and this forum is so far, amazing i've been studying tarot for about two years now so i wouldn't exactly call myself a "beginner" nor an expert by any means. anyways i just thought i would throw my two cents into the bucket here in hopes i may help someone more "new" than me and sugest the tarot workbook by nevill drury. it is the first book i ever purchased to teach myself tarot. i'll be honest i bought it because it got 5 star review on amazon and i'm so glad that i did i'm sure some of the information in the begining may be too "common sense" even for the very begining reader, obviously one would automatically assume you would need some sort of box or pouch to protect your deck, but the advice is given anyhow...the begining chapters discuss choosing a deck though i'm sure most people here have allready done that, the next few chapters go on to discuss the structure of the tarot...ie symbolism of the major arcana, numerology, and a small bit about kaballistic tarot practices (discussed further in later chapters) there are two separate chapters for the major and minor arcana with two pages for each card. first giving a brief description of the imagry (RWS deck), then upright and reversed meanings for the given card and then finishing with a "self development lesson" and as the book title sugests each card has an exercise designed to help you further your understanding of the 78 cards in the tarot...after the chapters with the card meanings there is a section for some basic (and not so basic) tarot spreads...daily card, 3 card, celtic cross spreads are all of course included as well as "the gypsy spread" which is a massive layout of 42 cards which encompass all 22 cards of the major arcana and 20 cards of the minor arcana...
anyways i hope i've helped someone in some way however small it may be without being to rediculously long winded...i'm a taurus i tend to do that quite often so i appologize in advance for all of my future posts if they may be long to read...good luck and keep learning
P.S if you want something a little easier i find mysef using "the tarot directory" by annie lionette quite often. there isn't as much information in it as the tarot workbook but it gets the job done
anyways i hope i've helped someone in some way however small it may be without being to rediculously long winded...i'm a taurus i tend to do that quite often so i appologize in advance for all of my future posts if they may be long to read...good luck and keep learning
P.S if you want something a little easier i find mysef using "the tarot directory" by annie lionette quite often. there isn't as much information in it as the tarot workbook but it gets the job done
Greg Stanton
I can't recommend just one book for a beginner. Because there are so many divergent ideas I think it helps to have 4 or 5 to draw from. Also, I can't recommend the audio book THE PROCESS highly enough.
The Mystical Origins of the Tarot by Paul Huson
The Tarot by Alfred Douglas
The Tarot Revealed OR The Complete Guide to the Tarot by Eden Gray
Learning the Tarot by Joan Bunning
I also like 78 Degrees of Wisdom by Rachel Pollack, though she sometimes sees things in the cards that I don't see at all.
For a completely different approach, try The Authentic Tarot by Thomas Saunders, one of the few books exclusively on the Marsailles tarot.
The Alfred Douglas book is out of print, but it's good for a beginner. I don't like the cards that were designed to illustrate the book, but this author has a succinct style, especially with card meanings. His words often "hit the nail on the head" while other authors seem to be floundering.
Eden Gray, after all these years, is still surprisingly useful.
Learning the Tarot is good because it makes a daunting task seem easy -- though I don't always agree with Bunning's card meanings, which often seem whitewashed.
In short, I haven't found an ideal book for a beginner. I think its a good idea to read as much as possible and then come up with your own methods and conclusions. And spend a lot of time with the cards.
The Mystical Origins of the Tarot by Paul Huson
The Tarot by Alfred Douglas
The Tarot Revealed OR The Complete Guide to the Tarot by Eden Gray
Learning the Tarot by Joan Bunning
I also like 78 Degrees of Wisdom by Rachel Pollack, though she sometimes sees things in the cards that I don't see at all.
For a completely different approach, try The Authentic Tarot by Thomas Saunders, one of the few books exclusively on the Marsailles tarot.
The Alfred Douglas book is out of print, but it's good for a beginner. I don't like the cards that were designed to illustrate the book, but this author has a succinct style, especially with card meanings. His words often "hit the nail on the head" while other authors seem to be floundering.
Eden Gray, after all these years, is still surprisingly useful.
Learning the Tarot is good because it makes a daunting task seem easy -- though I don't always agree with Bunning's card meanings, which often seem whitewashed.
In short, I haven't found an ideal book for a beginner. I think its a good idea to read as much as possible and then come up with your own methods and conclusions. And spend a lot of time with the cards.
