Most helpful books for beginners in your opinion?

i'm late to this thread , but im sure both of these have been mentioned but i give praise to Tarot Plain and Simple By Anthony louis and Power Tarot By Macgregor and Vega.

got one more for ya. I don't know if this would necesarily be concidered a "beginner" book (it's got some seriously heavy material in certain sections) but I just purchased this one not too long ago and it's pretty amazing. Tarot Theory and Practice by Ly de Angeles. i beleive someone started a thread about this book specifically. It's definitely worth the time and effort. Like Nevill's book it's a "workbook" not something you just keep on a shelf for card reference (allthough parts of it are that too). Good luck in your journey of learning the tarot. as ly would put it, See you on the other side

tarot gimp

-blessed be

What a great thread! I was able to locate the 2 hour Tarot Tutor at a library about an hour away and I'm going to get it tomorrow.
Ann

Grizabella said:

If you find that you're way off from what the deck creator meant with the card, go with your own definition first. It's what you see in each card that matters because that's what the card will say to you when you see it in a spread. Your goal is to be able to "hear" what the cards are saying to you so you can weave a story/reading out of it when you see it in a spread. You don't want to have to be searching around in your head trying to find what the book said. And don't let yourself get stuck thinking that a card is going to say the same thing every time you see it, either. Context will change it every time.

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That is what I have found since starting with Tarot. eg the Lovers can come up in a spread where the querent is asking about money matters or health and it can then be read differently each time.

marimorimo said:

My very first tarot book was Joan Bunning's "Learning the Tarot." I highly recommend it, and it seems to be a very popular book based on previous posts. I checked out every single Tarot-related book in the bookstore (including The 2-hour tarot tutor), but this one stood out as being the best for my needs at that time. Another book that I think is very helpful is James Riclef's "Tarot Tells the Tale." I think it is a very good complement to any other basic tarot book. I wish I had bought "Tarot Tells the Tale" earlier!

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That was my first too. Now I just bought The Tarot Bible by Sarah Bartlett.

Grizabella said:

My most important piece of advice is this----read the cards! Don't read a lot of books! What's important is what the cards say to you, not stuffing your head with what the cards say to other people.

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Thank you so much for this. I have just started and we don't have a large collection of books in our bookstores and for me I have to have a good feel from the book, so I am not too keen to buy it online. Sounds ridiculous I know but I am trying to pay attention to my feelings.

I am learning so much from this site and from the info sections. I have bought a basic book that I am going through step by step but I am trying very hard to not be logical about the cards, and not to try and desperately repeat what I read but to reflect on my gut feel from each one.