What are your favourite books about...

There are so many books about the tarot! I thought I'd do a little crowdsourcing and find out what some of your favourite titles are around a few topics where I'm looking to expand my knowledge (and my library).

I'm increasingly interested diving deeper into the history of tarot. I read primarily with RWS and I'm more than a complete novice with that deck. I'm also wanting to learn more about Marseilles, which I'm finding a bit challenging because a lot of what I read seems to project RWS onto it, and these two decks feel very different to me. My third interest is the Thoth and you can consider me a noob with that one.

I've been browsing the Tarot Books & Media thread, but I'd love to get your personal recommendations as well.

Cynthia Giles - Tarot: History, Mystery and Lore. Very readable and looks at every possible theory of tarot's development - with cheerful scepticism. I LOVE it ! It also has a fantastic bibliography, which has cost me heaps

Paul Huson: Mystical Origins of the Tarot: From Ancient Roots to Modern Usage

Robert Place: The Tarot: History, Symbolism & Divination

For individual traditions - we all have our preferences. For Thoth you NEED to read the Book of Thoth - but I'd take it alongside DuQuette -
Understanding Aleister Crowley's Thoth Tarot, and (for me, but not always for others) Snuffin: The Thoth Companion.


TdM is tougher; one very good one that's easily available and affordable is Lee Bursten's booklet that comes with the Lo Scarabeo deck. Other good stuff includes Yoav Ben-Dov's Tarot - The Open Reading and Jean-Michel David's Reading the Marseille Tarot.


I'll let someone else think on the Smith-Waite deck.

gregory said:

Cynthia Giles - Tarot: History, Mystery and Lore. Very readable and looks at every possible theory of tarot's development - with cheerful scepticism. I LOVE it ! It also has a fantastic bibliography, which has cost me heaps

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I see Gregory must have the same problem I do using a book's bibliography as a personal library checklist.

Now I have to go look for the Cynthia Giles book.

Another vote for Huson: essential reading. As is Jean Michel David's book. I also agree vis a vis the criminally hard to find Bursten booklet and Ben-Dov. Of the lot, Ben-Dov is the best choice for a transitional read going from RWS to TdM.

The one addition I'd make is the book A Wicked Pack of Cards. It's fairly irreverent but packed with detail. It's where I learned the De Mellet spread, which is possibly the oldest recorded tarot spread.

This book goes up to about the 19th Century. There is a sequel book which brings the history up to modern times, but I found it a much harder read, going into deep detail about the politics and infighting in the Golden Dawn. Even more than the first book, it leaves the impression that the history of tarot is strewn with charlatans and crackpots.

Also for TdM is Jodorowsky's Way of the Tarot, though I find him a little weak on history and very idiosyncratic. But it has a lot to chew on.

Hmmm

When it come to basic explanations of the Rider-Waite, and indeed, any Golden Dawn deck, I would go first to Liber Theta (pdf). It does NOT explain the RWS specifically, but rather its underlying structure and meaning. Much of it is translatable to the RWS, some isn't. It is also somewhat useful for the Thoth. It is free for download.

As for the Thoth itself, the going recommendation is Lon Milo Duquette's Understanding Aleister Crowley's Thoth Tarot. It contains everything you need to get your foot in the door with the Thoth, together with Lon's wonderful way of explaining things and his sense of humor. The best, most comprehensive Thoth book for beginners. I still refer to it now and ag again. Together with that, you can also find Aleister Crowley's Book of Thoth online and use it together with the Duquette book.

Incidentally, study of the Thoth will also open up the RWS to you, in ways you can't imagine, because they come from the same basic sources. They have a great many similarities so that your study of one will be relevant for the other (but not really the other way 'round... RWS books tend to be no good at all, for anything).

3ill.yazi said:

Even more than the first book, it leaves the impression that the history of tarot is strewn with charlatans and crackpots.

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Did you type that with a straight face? (Miss Cleo's new French Toast Crunch commercial is playing in the back of my mind....)

I use Book T (which is for the Golden Dawn Tarot and adapts easily to the Rider-Waite) and Liber Θ (a version of Book T adapted to the Thoth). The Pictorial Key to the Tarot by A. E. Waite is excellent for the discussion of Tarot history and the esoteric meaning of the Trumps, but the sections on divination are just based on traditional, intuitive interpretations, and you can do as well by using your own imagination.

If you are interested in the psychological aspect of Tarot, nothing beats the remarkable Jung and Tarot: An Archetypal Journey by Sallie Nichols. A gold mine of information, it is applicable to any Tarot deck, including the Tarot de Marseille. It is heavy reading, so take it slow, and carefully ponder each paragraph.

Most Tarot books are okay for starters, but become dispensable after awhile if you want to go deeper into Tarot history and interpretation.

Thank you, everyone. I've made notes of these titles and downloaded the two Thelema documents.

LRichard said:

Most Tarot books are okay for starters, but become dispensable after awhile if you want to go deeper into Tarot history and interpretation.

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I think this where I am at. I'm done with the beginner books, with many of the mainstream titles. It feels redundant. Time to dig deeper.

hi RiotFemme
I know you asked for books but you might like to check out this website.
http://www.fourhares.com/
lyn
(another Melbournian)

Lunalyn said:

hi RiotFemme
I know you asked for books but you might like to check out this website.
http://www.fourhares.com/
lyn
(another Melbournian)

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Thanks for that! I actually had the pleasure of meeting jmd for coffee and got myself a copy of his excellent Marseille book.