Tarot Made Easy by Nancy Garen

I see you're getting there ! This was the first forum I ever joined. As you see, I learned fast....

You've till the 9th, I think, to sign up... Get posting ! You can join in some of the game threads..... things like the name game are fast and furious - and up your post count at the rate of knots....

No offense to Nancy Garen or anyone who adores this book, but I find it to be perfectly useless. The meanings don't lead to anything or make sense. They don't add to an overview of a "whole" card.

It's a book that helps you create a horoscope basically. I got a copy as a gift, from a boyfriend who really didn't understand my Tarot reading. Still have it, as I don't tend to give things away, and I have a new habit of using it for that purpose (all 32 card positions + 1 month overview card draw, which I just read and ignore the book) and I write a little paragraph that's a horoscope. It's usually 'right enough' but also 'vague enough.' It's never very insightful, but I find it fun to copy and paste it all together. I think, "Hey! This is like what the computer generated Tarot does!"

If you're truly trying to learn the cards, though, I'd think this would only confuse matters.

I think the best way to learn the cards is Top-Down, holistically. Learn the card, then apply it to the situation. This is a quick-fix book. Hard to learn much there, especially if you don't know the cards that well. (And some of the interpretations are, IMO, downright weird. But that's fine when you have a foundation---it challenges you, which makes you stronger.)

Many thanks berrieh for that honest and thought provoking opinion.

This is exactly what I want to know. Experienced readers opinions.

The general focus category of each card look as if they could be useful, as they tally up with the general meanings of the cards as stated in other books I have read. So if I was going to use this book at all, then maybe just this section could be useful. But I am trying to learn the cards, one by one. Hopefully one day I will be as good as some of you guys, and not need a book at all. LOL.

Still interested if anyone else out there has read this book, and their thoughts on it.

Anyone?

xxx

Yes I have this book when I first started reading the Tarot and didnt trust my intuition (divorce too!) The funny thing is I just got this book out again yesterday to have another look at it and I agree its useless! BUT she does have a companion book called The Tarot according to you and basicly its in the same format as Tarot made easy but asks you what you feel about the particular card your looking at and you jot down what you feel the card means to you it sort of jumps starts you into trusting your intuition so my advice is use the book until you are more sure of your abilitys as its quiet fun to go back on it later and think god that card so does not mean that to me!
I have some books I use quiet regulary Tarot for the green witch by Anne Moura, Time Tarot by Alarnah Tobin Gray & Lyle Wentworth, Tarot Decoder by Kathleen McCormack thats a good one it tells you what every card in the Tarot means in each position it may turn up in of the Celtic Cross spread great for beginers! And of course The complete idiots guide to Tarot and fortune-telling by Arlene Tognetti & Lisa Lenard, these are a few of the books I have in my bookshelf but I think these are the best ones for when you are starting out. Good Luck!

Thank you Tarotlova,

I think this afternoon I shall scour ebay and amazon, and look for some of the books you have recommended. I am glad that I enjoy reading so much, and now that the weather is turning colder this is a very good time to learn!

xxx

I haven't looked at it yet; I just bought it because it was lying there very cheap and said "buy me" so I did.... I may regret it....

But I say again - join the intuitive circles ! You have only another 6 posts to make to qualify, and 5 days (I think) to do it in ! It is IMHO the BEST way to learn the cards because you HAVE to really look at them, if you can't use anything else. And a lot of people have found themselves seeing elements that they never saw before even when reading regularly with a deck and using generic meanings....

I am getting there, aren't I. Not many more posts to go, maybe by the end of today I will have enough. I keep nipping back to the computer inbetween, ironing, feeding the troops and making beef stew for tea!

Way to go. See you there, I feel SURE

I like Alfred Douglas' book, myself. Penguin, recently reissued. It was my first And he is a member here and will answer questions.

The BEST IMHO is Paul Huson: Mystical Origins of the Tarot - but it isn't so much of a reading book as some

OOH - 21 ways to Read a Tarot Card was just up for trade here..... (It's gone now...) That's EXCELLENT !

If you're looking for other books... For beginner books... I think if you really need a "reference" book as a foundation and nothing more, I rather like:

"The Tarot Bible" by Sarah Bartlett (it's more like a "Tarot Dictionary" than a "Tarot Bible" IMO, but it has all the card interpretations in *paragraph format* -- something which I feel is very important, as I feel snippets and keywords are really bad influences on a new reader -- and pictures of the Universal Tarot on every card page, as well as a host of stuff about How to Read, Spreads, etc). I bought this for my friend for Christmas, and she's been doing well with it.

There's also some merit to "Simple Fortunetelling with Tarot Cards" by Corrine Kenner. Again, it displays cards (though not in color like the Tarot Bible) and shows 3 sets of cards and describes them, along with paragraph-style. It has astrological and numerological information, too, but not in depth. It's a bit thin for an only reference, though. The same friend had purchased that one on her own, and I rather liked it when I flipped through it.

www.learntarot.com is also a great resource. I'm not sure about the book itself. I think the exercises are better than the information, which is sort of phrase/keyword based.

Once you get a little more adept, I rather like "Tarot for Yourself" by Mary Greer. A lot of Greer's books are "beyond the beginner" but I think this one works at every skill level, and it helps take you to higher skill levels. (I would save 21 Ways to Read a Tarot Card till you're a little more comfortable, but it's also very good.)

Also, just buying decks that come with good books always helps. I find some of my deck books to be some of my favorites (my Jane Austen Tarot companion book, my Fairytale Deck companion book, and the Llewellyn book are all great wells of inspiration, and The Book of Thoth really took me to a new level when I first read it---though if you're working with a RWS style deck, that's a bit of a tangent...but it might be a different deck book for you; I think those often 'spark' the most 'a ha!' moments, though, because they actually interact with the deck).

Personally, I would stay away from: Books with too many keywords. Books that focus on what a card means in a position. (Until you are very comfortable knowing what the whole card means and its entire spectrum in the first place.) Books that focus on a particular spread, especially the Celtic Cross. The latter 2 things aren't bad in general, but they just seem like 'skipping a step' if you don't know your cards well yet. I think before we can learn what cards mean in a Spread, we have to learn the cards and Spreads separately. Maybe just me.

Hi berrieh,

I picked up the Tarot Bible in Waterstones just before Christmas. But at the time I couldn't spare the £12.99 cost, but it is definately on my list of books to get.

I have been on the learntarot.com web site, and did find this very informative. It's in my favourites. I do keep revisiting.

I have the Mary K Greer book "The Complete Book of Tarot Reversals" which I must admit I look at the most. This book I DO like. I would be very happy to purchase more of her books.

Also I have on order, Aleister Crowley Thoth Tarot Deck and accompanying Companion, should arrive anyday. With sooo many books around its just a case of sifting out the most useful. I was doing the celtic cross spread quite a bit, but have decided that I prefer just a simple 3 card spread, on occasion a 7 card horseshoe. But I am trying to stay away from anything too complicated, just for now.

Many thanks.

xxx