Books We Actually Use

Barleywine

Most of us buy tarot books (a few or a lot) along with our tarot decks. Quite a few of those are read cover-to-cover, others until we can't stand any more, and then they go back on the shelf to gather dust. A much smaller number become constant companions in our daily practice. Even if we no longer need books to successfully work our way through an interpretation, they can still be worthwhile sources of inspiration, a way to "jump-start" our intuition when the card images aren't enough.

I'm curious which books (if any) you find indispensible on a routine basis. I have several but I'm interested in gathering a few more worthy ones. I've read many of the threads on "best beginner" books, but I'm really after the "most useful" as a reference work, the way one would use a dictionary or (especially) a thesaurus.

Presently, the books I keep close at hand are:

For more general use -

The Tarot Revealed, Eden Gray (best of the three)
Mastering the Tarot, Eden Gray (lesser of the three)
A Complete Guide to the Tarot, Eden Gray (least of the three)
A Description of the Cards of the Tarot (Equinox Vol. 1, No. 8), Aleister Crowley
The Magickal Tarot, Tony Willis
Keywords for the Crowley Tarot, Banzhaf & Theler
The Pictorial Key to the Tarot, A.E. Waite (when I'm feeling overheated and need a dash of cold water in the face)
A Guide to Tarot Card Meanings (Kindle edition), Mark McElroty

For deeper inspiration -

The Book of Thoth, Aleister Crowley
The Tarot, Paul Foster Case
The Qabalistic Tarot, Robert Wang
The Complete Golden Dawn System of Tarot (Vol. 9 of The Complete Golden Dawn System of Magic [Golden Dawn papers with commentary]), Israel Regardie
Liber Theta, James Eshelman (who desribes it thus: "Liber Theta is my rewrite and expansion of the Golden Dawn's Second Order document Book T").

Future possibilities -
Both of the Anthony Louis books
A couple of Mary K. Greer's
Possibly Liz Dean's "Ultimate Guide to the Tarot" (the buzz seems positive)
 

Disa

The book I use the most is Power Tarot.
 

Barleywine

The book I use the most is Power Tarot.

Thanks for the reply. Power Tarot appears to be a book of spreads. Is that the right one?
 

Disa

Thanks for the reply. Power Tarot appears to be a book of spreads. Is that the right one?

Yep. It is.

Edited to add: The thing I like the most about this book, aside from the spreads is the way it gives alternate meanings for cards. For example- instead of cups only pertaining to romance, relationships, or feelings, the book gives ideas about what ANY card could mean in all areas including: Work, romance, finances, health, spirituality, and empowerment.

I don't use books much anymore, but if I'm stumped about how a cup can work in a finance position, it's a good reference for me.
 

rwcarter

Tarot Plain and Simple by Anthony Louis for when I'm stuck on interpretations/feel like I need a different interpretation.
 

Amanda

Tarot Plain and Simple by Anthony Louis for when I'm stuck on interpretations/feel like I need a different interpretation.

Yep :thumbsup: Mary Greer mentioned Louis has one for Lenormand as well, so I might have to check that out.

The book I use the most is Power Tarot.

Yep, I had that one too! :) I paid attention to the card interpretations when I was first learning, but the spreads are really what I was after since Louis's book was my go-to. Since I joined AT, I didn't have much need for Power Tarot with the huge spreads index here... but it's good!
 

katey

My favourite is The Tarot Revealed by Paul Fenton-Smith. I just 'get' his approach to the cards so easily and it's the first I reach for in a pinch. I do like checking in with The Pictorial Key to the Tarot by Waite, too.

ETA: For something a bit different, I'm really enjoying Tarot Tells the Tale by Ricklef.
 

thorhammer

katey - I love Ricklef's TTTT! I was going to mention it first!

I also get a heck of a lot out of Hughes-Barlow's Tarot and the Magus. It's so dense, a paragraph at a time is quite enough but it's so valuable.

I also loved Linda Marson's Tickets, Passport and Tarot Cards. It's a lot of fun and I can't recommend it highly enough.
 

Samweiss

If I need to check up something, I usually pick up either Book of Thoth or Tarot: A Key to the Wisdom of the Ages by Paul Foster Case.

I'd like to get a copy of Wang's Qabalistic Tarot, but each time I've put an order the store hasn't been able to get one from the supplier. Oh well, maybe some day.
 

Disa

Oh, yeah! Love Tarot Tells the Tale by Ricklef.