Inspiring Books

MeeWah

"The Sacred Tarot Unveiled" by Allyson Walsh has my vote as an inspirational book on the subject of Tarot. The reasons are given in Tarotbear's thread: "The Sacred Tarot Unveiled" book review on this forum.
"The Tarot of the Bohemians" by Papus is another. Although the language is a wee archaic & I do not understand the material as well, it includes the teachings of the Western Mystery School associated with the members of the Golden Dawn.
 

jmd

MeeWah
"The Tarot of the Bohemians" by Papus is another.

... it includes the teachings of the Western Mystery School associated with the members of the Golden Dawn.

MeeWah, I too find this book incredibly inspiring... and it certainly contains material of the Western Mystery Schools... but those associated with the Continental based Kabbalistic Order of the Rose Cross (OKRC), not the Golden Dawn (GD).

With regards to Tarot, the two were at variance: The GD placed all of the Major Arcana on the so-called paths of the Qabalistic Tree of Life, approximately in order of emanation, and starting with the Fool as zero, whereas the OKRC did not (though it did link the Hebrew letters with the cards), and ordered the cards in the traditional order of the Magician as beginning the series, placing the Fool between XX and XXI (as Waite also did in his book, incidently). The OKRC's work I find more complex than the GD's, though as enriching.

If you found Papus's book inspiring, you may wish to also have a look at (the equally complex) Mouni Saddhu's The Tarot.
 

truthsayer

the book that has inspired me the longest has been mary k. greer's "tarot for yourself". i've used it since 1985. i can't say as much for my other tarot books. however, i acquired a couple of eden gray's books in the late seventies that made a huge impact on me since they were the only books on tarot i could find at the time. the book i acquired in the past year that i find most inspiring is "tarot and the journey of the hero" by hajo banzhaf. i plan to get his book on the thoth deck as soon as i can. however before banzhaf wrote his book on the hero's journey i read 2 nontarot books that inspired me about the tarot--"the power of myth" by bill moyers and joseph campbell. the other is carl jung's autobiography "memories, dreams, and reflections". i think have the title right. i read these in 1994. while the tarot isn't directly mentioned in either book, these books helped mold me into the type of taroist i am today. i believe campbell and jung helped inspire banzhoff's book b/c i can see so much of both of these men in "the journey of the hero".
 

MeeWah

JMD: I *knew* something was off in my post--that will teach me to not to do too many things at one time! Thank you for pointing out the differences.
Also, thank you for the book recommendation; I've not come across it that I know of but will keep it in mind.
Another inspiring book that relates to Tarot is "The Secret Teachings of All Ages" by Manley P. Hall. It is subtitled as "An Encyclopedic Outline of Masonic, Hermetic, Qabbalistic and Rosicrucian Symbolical Philosophy". One that qualifies as a "tome", it's like reading an encyclopedia! Sort of like reading "Tarot of the Bohemians", only more so, if that is possible.
 

Red Emma

My favorite tarot tome isn't actually a book, but a CD Rom, "Interpreting Tarot, Reading the Book of Life," by Rebecca Brents. It's a program she developed as lessons for the tarot classes she gives on her web site, "Enchanted Spirit." I'm not especially graphics savvy (give me words every time) in that I don't pick up the meaning of cards from their pictures and symbols. Rebecca's product was just made for people like me. (She's also a very wise and delightful person.)

I also like "Motherpeace, A Way to the Goddess," by Vicki Noble, as well as her "Making Ritual with Motherpeace Cards."