An interesting book suggestion

I'm sure a few of you have read this book.

The other day I was browsing in my local bookshop and found The Magical World of the Tarot - Fourfold Mirror of the Universe by Gareth Knight (ISBN 0-85030-940-9). I think he wrote a book previous to this one called The Magical Tarot, anyhow I know this is not the same one.

It is a very interesting book. In it he encourages you to approach the cards on an intuitive level. It is broken down into 9 detailed lessons and he often refers to different decks such as the Marseilles, Visconti, Grimaud etc.

Reading this book has made me see the Tarot in a different light even those which I always thought of as just simple artwork like those I mentioned above.

He has meditations, lengthy discussions on the arcanas and a refreshing approach to Tarot which I have not seen in any other author. Most books seem to run through the "meanings" of every card and then introduce various spreads, but Mr Knight suggests "..... there is no need for lengthy attempts at learning lists of meanings off by heart, or to adopt crude methods such as writing potted meanings or key-words on each card. All that is needed is the proper use of the creative imagination. The true use of your imagination is indeed the royal road to successful divination..." (lesson two page 39 The Next Step)

Has anyone else read this book?

I have not read it - but I admit, I'm intrigued. Off to go and check Amazon out.

Starfish

MystiqueMoonlight said:

Mr Knight suggests "..... All that is needed is the proper use of the creative imagination. The true use of your imagination is indeed the royal road to successful divination..."

Has anyone else read this book?

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NOPE, want to now....
as Mr.Kight suggests, this is why I love my Legends deck so much. Knowing the King Arthur stories, the very basics of tarot, and my artistic eye, meaning comes easy. I can "see"(& feel) what the cards are saying.

Mystique: I have read up to about Lesson 7.
I like Gareth Knight's approach as it encourages a thoughtful, reflective process of learning. Real learning is through realization/assimilation of concepts rather than what usually amounts to memorization of other people's meanings. Whilst there is nothing wrong with reading the views of others, it can result in pre-empting the potential for one's own perceptions.

Interesting that you mention Knight's The Magical World of the Tarot - Fourfold Mirror of the Universe only the day after I referred to it (but only naming its author) in a post on card X in the Marseilles Decks Study Group section.

I personally think it is one of those rare books which manages to look, and seek to understand, the 'being of Tarot' in an original way. I do not agree with everything Knight writes, but what he writes is worth serious consideration.

MeeWah said:

Mystique: I have read up to about Lesson 7.
I like Gareth Knight's approach as it encourages a thoughtful, reflective process of learning. Real learning is through realization/assimilation of concepts rather than what usually amounts to memorization of other people's meanings. Whilst there is nothing wrong with reading the views of others, it can result in pre-empting the potential for one's own perceptions.

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Yes yes this is exactly my point in earlier discussions this year.

Sure I don't know if everything in this book is for me, but it certainly does approach the Tarot in a way which IMO is far more intuitive rather than academic. Isn't that what the Tarot is all about?

I have this book, but I haven't looked at it in a while. I'm getting it out again, because I really would like to work with non-illustrated-pip decks, and am floundering around trying to find the best way of doing it. In this book Knight prefers the non-illustrated, and he recommends we should create a mental picture for each pip card based on the number-suit combination, although he's also influenced by the Golden Dawn meanings.

-- Lee