"Required" reading?

DeLightFull

If you had to recommend a couple books to someone who wasn't new to tarot but really wanted to deepen their understanding, which books would you choose?

I've sifted through lots of info here and on Amazon and I'm just overwhelmed by the choices. I've worked with one deck of cards (Motherpeace) for many years so I know the basics but now I'm ready to take it to the next level. Maybe I'm having a hard time finding something that suits me because in many ways I'm a beginner but I'm also looking for something that will challenge and stretch me a little bit.

Thanks in advance!!! I'm open to all thoughts and suggestions.
 

cardlady22

It would help me if I knew a bit more about you and/or how you have approached reading and learning up until now.

Robert Place's The Tarot: History, Symbolism, and Divination helped me get rid of the misconceptions I had about tarot.
 

Greg Stanton

I second the Robert Place book.

Also, Paul Huson's Mystical Origins of the Tarot
 

philebus

While our knowledge of tarot's history has grown a little since this was published, it remains the most comprehnsive book on the subject and well worth reading. Despite the title, it takes a much broader view of the cards, with chapters on occult history and the order of the trumps.

The Game of Tarot by Michael Dummett (Duckworth 1980)
 

DeLightFull

These both look promising, thanks for the replies.
 

rachelcat

Yes, the Place and Huson. (And once you read the Huson, you'll "need" to get Dame Fortune's Wheel :).)

I'd like to add Tarot Decoded by Elizabeth Hazel for tarot-and-astrology
and
Tarot Handbook by Naomi Ozaniec for tarot-and-kabbalah. (This one has been published under several different names: Watkins Tarot Handbook, Element Tarot Handbook, Illustrated Guide to Tarot.)

These were helpful intermediate books for me.

(If you only get one, get the Place!)
 

Umbrae

A Wicked Pack of Cards

History of the Occulst Tarot

Decker Dummett et al
 

ghost271

Paul Fenton-Smith ' The Tarot Revealed' That one is my Bible.
 

Basic Elements

Paul Foster Case's "The Tarot" is THE book for the major arcana.
 

Greg Stanton

I agree with Umbrae — these two books, which should be considered as a set, should be required reading. They are written by historical scholars, not occultists (certainly not scholars sympathetic to occult ideas).

So, if you are at all "mystically" inclined, these books will either piss you off, or possibly set you straight. The first, particularly, has some rather harsh words for still commonly-accepted occult ideas about Tarot. The second volume is slightly kinder. People like Levi — whose ideas formed much of the philosophic framework of the Golden Dawn, not to mention conspiracy theorists — come off as starry-eyed dolts. Of course, the Golden Dawn and its members are portrayed (not as forcefully as I would have liked) as squabbling children.

Both of these books are completely engrossing and well-worth the money.