🔮🔮🔮/5!
“Lay your future out before you with tarot cards. Once you know how to interpret them, you can understand yourself and others better and be able to accurately predict what’s going to happen in the future.
This is an accessible and easy guide that teaches you how to use the tarot. Fenton’s guidelines combined with the reader’s intuition makes using the cards easy and fun. She provides the meaning of each card and suggestions for spreads that can be used for a variety of purposes—from focusing on the consequences of a particular situation to resolving a particular question to providing clarity on personal relationships. She also shows us how to link the cards together in a life narrative. ” – Red Wheel/Weiser Books
This book has an awesome cover design, is easy to read and understand for any skill level, and has just about everything you need to know to read tarot…. if you already read tarot. As useful as I found the info in the book, I kept thinking “I wouldn’t give this to a beginner”.
The book is divided into three parts, plus an appendix full of quick one line explanations of all the cards for reference in a pinch, which rocks. In part one the author talks a bit about the history of tarot, the basics of reading tarot, how it actually works and how to acquire your own deck, and then outlines the make up of a tarot deck and talks about the Major and Minor Arcana. So far so good, but even in this first part I felt that something was missing.
Part Two was exactly what you’d expect – a write-up for each individual card with an example from the Rider Waite – and I loved her format for the majors! I like tarot books with lots of details about each card, but with obvious key themes and ideas and meanings pointed out right away. She also explains the meaning of the card reversals and some additional thoughts of her own about each card. Again, the writing was really clear and easy for anyone to understand.
This is when I realized what was missing. This is, by far, the least spiritual sounding book about tarot I have ever read. It is practical and relates the cards to real life situations so well, that it’s nearly to a fault. This is really just a matter of opinion and personal practice than an issue with the book, honestly. I use tarot cards as a spiritual tool, as well as one to help with guidance for my actual life. Spirituality IS my actual life, you know?
I tried to use the book to read for myself and my readings fell very short. That being said, reading for other people is an entirely different experience! If you’re looking to start reading tarot professionally, or for the average person this book will be your best friend. I’ve often struggled to read for strangers because the average person doesn’t want WOO metaphysical advice even from a tarot reader, they want something practical they can understand. This book gives you those important real-world meanings and situations you’d need to read professionally.
The book also gives you a bunch of really cool spreads, and explains how to determine timing from the cards during readings. The author refers to the person you’re reading for as the “client” throughout the book, and the appendix is super easy to check either by card OR by meaning. I would recommend this book to anyone who’s looking to go pro, or maybe bring their readings out of the spiritual just a bit for the muggles in their life.
Thanks to Weiser Books for sending me a copy to review!
Ever wondered what my crystal ball rating system actually means?
The Fat Feminist Witch Rating System:
🔮🔮🔮🔮🔮- I literally cannot live without it now
🔮🔮🔮🔮 – YASS
🔮🔮🔮 – It’s good, but it’s not for me
🔮🔮 – Nah
🔮 – I’m literally angry this even exists
