I've got and have read all of the books on your list expect The Pictorial Key by A.E. Waite. There are many other tarot books I enjoy such as Tarot for Change by Jessica Dore, but my favourite and the most Jungian one I know of for all 78 cards is Spiritual Tarot: Seventy-Eight Paths to Personal Development by Signe Echols and other authors. It compares RWS, Aquarian and Morgan Greer symbolism and, a favourite part, is that it provides actions for each card and excellent discussion of shadow. It was published in 1996, is inexpensive ($20 Cdn) and as far as I'm concerned is a hidden treasure.
Hi Alyssa, I haven't read any of the books on your listen. My Tarot journey began 35 years ago, when I was introduced to the Motherpeace Deck by Vicki Noble, which I still really love. Three years ago, I came across the Sufi Tarot, from Ayeda Husain. This is the deck I work with now. I love the images, the guidebook, the mystical sybolism, and the bridging between East and West. I look forward to your upcoming workshop, although once again, I will unfortunately not be able to attend live.
Oh gosh, I read them how ever they come up...upright, reversed, tilting to the right, or tilting to the left. That's the fun part about round cards....
Thank you for this starting list! I have not read any, so I am making preparations to begin! I want to make this a year of deep study. As for future subjects, I want to learn more about symbols/mythologies/fairy tales so that I have them floating around in my head for my dreamwork. At some point I want to also explore alchemy - really don't know what it is or what it involves. But right now I am focusing on building my tarot knowledge and practice and my dreamwork. Thx Alyssa :)
This is really helpful. I just last year picked up and read 78 Degrees of Wisdom, and will definitely be reading it again. I started out with tge Thoth/Crowley deck in my 20s and used Angeles Arrien's (sp?) The Tarot Workbook. That was ready stuff, but I really got into it.
I just recently decided to learn the Smith-Waite cards, as they are very grounding and deep. I find them to be very on-topic, and will be exploring them more often. Abook I really love--forgot to mention above--is Jana Riley's The Tatot Book. Basic and geared towards Thoth, I've read this several times since tge 1990s.
I'm familiar with The Tarot Workbook, it's really good!!
Is it confusing switching over to the RWS cards after working with Thoth for so long? They're so different, complementary, but do have some very big differences.
They're definitely less complicated looking from the Thoth cards on the surface. I read several books about them before deciding to get myself a deck. Honestly it's been awhile since I got out of the habit of doing card pulls, so at this point I'd have to study Thoth before jumping back into it. (Getting back into the cards is one of my goals this year).
The intuitive ease and simplicity of the RWS is partly why I recommend it as a beginners deck. But some just resonate more with Crowley's deck, understandably...it's beautiful and provocative!
Hi Alyssa,
I've got and have read all of the books on your list expect The Pictorial Key by A.E. Waite. There are many other tarot books I enjoy such as Tarot for Change by Jessica Dore, but my favourite and the most Jungian one I know of for all 78 cards is Spiritual Tarot: Seventy-Eight Paths to Personal Development by Signe Echols and other authors. It compares RWS, Aquarian and Morgan Greer symbolism and, a favourite part, is that it provides actions for each card and excellent discussion of shadow. It was published in 1996, is inexpensive ($20 Cdn) and as far as I'm concerned is a hidden treasure.
I need to pick up that book, sounds great. I’m a big fan of the Aquarian Tarot but haven’t seen any books that cover it.
Hi Alyssa, I haven't read any of the books on your listen. My Tarot journey began 35 years ago, when I was introduced to the Motherpeace Deck by Vicki Noble, which I still really love. Three years ago, I came across the Sufi Tarot, from Ayeda Husain. This is the deck I work with now. I love the images, the guidebook, the mystical sybolism, and the bridging between East and West. I look forward to your upcoming workshop, although once again, I will unfortunately not be able to attend live.
Motherpeace is such a unique deck. Reading circular cards is fascinating. Do you read them upright/reversed?
Oh gosh, I read them how ever they come up...upright, reversed, tilting to the right, or tilting to the left. That's the fun part about round cards....
That does sound like a lot of fun! So many creative interpretations can arise from that. I've never read with round cards but now I'm intrigued...!
Thank you for this starting list! I have not read any, so I am making preparations to begin! I want to make this a year of deep study. As for future subjects, I want to learn more about symbols/mythologies/fairy tales so that I have them floating around in my head for my dreamwork. At some point I want to also explore alchemy - really don't know what it is or what it involves. But right now I am focusing on building my tarot knowledge and practice and my dreamwork. Thx Alyssa :)
Which deck are you working with currently?
Rider Waite
Great!! These books will be perfect then :)
This is really helpful. I just last year picked up and read 78 Degrees of Wisdom, and will definitely be reading it again. I started out with tge Thoth/Crowley deck in my 20s and used Angeles Arrien's (sp?) The Tarot Workbook. That was ready stuff, but I really got into it.
I just recently decided to learn the Smith-Waite cards, as they are very grounding and deep. I find them to be very on-topic, and will be exploring them more often. Abook I really love--forgot to mention above--is Jana Riley's The Tatot Book. Basic and geared towards Thoth, I've read this several times since tge 1990s.
I'm familiar with The Tarot Workbook, it's really good!!
Is it confusing switching over to the RWS cards after working with Thoth for so long? They're so different, complementary, but do have some very big differences.
They're definitely less complicated looking from the Thoth cards on the surface. I read several books about them before deciding to get myself a deck. Honestly it's been awhile since I got out of the habit of doing card pulls, so at this point I'd have to study Thoth before jumping back into it. (Getting back into the cards is one of my goals this year).
The intuitive ease and simplicity of the RWS is partly why I recommend it as a beginners deck. But some just resonate more with Crowley's deck, understandably...it's beautiful and provocative!
Ugh! Typos. Obviously I mean The Tarot not Tatot. Tarot+tater tots? 🤣