Tarot deck/book suggestion

ezza · Post by **ezza** » Thu Apr 14, 2011 2:34 pm

Hi All..
I was wondering is anyone can help me with choosing a Tarot book/deck? I wanted to buy one to start practicing, but so many options out there and I was hoping maybe someone has an advice for me?
Thanks!!
E.

cedars · Post by **cedars** » Thu Apr 14, 2011 5:00 pm

The best deck to start with - in my opinion - is the Rider Waite. Most tarot decks are based on the Rider Waite graphics and artwork.
I am afraid the booklet that comes with the deck is not very helpful.

There is a tutorial going on on this site under Tarot Discussions and Tarot Lessons. Have a read through the pages and, indeed, join the course if you like.

All the best and do come back with your questions and queries. There will always be someone who will be able to help.

enumero123 · Post by **enumero123** » Thu Apr 14, 2011 5:19 pm

in reference to books,  do you have a local library? here where i live we have seven branches  , and one is able to check out up to (100 book items) at any given time  and keep them up two 9 weeks with INTERNET date every three weeks ( local search on-line at the library   gives me 85 resources )  just a thought .....and its free .............

enumero123 · Post by **enumero123** » Thu Apr 14, 2011 5:31 pm

lol dont have a clue were to start  

Palms & runes, tarot & tea [sound recording] : a Michael Penn collection / Michael Penn

Tarot for the curious spirit : awakening the high priestess within / Barbara Venn-Lever

Tarot masterclass / Paul Fenton-Smith

The tarot : history, symbolism, and divination / Robert M. Place

The complete tarot reader : everyting you need to know from start to finish / Teresa C. Michelsen

Simply tarot / Leanna Greenaway

The 2-hour tarot tutor : the fast, revolutionary method for learning to read tarot cards in two hours without memorizing meanings! / Wilma Carroll

Tarot : get the whole story : use, create & interpret Tarot spreads / James Ricklef

Tarot for love & relationships / Eleonore Jacobi

Tarot & dream interpretation / Julie Gillentine ; foreword by Rachel Pollack

Everyday tarot magic : meditation & spells / Dorothy Morrison

Tarot for the healing heart : using inner wisdom to heal body and mind / Christine Jette

The tarot spellcaster : over 40 spells to enhance your life with the power of tarot magic / Terry Donaldson

Tarot companion : an essential reference guide / Tracy Porter

The elemental tarot / Caroline Smith and John Astrop

ezza · Post by **ezza** » Thu Apr 14, 2011 6:03 pm

thank you cedars and enumero for your suggestions.. I am definitely going to check out the library first.. I always like to try out the books before buying them..specially with the long list emunero provided me with!! lol
I will start with the deck and see how that feels...maybe I can offer some readings here soon!
Cheers,
E.

cedars · Post by **cedars** » Thu Apr 14, 2011 6:43 pm

You are welcome and we look forward to seeing you here soon!

George · Post by **George** » Fri Apr 15, 2011 8:04 pm

ezza wrote:Hi All..
I was wondering is anyone can help me with choosing a Tarot book/deck? I wanted to buy one to start practicing, but so many options out there and I was hoping maybe someone has an advice for me?
Thanks!!
E.

Like Cedars i find the Rider Waite deck to be very good and that was the one i learned how to read Tarot. i have a Santa Fe deck, that was my first deck, and the images are just impossible to read and understand because of the Indian style art work.  Just didn't say anything to me and i liked Indian folk lore and art work which is why i bought the deck.  My point is to choose a deck that moves you and try your best before buying to check out what most of the deck looks like so you don't get a deck that you can't read.  
I let the image of the cards tell a story and if the (images) are to abstracted you'll never see the story.   Plus start trusting your intuition when reading the cards that the main part about reading the cards that you intuition helps you tell a story about what the images of the cards are trying to tell you.
also don't worry to much about what a book says the cards mean.  you can get really lost and over whelmed doing that because it seems like so much to learn and think about.  i know when i got my RW deck i tried using the book and most of i just couldn't remember it.  then i learned to read the cards by going what i felt (intuition) cards were telling me and the images were trying to tell me.

ezza · Post by **ezza** » Wed May 04, 2011 1:25 pm

Hi George, thank you for the advice! I received my deck yesterday and I like it a lot.. the images speak volumes to me when I take the time to look at them.. I did some practice readings and to be honest with you I felt overwhelmed! I kept going back to the booklet to read the meaning and to try to put it in contest.. it was very hard and frustrating.. but I see now that I went about it the wrong way.. I will try again tonight and not look at the meaning of the cards in the booklet until I already had a sense of what the card says.. I am still going to get some books to read for fun and to help develop my intuition... Thanks again for your insight! much appreciated!
Cedars, I think it will be a while before I can offer any readings..lol practice practice practice!! :o)

cedars · Post by **cedars** » Wed May 04, 2011 1:45 pm

Oh, Ezza, none of us started giving readings from the first day.
You are doing the right thing; both book and intuuition and what the story tells you will help you connect with the cards.
all the best and remember we are always here to help.

By the way what deck did you buy? Rider Waite?

ezza · Post by **ezza** » Wed May 04, 2011 2:48 pm

I followed your advice and that's the one I bought.. I researched it and it is the one that I've seen the most. Also, I read about Pamela Colman Smith.. interesting story! Thanks for the recommendation Cedars!

George · Post by **George** » Thu May 05, 2011 11:31 pm

ezza wrote:Hi George, thank you for the advice! I received my deck yesterday and I like it a lot.. the images speak volumes to me when I take the time to look at them.. I did some practice readings and to be honest with you I felt overwhelmed! I kept going back to the booklet to read the meaning and to try to put it in contest.. it was very hard and frustrating.. but I see now that I went about it the wrong way.. I will try again tonight and not look at the meaning of the cards in the booklet until I already had a sense of what the card says.. I am still going to get some books to read for fun and to help develop my intuition... Thanks again for your insight! much appreciated!
Cedars, I think it will be a while before I can offer any readings..lol practice practice practice!! :o)

WOW, the positive energy coming from your response which is probably what drew me to check the board today considering how busy i was and most lily would have forgotten to check!
Sense you are reading the RW deck try to get a book that explains the meaning of the images on the cards. I have a book that does that and it was so helpful for a deeper understanding what the cards mean and are trying to stay.  for instance, The High Priestess sits between two pillars. "The black pillar is Boaz, the negative life principle. The white one is Jankin, the positive life principle. (these are the names of pillars in front of Solomon's temple". Her "...veil is decorated with palms, which symbolize the male, and pomegranates, which symbolize the female." etc.  I felt lucky to find the book i have although for some very odd reasons it left on the meaning of The Devil (which is very annoying) but other then that the book as been very helpful in understand all the stuff going on in the cards.
good luck!

ezza · Post by **ezza** » Fri May 06, 2011 12:54 pm

Hi George! My turn to say WOW! I did a 3-card reading this morning for myself about a job application that I aching to hear from and the outcome was the high priestess (context was ace of swords, focus was the moon).. and for some reason I did not get anything from the card.. I just felt this weird block and nothing.. so I put everything away thinking perhaps nothing has been decided yet and it can still go either way... and for you to use that exact same card as an example is uncanny! :o)
So I am reading a lot of books now, I found some in the library or at the book store, some of them in french too!.. and I am aware of the Major Arcana and Minor Arcana and the meanings behind them (yes, I was clueless about these before!). So far, the only difficulty is that I cannot see people, I see everything in situations, contexts, but I never think of the cards representing people.. I think this will come to me as I practice more on other people.. I have a few of my friends lined up!
Oh and you mentioned the book but you did not mention the title of the book..
And this question is for everyone... Since I started on this path, I have had the most vivid dreams and full of meaning.. and when I wake up, I remember all of them! Is this common?
Thanks and I hope you have a great day/evening wherever you are!! :o)

George · Post by **George** » Sat May 07, 2011 7:49 pm

ezza wrote:Hi George! My turn to say WOW! I did a 3-card reading this morning for myself about a job application that I aching to hear from and the outcome was the high priestess (context was ace of swords, focus was the moon).. and for some reason I did not get anything from the card.. I just felt this weird block and nothing.. so I put everything away thinking perhaps nothing has been decided yet and it can still go either way... and for you to use that exact same card as an example is uncanny! :o)
So I am reading a lot of books now, I found some in the library or at the book store, some of them in french too!.. and I am aware of the Major Arcana and Minor Arcana and the meanings behind them (yes, I was clueless about these before!). So far, the only difficulty is that I cannot see people, I see everything in situations, contexts, but I never think of the cards representing people.. I think this will come to me as I practice more on other people.. I have a few of my friends lined up!
Oh and you mentioned the book but you did not mention the title of the book..
And this question is for everyone... Since I started on this path, I have had the most vivid dreams and full of meaning.. and when I wake up, I remember all of them! Is this common?
Thanks and I hope you have a great day/evening wherever you are!! :o)

My book that i wast talking about is "Understanding The Cards of Destiny Reading the Tarot" by Leo Louis Matello.  I went to the Library yesterday and found "The Secret Language of Tarot" by Buth Ann and Wald Amberstone. which is a pretty cool book.  yesterday i was writing my contribution the Mystic Board's new Tarot class.  I was studying the Magician and the information on Roses and lilys to help understand the card even more.  
as for not seeing people in the cards i was like that too at first and still not working on that part of the cards.  i am still working on the symbolism of the images first, hence the new book from the library.  in stead of working on the king of cups being of "sandy to medium brown hair" i focus more of the characteristics of the suits.  
as for dreaming, good for you, i wish i could dream like that but not sure how common that is but i didn't do that.  
The Aces are next in the line of study for the online tarot course so Friday night i wrote out the ace of swords.  because it was one of the cards i pulled out for random practice reading!  sense i knew it was apart of the course i spent so time on it. btw, in my book it speaks of the ACe of Swords of "being a worried mind... and "being blocked" ;)  I forgot how negative it could be.  btw, that doesn't mean i mean it to mean that! I just remeber it saying "blocked" and then you mention "blocked"  ;)

Payewacker · Post by **Payewacker** » Tue May 10, 2011 6:00 am

Hi Ezza,

It's great to see so much enthusiasm in you, when you start with Tarot, it becomes a way of life, just remember that!

Tarot is a divinatory tool, but also a road to understanding yourself and how things fit together around you. The most important aspect of Tarot is the Major Arcanum. it links to archetypes in your life and uplift these into the differing levels of existence.

To read to many books is also not a good thing. Each author has his/her own interpritations and sometimes they are not really on the mark. You can search AE Waite's "Pictorial key to the Tarot" and use that as a backbone. It is available at no cost as a PDF download.

Blessed be.

ezza · Post by **ezza** » Tue May 10, 2011 2:07 pm

Hi Again!
The secret language of tarot was on my list of books reserved at the library, I just received notification this morning that it's ready for pick-up.
as for the other 2, I am going to try to find them..I am reading a lot of books to understand the symbolism mostly.. I find the the meanings are very similar.. the basics anyways.. and some evenings I read the books, other times I practice and write my findings... even if it is not clear to me now, I go back after and try to understand more..
I did a 3 card reading this morning and the meaning I took from it was the exact same thing my horoscope told me later! so I guess this is progress! :o)
Thanks for your support and suggestions! I really appreciate it!!
Have a great day everyone!
E.

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