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Recommended Books on Tarot

When I began studying tarot, I was eager to read books. There were thousands to choose from, and it was difficult to know where to begin. The authors of the following books are highly regarded by the tarot community, and I have found their work to be inspiring, intellectually stimulating, and very practical.

Bunning, Joan. Learning the Tarot: A Tarot Book for Beginners. Weiser Books. 1998. Great for someone who is just starting to explore tarot. Much of it is available online at www.learntarot.com.

Greer, Mary K. 21 Ways To Read a Tarot Card. Llewellyn. 2006. The title says it all—this book offers 21 techniques for exploring a card. It is a personal favorite and a must have for anyone studying the tarot!

Greer, Mary K. Tarot for Your Self: A Workbook for Personal Transformation. 2nd Edition. New Page Books. 2002. A classic, and a favorite in the tarot community. It's a must have! Greer also has a number of other books such as Tarot Mirrors and Understanding the Tarot Court and Complete Book of Tarot Reversals.

Thomson, Sandra. Pictures from the Heart: A Tarot Dictionary. St. Martin's Griffin. 2003. This is a comprehensive dictionary that explains the symbolism of the tarot. It also includes entries for each card and compares the imagery and symbolism of various decks.

Thomson, Sandra, Robert E. Mueller, Signe E. Echols. The Heart of the Tarot—The Two-Card Layout: Easy, Fast, Insightful. HarperSanFrancisco. 2000. Focuses on simple two-card layout which could be used daily. Provides an interpretation of each card in each of the two possible positions.

Pollack, Rachel. Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom: A Book of Tarot. 3rd Edition. Thorsons. 1997. Another classic and favorite in the tarot community. Pollack gives extensive interpretations of each card and discusses the psychological aspects of the tarot as well as the mythological allusions found within. Pollack has her own web site at www.rachelpollack.com.

Amberstone, Ruth Ann and Amberstone, Wald. Tarot Tips: Special Topics in Tarot. Llewellyn. 2003.  Ruth Ann and Wald Amberstone founded the Tarot School in New York City. This book is a compilation of questions about tarot sent to their online-newsletter of the same title.  For a free subscription to the newsletter and to check out the courses and resources the Tarot School has to offer, go to www.tarotschool.com.

Ricklef, James. Tarot Tells the Tale: Explore Three-Card Readings through Familiar Stories. Llewellyn. 2003. A delightful book which includes three-card readings for famous literary and historical characters. It also has a wonderful key to the tarot in its appendix.

Braden, Nina Lee. Tarot for Self Discovery. Llewellyn.  2002. This book is unique in that it does not include interpretations of the cards, nor does it address divination. What it does have is wonderful exercises for using the cards for personal growth.

Michelsen, Teresa. Designing Your Own Tarot Spreads. Llewellyn. 2003. A helpful book covering all aspects of spread design.

Rosengarten, Arthur. Tarot and Psychology: Spectrums of Possibility. Paragon House. 2000.  Rosengarten is a licensed clinical psychologist and professional tarot reader. This is a great book focusing on the use of tarot in psychotherapy. Rosengarten has his own web site at www.artrosengarten.com.

Kaplan, Stuart. The Encyclopedia of Tarot, vol. I, II, III. U.S. Games Systems, 1978, 1986, 1990.  Volume III has a fascinating 40-page chapter on the life of Pamela Colman Smith, the artist who did the Rider-Waite deck. Kaplan is the president of U.S. Games Systems, which owns the rights to many tarot decks, including Rider-Waite.

Renée, Janina. Tarot Spells. Llewellyn.  2002. Gives meditation and visualization exercises and affirmations to use with suggested layouts.

Skibbins, David. Eight of Swords. Thomas Dunne Books. 2005. This is a fun mystery novel with an amateur detective who is a tarot reader in Berkeley.

Fields Bookstore, www.fieldsbooks.com. Soulful and scholarly books from the world's spiritual traditions. 1419 Polk Street (at California), San Francisco, CA 94109, (415) 673-2027.

Ancient Ways, www.ancientways.com. 4075 Telegraph Avenue, Oakland, CA 94609, (510) 653-3244.

Recommended Tarot Links

Tarot Table Talk: http://tarot-table-talk.net. Susan's tarot blog.

Learning the Tarot: An On-line Course, www.learntarot.com. A great free course for beginners.

Tarot Passages, www.tarotpassages.com. Wonderful source for tarot book and deck reviews as well as interesting articles.

The Tarot School, www.tarotschool.com. A tarot community offering courses in New York and correspondence courses and telecourses for those of us far away. Also home of the popular e-newsletter, Tarot Tips.

TarotL, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TarotL/. A popular Yahoo! group.

Facade, www.facade.com. Free electronic on-line tarot readings.

Aeclectic Tarot: Tarot Cards, Readings & Community, www.aeclectic.net/tarot/. Dedicated to the diversity & beauty of tarot. See images of tarot cards, read reviews of tarot decks and tarot books, learn about tarot, receive tarot readings, visit tarot links, or join our tarot community.

Carte-Karuta, http://www.carte-karuta.com. A unique online store selling tarot cards, fortune-telling cards, tarock, poker, Italian and Japanese cards. Fun stuff!

The Tarot Garden, http://tarotgarden.com/. The best source for purchasing tarot decks online!

The Tarot Connection, http://tarotconnection.net/. Home of The Tarot Connection podcast hosted by Leisa ReFalo. Also be sure to check out The Tarot Connection Shop, which sells tarot candles, decks, books and other treats.

The Crystal Gate, http://www.tarot.thecrystalgate.com/. Bonnie Cehovet's tarot site. Bonnie is a prolifc writer on the tarot. You will see her deck reviews and interviews on Aeclectic Tarot, and she regularly contributes to The Tarot Connection. Her site Is a hub for all her great work.

American Tarot Association, www.ata-tarot.com. A membership organization which has volunteer-readers who do free readings via email. They also offer courses and send newsletters to members.

Tarot Certification Board of America, www.tarotcertification.org. Administers exams for readers who wish to achieve professional recognition.

Crossroads Tarot, http://crossroadstarot.com/. Carole Pierce's tarot site.

Crossroads Tarot Blog, http://crossroadstarot.wordpress.com/. Carole Pierce's tarot blog. Exploring the tarot through literature and mythology.

Tarot-To-Go!, http://www.tarot-to-go.net/. Tarot-To-Go! is a great place to find out about tarot classes and events in the San Francisco Bay Area. They also provide readers for parties and events and have a fabulous podcast.

Holly's Rider-Waite Site, http://home.comcast.net/~vilex/. A collector shares the publishing history of the Rider-Waite deck. Great photos included.

The Hermitage: A Tarot History Site, http://www.tarothermit.com/. Research on the history of tarot. Check out the link to the TarotL Tarot History Information Sheet which dispels myths about the history of tarot, http://www.tarothermit.com/infosheet.htm.

Soul Collage, www.soulcollage.com/home/index.php. I attended a Soul Collage workshop. It was amazing. If you can’t make it to a workshop, there’s a book to guide you through the process of making your own deck of cards using collage techniques. The site has a great card gallery and offers electronic readings.

Other Cool Links

Bay Area Writer, P.C. Fergusson is serializing her new, powerful novel, Count All This on her blog: http://www.countallthis.blogspot.com/. Tarot makes an appearance in an early chapter! She is also posting some great poetry, and her wonderfully humorous column, Home Front, which ran in a number of newspapers in California.

Yumi Tea: http://yumitea.com/. Fine quality Japanese tea. It's the best out there!

Ever After Cosmetics: http://www.makeupbydebi.com/. For all of your retro/vintage makeup needs.

MAU in the Making: Makeup Blog: http://muainthemaking.blogspot.com/. Follow the thoughtful reflections of a make-up artist in the making and get great video how-to tips.

Tarot Insights is located in downtown San Mateo, CA—a short distance from Belmont, San Carlos, Redwood City, Burlingame and Millbrae. Contact—susan@tarotinsights.net, 650.532.0509.

Illustrations from the Rider-Waite Tarot Deck reproduced by permission of U.S. Games Systems, Inc., Stamford, CT 06902 USA. Copyright 1971 by U.S. Games Systems, Inc. Further reproduction prohibited. The Rider-Waite Tarot Deck is a registered trademark of U.S. Games Systems, Inc.