The Easiest Way to Learn the Tarot - Ever!! [Paperback]

Dusty White (Author), Brenda Judy (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 20, 2009

This is the definitive guide to learning and mastering the Tarot quickly & easily. Unique, fun, easy-to-learn exercises teach you how to hear what the cards are trying to tell you. This is not yet another book of Tarot card meanings. You start hands-on learning immediately, playing with your Tarot cards as they reveal the future to you. Instead of forcing you to memorize generic "key words" that limit your interpretation of the Tarot to 78 possible meanings, this workbook shows has you look at the cards you have and see what is happening in the images, and how these pictures can show you different things at different times. This book speeds up that process and helps you have fun learning to hear what you cards are saying to you--from day one.

"Dusty White has created the perfect text-book for a tarot course whether in a class-room setting or for self-study. I have been a professional tarot card reader for over two decades: I wish The Easiest Way to Learn the Tarot--EVER!! had existed when I was first learning and that is the highest praise I can offer. Furthermore, even now, as an extremely experienced and well-read tarotista, I still received many new insights, perspectives, and information from White's wonderful book. This is a book to keep close at hand--it serves as a reference and a guide through the tarot as much as an instructional manual. I expect to return to my copy repeatedly.

The Easiest Way to Learn the Tarot--EVER!! is exceptionally well-organized, lucid, practical and extremely comprehensive but also tolerant: White appreciates that there are many varied and disparate ways to read tarot and presents readers with a wide selection. A particularly nice aspect of this book is that it may be used with any tarot deck although White recommends that beginners use a Waite-Smith or Waite-Smith derived deck--I concur--and explains precisely why. The book contains suggested exercises and workbook pages. Each card is discussed in depth as are a variety of spreads. This book is highly recommended for beginners and adepts alike. My only suggestion: perhaps Dusty White would like to expand this series by adding similar volumes focused on astrology and runes."

- Judika Illes, author of The Encyclopedia of 5000 Spells, The Encyclopedia of Spirits, The Weiser Field Guide to Witches, and Pure Magic: A Complete Course in Spellcasting

Editorial Reviews

Review

"I love this book! Never again will you pause during a reading to mumble, Uh, let me check the book. Dusty White alerts you to all the visual clues of each card. Big, bold pages and clever exercises let you get right to work mastering the tarot, while White serves as a perceptive and refreshingly down to earth guide."- Emmi Fredericks Author of The Smart Girl's Guide to Tarot.

"This book unlocks the secrets of tarot in a way that anyone can understand. For beginners at tarot, there is no better way to get started." –David Griffin Author of "The Ritual Magic Manual" Imperator, Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, Alpha et Omega.

From the Author

This book comes with FREE complete online support 24 hours a day. You are invited to come study with other students and get free, personalized instruction and assistance from the author online at the student forums at the Advanced Tarot Secrets website. You can practice your exercises online, ask questions, and get feedback on your progress at no extra-charge. There has never been a book written like this, and it will help you master the tarot in a fun, relaxed environment.

The difference between average Tarot readers and masters is their ability to hear their inner voice, and see how card meanings adapt to the question being asked. This book helps you instinctively see exactly how cards blend, influence, and aspect other cards, and how to answer ANY question, even if you have never picked up a deck. Moreover, the entire book is a workbook: Almost every page is interactive, explaining a process and having you jot down your impressions of each sample card and reading. Of course there are over 156 pages of card meanings for you at the back of the book should you want to know the "traditional meanings" of each card physically, esoterically, and even reversed. On each facing page you will be asked to write in your own opinions of what the card means to you. There simply is no better-or easier-way to learn!

I wrote this workbook to help you learn the Tarot quickly and easily, and to have some fun doing it. I started reading cards around age 11, and the resources I had were scant. There simply wasn't a huge market for Tarot books, so the best I could find were a few generic texts and a LOT of misinformation. It took me years to master the Tarot; I can still remember all of the times I had to revert back to the LWB (Little White Book that comes with every deck of cards) in the middle of a reading, to ascertain the meaning of a particular card in a spread. It was embarrassing and frustrating. I felt like my cards were trying to tell me something but it was as if they were speaking some crazy foreign language no one had ever told me about.

Along the way, I was waylaid by the massive amounts of books that tried to convince me that the Tarot came from ancient Egypt, or that the Kabbalah was part of the Tarot, and that I had to study Hebrew and Rabbinical law in order to understand the "hidden meanings" of the Tarot. The truth is that the Tarot evolved as a game, and then a fortune-telling system over time under a culture of feudalism and other outdated beliefs and heavy-handed monotheism that persecuted any opposition to religious canon. This is why we have Christian allegory juxtaposed with Hebraic symbolism and Greco-Roman paganism throughout the structure of the Tarot. At the time of the Tarot's creation many artists were commissioned by wealthy patrons and nobility to pain them a set to play with. Fortune-telling has always been a popular past-time, and prior to the Tarot, and after its inception, people read dice, lots (squared-edge sticks that were a precursor to dice), palms, heads ("phrenology"), entrails (ewww!), clouds, smoke signals, and all sorts of random things. The Tarot caught on when the printing press made it possible for common peasants to be able to have a game to play after a long day of hard labors. Fortune-telling came along for the ride of course--after all, who doesn't want to know what lucky charm awaits them on the morrow? 

The bottom line on the Tarot is that it works for you. It's purpose is not to replace actual spiritual guidance from actual sages and scholars, but to show you various paths you may choose to take, or not, along your journey of life. For all of its glory and grandeur, mystery and myth, the Tarot is not a religion; it is not a spiritual path or a guide. 

The Tarot is a great tool for manifestation and goal focus. You can use it to paint a picture of where you are now, and where you want to be; or what you would like to be rid of. Unlike random images you might clip from a magazine and tape up as visual aids, the Tarot images contain a resonant power of mass consciousness that comes from centuries of countless people adding their own ideas of what each card means. Imagine a giant psychic battery of human emotions and memory that surrounds us all, and you can access this simply by drawing a card from your deck, casting a spread, or laying out a pattern of cards purposefully to create a clear path to your chosen goals. Yo do not have to attend expensive seminars or study at a mystery school for years to learn how to do this. You do need to have a decent deck of cards however--and you need to be reasonably comfortable with the fact that they are just that: 78 slips of paper with pictures on them, a tool at your disposal. A carpenter has at his disposal a hammer, nails, several saws and drills. Your tools for creation, meditation, and focus should be ones you are familiar with (just like a carpenter) and ready at hand. tarot decks come in all sizes, from decks that fit in the palm of your hand to giant poster-sized cards you can mount on your wall or hold up at a football game (not recommended though; most people would just think you are crazy). 

The Tarot offers you a great opportunity to learn how to tell the future, focus on your goals in life, avoid pitfalls and distractions; but also it can help you sharpen your psychic senses. When you build your skill with the Tarot by learning to see what the cards are saying to you at that exact moment in time you are working your "psychic muscles" just like a body-builder at a gym. The Tarot helps you focus yet simultaneously extend your perception to hear and see possibilities and guidance from the universe and the world around you. It helps you expand your awareness beyond what is right in front of you. In this way it can help you become a more rounded, and grounded person. But it is also an amazing social networking tool. Pull out your cards at a party and watch the line form as people ask you to answer their questions: "Is their boyfriend cheating on them?" "Will they get a raise, or promotion?" "Should they take that vacation to Maui?" People are fascinated by the Tarot and they will be fascinated by your ability to smile and help them find out what will happen next. When things come to pass as you said they will tell their friends about your "amazing powers." As a popularity booster it really is hard to beat the Tarot. Not bad for the price of a deck of cards!

I would like you to learn the Tarot, and I would like to help you learn it. Mostly though, I hope that you will realize that the cards are simply inanimate objects, just like a plate, a pencil, or your television. Each of these items has a purpose. The cards are a communication tool (like your pencil). The Tarot is highly personal; please, please never forget that. It works for you to help you.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 342 pages
• Publisher: BookSurge Publishing; 1st edition (March 20, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1419692887
• ISBN-13: 978-1419692888
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 7.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (131 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #21,781 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #4 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > New Age > Divination > Fortune Telling
  • #20 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > New Age > Divination > Tarot

More About the Author

Dusty White (1963-???) is a professional psychic and astrologer with several books to his name. After starting out writing humorous dating advice books for men he wrote "How to Get ANY MAN to do ANYTHING You Want!" for women, and "Aphrodite's Book of Secrets," a step-by-step how-to course to help woman master the physics of metaphysics in their daily lives, which is currently being tested for effectiveness. His latest book is "The Easiest Way to Learn the Tarot--EVER!!" and completes his transition to metaphysics as the focal point of his books. All of the above titles were completed and published while he was living in squalor, and all have gained rave reviews, and one even become top-ten Amazon best-seller. He has since written his way out of poverty and is currently redesigning the Tarot from the inside out. The new deck should be unveiled sometime in 2011.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You HAVE to get this book! It's the only Tarot book you'll ever need., June 27, 2009

By 

Jae (Oakland, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Easiest Way to Learn the Tarot - Ever!! (Paperback)

First let me say I NEVER write reviews, but I had to stop what I was doing to comment on this book. I've been trying to become acquainted with the art of Tarot for some years now and own a small library of books on the subject but none are as thorough as this one. If this were available back then I'd already be a master. The book is easy to read and Dusty's writing style is such that you feel like you have a relationship with a one-on-one teacher. The quality of the book is also excellent....great illustrations, superb layout....I am impressed. On top of the wealth of information supplied in the book you also get access to the online support site where you can post questions and talk to others about your interpretations. Complete win/win....like I said, you HAVE to get this book.

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I have a lot of Tarot books, April 22, 2009

By 

S. Erlewine (Southeast Ohio) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Easiest Way to Learn the Tarot - Ever!! (Paperback)

I recently looked at my collection of Tarot books, and realized that while I do have the "classics" and have read them on and off over the years, I never really read them cover to cover - most were good, but dry and well, boring. This book by Dusty White is definitely not! It's fun, engaging and a great workbook - I really feel this is a valuable first book for anyone who's interested in the tarot, as well a great addition to the traditional texts that brings a fresh take on interpretations. And importantly, White encourages the reader to trust her or his own intuitions as a reader of the Tarot.

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Truly AWESOME!, May 16, 2009

By 

Bobby D - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Easiest Way to Learn the Tarot - Ever!! (Paperback)

I have at least eight books on Tarot, and I can certainly say that this book, among all others, is different, interesting, fun, addicting to read, encouraging, motivating, and most of all AWESOME! First, the size of the book is very good and the choice of fonts is much appreciated as I can read its contents very easily. Also the book shows 11 different exercises that guide and allow students to practice fully and understand the meanings of each card, and encourages students to use their instincts and emphasizes bonding with their cards like building a closer relationship with them. Although I have not finished the different exercises, I have enjoyed working on them. I followed his advice to keep a journal so I can document my interpretations and will look at them later on to my monitor how well I progress in card reading. Dusty White made these exercises user -friendly, fun, creative, and interesting. Also he is very quick in responding to questions and you will feel very comfortable communicating with him.
Among my tarot books, this is the first (and probably only one) that teaches the meanings of Minor Arcana first before the Major Arcana. Everything that you need to know about these cards, including reversed cards, is explained fully in separate chapters. This book will guide you every step of the way on how to make sensible and meaningful readings, to understand how each card relates or influences other cards, and finally create a connection pertaining to the person or situation in question. Dusty White defines the basic spreads and most popular ones, the card positions; how to relate these spreads with anything so memorization is not really too much of an issue here. He emphasizes constant bonding with your cards and the reason for it. And this is what makes it fun to read and to practice - there are no right or wrong answers.
Be sure to look at the back part of the book, the FAQs, Checklists, and all kinds of stuff that are helpful. And if you do not understand a term, you can always refer to the Glossary and Index for easy reference.
The author is very thorough, creative, and knowledgeable about the subject and an expert in the field of Tarot. This book was well-written in contemporary style, and an excellent addition to references and practice sets in the New Age Genre, or Body, Mind, and Spirit. It has clarity, congruence, conciseness, fluidity, organization, and sense of humor. It is very encouraging, inspiring, and makes Tarot learning fun for me! I am absolutely recommending this to anyone who seriously wants to learn Tarot, or anyone who likes to read books of various interests, or anyone with an open mind.