Learning the Tarot: A Tarot Book for Beginners [Paperback]

Joan Bunning (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1998

Learning the Tarot is a complete course on how to use the tarot cards for personal guidance. The 19 lessons in the course cover the basics and then move gradually into more advanced concepts. Exercises and sample responses for each lesson help you learn and practice. For simplicity, only one easy layout is used throughout the course - the Celtic Cross Spread. Learning the Tarot focuses in detail on the actual process of discovering meaning in the cards. Lessons cover topics such as how to consider one card by itself, how to look for card pairs, and how to create the "story" of a reading. A convenient reference section contains two pages of information for each card including a picture from the popular Waite deck, a description, keywords, action phrases and suggestions for cards with similar and opposite meanings.

Editorial Reviews

From the Author

When I first created my Learning the Tarot website in 1995, I never dreamed how much interest in the tarot I would find. People from all over the world began writing to tell me about their experiences with the course and their adventures with the cards. This response was music to my ears! I knew from my own experience that the tarot is a wonderful tool for personal guidance and inner exploration. Now I was finding out that others felt the same way too.

The tarot is a set of 78 intriguing picture cards that tend to trigger personal insights, enhance intuition and deepen awareness. My goal in Learning the Tarot is to give you the basics you need to begin working with the tarot on your own. I try to make this inner process understandable by breaking it up into a series of steps that are simple while still doing justice to the depth and beauty of the cards. I concentrate on the everyday, showing how the tarot makes real, practical sense in the modern world.

The tarot is a living system that adapts creatively to each user. Rather than rules, I offer guidelines. While reading my book, I want you to feel that you have a teacher sitting next to you who is introducing you to this special tool, but also encouraging you to go on to discover your own unique approach to the cards.

From the Inside Flap

When I first created my Learning the Tarot website in 1995, I never dreamed how much interest in the tarot I would find. People from all over the world began writing to tell me about their experiences with the course and their adventures with the cards. This response was music to my ears! I knew from my own experience that the tarot is a wonderful tool for personal guidance and inner exploration. Now I was finding out that others felt the same way too. The tarot is a set of 78 intriguing picture cards that tend to trigger personal insights, enhance intuition and deepen awareness. My goal in Learning the Tarot is to give you the basics you need to begin working with the tarot on your own. I try to make this inner process understandable by breaking it up into a series of steps that are simple while still doing justice to the depth and beauty of the cards. I concentrate on the everyday, showing how the tarot makes real, practical sense in the modern world. The tarot is a living system that adapts creatively to each user. Rather than rules, I offer guidelines. While reading my book, I want you to feel that you have a teacher sitting next to you who is introducing you to this special tool, but also encouraging you to go on to discover your own unique approach to the cards.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Weiser Books (October 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1578630487
• ISBN-13: 978-1578630486
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (91 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #12,214 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #9 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > New Age > Divination > Tarot

More About the Author

Joan Bunning received her B.A. in Social Psychology from Cornell University and has worked as a writer, editor and computer programmer. Since 1995, her ""Learning the Tarot"" website has helped thousands of people worldwide discover the personal value of the tarot. She lives in Virginia with her husband, two sons and two dogs.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

200 of 207 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars FINALLY!, November 29, 2000

By 

canadian "funnygirl" (Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Learning the Tarot: A Tarot Book for Beginners (Paperback)

I have been Tarot'ing for many years. I spent ridiculus amounts of money on tarot how to's and general tarot books and ended up giving most of them away for lack of basic but comprehensive information one can really use, something down to earth and realistic that really spoke to me and could help me bond with my cards and most importantly, understand them and their meanings. A book that could be used as a springboard alongside what I already intuitively knew, something that would help guide you and not leave you feeling overwhelmed with learning all the minor and major arcana in the deck set with so much fluffy stuff or on the flip side, heavy unimportant ramblings. Finally, I found this wonderful book. Its brillant, its simple, its warm and user friendly. Illustrations with Universal Rider Waite make it the first book you should pick up if you have this deck or are thinking about buying it. Sections are divided up into Lessons, Principles of Interpretation, Exercises, Suggestions for exercises, card descriptions and follows to the end with minor arcana, Celtic Cross Spread and informative appendices. I love the format and the fact that this book is big on comprehension, small on extra tarot chit chat book filler. The exercises alone are stellar, unique to ponder and work at. all in all, a tarot-tastic book! A must have for the beginner, a must have for your tarot book collections! An asset in assisting your tarot travels.

97 of 98 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thorough and perceptive guide for beg-intermediate readers, March 28, 2000

By 

Susan Byers (Willits, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Learning the Tarot: A Tarot Book for Beginners (Paperback)

This is an excellent, all-purpose introduction to the tarot. The material is presented in lesson form, complete with exercises (optional) and suggested "answers." These give an overview of the tarot and many suggestions for approaching the cards for divination and personal growth. The book, however, would be most suitable for people working with traditional or Waite-derived decks, and less so for esoteric decks like the Crowley Thoth Tarot.

There is an excellent section on all card meanings, with extremeley thoughtful and descriptive key words and summaries. I personally appreciate the upbeat approach that Joan takes, not shying away from negative card meanings, but illuminating the underlying forces at work. Her viewpoint is slanted toward utilizing the challenging aspects of our personalities and fate for growth and clarification, via the tarot.

If I were to nitpick, it would be to say that I wish she had covered card reversals more extensively. Many books avoid the subject entirely though, as it is a difficult and often confusing aspect of divination that may be considered beyond the range of the beginner. I also got the feeling that she has a lot more to say, but perhaps that is what second books are for! All in all, I highly recommend this as one of the very best beginning books on tarot, and equally valuable for the more seasoned tarotist as a refresher course.

49 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent introduction to the Tarot, March 7, 2000

By 

[e-mail] (Orlando, FL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Learning the Tarot: A Tarot Book for Beginners (Paperback)

I first read this material when it was an online course, and I'm very pleased it is now in book form. The author's approach is clear and easy to follow. She provides an excellent introduction to the cards. There are only a handful of good Tarot books for beginners, and this is one of them. I would rank it with Mary Greer's "Tarot for Your Self" and with Anthony Louis' "Tarot Plain and Simple." I think that any beginner with these three books would gain a very solid grounding in the art of Tarot.