Customer Reviews

Mastering the Tarot: Basic Lessons in an Ancient Mystic Art (Signet)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I've read half a dozen tarot beginner's book or so in the past two years or so, and this is definitely the best I've seen.

The material is broken into 18 lessons, of which 7 cover the card meanings themselves (three for the minor arcana, one for the court cards, and three for the major arcana), and 6 cover spreading & reading the cards with examples.

The text is concise, and for each card there's a section explaining it's symbolism and meanings when straight and reversed. The explanations are solid - Eden Gray knows the material well, and draws on Waite's Pictorial Key to the Tarot and the Golden Dawn's Book T (an improvement over many authors who just babble whatever comes to their minds).

The book covers basic numerology and astrology, which gives a larger view and explains the explanations.

I highly recommend this book as a first study guide to anyone who learns to read with the Rider-Waite deck.

This book was recommended to me years ago. It is absolutely the best book for self-teaching Tarot and I have used it in all the classes I've taught. Gray does not just present card meanings, but the basis for the Tarot's symbolism. The book is set up in small, logical lessons. Starter reading patterns and sample readings are also included. Finally, it's also a great reference. For use with any standard Rider-Waite deck.

I'm new to tarot and have the Universal Waite deck and bought this book to help me learn about using them. I found it not as helpful as I had hoped. I have since purchased "Learning the Tarot" by Joan Bunning and this is a whole lot better, for me. It gives much more indepth explainations for each card. In this book, Mastering the tarot, it's not a bad book by any means but it's a small paperback and therefore doesn't leave much room for explainations. It's a good book for beginner's but I prefer one that has more to offer.

In Mastering the Tarot Gray outlines eighteen simple lessons to begin one's studies in the Tarot. Using the Rider-Waite-Smith deck for reference, along with the picture, each card has listed an interpretation, reversed meaning, a description of what it could mean in a reading, and description of the card itself.

Several spreads are included, but he does not go into much depth in regards to finding or creating others. Along with the descriptions of the spreads, Gray also provides sample readings to indicate how the cards may be interpreted in a real setting.

I do have a few slight criticisms. Gray does have a tendency to shy away from negative meanings, especially when they may portent physical death, as well as a few silly superstitions he holds about the cards. For example, in a section on caring for the card he writes: 'In some mysterious way, the Tarot cards seem to be influenced by the vibrations of those who handle them' (pg 16). Taken with a healthy teaspoon of salt, these are not too prevalent and may be overlooked to a certain extent.

Despite some of its shortcomings, this is one of the best books I've read that aims to self-teach beginners, and I would recommend this, along with a few others, as a must for the beginner's Tarot shelf, especially those using the Rider-Wait-Smith deck.

This is an excellent resource for the beginning Tarot reader. I make it required reading for anyone who seeks to learn Tarot from me. It is well organized, and easy to understand.

This is a wonderful resource book using the Rider Waite cards as illustrations. The card descriptions lean heavily on Numerology, and the meanings that it may give to a particular card in a given situation. The Minor Arcana are grouped by number, not order, which could slow you down if you are quickly looking up the meanings for each card. There are sample readings that I found very interesting, and an in-depth chapter on life readings. The connection between Astrology and the Tarot are explored in great depth, and there are several chapters on how to do Astrological based readings using the Tarot. I especially like that the descriptions of the symbology are given for each card, and would recommend reading this book for that alone.

My friend Robin Gile, author of The Complete Idiot's Guide To Palmistry, recommended this book to me on the study of the Tarot. Thank you Robin.