Customer Reviews

The Tarot Bible: The Definitive Guide to the Cards and Spreads

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I bought this book with the hopes of supplementing my small library of tarot books. If this had been my first book on tarot, perhaps my feelings would be different about it. In my opinion, Sarah Bartlett presents both good and bad material, but enough bad that I'm fairly disappointed.

First, what I don't like.

1) The card descriptions, being the meat of the book, have barely more content then the LWBs (little white books) for most decks. Cards are given one brief paragraph of general description, then two or three paragraphs of what the card would mean if it appears in certain spread positions. Example, for Rider-Waite-Smith's The Empress: "If you draw this card in a 'future outcome' position, you can be assured of progress in any plan, however daunting it may seem." It is very formulistic, almost the sorts of descriptions you would expect to hear from a quack tarot reader on TV.

2) The author ignores reversals, and forces her readers/students to do so as well. She does go into brief detail about how reversals are used (that the card is "blocked" or the energy is undeveloped, etc). However, she then goes on to explain why she personally doesn't use reversed cards, how "the rich symbolism of the upright cards will tell you what is lacking..." This would be an acceptable statement to make if tarot symbolism was actually covered within the book. Unfortunately, the work falls on your shoulders to decipher the symbolism through intuition and guesswork, with little to no guidance on her part.

A note here: I understand that using reversed cards is a highly controversial topic among readers. I personally don't utilize reversals myself, due to doing exactly what Bartlett suggests. Yet I study extensively and have used reversals in the past. My gripe with her method is how she ignores the option completely (even encourages you to turn any reversed cards around in a reading), which I feel would hurt a new student to tarot.

3) The only deck covered extensively in this book is RWS. There are reviews covering a few other decks, but all other information given is based on RWS. For a work claiming to be "definitive," the omission of other decks is bothersome and limiting.

Now, what I do like about this book.

1) There is a nice collection of spreads, which are broken into categories of Everyday, Relationship, Revelation, and Destiny. Each spread also has an example reading and how the author would interpret it.

2) Some basic information is listed about astrology, numerology, crystals, colors, kaballah, and meditation techniques. All of this can be found for free online, but it's a nice option to have it all in one volume.

3) Decent size, layout, and print quality. Not your typical black-and-white-on-cheap-newsprint book. Everything is in full color and a nice resolution so you can really see the cards. The small size (5.5 inches by 6.5 inches) makes it easy to carry in a purse while remaining discrete.

Overall, I get the strong feeling that this book is slanted at potential women tarot readers who are put off by plain-looking (but better written) tarot books found on store shelves. For new tarot students, as long as this book is purchased as a companion to a meatier, albeit drier work (such as Rachel Pollack's Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom ), this is good for taking with you for readings away from home as you get familiar with the cards. As a stand-alone source of information, this will barely get your feet wet.

While this book probably doesn't have the detail to help advanced readers, it's an excellent primer for someone getting started.

The main area where this book shines is in the card descriptions. Unlike Bunning (who gives masses of indigestible bullet points) or Greer, who sometimes gets bogged down in paragraphs of detail, Bartlett does a great job of mixing prose and bullet points. An image of the card (from a RWS-inspired deck) and a list of key ideas makes each card's meaning very accessible, while 3-4 paragraphs of detailed guidance help you find more sophisticated meanings and understand what the card could mean in various contexts.

Bartlett also does a good job of explaining the meanings of both the suits and the numbers, giving the student a solid foundation in figuring out meanings even when you don't remember exactly what that particular card is supposed to mean. Her writing is clear and concise - enough detail to ground you without drowning you.

The book is not without faults, however. Bartlett is somewhat dismissive of reversed cards. This may be a wise choice for the beginning reader, but her treatment of the subject will be far too superficial for those who want to delve into that area. (Greer's "Tarot Reversals" would be a good addition to the library for people who care about reversals, but it's much less approachable than this book.)

Also, Bartlett throws a lot of spreads at the reader, and the book could probably benefit by being more selective in that area. While it's nice that she supplies "daily spreads" "relationship spreads" "revelation spreads" and "destiny spreads," the result is a little unfocused. WIth 40 spreads, how could it not be? Cutting the number of spread in half (or more) and giving more examples would have improved this book.

But really the meat of any book on the tarot is the card descriptions, and Bartlett provides the best organized section for really learning that material, with the best mix of depth and easily-assimilated detail, that I've seen.

I use Sarah Bartlett's TAROT BIBLE as the text book in a beginning class on Tarot reading. I think it is excellent and worth buying. It is very comprehensive and its organization and layout are very helpful, particularly if you are new to tarot. This is truly a tarot handbook for the interpreter of meaning rather than a book about tarot.

What I especially like about this book is that it is easy to use in interpreting a layout. For the most part, its interpretations are positive rather than negative. Using other books, readings were confusing at best and alarming at worst. Using this handbook was easy, extremely helpful, and the readings feel very insightful. My students find it very helpful.

I contrast this book to Eason's COMPLETE GUIDE TO TAROT (which was neither complete nor a good guide.) Using the same cards and the two books, I got a much better reading -- more insight, more on-target, more directive -- using Bartlett's book. Also, the TAROT BIBLE is MUCH easier to get around in and locate material. I added a few plastic tabs to locate suits and the layouts I want to use. The color-indexed pages do the rest.

I particularly like it that every card is covered and in about the same depth. Some books slight the minor arcana to a degree that choosing a minor card in a central position implies a disappointment and a weakness. Also, every card is illustrated. I use another deck and design but the pictures in the book (all in color) are helpful and improve my understanding of her points and descriptions. Every card is presented in a 'you, now' position, a 'blockage' position and a 'future' position as well as descriptions of its general influence. This is extraordinarily helpful to me in interpretation.

The book presents several layouts in each of five categories and enough information to explore other layouts -- or even develop your own. The author does not cover reversals except in broad (may delay or up-end a card's meaning.) I didn't find that to be a problem and it's an approach many books take. As a novice, I am not interested in highly refined meanings and detailed predictions. Also, the author does not explore alternative decks to a great extent but this is no problem at all unless a reader wants to invest a particular design with its own particular meaning. Again, not for the novice.

Overall, this is a fine book, especially if you want to establish a solid grounding in the tarot without becoming completely dominated by the cards.

I have been learning Tarot for about a year and a half now. This is one of the best books I have found so far! This is an EXCELLENT resource for someone learning Tarot! Everything is very well organized, and the book is made of nice quality paper and features nice colour illustrations. I also LOVE the sections of spreads, there are some really fabulous spreads in them. The only issue I have with this book is the fact that they encourage ignoring reversals. There have been many times that I have seen a reversed card make a difference in a reading, in my opinion they can be very important. If it were not for the fact that the reversals get ignored however, I would say this could be the only Tarot book a beginner would need to get off to a good start.

I have been searching for a good book on the tarot for several months, and found what I was looking for in The Tarot Bible. It covers everything you need to know about the tarot: its history, different decks, card meanings, spreads and much more! I am a beginning tarot student and the explanations of the different cards and how they relate to each other was phenomenal! The detailed explanation of different spreads was extremely helpful, also. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the tarot. The book's convenient size and nice graphics was also a factor in my selecting this book!

I had checked out several tarot books from the library and this book seemed to be the one I always referred to when I was doing my readings. It was the most thorough and most helpful in my opinion. I finally decided to buy it since the library wanted their own book back. I highly recommend it.

I have studied tarot for decades and found this book to still be helpful. Accurate descriptions of the meanings of the cards, well organized. A good addition to your book collection weather you have read for years or are just starting out.

I love this book. It has beautiful images all in color and it's easy to understand. I have been reading tarot cards for 10 years and I'm still learning. I still search for interesting books about tarot cards and readings. It did not bother me over the fact it didn't go into detail of the reversed card meaning. When I began studying the tarot I learned the upright meanings first then as time went on I explored and eventually understood the reverse meanings. To each his own, I really enjoy this little fat book :) Bottom line to my review I recommend this book to anyone who prefers beautiful imagery and short sweet meanings of each card.

First of all the books is very helpful and the way it was written helped me to understand the interpretation of the spreads.
I would recommend the book to all the tarot followers.

For anyone wanting to learn Tarot, this book is a must have. It goes with any deck, and is so easy to follow, you'll find it to be a constant companion as you read Tarot. Even the most experienced readers can find this book helpful.