Customer Reviews

The Tarot: An Essay

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

 

 

A short essay on the history of the Taort, speculated to mean literally 'Book of Thoth' or 'Dogma and Ritual of Mercury.' Manley Hall is speculative on many accounts of the origins of the Tarot, whether Egyptian, Gypsie or Eastern. The last 30 pages are pictures of his own Tarot deck designed by him and Augustus Knapp. A nice set, and worth getting themselves, but it seems to take up space as well as a little self advertisement. Also included is pictures of the complete deck of Mantegna which is nice to see.

This is a great introduction to an incredibly deep subject of the tarot and its symbolism. The book suggests to look at the symbolism of the tarot from a deeper meaning. The purpose of the tarot is for man to understand his place in the universe and not for interest of fortunetelling. For people wanting to buy this book to learn how to read the tarot I would not suggest to by this book it is merely an essay that mainly covers the history of playing cards. Though Mr Hall points out that is a critical part of the understanding of the tarot. There is a full reproduction of the Knapp deck of tarot printed at the end.