Customer Reviews

Tarot: Your Everyday Guide

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Ever done a Tarot reading to make sense of a difficult situation, examined all the cards, and still had no idea how to solve your predicament? Renee has written an excellent book that gets down to practical neamings of each card. She is coming from the perspective of "advice" readings, where you consult the cards in order to tackle a particular problem. Each card, including the often-neglected Minor Arcana, is examined in detail, and treated as advice you could take in a situation. You drew the 4 of Pentacles? Time to hold on to your resources and focus on security. The 6 of Pentacles? Now is the time to be generous. None of the cards are treated as "bad" cards, because--to use a cliche--to everything there is a season. This isn't an arcane, solemn tome about the Journey of the Fool and the mythical archetypes he runs into along the way; it's about your journey through your own life, and your own life situations both mundane and spiritual. Great for beginners and experienced readers alike.

First of all, a word of warning: This is not a "card-a-day" book (in the sense it isn't divided in 365 chapters as you could expect from the title. Or at least that's what I expected). This book is one of the most complete works I've found on tarot understood not as a means to divination but as a way to find guidance. I really enjoyed the fact the cards came from several different decks. This is a rather unusual book, and it feels like a real treat to those who do a daily reading to focus in in the morning.The approach is simpler than Mary K. Greer's "Tarot for your self", which might be slightly daunting for absolute beginners (much as I love the book). Janina Renee is also the author of "Tarot spells", another book which goes beyond the repetition of material many works offer these days.

Janina Renee holds degrees in Anthropology and Cultural Studies. She has taught and lectured on a variety of subjects, appeared in films and on radio. She says her "life calling is to explore means by which to translate the magic and mystery of the old ways into practices that are meaningful for modern people."
Tarot: Your Everyday Guide is her third book, and in it, she shows readers how to use tarot cards for advice, rather than for prediction. She uses a practical, problem-oriented approach, explaining "how the cards can suggest courses of action, attitudes to take, and other things we can do to help with some of the common questions that come up in our lives."
She first describes the kinds of questions that might be asked, saying that if you don't have a specific problem, you can always ask for advice on how to improve your life. She offers general instructions on how to lay out and interpret the cards.
The bulk of the book is devoted to describing the individual cards and their potential meanings and interpretations. Renee provides enough information that readers can understand the advice the cards are offering, regardless of their individual situations. She explains, however, that nothing bad will happen if a person doesn't take the cards' advice. She says the cards "are entirely neutral and have no good or bad, positive or negative associations, since they merely suggest things you can do, and not things that are going to happen to you."
Many factors go into making decisions and sometimes we need help in sorting the relevant date from the non-relevant. Tarot: Your Everyday Guide teaches readers how to use "the wisdom of the Tarot to define our issues and frame our outlook [to] help the course of daily life run much more smoothly."

The beauty of this book is that it can be used by both beginning and advanced students of the Tarot because of it's practical approach to the messages in the cards. Each card is discussed in light of what advise it offers in a variety of life situations. Janina Renee also uses illustrations from a variety of tarot decks, a refreshing change to many volume which choose one deck. I found this very helpful in finding the common elements among the decks and the accompanying text illuminated this beautifully. I simple down-to-earth approach to the "facts of life" as interpreted by the Tarot

What makes this book so unique is that it is designed as an advisory manual. Rather than reading the same descriptions of the tarot that are in every book, you can use Tarot Your Everyday Guide to ask specific questions about how to proceed in a given situation. Most books give you a general interpretation of each card, but do not tell you how to use it as a course of action. This is significant because some cards are problematic when you approach them as a card of advice. For example, the Seven of Swords and the Devil traditionally have very negative connotations, but when looked at from the perspective of an action that you SHOULD take, they can take on a positive message. Renee has great descriptions which can help you in situations like these so that you can expand your vision of "positive" and "negative" cards and see them from a more universal perspective.

If you are a beginner, you can benefit from this book because it is designed so that you can pull a card each day. So you can slowly build your knowledge of the tarot day-by-day rather than trying to absorb all 78 cards at once. Most descriptions in this guide are 1-2 pages long and each page is similar to an 8 x 11", so you get more information on each card than can be found in most tarot books. Many guides I have seen (especially those that come with the deck) have only a couple of paragraphs about each card, so the beginner is left confused because they don't know how to interpret the card in multiple situations. While this takes practice, you can definately gain a better understanding through reading this book.

I buy loooottts of books.. and I've been reading as much as I can on Tarot. Some of the information seems too basic (like 'playing fortune telling at a party'). Other information is so symbolic that, while important and interesting, it is impossible to relate to life. This book just CLICKED for me. The cards finally were presented in a way that became relevant to me - a tool to guide me and others through the ins and outs of life. Janina has quickly become my favorite author on the subject to date. I just ordered her other book Tarot for a New Generation. While I no longer fit into the young adult target population, I have read this book is relevant to all ages... I hope it is as good as Tarot: Your Everyday Guide... Please keep writing for Tarot!!!

This is the second book I have bought by Janina Renee and I am very happy I did. It turned out to be even better than the preview shown here on Amazon, with detailed advice readings for every card and at least three illustrations of each card from a variety of decks including "The Witches Tarot" and of course the "Rider Waite Tarot".

Janina Renee's writing style is very relaxed and down to earth. Her books are a pleasure to read or use as a reference as you decipher a spread. She very cleverly includes the symbolism of the card in her advise in a way more subtle than I have ever come across before and some cards I had grown tired of became interesting again when consulting her book.

Money well spent! A great book for beginners and advanced readers who may have missed a few obvious clues in the past.

Janina Renee's approach to card reading is unique in that it encourages smaller spreads that zoom in on everyday matters requiring specific advice. She focuses on learning to read the cards as a way to determine a course of action, and gives excellent and practical examples in the beginning of the book of how to get started interpreting cards for advice. For example, if you need to know whether to proceed with something, and you do a three card spread in which all three cards depict action, the cards are saying "go for it!"

Both the major and minor arcana are examined in detail. Many books that look at the individual cards give much more info on the majors, almost ignoring the minors except for a quick blurb. Not so here! Much to her credit, the minors and court cards are examined in just as much detail as the majors. Unique details about each card are given, as well as examples of what the card may mean if drawn for specific types of advice.

However, I do think that these detailed definitions may be a little overwhelming if this is your very first encounter with Tarot. I believe you need to set down firm building blocks to start with. If you are an absolute beginner, I would recommend first reading Joan Bunning's Learning the Tarot: A Tarot Book for Beginners and Anthony Louis's Tarot Plain and Simple, as these two books give a solid grounding in understanding Tarot. This book by Ms. Renee is an excellent continuation of that learning process, and will greatly enhance your experience with the cards. Highly recommended for those with at least a basic understanding of reading.

I am new to Tarot and fortunately I bought this book. I had a book that came with my first deck and gave very basic descriptions of each card.I didn't find it at especially helpful for the advice and information I was seeking. The author of this book says that tarot works by being a mirror to your subconscious. I believe there's a lot of truth to that statement.

The information given for each card is to be used to get advice regarding a question or request for information. This is different from most tarot books that interpret the cards as a prediction or showing a snapshot of the past or present.

You are supposed to study the pictures on tarot cards and consider what it means to you and how it may apply to your situation. However, the deck I had did not have very detailed pictures, and trying to interpret from just looking at the cards - I didn't have a clue. This book, for myself has been amazing. Now I can only speak in regards to doing readings for myself, but when I read the information for a particular card, there is always something that jumps out and personally applies to me.I feel this book was written for me and I always know what parts of the information apply to my situation. The weird thing is, it is often something I've been thinking about recently. For me, it works almost as an affirmation of what I already knew on some level.I haven't read a lot of tarot books so I can't compare it to others. I just know this book works for me and makes the tarot accessible and informative.

I picked this book up by chance as I began reviewing the meaning of the cards. The perspective is new and fresh, giving me new ideas as far as the traditional meanings are concerned. This is a great place for the beginner,intermediate as well as advanced students. Ms Renee obviously knows her cards on many levels!

The decks illustrating the edition gave me some new ideas as well. I had to purchase one to get the full scope.

I keep this book handy for personal consultation as this leads to a richer professional interpretation.