Customer Reviews

Tarot: A New Handbook for the Apprentice (Connolly Tarot, Vol. 1)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This was the first in my growing collection of tarot books (I have been studing for 6 months). It starts out with the minor arcana and does a very good job with these. Two charts are presented which I still look to for guidance. The first explains the associations of the four suits and the second presents five ways of looking at the numbering. Most books I have seen (except ones specifically based on numerology) give only cursory attention to the information contained in the numbers. The suggested meditations on the court families are also good for tuning into the family charateristics. Her treatment of the specific members of the family, however, leaves a little to be desired. In other words, you get a feel for the royal court of staffs but not for the role of kings, etc.

Where Connolly loses me in the discussion of the major arcana. She begins with a prayer to each card. I am pagan and found little in the prayers that jived with my own spirtuality. A prayer to one card spoke of the evils of polythesim. Probably more useful to a Christian or Jew. The next "excerise" is actually a story. A paragraph is written about each card in sequential order. The story too has a decidely monotheist bend. The "excerise" is too recite the prayer to each card and then read that card's story out loud. All this did for me is make my voice grow hoarse.

The last half of the book consists of card "mentors" and instructions for performing a reading using the Celtic Cross. The mentors are each one page the contains a picture of the Rider Waite deck version of the card in question, a few sentences on the possible upright interpretations , and a few sentences on the possible reversed interpretations. This sort of information can be found virtually anywhere and I have seen in done better and in more detail in other books. The Celtic Cross information is brief but quite good. Connolly's descriptions of the card positions are very insightful and it is her intreprations that I turn to when doing this layout, even though it is featured in three of my other tarot books.

I have read some of the other reviews - sadly after I purchased the book. It is great for learning Minor - BUT the monotheistic prayers blew my mind - Our father in heaven? It confused me, and as a pagan I decided to try and rework them but ended up just writing my own. I wish it said all of this on the back of the book. I am passing it down to a Christian friend who has a minor interest in the Tarot. SO if you are pagan do not expect this book to be your style!

This handbook is clear in its explanations, and allows the beginner to develop an intuition with one's chosen deck. Though Connolly prefers Rider-Waite her insights are not limited for that deck alone. I have several decks (none of which are R.W.) and have been reading Tarot for fifteen years. This was my first book on the Tarot, I highly recommend the rest of her series of "handbooks" (journeyman and master). Connolly's personal method stimulates the intuitive connection of sybolism, numerology and the study of human nature to the work with the Tarot. Quite a lot of emphasis is placed on meditation. Again, I believe she is trying to guide the beginner to develop intuition necessary for accurate divination and self-empowerment. This is excellent especially for anyone who is connected to the Eastern philosophies. A modern "pagan" may not care for the emphasis on chakras and the spiritual eye exercises, but anyone who is a student of Western meets Eastern philosophy/ religion will greatly understand the meanings in this book.

I love this amazing book. After years 15 years of studying the Tarot, I picked this old classic up and it is teaching me new things, bringing my knowledge to new levels, giving me new insights. I am awed. The meditations are beautiful and very helpful in establishing your own link to the cards, no matter what your religion. I highly recommend this book for anyone at any level of Tarot study. Whether you are interested in doing Tarot readings for yourself and others, or using the cards for spiritual growth, or both, this book will become a well-loved, well-used favorite.

Connolly's handbook is fabulous. It is easy to use, clear in its writing, and detailed in its explaination. It begins with exercises to help you learn the minor and major arcana, followed by a sequence of explainations for each card's key and reverse key (written in rhyme, none the less) to interpret the spread. Each card is diagramed for ease of understanding. The book also includes a cabalistic comparison chart and instructions for various spreads. I cannot recommend this book highly enough, it is so user friendly. A must have for anyone interested in Tarot.

I have studied Eileen Connolly books since 1983. They are the best tools for learning about Tarot. The meditations in the book are wonderful and I use them all the time. Her mentor help me understand the cards and the placement statements are very clear. I am very excited because I have found her website and I will be able to contact her directly. She is great.

I notice there are both negative and positive comments about Eileen's book, and I can understand both sides of the Argument. The clever thing Eileen teaches, is to learn the tarot by meditation and symbology - rather than by rote. By learning to 'feel' each of the cards, I quickly learned to form my own image as to their meaning (although guided by Eileen). I have to confess that the meditations with a strong Christian bent, left me a little cold. But as most folk with a truly 'world view' have come to realise - the Christian 'God' is merley one description of what is out there. I skipped 'third eye' and 'solar plexus' bits too - but freely accept that 'rituals' are an important part of many peoples beliefs.

As a complete beginner, this was the best book I read - much preferring to 'tune in' to the symbology of the card. You don't have to be psychic - just be able to think about the symbology and feel the emotions these symbols generate for each of the cards as you come across them.

Buy it!

I have read over a hundred different books on Tarot, and own several dozen at the least. Some of them are better than others. I've never seen a single Tarot book, no matter how laughable, that didn't contain at least a little something of interest that I took away with me and tucked into my ever-expanding cache of Tarot knowledge. Eileen Connolly's work is no different. There is quite a bit of useful information in this book. I hesitate to say "correct" because in all my study, about the only thing I can say with certainty about the Tarot is that there is very little that can be defined as Right or Wrong when it comes to reading and interpreting the cards. So instead I'll say that there is knowledge in this book that resonated with me, and that I personally agree with. There is also a rather large percentage (in comparison to the 'average' Tarot book I've encountered) of information I do not agree with. Unfortunately, Connolly presents ALL the information she's written as if it were The Only Way, and that is why I'd definitely steer beginners the heck away from it. If you've been reading the cards for a while, you probably have a feel for what resonates with you. If you're a stone cold beginner and you're looking for where to start, what to do, how to interpret, and you pick up Connolly's book telling you "this is how to do things" -- you're likely to come away thinking there IS only one method of reading the pictures on the shiny new cards you've just acquired. If Connolly's interpretation happens to fit with you, that's great, but chances are it might not. Now you're sitting there thinking this whole thing was a waste of time because the Tarot makes no sense to you, it's stupid, you're looking at the cards and the gut reaction you have to any particular image is light-years away from what Connolly insists is THE ONE TRUE INTERPRETATION. Into the trash go your pretty cards. And that's a shame, because Tarot has so much to offer everyone from all walks of life. So: I won't recommend against this book, not entirely, but I will caution that it should be taken with a huge hunkin' grain of salt. It's not a totally bad idea to read through the book and every time Connolly says the words "is" or "should" -- you mentally substitute "could be" and "might consider".

This book will give you a good idea of what Connally was hoping to do with this deck. If you are reading with this deck, you may find some of the mentors helpful, though I think the court mentors are a bit weak. The exercises for becoming familiar with the energies of the different cards are also helpful. At the end of the book, she explains a few different spreads, which is helpful for beginniners.

I had a hard time getting over some of the religious overtones, as I am not Christian, and they tended to clash with my worldview. (Basically I rewrote all of her meditations.) Also, I disagree with her fundamental keys for the suits. Example: I have always seen wands as concerning spiritual matters, while she uses "enterprise and distinction" as the suit key. I also had some issues with her ideas about time and season cards.

I would strongly advise looking at a copy of this book prior to purchasing it.

Tarot itself is a fascinating field; unfortunately, many books written about it are appallingly simplistic, uninformed, and simply not helpful. This particular tome of folly was the first book on tarot I ever bought--it left a sour taste in my mind that drove me away from a blameless field for some years. The "lessons" presented are absurd--pressing an unknown card to your "third eye" and solar plexus to attune oneself to the "energy" of the card; staring blankly at the card to "meditate" upon its meaning, etc. All of which is well and good, I suppose, if you happen to be "psychic." Call me a cynic, but most people simply aren't; drivel like this will either drive them away or, worse, simply confuse them. "I'm not feeling any energies! I must be doing something wrong!" Well, no, you aren't. Connolly touches on links with Kabbalah--in a painfully uninformed manner. Readers who already *know*, even to a trivial degree, the historical development of Kabbalistic philosophy and symbolism, will feel their gorge rise. This is the kind of work that insults entire fields. Tarot is a rich ocean of symbolism that has evolved over the course of centuries--this reduces it to a shallow pond. And that's the worst part of all--books like this can catch people unawares, teach them that wading in muddy ankle-deep water is equal to swimming. It's not. Avoid this one.