79 of 86 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Let the Tarot speak for Itself, May 26, 2005
This review is from: Tarot Plain and Simple (Paperback)
Anthony Louis' background is in psychiatry which augments his study of various systems of divination. He has authored the book Horary Astrology which he also lectures on as well as teaches.
This book explores the art of tarot. You would think a book that is entitled Plain and Simple would be much smaller. But this book of 322 pages covers much ground in the art of tarot. The opening of the book explains Mr. Louis' idea on writing the book as well as his approach to reading tarot:
The goal has been to remain close to the source and to let the Tarot speak for itself. The content of this book is based on existing literature about the Tarot and on many years of recording my own experiences with the cards.
This book is a good beginners book. Mr. Louis begins at the beginning with a brief history of the tarot, some background notes, and an overview of Jungian theory associated with the tarot. It follows that a psychiatrist would find Jung an interesting source for tarot. He also adds some thoughts on the probability of chance, space and time and finally faith. I found the authors lines of thought interesting, and his reasoning is sometimes amusing, sometimes makes sense.
The author also goes into tarot spreads, and presents his own version of the tarot spread. His approach is to allow the cards to "speak for themselves" and to try to not read into the cards but allow the cards to unfold their meanings to you. Mr. Louis includes some of his own experiences with readings, showing some readings he did on particular days and associations with events that occur. He goes into further discussion on getting to know the cards, caring for them, doing spreads for longer periods of time, significance of cards that "jump out" during shuffling, and much more. I found his notation of keeping a journal on your readings to be good advice for the novice.
He covers the basics of card spread and reading well. The most basic beginner will have no trouble following the directions and advices given here. It is all spelled out for you step by step. Discussion include reversed cards, selecting a significator, choosing a spread, associations of suits and signs, as well as a good overview of the Major Arcana.
The bulk of the book is comprised of a card by card description of the cards and their meanings. The artist or publisher decided to use black and white prints of Robin Woods deck, which is a good middle of the road choice. While not as archaic as the Rider Waite deck, it is a lovely deck that follows the original Rider Waite correspondences.
The author also follows the traditional "Journey of the Fool" through life format of the Major Arcana, giving the progression for each cards as you read through the Major Arcana. He provides key words for meanings, situations and advices for each card and gives a people association for each card. He then lists the reverse meaning for the card with the same information.
I found his interpretations to be sound, and while not totally traditional, very close to it and not out of line. His people association is insightful, and his situation and advice appears to be sound. I enjoyed going through his material, it was well written, very clear in his meanings and easy to read. He does not revert to obscure symbolism on the cards, but rather takes the route of looking at the overall picture and allowing it to give you the meaning, part knowing the intent of the card and part intuition I thought.
The Minor Arcana is grouped according to the numbers rather than the suits. We are given a different vantage point here, where we examine the numbers while giving the meaning of the suite an overview. There is good introduction to the suits at the start of the section, exploring the elements, the various names of the suite (swords/spades etc), a seasonal association and again key words and phrases.
We then dive into the numbers, going from aces to twos to threes, etc. Again, a black and white picture from the Robin Wood deck accompanies each card examination, along with key words and phrases, a Corresponding Major Arcana Card for the numbers, situations and advice and a Personal Year for the numbers and a people overview. We are also given a reverse meaning for each card.
Again, I found this too be an interesting variation, and found myself comparing the different suit numbers to each other to see the variations. We are so accustomed to comparing the cards within the suit, this is a very insightful process and one to explore.
There is also a section on Astrology and Numerology in the Tarot. Again, interesting reading for the beginner and seasoned reader. There are some original insights that are out of the ordinary.
The book has an interesting bibliography and is indexed.
Overall, the book is a good overview of the tarot reading process. The material is very basic which is good for the beginner but also offers some insights and variations that the seasoned reader may find interesting if not useful. If you are looking for a good handbook to guide you through your first steps into reading tarot cards, you may find this book a good starting place. If you like to compare your methods to other professional readers and see how others interpret the cards, this book offers yet another persons insight into the art of tarot reading. boudica
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