Tarot: Connect With Yourself, Develop Your Intuition, Live Mindfully

Tarot by Tina Gong

9781465499387

224 Pages
Publisher: DK
Release Date: October 6, 2020

Non-Fiction, Crafts & Hobbies, Religion & Spirituality, Divination, New Age

I am always on the hunt for new books on Tarot and was happy to find this little book. The cover image grabbed me right away and did not let go of my attention. I had to begin reading it right away. The colors and images from the cover continue through the book. The book is divided into several sections:

Reading Tarot
Tarot Spreads
The Major Arcana
The Minor Arcana
Real-Life Readings

The book begins with a short history of Tarot and its different uses through time. I never thought of Tarot as a psychological tool or a way to be more mindful but the more I thought about it I completely agree.

I love the breakdown she gives in the anatomy of the deck section. She shows how different Major Arcana cards fall into the categories of conscious, unconscious and super conscious. I like that she included numerology and the elements into the definitions of the cards. This helps the reader better interpret the meaning of the individual cards. With the court cards, the author lists a focus, event and action. I have not seen this included before in other books on the Tarot. This certainly is very handy information to have on hand when learning the cards.

She provides many options for the three-card spreads which include daily check-in, decision-making, guidance and evaluations, and goal progress. Each layout has many possible meanings for the three card positions. For the other card spreads, she includes the classic Celtic Cross and Zodiac. She then follows those up with relationship, work themed, and spiritual spreads.

The bulk of the book is dedicated to the descriptions of the individual cards. This includes interpretation, reflection and action for upright and reversed positions. If you are beginner working with Tarot or someone that would like deeper meanings of the cards, you will definitely get value out of this book. I know I am going to refer to it whenever I use my cards.

Love love love this book! Must have if your learning the art of tarot!

This is a gorgeous book that is a nice introduction for those new to tarot. It is great resource to help you learn meaning of the cards and reversals. It also gives example readings and you learn how to break down a reading, which I think a lot of new readers struggle with. I love the artwork though out the book, and would love to buy this deck The only negative I can say about this is that the font is small and its a bit hard to read.

lots of information, interesting read

I was provided an advanced copy of this book by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is an incredible tarot resource; the author is the creator of the Labyrinthos Academy website, an online tarot school that is as visually stimulating as it is intellectually packed full of information - just like this book, and I wouldn't have expected anything less.

The book uses Labyrinthos' own Seventh Sphere Rider Waite Smith tarot deck to illustrate each card in the book, and all of the information is also available on the site as well. However, having a website packed into a volume one can reference is unique; the capability of taking Gong's expertise (through the quality of DK Publishing) with you is invaluable. Definitely a must-buy for a tarot novice or expert.

* I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review *

This is a great addition to any tarot bookshelf, and it is especially great for a tarot newbie. I know that I say that about a lot of intro to tarot books, but I wouldn’t say that if it weren’t a truly good intro to tarot book. In fact, this is the kind of book I’d have loved to have access to when I was new to it. However, I am also a firm believer that the cards and their meanings are ever-evolving to adapt to the modern word — so you’re never too advanced to take a refresher. The author of this book also runs Labyrinthos, one of the most reliable tarot reference sites, as well as the companion app, both of which I highly recommend. As such, this book is like having the info from the site and the app distilled into one handy reference guide. It is extremely well organized and navigates intuitively — you can see where the authors wireframing skills have come into the flow of the book and that is a very refreshing change. I also enjoyed that the spreads are not confined to the end of the book, but rather, interspersed throughout. Not only do you get major/minor arcana breakdowns, but you also get as much page space devoted to reversed cards, and how they are not necessarily negative or strictly the inverse of the cards upright meaning. The illustrations for each card are also lovely, sleek and clean images that depart from the traditional RWS decks imagery — also refreshing, because the images leave more up to what the reader brings to the deck. The figures are rendered in silhouette, so while many are clearly gendered, overall they are more inclusive than your average deck because they’re subject to how the reader chooses to fill in the details. Likewise, many traditional card meanings are expanded on, reinvented, or redefined for a modern tarot reader performing readings for themselves and/or a more diverse cross-section of querants, which is also refreshing. This is a beautiful tarot reference book that has a lot to offer readers and tarot enthusiasts at any level of experience, and it’s especially friendly to a new reader, with a welcoming tone that invites you to learn the skill and integrate tarot reading into your daily life as a meditative practice and an exercise in mindfulness.