Total Tarot Issue 3

Welcome to Issue 3! It's been a while since I've written one of these, but I have several issues so I'm hoping to keep them going for a while now.  With this issue we received the Minors in the Radiant Wise Spirit deck, a pouch to keep a deck in for travel, and the Ace of Wands in the Golden Art Nouveau.

With this issue the features seem to have settled into an order; there are two sections which alternate issue to issue, so in one issue we'll have one and in the next the other. I'll explain that when we get there. 

The first feature is Reading the Tarot. This section aims to demystify and explain some of the different techniques and to help us out with things that might trip us up. In this issue it talks about the Minor Arcana, touching on everything from number symbolism to the Court Cards and what they represent. I'm hoping that these things will on be touched on in more detail later as there's a lot in these three pages! Illustrations here are from the Thelema Tarot Deck which will be coming with the next two issues.

Next is Tarot Techniques. This one is about General readings, ie what to do if someone has no particular question in mind for their reading. It's an intersting thought exercise and would certainly stretch the talent a bit! Illustrations here are from the Marseilles Tarot Deck, coming with issues 8 &9.

The Tarot Spread this week is the Golden Crown, a five card spread used for general enquiry. This is a good match with the Technique, a very clever bit of layout magic! The sample reading uses Major cards only from the Golden Nouveau Deck which we have if we've been collecting since Issue 1. There's an explanation for the reading on the next page.

Following that is a Visual Reference to the Minor Arcana of the Radient Wise. It's lovely to see everything laid out like this.

Now it's many people's favourite section, the Card in Detail. This week, as we move through the Majors, it's the High Priestess, talking about all her symbols in detail and showing High Priestesses from several other decks as well. I love picking out similarities and differences - it's always the section I spend longest on! 

(Type setting note, this page refers to the Fool instead of the Priestess in th eOther Versions section.)

Now. World of Tarot is one of the alternate sections. Every other issue, we'll get Tarot Deck Library instead. From what I can see so far, World is going to look at the history of Tarot in general and perhaps other methods of divination, while Library will look at the specific deck we're collecting at the time. I love the idea of both of these, I love the history behind decks and their creation and also the more general history of Tarot! This issue's World covers the very beginnings of Tarot as we understand them.

The Glossary covers E and F this week. There are a couple of suggestions about how to improve your skills, and then the ads for the next issues! That's it for this issue. Hope it helped you out a bit!