Total Tarot Issue 5

Welcome to Issue 5! In this issue we've got the Thelema Minors, and the Ace of Swords in the Golden Art Nouveau.

Reading the Tarot this issue talks about how to choose your deck. I'm delighted to see so many considerations here - especially to see purely aesthetic choices given as much weight as any other! Very early in my Tarot journey I was told I should never have a deck I don't use, and though I don't believe that any more I still find myself hesitant sometimes. It's lovely to see that the authors here agree that owning a deck simply because you like the artwork is just as valid as owning it because of its' accuracy. Illustrations for this article come from a variety of decks to show how many there are to choose from!

Tarot Techniques talks about keeping a Tarot Journal. I know a lot of people swear by this. I've never found it that useful myself; doing the daily draw without recording it worked better for me. But I'm very pleased to see here that they discuss the technique of keeping a page for each card and writing down things that occur to you as you go through decks! That method I do like and I do now and then, so I'm pleased to see that also counts as keeping a journal.

The Tarot Spreads featured in this issue is the controversial Celtic Cross. Some readers swear by this, some even say it's the only spread they use, while some say it's overly complicated, intimidating for newbies and can put them off if they flounder with it. The article here doesn't go into any of that, just providing a clear, simple interpretation of the cards. The deck used for the sample draw is the Golden Art Nouveau.

The Visual Reference to the Minors of the Thelema deck makes it easy to see the colours assigned to each suit and the progression of the figures.

The Card in Detail is the Emperor, continuing our journey through the Majors. It's interesting to see that so far there's no mention of the Fool's Journey, a common way of studying the Majors, but perhaps that's coming up - it's deserving of an article all its' own, so I'm sure it's planned!

The World of Tarot has a biography of Arthur Edward Waite, the man perhaps more responsible than any other for bringing tarot to the masses. Waite was one of the first and certainly the best known creator of a deck with illustrated Minors, which many people find easier to read than the pip decks common before that.

The Glossary covers J through M - halfway through the alphabet already!

The next deck will be the Harmonious Tarot, due to start in Issue 6!