A comprehensive guide to using Tarot to create a magical life – with both classic and modern decks.
From traditional to modern, from magical to mundane, this card-reading handbook is a one stop shop for anyone interested in the ancient art of Tarot card reading. Tarot experts Leanna and Beleta Greenaway tackle romance, marriage, health, careers, safety, children, and much more, as well as situational knowledge for those interested in taking on Tarot as a profession.
In The Magic of Tarot, readers will discover: the history and origins of the Tarot, how Tarot is moving with the times, tips on unleashing the power of the cards, housing and cleansing your decks, various card layouts for different situations, as well as full descriptions and explanations of each of the 22 Major Arcana cards, and 56 Minor Arcana cards.
The Magic of Tarot also adds illustrations of each card (right way and reversed) from two powerful Tarot decks – the modern One World deck and the traditional Rider Waite deck. Thoughtfully guiding readers through each card, the Greenaways compare the modern and traditional decks, establishing Tarot’s relevance to today’s world while retaining the mystery of the traditional interpretations. With a section dedicated to magic, readers also learn how to enhance the magic of Tarot through the use of crystals, pendulums, affirmations, and spirit guide communication.
Perfect for beginners and experienced card readers alike, The Magic of Tarot will take your card-reading skills to the next level to create a magical life.
One of my favourite things about Tarot is that people can adapt the rules and rituals to suit themselves; there are no hard and fast rules. Leanna and Beleta have built a very sucessful practise - I was fascinated to read the example stories they've included here - and settled on rules that suit them, and I really enjoyed reading about them to see what rules might work for me.
The book is divided into different sections; first there's a general introduction and some general tips. Your Tarot Toolbox gives some practical ideas for things you might want to have with you when you're doing a reading. Then we have card meanings, with images from two decks - the classic Rider Waite Smith and the more contemporary One World deck. It's nice to have two decks, but the One World is very similar to the RWS in a lot of cards - I would have liked to see one of the many decks with a different artistic interpretation, but I can see that that might have confused readers. (Actually, I was impressed that the images came through on my proof as they don't always!)
Each card has a short poem to help remember the meaning, keywords and an explanation for both upright and reversed - the Greenaways believe that no reader should skip learning reversed, so the meanings are all included. In a nice touch, there are meanings for both RWS and One World to show how different decks can shade the meanings, though the Greenaways do say you can use one standard set of meanings with any deck.
I did notice one stray sentence about spreads just before the meanings begin, but I'm sure that'll be fixed before publication.
One of my favourite parts of this section is that for each card, the authors have listed some cards it may appear with and what the group meaning is - ie if you see this card with this card it points towards this meaning. I haven't seen a book do that before and I found it fascinating! I'm trying to learn them to help me along with my readings.
The next chapter has some spreads to try; nothing revolutionary, but it's nice to see the spreads the authors think work well. I often have trouble remembering spreads, but these are really clear and easy to follow.
The next chapter gives some cards that might be present for different situation, ie health issues, family problems, school difficulties and so on. This is peppered with real life stories drawn from the author's years of reading for different people and I found it fascinating to see how they interpreted things and how their querants responded. The final chapter has some suggestions for spells or rituals that be done with tarot cards.
I found it really interesting to see how professional readers work, and I learned a lot from this book! I look forward to reading it again to learn the combinations.
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