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The Only Tarot Book You'll Ever Need: Gain Insight and Truth to Help Explain the Past, Present, and Future
This easy-to-follow guide provides the insight readers need to develop their intuition, work through personal problems, enhance their connection with the high self, interpret the cards, and understand the deck and symbols.
192 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews
August 10, 2012
The title doesn't lie- this book does a good job of summarizing what every card means, what they mean together and how to perform a variety of readings. What I liked best is the author's perspective on how to think about tarot readings and to use them as a way to organize your thoughts and look for insight rather than think of it as mystical fortunetelling or something hokey.
August 20, 2018
Tarot cards are basically, in my view, symbolic meditation devices or ways of focusing your mind / cutting through the fuzz to see the root of a problem. They use symbolism, and Alexander is quick to explain the Jungian reasons why this works. There's no magic or dark art in it imo, aside from that if you read tarot cards professionally, you need to be bloody good at understanding people. This is a good book for explaining what meanings the cards traditionally have. It's also quite dated in terms of the fact that it's hugely heteronormative. "If the querent is a man, the Queen of Cups may symbolise the woman in his life..." What if he's gay? And presumably if the querent is a lesbian or bisexual woman, the Queen also means that, yes? Also, giving examples of connotations to do with babies, motherhood or pregnancy literally every time a mature woman or females generally are represented is a massive turnoff for me. I'm not planning on having children, and mature and powerful women should have an identity beyond "mother of the blah blah blah person." Otherwise the implied message is that I am being unnatural and also somehow un-female. And that's not a very nice thing to say.
It's also pretty odd to read stuff about it being futile to fight off the advance of age just as Madonna turns 60 and fails to dodder around the place in a Marks and Sparks cardigan - I'm pretty sure nobody is trying to achieve eternal life by looking and acting young; they probably just want to appear as young as they feel for as long as they feel young, and everyone knows even plastic surgery has its limits. Again, that comment was definitely aimed at women, though men using dodgy hair dye etc is so common that it's almost a joke. This is definitely the point at which New Age ideas start reinforcing what seem to be some pretty 1950s stereotypes.
The final point I would make is that this book sells itself as the only tarot book anyone would ever need, but makes reference vaguely to ways of reading the cards that are not fully explained. Since most of us do not live in a hippie commune of fortune tellers where such things are a normal subject of discussion - though frankly, esoteric ways of interpreting symbols would be better office chat than any more about *!+":@?| diets - we might expect an authoritative text to give us a summary. Otherwise it's not authoritative!
In summary: 4 stars for content
2 stars for the unwanted cultural baggage which erases LGBTQ culture and child free women
It's also pretty odd to read stuff about it being futile to fight off the advance of age just as Madonna turns 60 and fails to dodder around the place in a Marks and Sparks cardigan - I'm pretty sure nobody is trying to achieve eternal life by looking and acting young; they probably just want to appear as young as they feel for as long as they feel young, and everyone knows even plastic surgery has its limits. Again, that comment was definitely aimed at women, though men using dodgy hair dye etc is so common that it's almost a joke. This is definitely the point at which New Age ideas start reinforcing what seem to be some pretty 1950s stereotypes.
The final point I would make is that this book sells itself as the only tarot book anyone would ever need, but makes reference vaguely to ways of reading the cards that are not fully explained. Since most of us do not live in a hippie commune of fortune tellers where such things are a normal subject of discussion - though frankly, esoteric ways of interpreting symbols would be better office chat than any more about *!+":@?| diets - we might expect an authoritative text to give us a summary. Otherwise it's not authoritative!
In summary: 4 stars for content
2 stars for the unwanted cultural baggage which erases LGBTQ culture and child free women
May 17, 2015
This is a fabulous book! It gives very accurate interpretations for all the cards in a tarot deck, both upright and reversed and it's not partial to a particular deck so anybody can use this book with whatever deck they have. It gives a lot of insight into symbols used in many decks, some history behind tarot and the major arcana cards, and the interpretations behind all of the cards were spot on. There was an abundance of information to work with and for being such a small book I was impressed. Is it actually the only book of tarot I will ever need? Doubtful. But it's a great resource and a good book for beginners!
January 17, 2022
No conozco mucho de este tema, es más, hasta este día nunca me han hecho una lectura, pero la pandemia fue una etapa muy rara y a mediados del 2020, el tarot me empezó a llamar, me dieron ganas de conocerlo, no tanto de que me lo leyeran sino de usarlo como herramienta para mi. Le di vueltas y vueltas y finalmente me compré un mazo que me encantó y este libro. Me gustó y lo recomiendo, no sé (y no creo) que sea realmente el único libro que necesitarás, pero sí me dio mucha idea de lo que estaba buscando. Me parecía complejísimo entender el significado individual del 78 cartas y está explicado tan fácilmente que desde el principio (menos del 20% del libro) ya tenía mucha noción de lo que representaba cada cosa y pude empezar a practicar lecturas sencillas. Lo recomiendo para alguien que esté iniciando en esto. La edición impresa trae imágenes muy chulas que ayudan a aprender aunque no tengas mazo.
May 23, 2017
This is my FAVOURITE tarot book ever! It is an amazing book for tarot beginner. The interpretation of each card in the deck is precise and insightful; it does help me with my everyday reading and some particular problems that I encountered in my life.
February 10, 2019
Exactly what I needed to refresh my knowledge of tarot. This book is also a quick reference guide. I've more complex books on tarot for deeper development. This book is great for the novice or for rebuffing knowledge that has been forgotten after years of absence.
August 14, 2012
Simple, to the point, and already aligned with my own interpretations. This is a great companion book for beginning tarot readers.
August 19, 2015
Succinct and interesting, this is such a handy book for quick references - whether you are a beginner or a seasoned tarot reader!
February 27, 2022
Pretty good, got some great info to start learning to read tarot. Glad it was from the library cause I don't see myself grabbing it again but I'm grateful for the introductory information.
November 5, 2021
Out of all the tarot books I have read, this one really resonated w/ me. Super insightful. I thought it was really well done in how they explain tarot & the different minor & major arcana. It was pretty detailed but also understandable which makes a difference since that's an important part of tarot. They way they tie everything together on what each suite signifies & how it relates to astrology & the four elements. Throughout the book there are these 'Tricks of Tarot" which I found to be pretty useful & clever. So definitely check this out, I am going to add this to my bookshelf for good reference.
December 28, 2021
If you struggle finding the meanings to tarot cards and the guide that comes with your cards isn't helping much, then pick this up.
Breakdowns included for each card, along with handy tips for how to read them without these black/white meanings of each card.
Really is the only tarot book you'll ever need.
Breakdowns included for each card, along with handy tips for how to read them without these black/white meanings of each card.
Really is the only tarot book you'll ever need.
October 11, 2017
Superb and very informative book on the tarot, although I have read it from cover to cover I still refer back to it frequently. It’s well written and packed full of information although I have other tarot books this one is my favourite.
September 5, 2019
It was ok and I felt that I got quite a lot out of it. I borrowed the ebook from amazon and it would definitely be more useful as the paperback to have a copy to refer back to. It really does have some great insights.
April 15, 2022
A great reference for quick info, dry to read & heavily Leans in a Christian direction & is meant for the rider Waite or universal golden tarot imagery .
Helpful for beginners looking for a quick read & even quicker reference during readings.
Helpful for beginners looking for a quick read & even quicker reference during readings.
May 30, 2017
Great introduction to Tarot. The images used are of the Rider Waite deck which is what I use so that was also very well appreciated and made learning to understand and use the Tarot much swifter
November 2, 2017
Good for beginners. :)
December 2, 2017
Definitely helpful. I love how in depth it is
November 4, 2018
Extremely informative. I'm going to have to read it a few times in order to remember everything I need to know about the cards. I'm excited to begin!
November 9, 2018
Best tarot book I've ever read
August 23, 2019
It was really intristing, if slightly confusing
January 8, 2023
Un libro súper completo y acertado para entender desde cero , no se lee de un día a otro es una guía diaria y s establece como el libro de consulta de la mesa de noche.
January 23, 2024
This book gives you a quick understanding of the tarot foundation and is the perfect starting point to begin practicing with a deck.
October 6, 2024
I bought this as I am a lifelong tarot reader. Was given 2 beautiful new packs for last Xmas.
December 30, 2020
Easy to navigate, read, understand, learn and take notes from, I love this very much as my first tarot book. I will definitely be delving into Skye Alexander's other works.
February 19, 2017
A very interesting book about Tarot cards, not too little, not too much of history and interpretations.
The given spreads are also very useful.
The given spreads are also very useful.
March 26, 2013
As far as books on Tarot go, this one is thin, inexpensive, straight-forward, and full of some of the most interesting insight I've ever read. I even bought it on Kindle so it would be really accessible. (My Ipad is about as attached to me as a Borg implant.) I'd recommend it not just to Tarot readers, new and experienced, but anyone with an intellectual "what is that all about?" interest.
January 10, 2011
I am almost finished with this book i like it and will be reading it adain it has helped me so much. It is a very good book if you are interested in tarot cards and readings this book is a must have.
March 6, 2009
Good intro to tarot; easy to follow and informative.
December 29, 2009
A really useful book to help develop understanding of the cards and how they interact.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews