Learning the Tarot: A Tarot Book for Beginners
Learning the Tarot, Joan Bunning offers a complete course in 19 lessons that covers the basics and then gradually goes into more advanced concepts. First published in 1998, Joan Bunning's Learning the Tarot has become a tarot classic. Written in a confident and natural style, the book communicates the basic depth and beauty of each card, shows how the cards trigger psychological projection, and enhances intuition. Learning the Tarot is a thorough (but never overwhelming) invitation to the beginner. The book focuses in detail on:
the actual process of discovering meaning in the cards how to consider one card by itself, how to look for card pairs how to create the "story" of a reading
The book includes a convenient reference section that contains two pages of information for each card, including a picture from the popular Waite-Smith deck, a description, keywords, action phrases, and suggestions for cards with similar and opposite meanings. The author first presented this course online at learntarot.com, which continues to attract over one hundred thousand visitors per month. "When I first created my website in 1995," writes Joan Bunning, "I never dreamed how much interest in the tarot I would find. People from all over the world began writing to tell me about their experiences with the course and their adventures with the cards. This response was music to my ears! I knew from my own experience that the tarot is a wonderful tool for personal guidance and inner exploration. "My goal with this book was to give you the basics you need to begin working with the tarot on your own. I try to make this inner process understandable by breaking it up into a series of steps that are simple while still doing justice to the depth and beauty of the cards. I concentrate on the everyday, showing how the tarot makes real, practical sense in the modern world. The tarot is a living system that adapts creatively to each user. Rather than rules, I offer guidelines. While reading my book, I want you to feel that you have a teacher sitting next to you who is introducing you to this special tool, but also encouraging you to go on to discover your own unique approach to the cards."
the actual process of discovering meaning in the cards how to consider one card by itself, how to look for card pairs how to create the "story" of a reading
The book includes a convenient reference section that contains two pages of information for each card, including a picture from the popular Waite-Smith deck, a description, keywords, action phrases, and suggestions for cards with similar and opposite meanings. The author first presented this course online at learntarot.com, which continues to attract over one hundred thousand visitors per month. "When I first created my website in 1995," writes Joan Bunning, "I never dreamed how much interest in the tarot I would find. People from all over the world began writing to tell me about their experiences with the course and their adventures with the cards. This response was music to my ears! I knew from my own experience that the tarot is a wonderful tool for personal guidance and inner exploration. "My goal with this book was to give you the basics you need to begin working with the tarot on your own. I try to make this inner process understandable by breaking it up into a series of steps that are simple while still doing justice to the depth and beauty of the cards. I concentrate on the everyday, showing how the tarot makes real, practical sense in the modern world. The tarot is a living system that adapts creatively to each user. Rather than rules, I offer guidelines. While reading my book, I want you to feel that you have a teacher sitting next to you who is introducing you to this special tool, but also encouraging you to go on to discover your own unique approach to the cards."
Format:Paperback
Language:English
ISBN:1578630487
ISBN13:9781578630486
Release Date:October 1998
Publisher:Weiser Books
Length:320 Pages
Weight:1.43 lbs.
Dimensions:0.9" x 7.0" x 9.0"
Customer Reviews
4 ratings
Perfect for Beginners
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 24 years ago
This book is a great jumpstart to using the Tarot! The friendly, modern tone makes it easy to read and the "lesson" format helps the new tarot reader tie together the meanings of cards in layouts. The section of this book that most impressed me is the card descriptions. Instead of just giving one or two sentences on possible meanings for the cards, Joan works the cards' meanings into vivid descriptions of the illustrations on the Rider Waite deck. For me, this made the daunting task of memorizing the meanings of the Minor Arcana practically effortless.
FINALLY!
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 24 years ago
I have been Tarot'ing for many years. I spent ridiculus amounts of money on tarot how to's and general tarot books and ended up giving most of them away for lack of basic but comprehensive information one can really use, something down to earth and realistic that really spoke to me and could help me bond with my cards and most importantly, understand them and their meanings. A book that could be used as a springboard alongside what I already intuitively knew, something that would help guide you and not leave you feeling overwhelmed with learning all the minor and major arcana in the deck set with so much fluffy stuff or on the flip side, heavy unimportant ramblings. Finally, I found this wonderful book. Its brillant, its simple, its warm and user friendly. Illustrations with Universal Rider Waite make it the first book you should pick up if you have this deck or are thinking about buying it. Sections are divided up into Lessons, Principles of Interpretation, Exercises, Suggestions for exercises, card descriptions and follows to the end with minor arcana, Celtic Cross Spread and informative appendices. I love the format and the fact that this book is big on comprehension, small on extra tarot chit chat book filler. The exercises alone are stellar, unique to ponder and work at. all in all, a tarot-tastic book! A must have for the beginner, a must have for your tarot book collections! An asset in assisting your tarot travels.
Thorough and perceptive guide for beg-intermediate readers
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 24 years ago
This is an excellent, all-purpose introduction to the tarot. The material is presented in lesson form, complete with exercises (optional) and suggested "answers." These give an overview of the tarot and many suggestions for approaching the cards for divination and personal growth. The book, however, would be most suitable for people working with traditional or Waite-derived decks, and less so for esoteric decks like the Crowley Thoth Tarot. There is an excellent section on all card meanings, with extremeley thoughtful and descriptive key words and summaries. I personally appreciate the upbeat approach that Joan takes, not shying away from negative card meanings, but illuminating the underlying forces at work. Her viewpoint is slanted toward utilizing the challenging aspects of our personalities and fate for growth and clarification, via the tarot. If I were to nitpick, it would be to say that I wish she had covered card reversals more extensively. Many books avoid the subject entirely though, as it is a difficult and often confusing aspect of divination that may be considered beyond the range of the beginner. I also got the feeling that she has a lot more to say, but perhaps that is what second books are for! All in all, I highly recommend this as one of the very best beginning books on tarot, and equally valuable for the more seasoned tarotist as a refresher course.
An excellent introduction to the Tarot
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 24 years ago
I first read this material when it was an online course, and I'm very pleased it is now in book form. The author's approach is clear and easy to follow. She provides an excellent introduction to the cards. There are only a handful of good Tarot books for beginners, and this is one of them. I would rank it with Mary Greer's "Tarot for Your Self" and with Anthony Louis' "Tarot Plain and Simple." I think that any beginner with these three books would gain a very solid grounding in the art of Tarot.
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