Learning the Tarot: A Tarot Book for Beginners

Like most students of the Tarot, I've bought many books on the subject. My favorites for their spiritual feeling are the Tarot books by Eileen Connolly, but my favorite hands-down book for nuts-and-bolts learning is this book by Joan Bunning. The structure of the book is just perfect. The author has kind of a layered approach to her method. There are 19 very manageable lessons, each taking only a few minutes to read. At the end of each, you have the option of doing exercises that help you get your hands on the cards. Those are in a separate section so they don't interrupt the flow of the lessons or make you feel overwhelmed or like you can't move on without doing the exercises. I find that I usually do one or two of them, but not always. Separate sections of the book give you the author's "take" on the meaning of each individual card, as well as each suit. I like that these are, again, separate from the lessons and are there as a resource; some of the exercises have you dipping into these sections, but there is no memorization required before one starts using the cards. The author has you using the cards right from the second lesson or so. This is a refreshing change from some books that make you wade through descriptions of each individual card and memorize them before you ever get to do even a simple reading. In short, the lessons give you the "big picture" on a variety of topics, while the exercises and other sections give you a chance to go in deeper to whatever extent you want and need to. The illustrations are from the Universal Waite deck, almost identical to the Waite-Rider deck, so it's not one of those books that requires you to get the author's own deck. She uses one spread: the Celtic Cross, which makes things beautifully simple. Is everything in this book? No, and that's a good thing. Topics like the Qabalah, numerology, astrology, etc. are mentioned just so the reader knows there is more to explore if desired, but there is no attempt to cover that here. The degree of spirituality in the book is such that anyone from any spiritual path will be comfortable with it, even those who are not on a spiritual path. Really well thought out and executed.

This is one of the best beginners' guides for Tarot that I have come across. Nowhere else will you find a more comprehensive yet simple approach to putting together the Celtic Cross. Ms. Bunning gives key words for each position, and she looks in detail at the pairs within the Celtic Cross. Her detailed descriptions of both the positions and position pairs is a great way to learn the individual position meanings and how they relate to each other.Ms. Bunning uses a lesson format, with lessons that slowly build on each other as you learn. It's a very non-pressured approach. The lessons are fairly short, yet comprehensive, and you can work at your own pace. The exercises are helpful as well, and encourage intuitive interpretation rather than rote memorization. For the individual cards, she provides key words that sum up the card, as well as a more detailed look at each card, but as always she encourages you to find meanings that are unique to you.Another one of the most valuable lessons I took away from this book was "how" to pose a question. She goes way beyond the simple "yes or no" answer, and explains how to use the Tarot as a tool for deeper understanding. The way she encourages you to ask a question opens up the answers for a greater scope of understanding, giving you the opportunity for a broader look at your answer.My only criticism would be that her organization did not always make sense to me. For example, I feel the Fool's Journey in Appendix A should be read before delving into the interpretations for the Major Arcana, as it gives a good feel for the Majors as a whole. Also, the pairs within the Celtic Cross in Lesson 16 should not be put under a microscope until the Celtic Cross itself is looked at, which is in the back of the book in Section V. However, there's not much to criticize here. These sections, while, I feel, are out of order, are each quite comprehensive.I have found the  Universal Waite Tarot Deck  she uses for illustrations to be an excellent learning and reading deck. The engaging pictures drawn by Pamela Colman Smith encourage creative intuition and profound insight. I would highly recommend buying this deck to use with this book. The backs are a completely reversible indigo and gold star field, so if you decide to move on to reversed cards, this deck will grow with you.After you have been working with your deck for a while, go back and reread the first half of the book, the fool's journey, and the detailed instructions for the Celtic Cross and its pairs. You will find you get even more insight from it the second time around. I would highly recommend this book as one of the best for beginners.

I have never found a book that is so thorough and reads to you as if you were sitting directly face-to-face with Ms. Bunning or a well-gifted Tarot teacher. Ms. Bunning's words flow off the page so fluently and so kind that it transports you to a new realm of consciousness when working with your Tarot cards.I found the book to be very much a workbook-style format. For example, for every lesson there's several exercises that accompany it to reinforce the material learned in that lesson. The exercises are not wimpy or cheesy in nature; in fact, they are very in-depth and truly reinforce the concept of that particular lesson in great detail. Her exercises bring to life what you've learned, and I found that they opened so many doors of discovery about not only learning the cards, but also about learning who I am as a person.By far, I would say this book goes way beyond the beginner level. If I had one "complaint," it would be that she would use more than just the Celtic Cross or One Card Daily spreads. But to compensate for that, by focusing only on those spreads while you walk the Tarot path, you aren't overwhelmed trying to memorize spreads and each cards' positions. In other words, you are able to hone in on what's important: an in-depth learning of the Tarot.I would give this 10 stars if I could; it's that good! Again, I highly recommend this book for beginners to more experienced---there is so much to be gained from Ms. Bunning's amazing work in this book.

Great reading. Found to be very informative, detailed and easy to understand. Will surely be my “go to” book. Thanks.

The book is so helpful, will help you to understand the cards in more details. The only downside for me is I wise the description of the cards were in colour. But in all a really good book 😊👌🏽

Estoy empezando a leer tarot. Y puedo decir que estoy muy feliz con este libro porque explica a detalle lo necesario para empezar. El distribuidor se me hizo bueno, ya que llegó completo el libro y sin rayones. Recomiendo

This tarot reference is laid out in a very analytical and easy to use style. It seems scientific in it's card analysis which is what sets it apart from other overly sentimental tarot study guides. The descriptions for the cards are given in brainstorming fashion with keywords and phrases, which highlight the sometimes myriad meanings of certain cards. The best feature in this book which I have not seen in other tarot guides is a cross reference guide that lists the 'Opposing' and "Reinforcing' cards which correspond with the card you are studying, bringing deeper meaning to a tarot card spread!

Must read for every tarot beginner. I disagree with some of the negative feedbacks given here. Maybe it's a matter of perspective. I found the book very insightful and detailed. The concepts and methods on how to do readings are given clearly. Even the meanings of the cards are elaborate. They give psychological insights.. clearly shows that the author has good grasp over intuition and meaning of inner self. One of those books which clearly proves that tarot helps us know ourselves better and can be a good guidance. This book is my personal go to whenever I do my reading.However, the book is in black and white.. it has no coloring. This was the only major disappointment. Colors are required to understand hidden meanings. That could have been avoided by the seller.

If you practice Tarot or if you're interested in Tarot then this is a book you should seriously consider buying. ... or maybe not. Fun fact: Ms. Bunning also provides the book for free on her website, which is what gained her so much respect from me. True story: I own the book in paper form and I just bought the book again for my Kindle. Even though I know of ways how to put it on my Kindle myself. I didn't because I think Ms. Bunning deserves as much.What you get: Ms. Bunning explains the Tarot in a "down to earth" kind of way, she doesn't try to make things more exciting than they are but instead provides you with a solid explanation what each card represents, within what context some cards should be read (some cards can provide different meanings in combination with others) and how to get a good overal result. Which brings us to: this book isn't only awesome for learning the Tarot, it's also _one heck_ of a reference guide.And the best of all.... it also explains some very commonly used spreads which, when used properly, will really help you in your journey. And it does more: this book also inspired me to experiment and set up a few spreads of my own.See: this book can teach you the very basic understandings to appreciate the art of Tarot some more. And that gives you the option to use that basic foundation and build further upon that yourself. This book wasn't sold because the author wanted to make a nice buck out of a popular topic (like so many others do...). Instead it was written out of passion for Tarot. And it clearly shows.If you're interested in learning and/or practicing Tarot then I honestly believe that this book is one of the few "must haves".