Tarot Plain and Simple Paperback – Illustrated, September 8, 2002

Why bother with Tarot? In the words of Anthony Louis, "The Tarot awakens our intuitive abilities." You will find nothing could be truer. Mr. Louis then explains that after a certain amount of experience with the cards, using intuition, the cards and their positions in a spread will suggest meanings outside the textbooks. This is what any good Tarot teacher wants his students to work toward. This book is a good place to begin that journey.Mr. Louis uses the  The Robin Wood Tarot  for illustrations, which is absolutely my favorite deck and number one reading deck. The Robin Wood is intuitively drawn, colorful, lively, and encourages unique interpretation for each individual. Mr. Louis has a fresh, new approach to presenting the cards, which I like very much. Rather than grouping all of a suit together, which most books do, he gathers all Aces, all twos, all threes, etc. It's a different way of looking at the cards, and is very insightful. He includes a short introduction to each group of numbers. If you get a disproportionate group of one number in your spread, this will give you a feel for what that particular number is telling you. Also, I like that he includes the "Fool's Journey," which will help you get acquainted with each of the Major Arcana.Mr. Louis includes advice on how to spread the cards. I absolutely love his "theme and variations" spread, which I use to tell a story that will play out over time. This spread is a great place to start. It is simple enough for a beginner, but still detailed enough to receive helpful insight. Also, his suggestion to master the Celtic Cross, which I have found to be my most helpful spread, is good advice. This, I feel, is a natural progression from the "theme and variations." If you practice it, it will become second nature.I would highly recommend you take his advice to keep a Tarot journal. I have devised a system of color-coded shorthand for each card so I can easily record the spreads. Looking back over past spreads, you may come to see how spreads played out over time, enabling you to gain an even deeper understanding of what each card means to you.After you have been working with your deck for some time, go back and reread the beginning chapters and the Fool's Journey. You will find they have both deeper meaning and different advice for you. You will notice things that slipped by the first time. With this book, you will be well on your way into the world of Tarot!

I really wish I'd found this book earlier. I would have saved SO much money.It's written in a very conversational style, yet it has SO much information inside it. I like the way this book is organized. The sections about the cards themselves are broken down into Major, Minor, and Court sections. What works well with my brain is having all the Aces, Twos, Threes, etc., together, instead of running through each entire suit at a time. I learn by comparing and contrasting and having the cards laid out in such a fashion helps me with that process so I don't have to shuffle over the entire book. At the beginning of each card number, there is a section about the significance of that particular card (for example 5's, 9's, Kings), and also a brief summary of each suit at the beginning of the Minors section. There are also reversed card meanings, along with a very helpful "situation and advice" section for each card, and a TON of key phrases for both orientations. The Major Arcana has a summary of the Fool's Journey before you delve into the cards. It does contain some information about other correspondences of the cards, such as colors, numbers, and astrological correspondences, as well as season and compass directions. There is a huge bibliography and a thorough index as well.I should add that I initially bought this as a Kindle book. It's nice to have handy if you are not where your physical book is, but I don't find it nearly as user-friendly as the book. My suggestion to the author would be to make links in the Table of Contents or the Index (or both!!) so one could go to an individual card quicker. I spent a lot of time going from the 2 of Clubs to the 10 of Pentacles, and back to the 3 of cups wishing for just such linkage. It would just make navigating the digital edition that much easier.

Easy to understand and full of great knowledge. Goes into great detail for each card's meeting as well as the reverse meaning and talks about reoccurring themes and even touches on numbers.

Owned a previous copy of this and bought a new one because my younger daughter borrowed my other copy and I never seen it again, lol. I much enjoy this copy just as well, love the ease of use with this book. Practical, worth the money. Travels fairly easy as well.

I mainly wanted to experiment with Tarot for the therapeutic value. Since I read about psychology recreationally every now and again--and certain Jungian interpretations of my dreams were ringing eerily true, I saw the practice of Tarot not as something truly mystical (no offense to true believers out there), but as an opportunity to explore my inner psyche in private. While I don't believe that the future is set in stone for anyone and so I don't quite agree with the author who seems to believe there are possibly genuine divination properties to these cards, I liked how he did at one time compare Tarot reading to interpreting Rorschach ink blots: the meanings behind the cards say more about you because of what YOU see, which is why I wouldn't get the same benefit from having a reading done FOR me by somebody ELSE. The book itself provides various reasons for engaging in Tarot and defends its practice without the New Age-y jargon that causes me to tune out whenever I generally encounter that crowd. The explanations for each of the cards was thorough, straightforward, and easy to understand. Overall, I would definitely recommend this book as an introduction to anybody who wants to dabble in Tarot. I'm curious to know what the author's specific specialty in medicine is now...

I ordered this book due to the recommendations from other readers. The descriptions are excellent . I have therefore ordered other books from this author.

Libro muy explicativo, fácil de entender. Brinda mucha información muy útil. Me gustó mucho

This book is absolutely great, I loved it very much

Very simple and easy read!!

A thorough guide that works from beginners to advanced