A Complete Guide to the Tarot

by Eden Gray

Book Overview

For centuries, the strange and beautiful Tarot cards have been an endless source of fascination. Now one of the foremost authorities in the field reveals the intricacies of this ancient art. With... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Unknown Binding
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0553209965
• Release Date: January 1

Customer Reviews

Essential for Beginners

I've referred to this book often over the years before I started reading professionally. I would highly recommend it to any beginner because it is very easy to understand. Since I started teaching Tarot classes, I purchase this book for every student! It really is a "must have" book. It describes each card in detail and gives divinitory and reversed meanings. It describes and gives examples of different spreads in the back of the book as well as giving a small "key" to the meanings of each item on the cards (which I find very helpful to learn). This complete guide also discusses numerology, astrology, and the Kabalah and how it relates to the Tarot! If you are just starting out and interested in learning the tarot, this book is for you! [...]

Best basic book

I've been reading the Tarot for about 15 years. This is the very first book I bought and I have yet to find a book to surpass it. When I wore the book into the ground (missing cover, yellow pages, all kinds of torn and ripped), I bought a new one because I just couldn't bear to be without it. If you want to learn tarot AND you are using a Rider-Waite-Smith type deck this is the perfect book for you. It gives simple and concise divinitory meanings and reversals that let you throw away the useless booklet that comes with the deck. You'll want more complex books when you're more famillar with your deck and you want to explore the meanings more thouroughly, but this is a great basic book that you'll want to keep on hand. Oh and just one other thing- don't fall for books that promise to teach you tarot in just 10 or 15 minutes, cause that ain't gonna happen. It's worth spending time with your deck to learn it right.

A tarot reference for a lifetime.

This was the first book that I bought, or read, to help me interpret the tarot. As the years have passed I have come to realise that it is also the best. There are too many mundane, cookie cutter, tarot references out there. This book truly explains the deep meanings behind the hermetic symbolism of the Waite-Rider deck. With the systems and symbolism section it becomes a comprehensive text on metaphysical thought- a true book of Thoth, or Hermes. My only complaint is that there is no deluxe copy with leather binding and vellum pages. I would gladly pay extra for it, for this is the kind of book you will refer to again and again over a lifetime. Of course, if the tarot is no more than a new-age parlor game to you, you might want to look elsewhere. If you are prepared to meditate on the meaning of deeper things, then you have found your guide.

Introducing the Tarot

As someone new to the study of the Tarot, I found Eden Gray's "A Complete Guide to the Tarot" to be the best general introduction to this fascinating divinatory system. Gray writes with a confident but accessible authority that makes her book very appealing.Gray devotes one or two pages to every card in the classic Rider-Waite Tarot deck, and lists possible divinatory meanings. She shows how to use various spreads of the cards in order to give readings, and she also discusses the use of the Tarot as an aid in meditation. She also explores the connections between the Tarot and other systems of occult wisdom: numerology, astrology, and the Kabalah.The book includes a bibliography for those interested in further study. Overall, I found this to be a useful and enjoyable book.

The first book to get

I got a my copy in 1985... the same day i got my first deck. It is a perfect guide for beginners as well as an excellent convenient reference for more experienced readers of tarot cards. I've seen many books aimed at those new to tarot, none are as complete and most are confusing to novices. This book clearly and concisely explains the divinatory meanings of the cards as well as the symbolism behind each one. Its illustrations are of the popular and easily accessible Rider-Waite deck, but it can be used with most standard decks. Gray also provides information on some systems of thought that can illuminate the tarot experience. This book's low price is a big bonus. One wishing to dabble in tarot can easily afford this excellent guide. One who is experienced can easily afford to add this to a reference set.