The Complete Guide to Tarot

Hundreds of books have been written about the Tarot, and Eason's COMPLETE GUIDE is one of the more informed introductions. Eason has distilled a great deal of the extant knowledge of the Tarot in her book. In addition to her own interpretation of each card, she includes a compressed history of the Tarot, as well as a description of the various uses of these cards by groups such as Astrologers and Kabbalists. I don't think of her book as the "complete" guide, but it is filled with interesting material.Following a brief history of the Tarot, Eason uses the 'natural' divisions of the deck -- a major arcana (Star, Devil, Tower, Hanged Man, Fool, Magician, Lovers) and a minor arcana (suits of face cards and numbers 1-10)-- as a means for organizing her discussion, which is clearly and succinctly written. She has illustrated each card with a facsimile from the Universal Waite deck created early in the 20th Century, so if you're trying to match a deck with a book you might look for this pack.According to Eason, "the Tarot is called the Arcana because it is said to teach truth through symbolic language older than any written records, a language carried in myth and song, and so enriched by successive generations." Many great psychologists, social scientists, artists, and theologians have determined the ancient symbols have much to teach us about eternal truths. Eason's own rendering of the meaning of each Tarot card seems to follow a somewhat Jungian approach. I personally find her approach useful for daily application and periodic readings (she shows you how to pull a card or do a spread). "Readings" are subjective, and whether you believe in the magical aspects of the Tarot cards or not (she includes a section on magic), the cards are useful for promoting self awareness. If these cards can do nothing else for you, they can facilitate your coming to terms with your own life (if you believe they can, they can). Using the idea of the "journey of the soul" as an organizing principle, Eason describes each card of the major arcana as creative or receptive in terms of: inner power, external power; life; fate; mortality; light and darkness; dreaming and doing; and new horizons. In a second major section, Eason discusses the "suit" cards -- face cards and numbers 1-10. I believe the Tarot cups are "hearts" in modern card decks and frequently tied to hearth and home (also represent water); the wands are "clubs" and seem to be connected to strife and striving (and tied to fire in some interpretations); the pentacles are "diamonds" and frequently tied to wealth (earth); and the swords are "spades" and tied to conquests and defeats ("air"). Eason makes some of these connections, and others can be found in various sources.Whether you are a psychologist, writer, or someone looking for guidance, Eason's COMPLETE GUIDE TO TAROT is a good place to begin your journey.

Cassandra Eason's Complete Guide To Tarot opens with a history of the European tarot and its Egyptian connections, moves to descriptions of tarot cards and their use, and provides a basic introduction to card layouts and tarot practices. Beginners will relish the especially easy keys to understanding how tarot works.

Accessible to beginners, while being expansive enough for intermediate to advanced practitioners, this Tarot guide is sure to please most everybody. Cassandra Eason, a British writer of numerous books on tarot, magick and other metaphysical subjects, such as "Candle Power, Using Candlelight for Ritual, Magic & Self-Discovery", has covered a lot of ground in this book.She does this by giving a brief, concise, history of the cards, spending a little time on practical care of the cards, invoking protection when doing readings, choosing a card a day, keeping a Tarot journal, and other basic procedures. Eason then provides readers with short, very descriptive interpretations of each card, with positive and negative aspects given. She cleverly subdivides the Major Arcana in categories of twos, threes, and fours. For example, The Fool, Magician, and High Priestess are called, "The cards of your inner powers", and Judgement and the World are, "The cards of new horizons". Eason also deals with Court Card interpretations separately before the rest of the Minor Arcana. The Minor Arcana is presented numerically, not by suit. The twos, threes, fours, etc., are interpreted all together.She has a brief section of some standard spreads, containing at least one that I was unfamiliar with (a pyramid spread). The second half of the book was all about taking the Tarot further with some rather unique spreads, including a one-time only reading, the Web of Norns spread, which interrelates the past with the present and future. Eason also discusses in this section Tarot and astrology, pathworking, crystals and the Tarot (including how to put together your own Tarot crystal set), Tarot and psychic development (including a nice past life working), Tarot and magick, spellworking, and much more.The book is thoughtful, informative and nicely designed for ease of use. Eason seems to have a thorough knowledge of the subject and provides readers with some excellent ideas on how to work further with the cards. All levels of Tarot practitioners may want to consider adding this book to their collection of resources.