Learning the Tarot: A Tarot Book for Beginners Paperback – October 1, 1998

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.