Miscellany

On Tarot

What follows is a list of the Bibliography I've found useful when talking about Tarot. It would be wise to note that in many cases, it's the bibliography that comes along with the decks (in deck-book sets), which are quite usefull when getting to know each in depth.

I decided to list separately the different decks used on the illustrations to ease their identification.

Texts on Tarot

  • Seventy Eight Degrees of Wisdom (Rachel Pollack), vols. I and II, might be the best book to get started into the world of Tarot. Clear and easy to read, it explains each card in depth, both in their traditional meaning and in the more psychological aspects.
  • Tarot: The Open Labyrinth (Rachel Pollack) explores the uses of Tarot in readings, giving examples taken from real readings. It's the perfect complement for the previous two volumes.
  • Jungian Tarot: An Archetypical Journey (Sally Nichols), is the vision of Tarot from the analytical psychology point of view. The author is a psychologist, and takes the readings from a more in depth point of view.
  • The Haindl Tarot (Rachel Pollack), vols.I and II, goes card by card through the symbolism present in the deck that names the books, and is possibly the best companion for the deck.
  • The Key to Tarot (Arthur Waite) is the book that initially acompanied the publishing of the Rider-Waite deck. It despises the divinatory uses of the cards, but is a good symbolic guide.
  • The Merlin Tarot (Robert Steward with illustrations by Miranda Gray) exposes the particular vision of this deck, going thoroughly card by card in their meanings and spheres of relevance. Sadly it doesn't touch but slightly the minor arcana.
  • The Book of Toth (Aleister Crowley) is the text that goes with the deck of the same name, designed by the famous occultist. A little dark in it's symbology, and very masculine, is nonetheless a very good source of understanding of the turn of the century's occult circles and theories.
  • The Vertigo Tarot (Rachel Pollack) was written to go with the limited edition of the deck of the same name, and is just a card by card revision of the symbology of this deck, very rich in images.
  • Legend: The Arthurian Tarot (Anna-Marie Ferguson) assigns a character or story from the arthurian cycle to each card, with a small retell of the myth going with it.

Decks used for the illustrations.

  • The Book of Toth, with illustrations by Lady Frieda Harris and designed by Aleister Crowley, is a deck that can be shocking and even agressively masculine in some aspects. I've found it works specially well when doing readings for gay people.
  • Celtic Tarot, with magnificent illustrations by Courtney Davis, using the traditional styling for celtic art and knots. Good deck, a bit difficult to get.
  • Cosmic Tarot, designs and illustrations by Norbert Lösche, incorporates a lot of new Age symbology, but is an atractive and easy to use deck.
  • Dragon Tarot, with designs and illustrations by Peter Pracownik, turns traditional Tarot symbology to dragons. It has no surprises, but is visually beautiful
  • Gendron Tarot, design and illustration by Melanie Gendron, adds computer assisted design to the cards in a very feminin and beautiful deck.
  • Goddess Tarot, exquisite drawings by Kris Waldherr, works with a different Goddes for each Major Arcana. Excelent deck for those who wish to work with their most feminine aspects.
  • Haindl Tarot, with design and paints by Hermann Haindl, is the result of years of work from a german painter, with deep investigations made for each card. It was later commented on in two volumes by Rachel Pollack.
  • Legend: The Arthurian Tarot, by Anna-Marie Ferguson, makes a re-reading of the traditional symbology applied to the cycle of King Arthur and the Holy Grial. Beautiful illustrations, even though the paper used in the printing makes the cards difficult to use without ruining them.
  • The Merlin Tarot designed by Robert Steward, with illustrations by Miranda Gray and based on the available legends on Merlin, gives traditional Tarot a twist, developing it's own hierarchical system.
  • Tarot of the Cat People, designed and illustrated by Karen Kuykendall, is the particular vision of it's author, and includes cats in each card. A little dark, but after all, cats are supposed to like darkness ;)
  • Tarot de Marseille, annonimous illustrator, is considered one of the most ancient and traditional, even though it's not among my favourites.
  • Tarot of the Old Path, by Silvia Gainsford and Howard Rodway, was especially created with the help of famous wiccans and pagans like the Farrars. Beautiful images, even though sometimes the cards might seem a bit empty.
  • Universal Rider - Waite Tarot, designed by Arthur Waite, drawings by Pamela Colman Smith, and recoloured by Mary Hanson-Roberts, is a traditional symbology deck, which I fully recomend to those starting.
  • The Vertigo Tarot with design by Dave McKean, assisted by Rachel Pollack, has the novelty of having used comics' characters, part of the new faces of the archetypes, into it's Major Arcana. Done in different techniques, it has an astounding visual richness.
  • The Witches Tarot, with drawings by Fergus Hall. A tad weird, jumped into fame in the James Bond's "Live and Let Die" movie.

Index