Book Review: Tarot Beyond the Basics by Anthony Louis
The Book: Tarot Beyond the Basics: Gain a Deeper Understanding of the Meanings Behind the Cards by Anthony Louis
Source: I received an advance copy of this book on NetGalley.
My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (see my review on Goodreads)
[Note: I originally read and reviewed this book in July 2016.]
I had intended to write this review a month before the book’s release date, and here it is almost two months AFTER. Partially, this is due to my overstuffed schedule and ridiculously hectic life, but partially this is because Tarot Beyond the Basics was way more intense than I had expected it to be!
Research, organization, and information collecting are some of my favorite things, so when I saw how comprehensive and complete this book was, I just fell in love. Certainly, this means that there were some chapters I couldn’t delve very deeply into (I don’t know enough about astrology to get much out of those chapters — yet), but the rest of the book was just a joy to read.
As tarot readers we use the cards intuitively to trigger associations derived from our life history, the metaphorical meanings of our native language and culture, our own study and theoretical understanding of the cards, and our personal as well as the collective unconscious.
One thing I appreciate most about this book is that Louis doesn’t just go with what he knows — he references information, history, techniques, and anecdotes from all kinds of tarot (and other esoteric) authorities. His personal accounts, anecdotes, metaphors, and interpretations made this book so much fun to read.
There are whole chapters on different aspects of the tarot, including: astrology, numerology, intuition, shuffling, how different decks can affect a reading, the elements, sarcasm, and more! I can’t tell you how many passages I highlighted throughout this book — either because I just liked the quote, or I wanted to remember the techniques/information for later. I gained a much deeper and more complete understanding of the cards and I feel like I have a thick resource to refer to now!
…what if a tarot divination is valid only if the querent shuffles the deck with the sincere intent to receive a valid answer from the cards?
To date, Tarot Beyond the Basics is probably my favorite resource for tarot. You can bet I will be adding a physical copy to my shelves as soon as possible!