The Back in Time Tarot Book: Picture the Past, Experience the Cards, Understand the Present

by Janet Boyer

Using her BIT (Back in Time) Tarot method of working with the Tarot, Janet Boyer helps readers gain insight and understanding of their present--and ultimately their futures--by exploring their past. Gone are arcane and hard-to-understand explanations of Tarot symbols. Instead, Boyer offers an intuitive approach that allows readers to "feel the truth" of the cards as they relate to the specific parts of their lives. In a nutshell, the BIT
Boyer presents Back in Time (BIT) Snapshots from her colleagues, some of Tarot's best-known writers and deck artists who relate their own experiences with the BIT Method that range from comical to mysterious to sobering.

Here are just a few of the BIT Snapshots you'll find in Back in Time
Providing more than 100 exercises and referencing more than 40 Tarot decks, The Back in Time Tarot Book draws on personal examples, headlines, television, music, and fairytales, allowing Tarot to be appreciated in a fresh new way. The BIT Method encourages readers in their own abilities to recognize what is important in the cards. For those without an actual Tarot deck, the entire Universal Waite Tarot is reproduced in clear grayscale imagery at the back of the book, enabling anyone to use the BIT Method immediately.

Contributors to The Back in Time Tarot Book include Nina Lee Braden, Joan Bunning, Wilma Carroll, Ann Cass, Elizabeth Cunningham, Lon Milo DuQuette, Josephine Ellershaw, Mary K. Greer, Lisa Hunt, Mark McElroy, Teresa Michelsen, Riccardo Minetti, Phyllis Vega, and Zach Wong.

Genres: Tarot, Nonfiction

272 pages, Paperback

First published November 14, 2008

About the author

Janet Boyer is the author of Back in Time Tarot (Hampton Roads, 2008), Tarot in Reverse (Schiffer, 2012) and Naked Tarot (Dodona Books, 2018)--as well as the co-creator (with her artist husband, Ron) of the Snowland Deck (2013) and Coffee Tarot (2017) and their companion books.

Also a journal artisan, jewelry designer and award-winning cook, Janet is an Enneagram 7 ENFP Multipotentialite who loves creating and innovating.

She lives in beautiful northern Appalachia with her beloved husband, adult neurodivergent son and 5 (!) cats.

Visit http://JanetBoyer.Substack.com for some thought-provoking Tarot writings.

Reviews

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I suspect that the Back in Time Method is not that new. Probably most students of the Tarot, when they're in their first burst of enthusiasm, find themselves thinking things like, "Wow, she is just like the Queen of Cups!" or "I came out of that meeting feeling like the Nine of Wands." What Boyer has done is organize these sorts of random thoughts and give them a name. Her book is also a concrete reminder that advanced students and Tarot professionals can get just as much out of this approach as newbies. Boyer has gotten many of the big names in the Tarot world to contribute memories and anecdotes that they've analyzed through the BIT Method, so you get to see several different takes on the same card (and in one case, several takes on the same memory: three different writers did BIT snapshots for 9/11). There are also examples of using the BIT Method to look at literature, movies, and people currently in the news. After each snapshot, Boyer asks questions designed to encourage the reader to try a BIT snapshot of their own. The book is indexed--very helpful in this case, since the reader might want to compare what different writers had to say about the Seven of Pentacles or the Ace of Swords. Boyer does not include reversals, but it wouldn't be hard for the reader to do so if they wished.

[Tami · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really like Janet Boyer’s Back in Time Tarot technique. I’ve always been one to look at the cards and see or feel a meaning during a reading. I find that this tends to give me a more meaningful experience and connects me to my cards in a more personal way.

The Back in Time Tarot Book teaches just this. Essentially, the author suggests sitting down with your tarot cards and connecting each with particular experiences, events, feelings, and even television shows. In this way, each card becomes personalized with a clearly defined meaning. It’s a wonderful way to encourage more intuition into the process.

[Calantirniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Janet had a fabulous idea for learning the Tarot without having to learn Astrology first! For myself, I have to admit that Astrology was my method of learning the cards. What I liked about this book is having so many excellent examples from the professional Tarot community! Thank you Janet, will be sharing this book!

[Gail · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great new method for experiencing the cards and adding to your understanding based on that experience. Once she explains the process, we are treated with a number of readings written by Tarot luminaries, enlightening us with their choices and interpretations.

A fun thing to try and a great way to learn a new deck.

[K · Rating 4 out of 5]

I skimmed this book.

My initial thought was ugh. It’s cool system that takes a paragraph to explain, but the book is over 200 pages.

My second thought was ugh. I hate reading examples from peoples’ lives. They have a paragraph of useful information buried in a page full of drivel about their life.

My third thought was I could probably learn something if I was willing to read all these card descriptions.

My fourth thought was ok, these prompts would be great for doing some self work.

My fifth thought was this is good. We could use this system to get inside someone else’s head.

My sixth thought was ok cool. We can explore location and time for each card. Sounds like a fun way to add time and location to your readings. Useful if you do future readings or missing children readings.

Overall, I think it’s a great book to give beginners some depth, and personal meanings to traditional card meanings. I think there is an invitation to look back on situations in one’s life and work through emotions. Beneficial for your average teenager, but if you have real trauma to work through, I would recommend working with a professional in conjunction with this approach. I think this system will be very helpful in allowing me to see things from others’ perspectives. The location and timing stuff sounds fun too!

[Cecilia Berry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very enjoyable approach with lots of examples. I would recommend for someone who already has a pretty strong understanding of the tarot. But it’s a fun method to try, and lots of different tarot authors contributed so it was very engaging.

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this is a really great exercise to understand tarot better and it's a bit like working backwards. What cards bring up certain situations? The downside is it's, well, work...