Complete Illustrated Guide to Tarot

by Rachel Pollack

This lavishly illustrated book is the ultimate guide for everyone interested in the history and practice of Tarot. Learn how to explore your subconscious and enhance your spiritual development. Topics
• How to read and interpret the cards
• Tarot astrology and numerology
• Games that can be played with Tarot cards

Genres: Tarot, Nonfiction, Spirituality, Witchcraft, Occult

192 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Rachel Grace Pollack was an American science fiction author, comic book writer, and expert on divinatory tarot. Pollack was a great influence on the women's spirituality movement.

Reviews

[Catherine Mustread · Rating 3 out of 5]

Of the three Tarot books I borrowed and perused while reading Gilbert Sorrentino's Crystal Vision, stories based on Tarot cards, this one is the most coffee table-ish, with at least two colorful illustrations of each Tarot card, and a description of the artwork thereon. This offers good information about the artwork and history of the illustrations with minor information about the meaning and symbolism of the pictures. Ranks are described with the suits combined, e.g. all the tens, Kings, Aces, etc. are compared on the same page spread.

Tarot For Beginners: An Easy Guide to Understanding & Interpreting the Tarot by P. Scott Hollander is exactly as subtitled. A short synopsis for each card is followed by a paragraph each on description and meaning, this book is arranged by suit.

It's All in the Cards: Tarot Reading Made Easy by John Mangiapane would be the book I'd pick if I wanted to actually interpret the cards in a reading (which I don't) but I found the descriptions concise and easy to understand. Includes how they could be interpreted as related to work, love, money and future. Arranged by rank.

[Katharine Kimbriel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the mixture of history and general information in this lovely tarot book. It does have the feel of a mini coffee-table tome, but a useful one. It shows many different types of cards, and has informative write-ups on the Major Arcana and the origins of each card. Something I especially like about this particular guide is that it has good-sized sections talking about a horizontal way of tracing tarot -- by the number groups. All the fives, for example, do have things in common despite different suits and elements.

This would be a nice introduction to the concept of tarot, showing how tarot is more a glimpse into your own head and how you respond to your own personal map of life and the universe as opposed to actual telling of fortunes.

The edition I read was the one Barnes & Noble created from the Element Books Ltd. edition.

[C.J. Prince]

Absolutely one of my favorites. I finally understood the difference between 8 and 11 and why I chose 8 as strength in my readings.

[Less_cunning · Rating 5 out of 5]

i am Total Tarot n00b: checked 3 books out at the Library re: Tarot & i choose to read this one 1st after buying a deck the same day. This book is very simple, clear, straightforward & very Informative while concisely detailing the basic History of the Tarot. It breaks down the symbolism and helps the beginner get started. The pictures and illustrations make it easy to understand.

It features a bunch of different decks but not all of them. But showing the diverse range really shows the commonalities b/w different decks while also demonstrating the subjective differences. I wish there were a separate chapter solely devoted to the different decks but the author does a great job of focusing on the main ones commonly used. I had no real desire to own another deck, now i want to obtain a couple more and have them for different uses...

There are other little things that you learn in time as far a rituals/protocols et cetera that are mentioned/highlighted here. e.g. wrapping a deck in silk. the page on music & the tarot was great & i found myself building chords/songs around those notes. really there are a bunch of different great points Re: this book & i will definitely consult it in the future, whether it be buying it as a reference book or re-checking out again at the Library.

I cannot say if this is the "best" book for the Tarot beginner/novice but in my case it was extremely helpful. I have yet to actually open my 1st deck but i know that when i do i will be less Intimidated & more willing to start my Journey learning the Tarot...

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not an intensive read but an enjoyable one. More of a brief crash course with the neat use of multiple decks with interpretations given by suit and number. The Haindl deck was one of the four main decks used (and the Rider-Waite, of course), so that was an extra bonus for me, as it's one of my favorites. Also the Thoth and Alchemical decks were used, and the different interpretations, sometimes drastic but oftentimes basically the same, were very informative for learning about these decks as well as learning about the meanings of the suits, numbers, courts, and the major arcana.

[Veronica · Rating 3 out of 5]

The images were gorgeous and inspiring. The text included a bit of everything, from history to modern interpretations, to individual card meanings and the story of the major arcana, suits, court cards etc., as well as the basic readings, and how to work with the cards. Over all it's a great general read with many images.

[Juli Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the variety of decks illustrated in this volume, and the variety of spreads as well. Pollack's card interpretations veer toward the esoteric for me, but they are short and direct, which I appreciate. I'll be purchasing a used copy of this one.

[Marisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book suited my needs when I was really interested in tarot reading. It's very in depth.

[mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good basic info - better than the leaflets that come with the cards - but some specific card explanations are hard to accept.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

good as a beginners book

[AK · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nice to see color illustrations of many different tarot decks, spiced up with assorted stock photos of early 2000s people representing concepts like "fatherhood" or "stability" or "intuition" etc. Rachel Pollack is very into the Kabbalah, so that's heavily emphasized. The text itself was both dry and sort of over-the-top in the way that some occult texts like to link everything to everything else. I definitely preferred Anthony Louis's tarot guides, he's a much more engaging writer.

[Erik Tsao · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good, basic introduction with a lot of illustrations and photos.

[Turi · Rating 4 out of 5]

History of Tarot and information about the cards - plus pictures. Very helpful and interesting.