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arcoirisdesign's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
5.0
A comprehensive book about tarot and the meaning of the cards. Probably the best book about tarot that I’ve ever read. The detail is immaculate. The writing is captivating. I learned so much from it. I discovered it because Rachel Pollack is a legend. Anyone who is interested in tarot should read it.
rallsley's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
5.0
Fantastic evaluation of the tarot and it will work wonderfully as a reference. I cam see why it's referred to as the Bible of Tarot. So many different perspectives on each card really help the reader in finding the best way to recall and interpret cards in their own practice.
Content Warnings
Minor: Pregnancy, Addiction, Violence, and Mental illness
There aren't explicit descriptions of anything but the cards, which can occasionally be nterpreted with some potentially triggering subjects like pregnancy, health issues, violence, illness, etclindseylaws's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
mepresley's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
reflective
4.0
I found Pollack's book to be a helpful introduction to Tarot: its history, the meanings of the cards, how to do readings, and particularly what we can take from the cards/ readings--how we can use these things on our own journey of self-discovery and enlightenment. I especially appreciated her points about the limits of our concept of "common sense" in terms of how we understand ourselves, the world, and our place in it.
"Behind the fear and skepticism lies the same problem: Tarot cards offend 'common sense,' that is, the image of the world we hold in common, which is usually the image taught to us by society. We can call this image 'scientific,' though only in the strict historical sense of that word as meaning the view propagated by officially recognized scientists (excluding, for instance, astrologers and yogis) since the seventeenth century....[T]he 'common sense' view of the world that arose in one culture--Europe--has held sway for no more than two or three hundred years, and has already started to fade....Interestingly, while traditional science's reputation has fallen on hard times, its view of the world remains mostly unchallenged.....
How then do we characterize this 'common' (shared, ordinary) sense? Primarily it insists that only one kind of relationship can exist between events, objects, or patterns....Causality remains restricted to observable physical action" (266-8).
Pollack goes on to say that the precise value of Tarot comes from the way it operates outside this 'common sense' understanding of the world and the limitations it imposes on us.
"We come to the notion that Tarot works precisely because it makes no sense. The information exists. Our unconscious selves already know it. What we need is a device to act as a bridge to conscious perception....[T]he most important implication of synchronicity*, [is] that existence does not follow rigid determinist laws in which all events arise from fixed causes. And yet at the same time, events have meaning. Or rather, meaning emerges from events. From all the random darting and spinning of particles emerges solid matter. From the separate actions and experiences of a person's life emerges a personality. From the mixing of Tarot cards emerges awareness" (272-3).
On a personal level, I was somewhat surprised and thoroughly delighted to see how much Tarot can and does dovetail with the lessons I've learned through yoga and meditation. The worldview Pollack talks about is one that is moving towards an understanding of
"the balance of things, the steady harmony within the constant shift and flow of life. We become aware of the Strangeness always waiting beyond our ordinary experience, we learn to recognize the gifts we receive from existence, and our own responsibility to understand and use them. Most of all, we begin to grasp the truth the Tarot always urges upon us--that the universe, the whole universe, lives. And what we can know of ourselves, we can know of everything" (349).
I didn't find this to be a 5-star read because there were areas in which it felt like Pollack was moving too quickly for me to grasp the concepts, particularly in terms of all the numerology stuff, but mainly because of a rather large amount of surface-level errors with grammar and mechanics. In the quotes provided above, for instance, I have inserted commas where they were needed but missing from the original text. I also wished there were better pictures of the Tarot cards.
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*Synchronicity is a concept studied by Carl Jung and Wolfgang Pauli in their 1930s examination of "meaningful coincidence." Pollack states, "They were trying to suggest that an 'acausal principle' could connect events as surely as the causal ones of natural laws" (270).
ovenbird_reads's review against another edition
4.0
This was a super interesting look at the Tarot from a historical, philosophical, and psychological perspective. This is not a book about fortune telling. It's a book about the Tarot as a system of symbols that can be used to access the depths of your sub-conscious mind. It really reads the Tarot like a complex book that can be interpreted in almost infinite ways. A fantastic introduction for anyone who has any interest in the Tarot and what it really is--not magic, but a psychoanalytical tool that has transformed itself multiple times throughout history.
badpriestess's review against another edition
2.0
I've heard people say that this is the best book you could possibly read to learn more about Tarot. I don't know if I'd agree with that, because, for my purposes, this book left a lot to be desired. I can definitely recognize the author's amount of education and experience with the Tarot, but this book had way more information than I really needed to go out and do a reading for someone else (or even myself). No way would I recommend this book for a beginner in the Tarot. This is strictly for someone who wants a billion different interpretations (bordering on rambles) on each component of each card. Oftentimes I would read her description of what a particular card means, and walk away with more questions than answers. I also don't understand why she discussed the cards in each suit from King to Ace, rather than from Ace to King. Pollack's interpretations and way of writing simply did not appeal to me or offer any valuable information. I don't feel like I could use much of her work in my own divination.