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Starting Tarot Books and Resources to get your deck off the Shelf

With all the wonderful Tarot resources available to us, it can sometimes prove a difficult task to know where to begin. Here I have curated some of my personal favourites & loves over the years. Take this list as less of a be-all-and-end-all, & perhaps a starting point that you can branch out from.

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Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom - Rachel Pollack

This book helped me to understand the principles of the Tarot with deeper meaning. The information focuses on the origins, history, & meanings of the Tarot. It's a great starter for connecting dots and understanding the Rider-Waite-Smith [RWS] system.

Tarot Wisdom - Rachel Pollack

Much like the previous book by the same author, Tarot Wisdom takes on a much more personal reflection over the Tarot. Combining tradition, form, structure & introducing philosophy, interpretation and individual perspective.

With the first mentioned book taking a slightly heavier look at the major arcana, this book gives a deep-dive into all the seventy-eight cards.

For me, these two are my best starting suggestions for which books to begin with. They're thick, jam-packed resources of Tarot Wisdom.

Tarot for Life - Paul Quinn

I truly love this book! Just as it's intended, the information within takes on a more relatable narrative in helping you to connect traditional imagery with modern philosophy & ideas. Each of the 78 cards is given a 'Tarot Story' that is wonderful at connecting how we view the Tarot cards. How this is done, so subtly, can allow us to be guided closer to connecting our higher-self with the cards we pull and the images we see within the #tarot.

The Tarot Revealed - Paul Fenton-Smith

Like the above, this book takes a very practical approach when describing meaning and connecting with the cards for readings. The meanings are grounded & far less esoteric as some other books on the subject. There's a lot of information on readings, as well as charts you can reference to. Similarly to the above, the book uses relatable story telling to help you approach your learning in a way that is more practical.

Honourable Mention

Rather than rattling off 1000 tarot books, authors & resources, lets keep things toight! But I couldn't go without mentioning Benebell Wen here.

There is so much available for you to explore here. While it may be said that much of the content delves beyond the beginner, there is certainly enough available on the beginning levels to wet your pallet and keep your mind swirling.

Begin with Tarot Basics & move on from there.

Other titles:

Tarot Correspondences - T.Susan Chang
36 Secrets - T.Susan Chang
Holistic Tarot - Benebell Wen
The Creative Tarot - Jessa Crispin
Tarot for yourself: a workbook for personal transformation - Mary K. Greer