Tarot book recs

Two tarot meaning books that helped me read the cards better

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When I was 16, an aunt gave me a tarot deck. I had tried to connect to it then, the small book it came with was vague at times and at others overwhelming. I gave it away to a friend and didn't pick tarot back up until my late 20s. When I came back to it, I still felt like I couldn't connect to the decks. Trying to memorize each card was too hard, the images weren't easy to intuit, and putting multiple cards together as a story was an impossible thought. I almost gave up on it again, but then a friend recommended How to read tarot: a modern guide by Jessica Wiggan and it was like these impossibly heavy doors finally started to open for me. This book gave me an easy structure for the cards, helped me apply them to specific types of readings, and helped me understand how to read the images.

A year later, all over social media I'd seen everyone referencing Biddy Tarot. I went onto the website a few times and enjoyed her tarot translations just as well, so I bought her book The ultimate guide to tarot card meanings by Brigit Esselmont. This one helped me understand some of the story telling aspect between some of the cards, and it's probably the book I reference the most when I need to look back at a card. Between tarot and all the various oracle decks I use, and life in general, I'll never be someone who could memorize every card and so I can proudly say I still reference these today when I'm doing readings. I do frequently recommend both books. My best advice for anyone new to reading the cards is to pick just 1 or 2 books and stick with them, that way you know there won't be too wide of an array of interpretations that you have to sort through.

Both books lists some general information about each card, things that relate to the description, an interpretation for personal/spiritual readings, career/financial readings, love readings, and interpretations for the reversed card. They give you information about each suit, and about things like getting started or how to give readings. There are plenty of tarot spread ideas in both as well as quick reference charts for the cards. I do think the Biddy Tarot book has more in-depth interpretations, especially since it includes and additional health reading section for each card, journaling prompts, personality types, as well as suggested card combinations and their potential meanings.

Whatever you choose and however you read, there are other books that can help you build a deeper relationship with the tarot, like Seventy Eight Degrees of Wisdom: a tarot journey to self-awareness by Rachel Pollack for example. Hopefully these suggestions can help get anyone else started down the path to reading the cards. Happy reading!