Sandra A. Thomson

Oh, how useful this book would have been thirty years ago when I first started reading Tarot. Due to the complexity and variety of Tarot symbolism and the great number of different decks, it is still extremely useful to me.

Author Sandra A. Thompson, a long-time scholar of Tarot and student of the well-known Mary K. Greer, is the author of several books on the subject of Tarot, including Spiritual Tarot: Seventy-Eight Paths to Personal Development. She has also worked extensively with dream symbolism and other methods of communicating with the sub-conscious or tapping the collective unconscious.

Here, Thompson has given Tarot beginners and veterans alike a readily accessible tool that helps unravel the myriad possibilities presented by the cards, whether encountered in readings containing the lay-out of many cards or in the study of individual cards. It can be used as an aid by a Tarot reader to enhance their skills and understanding or it can be used by the inexperienced client, in the privacy of their own home, as a way to further study the symbols and interpretations received in a Tarot reading they have acquired from a reader. Useful for meditation and contemplation, it offers a cornucopia of factors to consider when looking at any given card in a number of different decks.

The first 56 pages of the book contain a brief yet scholarly overview of Tarot and include a section on various types of spreads or card lay-outs. An extremely useful part of this overview contains brief descriptions of 25 of the top decks being used today. Those decks are as follows:
Rider-Waite
Robin Wood
Spiral Tarot
Morgan-Greer
Aquarian
New Palladini
Light and Shadow
Aleister Crowley's Thoth Tarot
Haindl
Tarot of the Spirit
Nigel Jackson
Legend:The Arthurian Tarot
Mythic
Tarot de Marsielles
Renaissance
Voyager
Shining Tribe
Ancestral Path
Daughters of the Moon
Wheel of Change
Osho Zen
Alchemical
World Spirit
Shapeshifter

The commentary on these 25 decks is broken down into categories that group the decks as follows:
Rider-Waite Influenced Decks
Thoth and Thoth Influenced Decks
Mythic-Themed Decks
Classic and Neo-Classic Decks
Collage-Type Decks
Multicultural Decks
Feminist and Eco-Feminist Decks
Esoteric Decks
Fantasy-Based Decks

I can recommend this book for this overview section alone and suggest that students to Tarot will find help in selecting a first and subsequent decks by studying its descriptions.

The remaining 365 pages are dedicated to the dictionary, a rich description of many hundreds of pictorial symbols, including that of Astrology, Numerology, Kabbalah, Mythology, Ceremonial Magic, Indian tattvas, Freemasonry, Shamamism, Geometry, Alchemy, Wicca, Druid and Christian Mysticism, among others. It also contains commentary on numerous individuals throughout history who have contributed to the furtherance and understanding of Tarot and discusses some of the many secret orders that have impacted on Tarot's use and symbolism.

The writing style while detail-oriented is never-the-less easy to read, brief yet concise. Each card of both the Major and Minor Arcana (Tarot's two "books") is discussed briefly with descriptions of several pages dedicated to the cards of the Major Arcana. Sun sign and planetary symbols are discussed briefly as well as numbers, geometric forms, Hebrew letters, gemstones, and colors. Object symbolism is abundant in this book and is my favorite reason to peruse it. An example of the book's abundant object symbolism is the following description given for lemniscate.
"A horizontal halo, a figure eight on its side, it is the mathematical symbol for infinity or eternity. In the tarot, it stimulates us to consider how divine force expresses, or wants to express, itself through our action. It encourages us to bring ancient, or higher wisdom into consciousness. Time to look beyond the mundane and the personal ego for more information and insight, or to connect our task to a higher spiritual level. Typically seen somewhere on The Magician's card (forming the hat brim on the Marseilles card), it represents The Magician's connection with universal principles, and his infinite spiritual potential. We must partake of universal and eternal truths to transform ourselves. The lemniscate on the Two of Pentacles of the Rider-Waite and Robin Wood decks represents the infinite problems and possibilities of establishing balance and harmony. It often floats above the head of the female figure in The Strength card (Ancestral Path, Rider-Waite, Spiral, World Spirit), and connects the two male and female forces on the Tarot of the Spirit's Two of Water. At the base of the World Spirit Two of Cups, a serpent lies coiled in the sign of infinity. The lemniscate merges with the third eye of the mother on the Light and Shadow Tarot's World card, indicating that she represents the infinite galaxy. On the Tarot of the Spirit's Two of Earth the lemniscate 'denotes continuous change, action and reaction'. See eights."

The paper back edition of this book has 45 pages of extensive references and end notes capable of steering the reader toward further exploration on the subject.

I highly recommend this book for its potential as both a teaching and a learning tool. I value it as a handy and thorough reference guide.… (más)