Tarot Learning Resources and More
I thought it would be helpful to create a resource page that you can always come to for all of your tarot learning needs. I’ll add to it as more great books or websites come to mind. I recommend bookmarking it for your reference and convenience. Enjoy!
Disclosure: Please note that some of the links below are affiliate links, and at no additional cost to you, I will earn a small commission if you decide to make a purchase. I have experience with all of these materials, and I recommend them because I find them genuinely helpful.
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My Own Books
I have written my first book, “Six Short Stories”, baffled by traditional Tarot books. I found most of them inappropriate for people new to tarot, with all the mysticism and hundreds of pages of nuances. To my pleasant surprise “Six Short Stories” is still selling like mad on Amazon.
Six Short Stories: Learn Tarot in a Day (Kindle and paperback). “I was surprised at how enjoyable it was to flip through all the chapters & stories.”
Amazon US – Amazon UK
Tarot Spreads for Love, Career and More: Get Your Questions Answered (Kindle and paperback). “Conversational, friendly, and fun, makes this book accessible to all levels of readers.”
Great Tarot Websites
Biddy Tarot Blog. Brigit’s blog is full of great material and has some fresh points of view. For strictly beginner’s stuff, be sure to check through her older posts.
LearnTarot.com. Ancient site, yet still a good starting point for aspiring tarot readers. Quite thorough (free) online course there.
Aeclectic Tarot is another site that’s been here forever: it has advice, cards, books, decks, everything. Be sure to check their forum, as it’s a very helpful place.
Beautiful Tarot Decks Appropriate for Beginners
Rider-Waite Tarot is both the “reference” deck and the most used tarot deck in the western world. There are several variants, but they mostly differ in coloring. You can’t go wrong with Rider-Waite, especially when starting out, and hundreds (thousands?) of other decks borrow from it heavily.
Amazon US – Amazon UK
Gilded Tarot is a beautiful deck designed by Ciro Marchetti. In symbolism, it’s kind of “re-imagined” Rider-Waite, but it’s far from being a clone. Gorgeous details and stunning artwork make reading fun, while it doesn’t distract you from the symbols and meanings.
Amazon US – Amazon UK
The Robin Wood Tarot is a unique and atmospheric deck that occasionally integrates shamanism symbols with Rider-Waite classic system. Even if you normally cringe from all that “druid-stuff,” in this deck, it is by no means a turn-off.
Amazon US – Amazon UK
Mystic Dreamer Tarot is the first deck I owned, and I still use it happily to this day. It is very atmospheric in a “mystic” way, but not as dark as some that seem to do it just for the sake of it.
Amazon US – Amazon UK
Other Beautiful Tarot Decks
These are so beautiful I couldn’t leave them out. However, beginners could have a hard time interpreting some (or most) of their art and symbols.
Deviant Moon Tarot is dark, fun (in a somewhat morbid way) and surreal. In other words, it’s very different. Some cards are all-round masterpieces, but most are not easy to decipher for beginners.
Amazon US – Amazon UK
Steampunk Tarot is a pretty deck, no doubt. If you are not into “new age” themes followed in most other decks, then this might be for you.
Amazon US – Amazon UK
Thoth Tarot is inspired by Egyptology and different symbolism, so it’s actually an alternative to Rider-Waite, with many clones as well.
Amazon US – Amazon UK
Great Tarot Books for Beginners
Learning the Tarot: A Tarot Book for Beginners by Joan Bunning from LearnTarot.com. A complete tarot course (you can find individual lessons here for free), together with cards reference.
Amazon US – Amazon UK
The Ultimate Guide to Tarot Card Meanings by Brigit Esselmont from Biddy Tarot. Comprehensive and informative; this is the only tarot reference book that you’ll ever need.
Learn more at Biddy Tarot
The Easiest Way to Learn the Tarot-Ever by Dusty White. It’s simple, it’s fun, and all of the exercises make it almost like a workbook.
Amazon US – Amazon UK
Other Books That Can
Transform Your Life
(They surely did transform mine.)
People, Communication, Relationships
The Gentle Art of Verbal Self-Defense by Suzette Elgin. Suzette professionally investigated verbal attacks and verbal abuse for most of her life. And what has she found? The same four attack patterns appear time and time again. A must read. This book helped me so much, and I can’t praise it enough.
Amazon US – Amazon UK
Frogs Into Princess by Richard Bundler and John Grinder. This is the book that started this whole NLP movement thing. I’ve been astonished to immediately start noticing how people communicate and behave, exactly as described in the book. (Note that all the self-help hype about NLP came later, and this book is in fact a transcript of a three-day seminar intended for therapists.)
Amazon US – Amazon UK
How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. Despite its controversial title, this is a mainstream classic on the topic of human communication, and it should be taught in schools. Not many books have been a world-wide best seller for almost a century.
Amazon US – Amazon UK
Never Be Lied to Again by David Lieberman. While this is not Lieberman’s most popular book, it is both fun and insightful. It seemingly jumps from topic to topic, analyzing everyday communication / negotiation examples, but it does so brilliantly.
Amazon US – Amazon UK
What Every BODY is Saying by Joe Navarro. Body language might be the most important channel of communication. And this is the best selling book on that topic, and was written by a professional interrogator.
Amazon US – Amazon UK
Money, Prosperity
The 4-Hour Work Week by Tim Ferris. While his in-your-face style might not be for everyone, this book really challenges (and demolishes) many “truths” we have been led to believe.
Amazon US – Amazon UK
The Secrets of the Millionaire Mind by T. Harv Eker. Eker is pretty harshly dividing mindsets into either “rich” or “poor,” attributing all of our results to our mind’s “blueprint.” However, he is amazing at explaining how our own thought patterns sabotage us and how we can change that.
Amazon US – Amazon UK
Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki. I may be a weird parent, but I’ll make sure that my son reads this book several times before he’s on his own. This is not a self-help book; it teaches you what everybody should know (but doesn’t). It provides strong and memorable explanations of how money (any amount of money!) actually works.
Amazon US – Amazon UK
Visualization
The Lazy Man’s Way to Riches by Joe Carbo. This is a book that finally taught me what it means to visualize the results you want. While I was doing that for 90 days, I was forced to tweak my set of goals more than once; realizing the many ways in which they contradicted (!) each other.
Amazon US – Amazon UK
Spiritual Growth
The Power of Now by Echart Tolle. In order to move further, you have to let go of the here and now. A bit protracted for my taste, yet the lessons are immediately applicable. Living vs existing begins with learning how to remain in the present moment…
Amazon US – Amazon UK
The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz is an engaging and easy read. The said agreements sound simple, but their consequences are huge. For example: “Nothing others do is because of you.” It took me over 30 years to come even close to really understanding that one!
Amazon US – Amazon UK
Other
Awaken the Giant Within by Tony Robbins is very exciting and motivational read. Despite all the cheesy rep, you can’t deny Tony’s passion and charisma. When you need to turn your life around, this book will not only give you sound advice, it will give you the energy you need to take action.
Amazon US – Amazon UK
The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success by Deepak Chopra. Very inspirational and easy to understand, this book doesn’t talk about money. It teaches you about prosperity instead, based on understanding yourself, accepting the present, and preparing for the future – with intent.
Amazon US – Amazon UK
The Secret by Rhonda Byrne. A dangerous book, in its overly simplistic view of the Law of Attraction. While not very actionable, this book IS extremely immersive and inspiring. Just be careful though, and avoid the particular kind escapism it encourages in some people.
Amazon US – Amazon UK
I have read Steve Pavlina’s work for ever, his motto is “Personal development for smart people”. This is not a book, but is his personal blog. He personally tries everything he talks about, and he shares his experiences on varying topics, from lucid dreaming to relationships to personal productivity.
Check Steve Pavlina’s blog
