Table of Contents

 

Tarot Reflections

November 2006

 
     
 
Review: 21 Ways to Read a Tarot Card
MysticTree Grove

MysticTree Grove has been studying Tarot for almost 20 years. She has been reading professionally for just over two years. She is a Certified Tarot Associate and is working steadily to move forward in her certifications.

She is a full time mom of an active 2 year old girl named Meghan and a large extented family.

Her website is www.mystictreetarot.com

 

 

The first thing I want to mention about this book is how much I appreciate the way Mary K. Greer wrote. It was equally valuable to a tarot novice and to an old crone like me. Each chapter is divided into two sections “the way of the Apprentice” and “the way of the Adept”. Each chapter (she calls them Steps) focuses on a different method of reviewing and studying the cards. Some of the methods were familiar to me; some were new. I have to admit, I learned a lot in every chapter.

This is not a quick read. Following Ms. Greer’s advice as given in the introduction, I read “the way of the Apprentice” in each chapter and did each related exercises. Then I went back and read “the way of the Adept”. I found that to get the most of each step I had to reread the Apprentice sections first.

 

 

21 Ways to Read a Tarot Card
by Mary K. Greer


The book covers just what she promised; 21 ways to look into the meanings of tarot cards. As she explores these methods, she introduces us to a variety of different decks. In fact, she lists twenty-five decks that appear in the book in her bibliography. To help us make the most use of all the information in this book, she also provides nine appendixes for quick reference. Of these, the last is the most valuable as it is a quick list reminder to explore all 21 methods as we study the cards.

Of her 21 methods, I didn’t have a least favorite. I found the Drawing the Cards Step the most challenging. She encourages the non-artists in her audience by including her own rendering of the William Blake Tarot’s Imagination and of the Nine of Pentacles from the Roots of Asia Tarot.

The Step that excited me the most was her take on SL MacGregor Mathers’ elemental dignities. She has talked about this alternative to reversals in other books, but this was the most comprehensive explanation I have read to date.

Ms. Greer ends this book with Step 00 entitled “Full Circle”. In this chapter she tells us about her journey as she wrote the book and encourages us to be open to the possibilities. This book is well written, well annotated and packed with information. The surprise in this book was that I closed it not only feeling that I had learned more about the cards and myself, but that I also felt like I had finished a long conversation with an amazing woman.

         
 
 
 

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