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Beginner's Guide to Tarot
An original, complete book and card set designed to introduce the beginner into the intricacies of the Tarot The tarot is an ancient art, dating back at least to the mid-fifteenth century, and reading the tarot is a skill that can be learned and ultimately mastered. While there are many books and decks for the advanced tarot enthusiast, there is very little for the less advanced. Now there is The Beginner's Guide to the Tarot, a book and card set designed specifically for the novice. In the fully illustrated, 192 page book, noted tarot expert Juliet Sharman-Burke leads the reader through the cards and suits, the Minor and Major Arcana, and the major layouts for the compete 78 card deck. The book is packed with a newly designed and illustrated deck which draws upon both traditional and modern tarot iconography and is rendered in a clear, distinctive style.
192 pages, Paperback
First published May 20, 2002
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
December 27, 2019
5 years in the making but finally finished this bastard.
And the only reason I've managed is that I've been taking tarot lessons with a reader. I found learning tarot on my own very hard. It's much easier to understand each card and to do readings together with friends.
The book comes with the Sharman-Caselli deck, a deck inspired by the Rider-Waite deck, and imagery from the earliest decks, such as the Visconti-Sfzora deck. This book is connected to the box that houses the deck, so if you purchase this, you may have to cut the book out of the box.
Like most beginner guides - it's a good thing and a bad thing because to be simple without being reductive is difficult. Sharman-Burke has very specific meanings for each of the cards and it leaves little room for a new interpretation. I also didn't love the Sharman-Caselli deck. I found Cups and Swords Suites very charming in the Minor Arcana but the Major Arcana was not calling to me: The Lovers and Wheel of Fortune cards were not calling to me. The Lovers showed the man with two women, such as it is depicted in older decks, while the Wheel has four people on it (??). I am much more drawn to Rider-Waite and have done readings on the Rider-Waite card. However, if you prefer a deck stripped of astrological meaning, perhaps you may enjoy the Sharman-Caselli deck.
And the only reason I've managed is that I've been taking tarot lessons with a reader. I found learning tarot on my own very hard. It's much easier to understand each card and to do readings together with friends.
The book comes with the Sharman-Caselli deck, a deck inspired by the Rider-Waite deck, and imagery from the earliest decks, such as the Visconti-Sfzora deck. This book is connected to the box that houses the deck, so if you purchase this, you may have to cut the book out of the box.
Like most beginner guides - it's a good thing and a bad thing because to be simple without being reductive is difficult. Sharman-Burke has very specific meanings for each of the cards and it leaves little room for a new interpretation. I also didn't love the Sharman-Caselli deck. I found Cups and Swords Suites very charming in the Minor Arcana but the Major Arcana was not calling to me: The Lovers and Wheel of Fortune cards were not calling to me. The Lovers showed the man with two women, such as it is depicted in older decks, while the Wheel has four people on it (??). I am much more drawn to Rider-Waite and have done readings on the Rider-Waite card. However, if you prefer a deck stripped of astrological meaning, perhaps you may enjoy the Sharman-Caselli deck.
April 27, 2009
This book does center upon the Tarot designed by Juliet Sharman-Burke, which does tend to be different in design and interpretation to the classical Rider Waite Tarot, which is what I am familiar with. Though its a very, very basic intro and good if you are starting at the very beginning.
June 16, 2015
This guide gives a good foundation for learning the meaning of the cards but has little insight for learning how to give a reading.
February 29, 2012
This carefully researched work is my first recommendation for beginners. If you're lucky, you might find the set packages w the book, deck, and a color-your-own version of the deck. I am fortunate enough to own this set, and have scans of the images which I both print to color and work with in an image manipulation program such as Paint, Photoshop, or GIMP. I prefer GIMP...
September 27, 2008
Meh. I have a friend that always had the Idiot's guide to Tarot laying around, which really was very explanatory. This came with a deck of cards, and while it did give some explanation, I didn't really find it super helpful.
July 3, 2025
I cannot fathom why this book was included in a beginner set. It is basically a glorified LWB. There is exactly zero information on how to use the relatively sparse card definitions. (And yes, they are sparse when it comes to interpretation. Plenty of artistic description, but only a sentence or two on what that means on a practical level.)
For instance, Pentacles are all given their standard definition of referring to 'material' matters--in this book, exclusively financial issues. However, anyone with a tiny bit of logic can deduce that they'll show up in entirely unrelated positions and spreads as well. Anyone who's read more than this single book on tarot will know that they can also refer to health or career (which in this book is only referenced in the wands suit). At absolutely no point--including in the example readings--does Sharman-Burke offer even a hint of how to interpret a pentacles card in a position referring even to physical health, let alone something like interpersonal relationships or a creative project.
Similarly, each section ends with a sample spread readers are encouraged to practice. However, at no point are any of the spreads explained. What does "the foundation" refer to? How is someone completely new to tarot meant to understand that? Or "the unknown", which in several sample readings is used for things that aren't unknown at all, but perfectly logical outcomes of the situation at hand.
There is the additional complexity of the deck having influences from Visconti-Sforza and Marseilles as well as RWS. For a complete beginner, the differences in interpretation are likely to be confusing if using additional references and may make transitioning to a more standard RWS-inspired deck more difficult.
I do like the system of having readers practice with one suit at a time, all minors together, only the majors, then the entire deck at once to build understanding and confidence. In a book with more explanation and a greater variation in types of queries it could work great. (I'd love, for instance, to have been given a sample career spread using only swords or cups to demonstrate how query/position impacts interpretation.) With such limited information, though, I can't imagine it being any more useful to a beginner than a traditional LWB.
For a better introductory book, go with Barbara Moore's Tarot for Beginners + whatever RWS-based deck you like. You'll have to sit down with the deck and go through it one card at a time alongside the book, but by the end you'll have a solid foundation of not only keywords, but also how to look for the nuances in interpretation different art styles give.
For instance, Pentacles are all given their standard definition of referring to 'material' matters--in this book, exclusively financial issues. However, anyone with a tiny bit of logic can deduce that they'll show up in entirely unrelated positions and spreads as well. Anyone who's read more than this single book on tarot will know that they can also refer to health or career (which in this book is only referenced in the wands suit). At absolutely no point--including in the example readings--does Sharman-Burke offer even a hint of how to interpret a pentacles card in a position referring even to physical health, let alone something like interpersonal relationships or a creative project.
Similarly, each section ends with a sample spread readers are encouraged to practice. However, at no point are any of the spreads explained. What does "the foundation" refer to? How is someone completely new to tarot meant to understand that? Or "the unknown", which in several sample readings is used for things that aren't unknown at all, but perfectly logical outcomes of the situation at hand.
There is the additional complexity of the deck having influences from Visconti-Sforza and Marseilles as well as RWS. For a complete beginner, the differences in interpretation are likely to be confusing if using additional references and may make transitioning to a more standard RWS-inspired deck more difficult.
I do like the system of having readers practice with one suit at a time, all minors together, only the majors, then the entire deck at once to build understanding and confidence. In a book with more explanation and a greater variation in types of queries it could work great. (I'd love, for instance, to have been given a sample career spread using only swords or cups to demonstrate how query/position impacts interpretation.) With such limited information, though, I can't imagine it being any more useful to a beginner than a traditional LWB.
For a better introductory book, go with Barbara Moore's Tarot for Beginners + whatever RWS-based deck you like. You'll have to sit down with the deck and go through it one card at a time alongside the book, but by the end you'll have a solid foundation of not only keywords, but also how to look for the nuances in interpretation different art styles give.
June 2, 2021
The cards are beautifully illustrated, and the book takes you step-by-step through the minor and major arcana. I’m currently a newbie only playing around with the minor, and only one suit at a time. I know precious little about tarot, but find it intriguing, especially considering how this, and really any form of intuition or prediction was seen as a demonic force by someone who used to be close to me and who exerted a great deal of undue control over me and mine.
Trusting in the divinity of nature and in the goodness of your strength, and the community of others should never be seen as a negative, least of all a satanic symbol.
Trusting in the divinity of nature and in the goodness of your strength, and the community of others should never be seen as a negative, least of all a satanic symbol.
February 2, 2020
I use this daily. It's great to have on hand for extra clarification.
January 31, 2023
Una guía sencilla y clara para aprender el arte de leer el Tarot, desde luego esta fue solo la primera lectura, ahora tengo que repasar
September 5, 2023
Why are tarot card books so vague. I get that the readings are up to the reader to decipher but the language they use the help you translate the card is so unclear. It’s frustrating.
December 29, 2009
This book makes interpreting and responding to the cards very simple and is worth a try for any beginner to tarot.
Currently reading
February 20, 2011gonna re read this one and try to study it a bit more closely. Do a couple off run through's see how I get on....
May 23, 2013
I'm glad that I found this book!! Very clear and the keywords really helps me a lot!!
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews