Tarot Beyond the Basics: Gain a Deeper Understanding of the Meanings Behind the Cards

by Anthony Louis

Most tarot books are for beginners. Here, Anthony Louis, famous for Tarot Plain & Simple, shares decades of insights and information that can help you become an advanced practitioner. Not merely "more of the same," Louis provides real world examples of how to use your intuition to improve your readings, how to understand tarot reversals and how to include the meanings of numbers, the elements, and the tarot's court cards.

Louis reveals the common background of astrology and tarot, explaining astrology for tarot readers clearly and in a way that makes sense. Then he shows how to use the tarot with astrological concepts to give advanced readings that change people's lives.

Genres: Tarot, Nonfiction, Reference, Occult, Witchcraft, Spirituality

408 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2014

Reviews

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting and detailed book about Tarot and how it links in with astrology, numerology and astrology. Lots to digest here and I would suggest this book is mainly for advanced students of the tarot, or very enthusiastic beginners who already have a comprehensive understanding of astrology. I personally don't like the way Louis uses examples of readings to explain the sitters situation. I didn't particularly like it in his first book, and for me it doesn't work. It's an interesting book, but for me, I think it's better for readers of tarot to use their intuition, and although this book does that, it is extremely in depth about Elements and I don't actually think that that is necessary.

[Emily Kestrel · Rating 3 out of 5]

DNF on page 212. There’s some interesting information, but overall this just bogs down in too much theory to be useful for me.

[Zanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

First of all, you probably need to know that I have been a fan of Anthony Louis for a long time. Among my all-time favorites are his books Tarot Plain and Simple and Horary Astrology: Plain & Simple (both published by Llewellyn). However, that did not automatically make me love Tarot Beyond the Basics. The love affair began when I was barely into the book and could not resist immediately trying some of things Louis was showing me.

For example, “Using Tarot to Delineate the Ascendant” revealed to me that the Ten of Pentacles (Coins / Wealth) and Three of Pentacles (Coins / Works) are of major significance in understanding my life force and basic motivations (watch for a separate blog post on this!) The section on “Using the Tarot with a Horary Chart” motivated me to take a look at the Tarot implications of a horary chart I recently cast.

Even the appendices are fabulous. Appendix A -- “Keywords for the Suit Cards” -- offers so much more than the title suggests. It is followed by the equally fascinating and useful “Waite’s Original Conception of the Celtic Cross” (Appendix B) and “Elements, Timing, Pips, and Court Cards” (Appendix C).

The bibliography is outstanding. As a nonfiction author, I always try my best to give my readers a wealth of sources from which they can learn more about my subject. Louis does a fantastic job with this.

I am seeing reviews here at Goodreads by people who found the book overwhelming or confusing. It goes without saying that if you are just getting started with Tarot or if you have decided you do not have any interest in incorporating astrology and/or numerology into your Tarot readings, this book is not a great choice for you. It is, however, the perfect book for someone like me – and I suspect there are quite a few of you out there! It's like having a library in one volume.

[Yvonne · Rating 3 out of 5]

First of all, as the title implies this is a book that is not for beginners of tarot. I'd say you need to already be relatively comfortable with reading a tarot spread without relying on the help of a guidebook before giving this book a read. I'll also say, as someone who's gotten very comfortable and familiar with astrology over the past couple years (especially thanks to The Astrology Podcast hosted by Chris Brennan) I think a lot of this would have been a lot more difficult to grasp without at least a solid understanding of the meanings of the planets and signs in astrology. Much of the focus of this book is about how astrology influenced the way that tarot developed as a divination system as we know it today.

There's a lot of good and interesting info in here however I have a few issues. First, the focus on masculine/feminine as a dichotomy just read as very outdated to me. I was surprised that this was published in 2014 because that made it all feel at least a decade or two older than it apparently is. There wasn't enough of a discussion, in my opinion, about how masculine cards can still signify women who embody the traits of the cards or how feminine cards can still signify men who embody those traits. Furthermore, the examples of 'If the querent is male, x indicates a female he's interested in' just always feel too heteronormative to me as a bi woman. The focus on some of the more literal meanings of the court cards felt a bit off to me too as, in my own tarot practice, I've never found those helpful or accurate. Also I felt like the transitions between chapters were a bit odd and didn't quite build off each other in a way that always made sense, and a lot of the examples used to illustrate the points he was trying to make were often... just boring.

[Anina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is definitely beyond. Like beyond something I should have been trying to read sober. But I can appreciate that.

[Marius · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Tarot beyond the basics" by Louis is book for the initiate. This book is a book of reflections. Louis uses his vast experience to explore the different perspectives when reading a Rider Waite based Tarot deck. The first chapter covers a run through of a real life example read of a celtic cross spread and then on to the basics of astrology and how this may influence the meanings of the cards, then on to the many ways to interpret reversals, intuition, number symbolism, 4 elements, personalities and court cards, Major Arcana and finally meanings of the four suits. The Tarot illustrations is mainly the Universal Tarot by Lo Scarabeo in black and white. In the end of the book there is a one page per card table of keywords and associations applying various interpretations for all the cards of the deck. This book probably has the best information on how the 4 elements influence the cards of any book out there. It is apparent that Louis is no fan of Kabbalah. Rather odd though, since the Rider Waite is saturated with this symbology. One could argue that Astrology is just as invalid especially when you go back to earlier Tarot decks. Oh well.. To be honest there is a lot to digest in this book. It presumes you can read the cards and it would be helpful if you are at least familiar with astrology. Again this is not a beginner´s book. This is not a book on how to read the cards rather a book on how many ways the cards can be read, reflections by a person with a lot of experience. Having said that I found it very informative. I recommend this book to the advanced student or Tarot practitioner.

This book can be purchased on Amazon; https://amzn.to/3qgtEXF

[Caitlyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Truly beyond the basics, this is my new favorite book on tarot. Thorough and comprehensive, it's clearly well-researched but avoids being too dense and wordy on any particular subject.

I also loved that the structure of this books is flipped. Louis starts with general approaches and then the pips, going through image, numerology, and astrology in detail in ways that clicked so well for me. Then he addresses the major arcana in detail, but only dwells briefly on each. It was perfect because, by then, I felt he'd already provided the tools to do my own deeper look. Just such a smart construction to the ordering of the chapters, I loved it.

If this was the only book on tarot I owned, it would be plenty. Highly recommend!

[Cathleen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher and author through Net Galley in exchange for my honest review.

I have always been fascinated by the Tarot. I was interested in reading this book for 2 reason: 1) for deeper undertanding of the Tarot; and, 2) to discover the way a practitioner interprets the Tarot. The book was interesting but confusing. I understand that I was provided with an unpolished version and not the final edit of what will be sold on shelves. Having said that, I do feel that the formating on the ebook I was provided was awkward. Quotes would suddenly show up in the middle of a paragraph, the quotes did not provide enlightenment but created more confusion for me when the paragraph would resume. The author would share an actual client story but did not complete it, I would have liked to know how the meeting with this client concluded.

Perhaps I will pick up a copy of this book in its final polished version at my local library after publication date to see if I enjoy it more.

[Melissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you wish to understand more about Tarot by correlating it to astrology, then this book is for you.

[Tabitha Chamberlain · Rating 3 out of 5]

the beginning started out really strong, but halfway through the book is where i have issues. it's supposed to enable you to dig deeper into a tarot reading. however, it goes into deep numerology (one of the better ones incorporated into a book actually) and an extremely complex elemental dignity aspect for the Court Cards. giving the impression that it's trying to target the average reader only majority of it is going to go over most tarot readers head unless they are incredibly knowledgeable in several different schools especially the Golden Dawn systems.

[Ren · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is an absolute joke with good packaging.

It's as if it's written by a contrarian teenager. It completely lacks depth, offers no true understanding of the cards - even at one point calling it all "mumbo jumbo". It heroically refers to God as a female, could just say goddess but that's not edgy enough, and says that "Crowley was barking up the wrong tree" and jokes about themselves and their dog both pissing on said tree....

There are better, helpful books out there.

I'd stay clear of this silly thing.

[Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have another Anthony Louis book that I enjoy so when I saw this in my library I gave it a shot. There are some interesting take always but it’s honestly about how tarot relates to astrology, numerology, etc which isn’t quite what I expected. Additionally I did not like the sample readings and typically skipped over them after I read the first one.

[Elisabet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent follow up to his first book. Some really good additional insights particularly regarding reversals. Some topics may not appeal to all tarot users but the book is designed to account for that so one can skip sections not relevant to their purposes.

[Suzanne Emmett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant

[Courtney · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maybe I’m just not ready for this. Some of the associations felt very forced though.

[Anita · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of information, but not dogmatic. Encourages to interpret for yourself.
Examples of reading are interesting, not too much. Like the writing style.

[Jennifer Pope · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is so much information in this book! I will definitely be referencing it often.

[gracie :) · Rating 5 out of 5]

such a super cool perspective! i learned SO much, and the author goes into the deepest depth i’ve ever seen with tarot cards.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Seems like most of the complaints are that the book is dense/goes into complex detail.. that’s the idea - beyond the basics. Exactly what I was looking for and I’m sure I’ll reference this often.

[Kelley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had intended to write this review a month before the book’s release date, and here it is almost two months AFTER. Partially, this is due to my overstuffed schedule and ridiculously hectic life, but partially this is because Tarot Beyond the Basics was way more intense than I had expected it to be!

Research, organization, and information collecting are some of my favorite things, so when I saw how comprehensive and complete this book was, I just fell in love. Certainly, this means that there were some chapters I couldn’t delve very deeply into (I don’t know enough about astrology to get much out of those chapters — yet), but the rest of the book was just a joy to read.

As tarot readers we use the cards intuitively to trigger associations derived from our life history, the metaphorical meanings of our native language and culture, our own study and theoretical understanding of the cards, and our personal as well as the collective unconscious.

One thing I appreciate most about this book is that Louis doesn’t just go with what he knows — he references information, history, techniques, and anecdotes from all kinds of tarot (and other esoteric) authorities. His personal accounts, anecdotes, metaphors, and interpretations made this book so much fun to read.

There are whole chapters on different aspects of the tarot, including: astrology, numerology, intuition, shuffling, how different decks can affect a reading, the elements, sarcasm, and more! I can’t tell you how many passages I highlighted throughout this book — either because I just liked the quote, or I wanted to remember the techniques/information for later. I gained a much deeper and more complete understanding of the cards and I feel like I have a thick resource to refer to now!

…what if a tarot divination is valid only if the querent shuffles the deck with the sincere intent to receive a valid answer from the cards?

To date, Tarot Beyond the Basics is probably my favorite resource for tarot. You can bet I will be adding a physical copy to my shelves as soon as possible!

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like tarot, I like astrology, and I've read several of Anthony Louis' earlier books. So I was excited when I heard of this book, and read it almost immediately after getting my hands on it (as opposed to, say, letting it age in my to-be-read pile for a year or so).

This definitely is not a book for tarot beginners. I think you'd need to be fairly comfortable with basic tarot reading before tackling this book, probably at the stage where you're just getting tired of the Tarot 101 books and want something more. Even so, I wondered if the astrology in this book was more than someone who only knew tarot would want to deal with. Louis invites the reader to skim the chapter on astrology and come back later to reread it if it gets to be too much, and I suspect the reader new to astrology will have to do just that. That said, I appreciated the amount of material he included on the decans. They're mentioned in other books, but Louis goes into greater depth than many authors do. He also demonstrates how to use tarot to enhance natal and horary chart readings; readers who are familiar with astrology will probably find this interesting (I certainly did).

Astrology isn't the whole of the book, though. There's a whole chapter on the court cards, using both the four elements and the four qualities (hot, cold, wet, dry) to deepen their meanings. In other chapters, Louis discusses reversed cards, looks at the Celtic Cross spread in detail, applies numerology to the Minor Arcana, and talks about intuition and divination. The book concludes with a trio of good appendixes, including one that pulls all this information together for the court cards and the Minor Arcana.

Although I generally like Louis' writing style, sometimes I felt like some points had gone past explanation and were being belabored. Plus, the book hit one of my pet peeves: no index. You can only get away with no index if you have a detailed table of contents, and this book doesn't. Aargh! But I think it's worth adding to your "advanced tarot" bookshelf, especially if you're willing to reread any confusing parts.

[Angel Graham · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am currently reading an ARC of this title provided by Net Galley.

I hate not being able to five this a better rating. I wanted to love this book. I have been doing Tarot for years. Have friends who do also. Nut this book has some major flaws.

The first flaw, in my opinion, rests in the publisher's hand, not the authors. The formatting is atrocious. It is a book, formatted for print thrown together and called a digital ARC. Sorry, Llewellyn, this does not work. The book is close to impossible to read due to this lazy mans formatting. Footnotes suddenly appear in the middle of pages, sometimes breaking up sentences. The chapters are not clearly delineated. They run together. Sloppy. Very sloppy.

Sadly, the rest of the problems do lie with the author. The book is a rambling mess. It begins talking about one persons treading, then we suddenly read about one or two other peoples readings, and if we are lucky, get to finally tread about the first reading we began with.

It is dry. No anything that makes a person want to continue reading past the first chapter, even if all the formatting problems are resolved.

I just cannot recommend this book as it is distributed at this time.

[LaGina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not a beginner but I'm not an expert at Tarot either. While I got a lot of information out of this book and liked how astrology and numerology were incorporated in the Tarot This book combines it was a little hard to follow because I am so new at this. I have this in ebook form and think that maybe it would have been better to have in paperback so that I could mark and flag things. But overall it had a lot of good information that was very helpful to me starting out in my journey.

[Coratesia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This may not give everyone a deeper understanding of Tarot but it is a great account of one mans interpretive skills. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interesting in the ways astrology is used to enrich a card reading.

[Kirti · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best book you can have in your tarot book collection.

This book offers some simple way of learning the advanced techniques in tarot. The author has deep rooted knowledge about tarot and it amazes you. This book is hard to keep down once you started it.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book for people who are practicing tarot reading. I haven't done a reading in awhile but I enjoyed the history contained in this book. The analysis of the symbols in tarot cards and the examples of different decks is great.

[Rabbit {Paint me like one of your 19th century gothic heroines!} · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disclaimer: This ARC was given to me for free in exchange for an honest review from Netgalley.

[Shonna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book! I especially love the chapters on the elements and the court cards. A great addition to any tarot nerds bookshelf.

[CoCo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Textbook-ish. Two thumbs DOWN!

[Peter Morris · Rating 4 out of 5]

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