The Complete New Tarot

by Onno Docters van Leeuwen, Rob Docters van Leeuwen

Four-hundred-eighty beautifully illustrated pages, filled with fresh information and eye-opening explanations, will bring Tarot enthusiasts more knowledge and understanding than ever before. This illuminating guide begins by restoring the cards’ authentic order, which opens up new philosophical possibilities in interpretation. The meanings of the two blank cards traditionally added to every deck are revealed, and two of the Major Arcana— Truth and Intuition—appear once again after centuries. These restorations make the Tarot complete, and more clearly reveal its structure. Learn exactly what the Tarot is; how it can serve as a path through life; the meaning of all the cards in the Major and Minor Arcana; how to use the Tarot as a tool of divination, and more.

Genres: Nonfiction, Occult, Tarot

480 pages, Paperback

First published May 28, 2004

Reviews

[Roger Stewart · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this book disappointing. It provides an exploration of the arcana of the tarot, much of which is available in other occult study guides. The explanations for individual cards are fairly close to what you would find elsewhere, as are the fairly shallow guides to interpreting the cards in readings. The authors also throw in a hodgepodge of other esoteric matter relating to the tarot. What most sets the book apart is that it calls for a re-ordering of the major arcana along with the addition of two "restored" cards, which he calls Truth (or Jupiter) and Intuition (or Juno). These cards hardly seem necessary, though, when you consider that, in the standard tarot decks, the Emperor embodies masculine energy and trustworthiness while the High Priestess is associated with feminine intuition and insightfulness. An accompanying deck to this book, called "De tarot in de herstelde orde," includes the two additional cards, but it is out-of-print and rare and was only ever printed in Dutch. So there isn't any way of making practical use of that aspect of the book. Look elsewhere, seeker.