La Via dei Tarocchi

by Alejandro Jodorowsky, Marianne Costa, Michela Finassi Parolo (Translator)

Da più di quarant’anni Alejandro Jodorowsky si dedica allo studio dei Tarocchi, una parte fondamentale del suo percorso artistico e terapeutico. Ogni mercoledì, quando è a Parigi, lo si può incontrare in un caffè vicino a casa mentre legge i Tarocchi a chi lo desidera. È sempre disponibile a leggere nell’inconscio di chi incontra ma, a differenza di altri, non chiede denaro, non dà consigli e non parla del futuro. I Tarocchi sono per Jodorowsky allo stesso tempo uno specchio dell’anima e uno strumento terapeutico: aiutano a sviluppare la coscienza e a vivere e capirsi meglio, “conoscersi psicologicamente e storicamente”. Secondo lui, tutti gli psicoanalisti dovrebbero usarli, “risparmierebbero molto tempo”; ma, forse, non vogliono davvero curare i pazienti. Per scrivere questo libro l’autore e la moglie hanno estratto la quintessenza delle innumerevoli lezioni e letture impartite in giro per tutto il mondo. Il risultato è un’esplorazione integrale dell’architettura di questo gioco millenario composto da 78 carte, un esaustivo manuale, a colori e con moltissime splendide immagini, che permette al lettore di iniziarsi al bagaglio simbolico dei Tarocchi, di comprendere uno per uno i 22 arcani maggiori e i 56 minori e di apprendere a orientarsi nell’interpretazione del proprio inconscio.

Genres: Tarot, Nonfiction, Spirituality, Occult, Divination, Psychology, Religion

565 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Also credited as Alexandro Jodorowsky

Better known for his surreal films El Topo and The Holy Mountain filmed in the early 1970s, Alejandro Jodorowsky is also an accomplished writer of graphic novels and a psychotherapist. He developed Psychomagic, a combination of psychotherapy and shamanic magic. His fans have included John Lennon and Marilyn Manson.

Reviews

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's hard not to approach a book about the tarot without some strong measure of skepticism. I do not believe in divination and honestly I read this book because I loved "The Holy Mountain" and "El Topo" and I wanted to learn more about the underlying symbolism of the Major Arcana.

So, to say this book surprised me is a bit of an understatement. Not only does Jodorowsky do a lot to demystify the tarot (admitting its origins as a poker like game in the late Middle Ages to Renaissance) but he at once explores and explodes the various symbologies that have been imposed upon the tarot, from the rote interpretations that we're more familiar with in Waite-Smith decks to numerology inherited from the kabbalah (though it s not without interesting overlaps), Jodorowsky puts the cards in their place: square pieces of card board with pictures on them. Yet despite that limitation, he is also able to convincingly explore how tarot can be used to psychological and spiritual introspection. Though there are times he veers towards interpretations that seem either too Freudian or mystical to keep in line with some of his more "no-nonsense" passages, the book overall is highly insightful and interesting, and worth reading for anyone who is even casually interested in the tarot, but not afraid of reading through alchemical, Buddhist, Daoist, and Judeo-Christian analyses.

[Mir]

The true study of the Arcanum begins with the consistent order of the entire Tarot; every detail, tiny as it may be, begins from the links that connect all seventy-eight cards. To understand these myriad symbols, one needs to have seen the final symbol they all form together: a mandala.

My interest in the Tarot is not this intense. I find the symbolism interesting, and even more so the visual qualities. I had thought, given Jadorowsky's interest in the visual that there would be something worthwhile in terms of illustration, but in fact they are both minimal and generic.

However, the author's writing is certainly compelling, and the material about his life is fascinating. He worked with Marcel Marceau! He knew Leonora Carrington (Carrington was also fascinated by the Tarot and references it in many of her paintings).

Here's an, er, thing, they did together:


Recommended for those with a serious interest in either the Tarot or Jodorowsky's psyche.

[Alexis Hall]

Source of book: bought for myself (and boy do I wish I hadn't)
Relevant disclaimers: None
Please note: This review may not be reproduced or quoted, in whole or in part, without explicit consent from the author.

And remember: I am not here to judge your drag, I mean your book. Books are art and art is subjective. These are just my personal thoughts. They are not meant to be taken as broader commentary on the general quality of the work. Believe me, I have not enjoyed many an excellent book, and my individual lack of enjoyment has not made any of those books less excellent or (more relevantly) less successful.

***

Skippable preamble on my tarot bullshit here

So this is the TdM book you get recommended if you look on Reddit threads or ask Google. And I have absolutely no clue why this is so high on everyone’s “oh yes, this is definitely the book you need to read to learn the TdM” list because … like …

I mean?

Have they read it?

It’s absolutely bizarre. Which, to be fair, is probably to be expected given that--as far as I can tell--Alejandro Jodorowsky is avant-garde as fuck (and no stranger to controversary, which I’m not going to go into here).

Don’t get me wrong, I believe this man has a sincere passion for TdM and a fascinating perspective on hermetic mysticism. In many ways this book is truly beautiful--especially his description of the tarot as a “nomadic cathedral”--and I both appreciated, and related to, a lot of his perspectives (since I, too, am not interested in reading predictively, so much as psychologically).

Basically I do feel I learned something (the jury is still out on precisely what) from this book. But what I did not learn was how to be a better reader of the TdM. There’s too much here that isn’t my thing, whether that’s viewing the cards as a mandala, or dividing them between masculine and feminine archetypes (irrespective of whether you see those energies as relating to gender or not: if it’s not about gender, why are we calling them masculine, and feminine, hey?)

But the thing I’ve not seen anyone discuss, and I don’t know why, because this what takes us into the “absolutely bizarre” territory, is the fact that he chooses to discuss the court cards by allowing them to introduce themselves in a sort of a first person stream of consciousness. Okay. Fine. Not my thing. But fine.

Except then we get to the Queen of Wands:

How tender, how delicate, how vulnerable is my loving and ceaselessly wounded heart! I am not searching for anything. I am a castle that must be besieged and conquered.

I have dived into the incessant river of desire. Everything in me is exuberance. With the gluttony of a tornado I offer my burning cavern to every insemination.

That is a hell of a way to say I’m feeling a bit creative today. I’m mean, from a certain perspective it’s kind of a hilarious for any grown man--surrealist or not--to have written this in an otherwise apparently quite serious book (unless this is just deliberate trolling?). But it’s also pretty gross. Especially because it’s not like the King of Wands is all like “I gift the bounteous wreathe of my molten anus to inflame the passions of the world.”

My theory is that very few people have actually read this book. They just see that it’s 500 pages long and has Jodorowsky’s name on it, which has given it a reputation for being important. Otherwise we would not being going around to newbies being like “oh yes, the book about the Queen of Wands’ fuck cavern is exactly what you need to draw you into the moving pieces of cardboard around hobby.”

I actually had to create a whole new shelf in GR to properly accommodate this book.

[Gabriela Ventura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quem é a louca das simbologias? Isso mesmo, euzinha.

(Talvez isso explique um mestrado e um doutorado com os dois pés chafurdados na semiótica) Não posso ver um sistema de imagens que já quero decodificar.

O tarot é uma paixão antiga. Comprei meu primeiro deck quando tinha uns 13 anos, numa viagem a Poços de Caldas - uma especificidade bizarra. Naquela época eu não sabia nada sobre semiótica, claro, eu só tinha visto Jovens Bruxas vezes demais, e quem nunca foi wicca nos anos 90 que atire a primeira pedra, ora bolas.

Ao longo dos anos minha relação com o tarô (pelo menos como gosto de pensar) amadureceu. Parei de brincar de oráculo e vi potencial das cartas como linguagem (em tempo: leiam O castelo dos destinos cruzados, do Calvino!). De tudo o que já li sobre tarot, esse livro talvez seja o meu favorito. Passei meses com ele em cima da mesa, lendo devagar e fazendo anotações. É bem escrito, instrutivo, contém ótimos exercícios de imaginação. Tem a parte miçangueira para quem é de miçangas, mas nunca é hermético. Um livraço para quem gosta do aspecto cultural da coisa, e para quem gosta do aspecto místico da coisa. Já pra quem tá procurando oráculo, talvez não seja a melhor opção. Aliás, os oráculos em geral não são. Esse lance de profecia autorrealizável é uma merda, gente, deixem o futuro em paz.

[Tara Greene · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book came highly recommended from a friend of mine who is an amazing artist and reads tarot herself. I am a professional Tarot reader but had never studied The MarseillesTarot one of the oldest editions specifically which Jodorowsky works with in this book.
I had loved his films El Topo and the Magic Mountain years ago, as he is fascinated with archetypes and that is what the Tarot is. The fountain of archetypal knowledge and symbolism it is virtually the Unconscious itself.
These are very much his own chanellings as he describes each major tarot card as he embodies them. It is very much his system. There is so much nuance and triggers to the imagination in his book. He describes very subtle markings in each card which would usually go unnoticed.
He pairs the cards in a different Numerology than the system I had previously been using.
There is so much eye opening content in this book. He goes through each of the 78 cards in the deck, with many layouts and questions..His life is karmically connected to the Tarot and its ancient wisdom and knowledge.
An excellent book, very in depth. VEry different.HIghly recommended, you may uses it as a reference book.

[Ollie · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I was 8 years old, my mother bought a copy of Cosmopolitan magazine that came with a free Tarot deck. She gave it to me to play with - together with its detachable guide - and I've been ever since a studier of it.

I've read many books on the Tarot - from straight forward divinations, to books on the meaning of the cards when upside down - but this one truly stands out as different from all the rest. First of all, it's written by the filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky, known for the films "El Topo" and "Holy Mountain", and its emphasis isn't on fortune telling but on spiritual awakening. Jodorowsky also says something I've never read before: that we should not try to foretell the future with Tarot cards, but use them instead as guideposts along a journey where we serve as mirrors to the person receiving the reading, gently guiding the person to find the answer within.

It's quite a large tome, with detailed information on each card (he uses the Tarot the Marseille) as well as philosophical explorations on what the cards mean as a whole. If you want to see Jodorowsky in action with Tarot cards, there are some interesting videos on YouTube.

[Monica · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is definitely not an every day reading. This is definitely not a reading for everybody. This is a book that needs attention, an open mind and a desire to accept that nothing is static and that everything changes and it can be changed. The reader of such a book needs to have two preconditions: he/she should have an interest of some sort in the art of Tarot and he/she should have a more poignant spiritual/philosophical side than a normal person.
The last paragraph of the book is mind blowing and basically the key to understand all those long pages when the author seems to have lost any measure. (But DO NOT read it in advance, it will ruin the entire experience).

[Gabriel Clarke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finished at the second attempt. At worst, it's pompous and didactic, a sort of hellishly complicated self-help book by Tarot's own Paolo Coelho. At its best , it's challenging, bracingly different and wholly refreshing. This is not a book for beginners but forms a genuine and much-needed alternative to the generic Rider-Waite-Coleman-Smith default. There have been other attempts to reset Tarot away from the Golden Dawn-based system but this one is *serious*. Highly recommended.

[AL · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is my newest reference guide to life. I will be consulting it frequently for many years to come. Not only will you get advice on how to understand to read the language of the Tarot, in addition you receive the wisdom of Jodorowsky and his profound journeys through life. He understands humanity and has discovered how to bring healing into the art of Tarot instead of mere divination. Become a mirror, as I have always been inclined towards, and find the means to heal the wounds of life.

[Hugh · Rating 5 out of 5]

In typical Jodo fashion this book goes from the sublime to the ridiculous. I do NOT recommend it as a first book for someone new to Tarot. It is a good book, and it is good for learning the TdM Deck, but if you are brand new to Tarot then Rachel Pollock's "78 Degrees of Wisdom" is a better choice to get going.

[Laura]

it's crazy that this man could be both one of the greatest filmmakers ever and also one of the world's top experts on the tarot. jodorowsky links the tarot and psychoanalysis in fascinating ways.

[John Of Oxshott · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is a paradox at the heart of this book. Jodorowsky acknowledges that we are entirely ignorant of the origins and purpose of the Tarot. Yet he is certain that it is a “sacred work”, “by essence perfect” that has been “crafted with great precision.”

The only way to understand it, he says, is to see it as a whole. But in order to do that you first have to reconstruct it, symbol by symbol, from flawed remnants that have filtered down to us over the centuries.

The big problem with this approach is distinguishing what is important from what is irrelevant. How can you see it as a whole when the pieces are so broken? There is no single reliable source. There is not even a single Marseille Tarot.

He criticizes Paul Marteau for basing his Marseille Tarot on a copy of a copy and then altering it “as this made it possible for him to commercialize the deck and receive royalties from it as the author.” He then goes on to explain how he and Philippe Camoin created a new and different Marseille Tarot by changing many more of the symbols “into absolutely different ones”, before making the new deck available for purchase through Camoin’s website.

There is another paradox inherent in Jodorowsky’s attempt to make sense of this new creation of theirs. He discarded the teaching of all the past commentators on the Tarot. He says he will trust only the Tarot itself. But, as an obsessive collector of over 1,000 Tarots, he can’t resist the lure of all sorts of outside influences as he seeks to justify his own particular vision.

It’s a profoundly fascinating account of how a creative intellectual can arrive at what he sincerely believes to be the true meaning of the Tarot, while following exactly the same questionable eclectic method as everybody else, blending myths, mysticism and symbols from many different cultures and fusing them with his own psychic landscapes to create what is simultaneously a mirror of his soul and a key to the structure of the universe.

To be fair, Jodorowsky acknowledges that there is no impartial tarologist and that there is no true or secret meaning of any one card. But he does believe that there is a true and false way of working with the Tarot and that this must begin with an accurate picture of its whole: “To understand these myriad symbols, one needs to have seen the final symbol they all form together: a mandala.”

This is his cue to bring in the teachings of Carl Gustav Jung and to delve into the history of myths and symbols before launching himself on a protracted period of analysis, introspection and therapy, using Tarot cards as both a springboard and a safety net.

Combined with the internal processes is an intense scrutiny of what is actually on the cards. As co-author Marianne Costa puts it, “… the Tarot constitutes first and foremost an apprenticeship in seeing.”

That can be a problem if you want to follow their analysis and you don’t have their deck. I have four Marseille decks and none of them match the colours or symbols that Jodorowsky and Camoin have put there. There are a lot of similarities but that is not quite good enough because of the importance Jodorowsky attaches to even the smallest detail.

So, depending on what you want to get from this book, you can either buy Jodorowsky’s deck or take much of what he says with a pinch of salt. He threw away the Waite Tarot that one of his flesh and blood teachers had given him because Andre Bretton told him that its symbols are “lamentably obvious.” This is just snobbery. He is forever questing and, like every mystical elitist, he wants the answers to be hard to find.

In seeking to “charge” the Tarot, he has committed the same sins as everyone else. “Each new deck of cards contains the subjectivity of its authors, their vision of the world, their moral prejudices, their limited level of awareness...”

He is unfair to the Waite deck, which he was once “obsessed with”, accusing it of “negativity and bad taste.” The proofs he gives of this are the reversed meanings of a handful of cards. But he even remembers one of them wrong, describing five beggars frozen to the bone where Waite’s own description is more ambivalent: “two mendicants in a snow-storm pass a lighted casement.” This is the Five of Pentacles, which is open to negative or positive interpretation, and references other images in the same deck in ways just as complex and fascinating as Jodorowsky’s cross-references in the Marseille deck, a deck which he also found “hostile” initially.

On reading this book it is clear that whatever system, whatever oracle or occult tradition you choose, if you spend as much time with it as Jodorowsky has spent with the Marseille deck, its images, resonances and correspondences will become very personal to you, fused with your way of looking at the world.

In the end, the authors have tried to reject negativity and mundanity, giving each card “the most sublime definition possible.” In that sense this book mystifies the Tarot. In another sense, like Le Bateleur, it arrives at the truth through illusion, and, in Marianne Costa’s words is “faithful to the extreme plasticity of the Tarot, which is light and profound, linear and multidimensional, gamelike and complex. It refuses to be reduced to any one of the countless possibilities. It opens.”

[Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Conhecido como diretor de filmes e sábio tuiteiro, ele é o diretor do melhor filme Dune que jamais foi feito. Sua obra é ampla e profunda e caminha pela arte e pelo misticismo sem jamais se afastar de suas raízes no Chile.
Por isso, pela sua verve mística tão aprofundada, quando soube de seu livro sobre Tarô não fiquei surpreendido embora atiçado a conhecer: ele abriria mesmo o véu e mostraria os segredos? Ou faria como os mestres de outrora que insistem em manter um último conhecimento escondido para assim manter a ilusão de poder e superioridade?
Posso dizer, agora, com o livro em mãos, que Jodorowsky foi sincero e generoso com seu conhecimento da antiga arte das 78 cartas; o livro, como um bom recipiente, é igualmente bem acabado, com papel grosso e capa dura, rico em ilustrações que, se ainda são em preto e branco, estão em boa definição. Também, o livro nunca foi imaginado para ser lido sem um baralho do Tarô de Marselha às mãos.
Aquele que embarcar nessa jornada de descoberta, terá neste livro um guia completo e abrangente pra entender não apenas os arcanos maiores mas também os menores, todas as cartas sem exceção. Recomendo muitíssimo para quem tem interesse no assunto. E dou destaque especial à introdução do autor na página 13, onde por trinta páginas ele conta a história da vida dele e como o Tarô fez parte dela. É simplesmente fascinante.

[G · Rating 5 out of 5]

Let me preface this review by saying I knew next to nothing about tarot before I got my hand on this book. To be honest, I don't really care if Jodorowsky's approach to reading tarot is the canon or not. I personally like his idea of understanding tarot as a tool used for healing and therapy. It's very detailed ,especially the chapters explaining major arcana, and you can feel the author's deep passion for the subject shine through every page. There are some Freudian and Jungian references in the book, but I wasn't bothered by those at all, except every time I look at the Justice, I cannot get "castrating mother" off my mind.
As for the Tarot de Marseille itself, it just doesn't get enough love in the world of tarot. Jodorowsky & Camoin's deck is beautiful, the colours, the details, every little detail means something. It's truly precious.
All in all, this book really made me appreciate tarot as a tool to to achieve different perspective and outlook on things. And it was fun.

[Igor Aguiar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly, the excessive praising of the Marseilles deck as this transcendental original that kept having unnecessary accessories added to it falls flat in light of current historical and archaeological knowledge of Tarot and playing cards in general.

Jodorowsky is an interesting, talented writer, but once you pull on that string, the whole thing ends up being very, very arbitrary. Which is fine for Tarot, in a sense, at least if we can be open about it. I would prefer arbitrary subjectivity to ahistorical legends of Egyptian hierophants. But Jodorowsky isn't quite willing to get down from his high Marseilles horse, and so I must dock him a couple of stars.

Disregarding all that, however, this is a pretty good book. All Tarot books are opinionated, but value is found in how one can illustrate symbols, and Jodorowsky is quite good at that. Though I would recommend against this being anyone's first Tarot book, as it has a quite unorthodox approach to the minor arcana.

[Giga Beriashvili · Rating 5 out of 5]

The most fascinating book on the Tarot of Marsielle that I have ever read. I sat down and read this book in two days! A lot of information to be read once and again and again. The writing is poetic, insightful, detailed and enjoyable to read. I would recommend this to any beginner who is interested in Tarot or advanced practitioner of the art. Jodorowsky is really brilliant.

[Paulo Marotti · Rating 5 out of 5]

quando eu tinha recém começado a graduação, tinha em mim uma dimensão poética muito maior do que hoje, acho que a academia retirou muito de mim. nesses últimos 2 anos tenho reconstruído o caminho pra destruir isso em mim. enfim, Jodorowsky narra aqui não só sua história com o arcano, mas o sagrado que á em abraçar os signos que acompanham momentos comuns a você. afinal, somos homens de nosso tempo

[Marius · Rating 4 out of 5]

The way of the Tarot is a rather unorthodox approach to interpretation of Tarot cards. The card stock is the author´s own deck the Jodorowsky/Camoin Tarot de Marseille. The book covers; overall deck structure with a mainly numerological approach, description and interpretation of each of the cards in the minor and major arcana, an analysis of the synergy between tarot cards two by two and finally reading the Tarots using 1-10 card spreads. Jodorowsky goes in depth with this topic, which is evident of the books 500+ pages. This is not a book for the novice. It is a book for the initiate. I must say that the first 100 pages covering the historical context, psychological and numerological theory did not resonate with me, it came off as being very subjective, rather "how to understand the Tarots using my line of thought" (which can be rather far fetched to be honest!) instead of this is what the consensus is. I did however like his description on the Major Arcana, he includes his own analyses (small minute details on each cards are studied!), own keywords, meaning in a reading, "if the card spoke" and traditional interpretation. There are 5-6 pages per Trump and all illustrated with the relevant card image in black and white. The minors are covered with 3 pages but lumped together across the suits. The descriptions for each minor card are his own and varies somewhat from the traditional interpretation (ie. Fives in the minors represent Temptation?). There is however a follow up covering the meaning of the suits in each minor card, 6-10 lines per card. I was a little puzzled why Jodorowsky did not just cover each card on it´s own with suit and all, well well.. By the way in the center of the book all the cards are shown in color. The best part of the book is imho probably the two by two card analyses. Jodorowsky identifies similarity, duality and interdependence of certain cards, through numerology ie. I and XI or by gender ie. II and V and through several other cross couplings. This was quite interesting and informative. The part covering practical reading with the cards, was quite good too, with several good example readings. All in all I would say it is a good book but for advanced readers of TdMs.

This book can be purchased on Amazon; https://amzn.to/429GZ11

[Beth Gea · Rating 4 out of 5]

De los libros sobre tarot que he leído, es de los que más me han gustado.

Una guía muy completa para estudiar los arcanos.

A pesar de que se basa en la baraja de Marsella, sobretodo la re-diseñada por él mismo, se pueden extraer conocimientos de los arcanos aplicables a cualquier baraja que tengas.

Me ha gustado sobretodo la parte en la que habla de los diferentes grados numerológicos y las explicaciones de los arcanos mayores.

En cuanto a los arcanos menores, al estar centrado en Marsella, que no tiene dibujos de escenas a diferencia de los mazos inspirados por Waite-Smith, a veces me ha sorprendido las interpretaciones que proponía porque eran bastante diferentes a lo que se puede ver en mazos que representan escenas. Aún así, como siempre, me he quedado con lo que me ha llamado la atención en ese momento.

La parte introductoria puede ser algo confusa si no se sabe nada sobre el tarot o la numerología. Pero es una información que, al releerla con un poco más de conocimiento, va ofreciendo nuevas enseñanzas.

[Stefano Cucinotta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Testo complesso e imponente, che necessita di un sacco di tempo e di un evidenziatore alla mano. L'approccio psicologico alla valutazione del presente e l'analisi puntuale dell'iconografia delle carte ne fanno un must a tutti gli effetti. Ricco, massiccio pure fisicamente: ve lo ritroverete pieno di orecchie, sul comodino.

[Liza · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great, detailed view of interpreting the Tarot of Marseille and all (or definitely most) of its nuances. Rejecting the divination aspect outright and opting for a more psychological, poetic and spiritual reading of the many symbolisms, gave this book that real Jodorowsky touch.

[Anna Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un manuale davvero interessante sia sull'arte dei tarocchi come strumento per conoscere se stessi che come diario con la personale esperienza del maestro Jodorosky, con anedotti personali di vita. Molto utili gli esempi di tiraggio a fine libro e bellissime le illustrazioni a colori! Un piacere per gli occhi e per l'anima!

[Uva Agria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amo este libro

[Pedro Fernández · Rating 5 out of 5]

Uno de los mejores libros de Tarot, va de los simple a lo complejo, tiene historia, numerología, narrativa, duplas y tríos de carta y mucho más. Es un viaje de aprendizaje que demuestran que un mazo de cartas puede contener un universo inexplicable dentro. ⁣

[Luciano Barluzzi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Virgilio che accompagna Dante nella selva. Manuale pratico che invita alla scoperta di sé e degli altri

[Juan Serenellini · Rating 5 out of 5]

Es el libro fundamental del tarot. Es perfecto.

[Katja Vartiainen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I still have 30 pages to read- I skipped to the Conclusion part, but since I have been reading this book over a year(!), I thought it is time to write the review.

This book is pretty amazing. Jordorowsky speaks from experience and heart and from his(/their, with Costa) knowledge of psychology, spirituality and being an artist.

Their view of how to interpret the Tarot is probably psychologically the healthiest one existing. It is emphasized many times throughout the book, that Tarologist does not predict the future. Instead, its is as the cards chose by the readee, are 'an instantaneous photograph of his/her subconscious with which the tarologist is able to work'. The one who gets a reading is offered possibilities in the present, so that they may personally discover what they should do. The authors see the world as infinite and ever changing, and thus the interpretations of the Arcana can help the readee move towards a helpful direction, not being cornered by 'fate'. I find this very humanistic, creative and mature way of looking at the Tarot and life. The only thing strangely misplaced was the comment that bible forbids predicting the future. I think that Jordorowsky would be easily considered a heretic with his view of life and spirituality by the Christian church? So , that was odd.

The book begins with the analyzation of the individual cards, and most importantly, continues with desciption their possible relationships to each other, that really makes the reading. Needless to say, able to handle the amount of insight, represented in the book and various possibilities, and ways looking at the cards, takes a lot of time and practice and dedication.

Jordorowsky is very adamant about that there is no need for new design for cards, because the precise details of the originals which are linked to our psycho-spiritual-emotional-bodily development would get lost. This has been debated by many. As an artist myself, and having read that these cards were at times created quickly by carving, then printing, for the beloved use of gambling- I sometimes look at the cards, and think that the details are choices made to maybe save time, or not knowing how to execute the picture better. It reminds me of Tom Robbin's book: Still Life with Woodpecker , (which I should re-read)where a character finds the meaning of life in a Camel cigarettes pack- or about something like that. Maybe it's the authors' talent that finds meaning into every minuscule detail on a card, even though it could have been an accident? Maybe one could express the essential in a different way? I have not made up my mind about it yet.

Anyway- the wisdom and love for human beings and creation are more than moving, and if you look for self-actualization via tarology, I really recommend this book.

[Marco Matteoli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Uno dei libri più importanti per chi, o per curiosità o per studio, si avvicina al mondo dei tarocchi. Per un principiante, queste raffigurazioni possono presentarsi come un insieme sconcertante nella loro complessità. Ogni carta rappresenta un archetipo, un insieme di simboli, utili non tanto per scoprire il proprio futuro (per vari motivi, Jodorowsky stesso sostiene che il futuro non possa essere predetto), ma per leggere se stessi, attraverso i significati che ogni carta nasconde.

Simbolicamente, gli arcani dei tarocchi sono una cassa con un tesoro spirituale e l’apertura della cassa equivale a una rivelazione. Ogni arcano è un frammento e l’impegno iniziatico consiste nell’unire tutti i frammenti fino a ricostruirne l’unità.

#psicologia #jodorowsky #psicomagia #laviadeitarocchi #tarocchi #magia #psico #guarigione #lamedicinadellapoverta #leggere #libri #bookstagram #libridaleggere #taroth

[Sylvia Moore · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alejandro Jodorowsky and Marianne Costa’s The Way of Tarot changed how I see the Marseille Tarot. They strip away the superficial layers of divination and reveal the deck as something far more powerful—a complete spiritual path hidden in plain sight. What struck me most was their perspective that the entire Tarot is structured like a “nomadic cathedral,” where each card is a piece of a larger architecture of the soul. Jodorowsky doesn’t just look at the cards as individual symbols; he sees them as living components of a sacred, interconnected whole.

I found myself continually surprised by how he and Costa break down the complex associations within the deck. The descriptions of the Major Arcana are especially intricate. They offer far more than just standard meanings—each card becomes a conversation between tradition, symbolism, and the reader’s own psyche. The authors even include a section where the card itself “speaks,” which brings the symbolism to life in a way I haven’t encountered before. It was like sitting across from each card and listening to it tell its own story.

This book isn’t an easy read. At times, Jodorowsky’s philosophical interpretations are dense, and I had to stop to digest the sheer depth of what they were saying. But once I pushed through the initial complexity, I found it deeply rewarding. Their emphasis on working with the deck holistically rather than focusing on isolated card meanings made me rethink how I approach my own readings. The introduction of their concept of “Tarology” as a psychological approach to Tarot fascinated me. It’s rare to find a book that blends the mystical with the psychological without losing either.

The Way of Tarot isn’t just another guide—it’s an invitation to engage with the Tarot as a living spiritual system. This book stayed with me long after I closed it, making me look at every spread differently, considering not just the individual cards, but what they say collectively. I’d recommend it to anyone who’s ready to go deeper and view the Tarot as a transformative tool, rather than just a set of cards for divination.

[Esther · Rating 5 out of 5]

I haven't yet properly read through this book, but I've been using it as a reference for a while now, so I wanted to start writing an initial review.
Let me start off by saying that this is a fantastic book. No book is ever going to come close to covering all of things there are to say about tarot, but it can provide you with a good basis of the symbols and archetypes that tarot is based on and it does a great job of it. You can both read through the entire book (which I've just started doing) or use it as reference during readings - interpretations of cards are easy to find and instead of just giving you a list of potential meaning, they walk you through the different aspects of that card (numerical, visual, its suit etc.)
This is where some of my criticism come in. Jodorwosky wrote this book to accompany a specific deck, the Jodorowsky-Camoin Marseille Tarot. This is not in itself a bad thing, but occasionally some descriptions focus entirely on the visuals of that specific deck without giving you useful tools for analysing them, which can be frustrating when working with a different deck. (Although I will say that just as for any kind of research you would do, your tarot readings should not be based on a single reference)
My second frustration with Jodorowsky is his initial claim for this book. Supposedly, he has recreated the "original" Marseille tarot at its truest form and this is it. Each arcana is the original, and every single detail should be interpreted as some sort of divine (?) message. I hardly believe that there is or ever was an original Marseille tarot, and secondly I think Jodorowsky does not do justice to his impressive research or years of experience by claiming this. I'm of the opinion he would benefit a lot from learning to say "I made this particular design choice based on my research/experience because it matters" rather than "I have found the true image and what it symbolises"

I will probably come back to edit/add to this review later on, but I hope these thoughts are useful to anyone considering buying this book.