Tarot Plain & Simple: The Only Book You'll Ever Need

by Leanna Greenaway

Tarot is a popular form of divination that has been used for centuries. By following the guidelines set out in this book, you will come to understand how easy it is to master the art of reading cards. Many people struggle with the many different tarot books available todaythey can be difficult for the novice to follow, and many present differing interpretations of the cards. This guide brings tarot into the 21st century, making the card meanings relevant and easy to understand and follow./ppiTarot Plain & Simple/i offers modern and up-to-date interpretations for all 78 cards. Once you know these basics, you'll be able to easily branch out into more advanced and complex tarot books. Throughout this plain and simple book, the author discusses various card groups for interpretation, focusing mainly on the Celtic cross spread.

Genres: Tarot, Nonfiction, Spirituality, Wicca

176 pages, Paperback

Published October 1, 2017

Reviews

[Rose · Rating 2 out of 5]

Overview: This book is fine if you're experienced or otherwise comfortable with your cards, and you're looking for other people's thoughts on their own cards. I would not give this to someone new, as their first exposure to reading Tarot cards. I don't think I would give it someone as their second book either.

Full thoughts:
First and foremost, this book isn't *bad* so much as I just didn't enjoy it. It's explanations were crisp and clear, it is well written and easy to follow. However, I felt the card descriptions were off-base, and I was getting someone else's interpretations rather than what the card is actually for/says. It gave me two or three sentences of traditional card meanings, and then the rest were "modern, updated" versions. As a beginner, I was uncomfortable taking someone else's views, rather than being told the traditional/original meanings and then making my own assessments. Everyone has their own deck, with slightly different interpretations along with the design of their deck (mine is a Crow-themed deck, for example), and I felt the "modern" descriptions gave me very little wiggle-room to explore and extrapolate with my own cards.
Additionally, this book was set up to help you read cards for other people as well as yourself, which is good in theory but falls short in practice. Reading this book, I feel like I was given many ways to "soften the blows" so to speak when reading the cards for someone else, but this left me unsure how to read the cards for myself. The cards seemed glossed-over or sugar-coated (I can understand not wanting to scare someone off with negative-sounding cards, however, this left me feeling cheated or dishonest). If the cards were trying to tell me something about what was negative in my life, the card descriptions in this book wouldn't have helped me. This book would not teach how the cards can be very honest and frank about where you are in life (especially if that place in life is bad/not great). It reminds me of getting a daily horoscope - a pep talk of overly positive reassurances, without much practicality or usefulness included. It wasn't like the author was flat out incorrect or lying to me, it just felt like she was steering me away from the meaning of the card, and what it was telling me, and instead trying to reassure me that there was no way for the cards to be negative. She was putting a positive spin on things where it didn't need to be.

[Barry Huddleston · Rating 4 out of 5]

I guess at this point I have read about 4 of Greenaway's books. For the most part, I have enjoyed them and I've scored them in the 3 to 4 star range. As you can guess from the title, the book introduces the reader to the basics of Tarot.
I think that Greenaway covered the subject very well but I would like to have seen more. It was as if all of the tools were there but Greenaway came up just short of turning the key. For my money, I'd suggest Sasha Fenton's "Fortune Telling by Tarot Cards" also published by Hampton Roads. I think Fenton gives you a little more bang for the buck.
That being said, "Tarot Plain & Simple" is a fine introduction to Tarot.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Hampton Roads Publishing. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

[Suzanne Sotzing · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a fun book! Easy to read and understand with great illustrations. The book not only talks about the original interpretation of each card, but also how to explain that card in more modern terms. Whether you read this book just for the jot of it or you are looking to read for others, this book provides fantastic educational benefits.

[Owl · Rating 5 out of 5]

the simple and easy to follow blurbs in this book made it the smoothest study session of tarot i’ve ever had. things just seemed to connect quickly for me while reading through this and the exercises spread throughout are perfect for refreshing what i’d just learned. the meanings stuck in my mind much easier than other guides i’ve tried to read and i enjoyed the authors concise interpretations

[Madeleine · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a beginner, I found this book helpful.
Some descriptions of the cards were far too basic (The Magician). Also the book I purchased does not have the judgement card in it at all!!!