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Pathworking the Tarot: Spiritual Guidance & Practical Advice from the Cards

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Enhance Your Tarot Skills and Expand Your Spirituality by Delving Deeper into Each Card's Story

Just as using a tarot deck is a journey through a story, so is pathworking a journey through an inner landscape to find higher awareness and spiritual growth. This practical book's approach to pathworking will deepen your connection to the cards and encourage you to evolve spiritually. As you pathwork through the deck, you'll learn how to meditate on your readings and uncover so much more than you thought you could.

Leeza Robertson introduces you to three pathworking intentional (intentionally selecting cards based on theme), intuitive (letting the cards guide you), and wandering (combining a little of both the intentional and intuitive styles). Using straightforward techniques and hands-on exercises, she guides you through the seventy-eight cards and the stories they tell. This remarkable book inspires you to go further, deeper, and wider with your tarot practice and find spiritual enlightenment through new experiences with your deck.

205 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 8, 2019

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184 people want to read

About the author

Leeza Robertson

25 books45 followers
Leeza Robertson is the author of Tarot Court Cards for Beginners and Tarot Reversals for Beginners, and she’s the creator of two tarot decks, the Mermaid Tarot and Animal Totem Tarot. Leeza spends her days dreaming up new tarot decks and exploring new ways to introduce more people to the world of tarot. When she doesn’t have her nose in a book or her fingers running across a deck of cards, she runs an online Tarot Academy with her Business Partner Pamela Chen which can be found online at Bit.ly/uftamagic

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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
530 reviews30 followers
September 10, 2019
I've read cards for a couple of decades now, though am very much an anti-woo stalwart. I like the narratives a reading can create, and about seeking meaning from the chance juxtaposition of some printed designs.

But, like most readers, I still feel there's more I could be getting from the decks. I mean, I'm not a Papus or a Waite, and certainly not a Pollack. And so when the option came up to read a book on pathworking, I took it.



It's a shame I came away a bit bummed.

(Sidebar: I'm not an expert. I've read a lot, and felt my way around this area for ages, but am not attempting to pooh-pooh this based on any perceived superiority. All readers are learning all the time – or should be, at least.)

Pathworking is, in essence, guided meditation. It's about using the cards as indicators rather than in the strictly divinatory sense that some might consider is the standard or correct usage for a deck. For this text, Robertson divided the deck into major and minor arcana – a fairly standard division – and details three ways of interacting with the cards. Intentional, intuitive and wandering methods are covered for each of the major arcana, and then for each value of the minor arcana. The idea is to focus on one card and to foster a connection with it through the various methods, ranging from meditation to going for an actual walk with your laminated chum.

The book reads a bit more fast-and-loose than I prefer in my tarot texts, but that's a personal preference.

I did like the way that the minor arcana's court cards were treated as non-binary and reflective of an interlinked journey rather than moments in isolation. Similarly, the way the numbered cards led to each other was a good take, and I happily took some pointers from some of the comments within.

I filtered a lot of the commentary and exercises, though. It felt like a lot of the intuitive methods of examination could've been shuffled around with not much difference: there's only so many times one can read about stepping into the shoes of a card without thinking that there's something interchangeable about the approach.

I found it strange that the book seems to lump everything in, the assumption being that if you are interested in cards, then angel work, crystals, candle magic, vibrations, mantras, altars and number correspondences will all tag along for the ride. I can totally understand that there's a market for whom this is the case, but it clanged with me.

Something that irked me about the text was the way the author continually refers to their previous works. I understand that Robertson is a deck designer and has written other works on the tarot, but the continual mentioning of other decks (and the occasional "I wrote about this in another book so I won't do it here") passage seems freighted with the expectation that I'd be either familiar with these things, or else would grab 'em at my earliest convenience. This is admittedly a minor irritation, but it felt in places as if the book were written with the assumption that the reader would already be a fan.

Additionally, there's more than a few references to Robertson's clients, which seemed unnecessary at best and a bit of a brag at worst. I don't know: maybe the target audience of this work is readers with an established client list. In that case, they'll perhaps feel a bit reassured that a working reader is writing in a manner that refers to them. For someone who doesn't see clients – I generally only read for friends and by request – it seems to only accentuate the distance between my practice and the author's.

I admit, the limited time I had to read the book – digital review copies have DRM attached which turns a copy into woofle-dust after a certain period – probably influenced my view. Robertson is clear that the book is designed to be used in a take-once-daily kind of way, to deepen the reader's connection to their deck. Perhaps I would have found less repetition had I the freedom to engage in this manner. It may offer a different perspective if approached this way – but based on my feelings on this read-through, it's unlikely I'll give it a second chance.

There's some good ideas here, and some approaches that I might well adopt – but I think Pathworking the Tarot highlights that my approach to both tarot and pathworking are a bit different to the author's. I suspect that if I were just starting out in tarot, I'd have a much more glowing take on the work.

(I read this book ahead of its publication, thanks to Netgalley, in exchange for an unbiased opinion. It wasn't for me, but it might be for you, and you can find out more from the publisher's page on the work.)
Profile Image for ABCme.
382 reviews53 followers
August 18, 2019
I thoroughly enjoyed the fresh perspective and the set-up of this book. Great for beginners and intermediates.
Each card gets a short explanation and teaches what the card is asking the reader. This is followed by three ways of pathworking: meditation, journaling and wandering.
I particularly enjoyed the journey of the Courts and the short card exercises throughout the book.
Pathworking the Tarot surprised me and definitely stands out from the crowd.

Thank you Netgalley and Llewellyn for the ARC.
Profile Image for Laura.
586 reviews43 followers
October 10, 2020
I overall liked this book! I think for a beginner or intermediate reader, or for a reader interested in working with their cards in a new way (ex. more intentionally 'face up' / for intention setting, for meditation, etc), there will be something in this book that appeals.
The book is organized by cards - a section on each major, a section on each tier of the courts (Pages to Kings), then finally a section on each number in the minors (the Aces through the tens). For each of these, there is a description of the card(s) followed by three exercises: intentional, intuitive, and wandering. I will say these seemed to bleed into each other a bit -- Robertson acknowledges this -- but in working through the book I completed one exercise for each section and aimed to complete roughly an equal number of exercises from the three types. Some were more interesting than others; there were certainly gems I'll revisit, while others felt like ideas I'd read before (some of the exercises within the book were rather repetitive).
One quibble I have is that the definition of "pathworking" in this book is extraordinarily broad/general -- dare I say to the point of losing meaning. I know there are a few different definitions/understandings of pathworking, but this just felt rather 'anything goes' - pathworking is an important part of my meditation practice and as I understand it, many of these exercises were not what I would call pathworking at all (which is not to say that made them not good, just to say I'm not sure the title for the book is exactly descriptive of the contents).
I very much enjoyed Robertson's writing style -- conversational and friendly, not formal but not overly familiar either. This book is approachable and enjoyable and I'm glad I have it in my tarot library.
Profile Image for Juniper Karlsson.
35 reviews18 followers
August 21, 2021
This is a great book for implementing the lessons of the tarot into your everyday life. It's a way of actively working with your tarot cards to achive what you want. As with every guide book in tarot you take with you what you want and leave what doesn't speak to you. There are things in this book that I will not bring into my practice, but it has been great to look up certain cards and get new perspectives and pratctical ways to work with each card. It's organised in a way that was easy and pleasing to follow and understand.
I know this is a book I will actually use for a long time and I would recommend it to both beginners and intermediate tarot readers.
Profile Image for Lisa.
140 reviews1 follower
June 24, 2019
If your journey into learning tarot is in its infancy stage, Pathworking the Tarot is a good book to add to your beginning collection. The author gives great meaning to all 78 cards, explaining in simple, easy to understand paragraphs. If you are well on your journey with tarot, there is not much new this book brings to your game other than encouraging use in one of three methods; intentional, intuitive or a combination of both using the wandering method. This book has a one card focus and spreads are not included for this reason. Leeza Robertson provides some good questions to ask yourself with each card pull, thereby strengthening your understanding to and relationship with each of the 78 cards. Many thanks to Llewellyn Worldwide and Netgalley for this ARC (all opinions expressed in this review are authentically mine).
Profile Image for Janel Atlas.
Author 1 book10 followers
December 11, 2020










I've read quite a few books about tarot and perused many websites. This book was given to me by a friend who I introduced to tarot, and she couldn't have handed me a better complement to the tarot books I already own and use regularly.

The beauty of Robertson's approach is that it isn't just another book about tarot interpretation and the meanings of the cards. Although the author does of course go over various ways to understand each of the cards in the deck, the strength of the book's argument is that tarot is able to be engaged with in a variety of ways, each with different intentions and approaches. Pathworking is a practice through which the participant does guided or intentional meditations in order to cultivate spiritual and personal growth.

Before I encountered Pathworking the Tarot, I had learned about the western mysteries from a meditation teacher, and had found the amazing and powerful benefits of meditating on gods and goddesses as well as some of the major arcana cards. This book takes a creative approach to the tarot, offering intuitive, intentional, and "wandering" ways to engage with and draw wisdom through the archetypes of each of the cards.

I don't think I'd recommend this book as a "first book" for someone completely new to tarot. For that I'd go with more of an introductory or definitional text. But as a second or third book, or to accompany a more traditional book, this one is a great option. Highly recommend.
Profile Image for ☆Dani☆ ☆Touch My Spine Book Reviews☆.
463 reviews137 followers
October 12, 2020
Wow, I really loved reading this book! If you are looking to learn or strengthen your intuition when using the cards, this is a great book for you! Each card has exercises that will help you explore the card with your intuition & a fresh perspective. You also will learn how to view the imagery in a new light and will see the cards in a whole new light. While reading this book, not only will you enhance your intuition but you will see how the Tarot corresponds with your life and can help you through your own personal journey. I think that reading this book is a great modern approach to the Tarot & self exploration. It's not the typical guide and will take you on a great journey that will give you new perspective and learn it's okay to wander a bit from what's the typical path of learning the Tarot! Now, that sounds like a glowing review but let's get real for a moment, this book has a big whoopsie! The King of Pentacles is missing from the book! Oh snap! A star or two taken away, unfortunately. So even though, I enjoyed it so much you can't help but be dissapointed that were a King short of the hand that was dealt. I would still recommend this tome but hopefully it is revised so we can also explore the King of Pentacles, as well.
Profile Image for Maria (Ri).
5,137 reviews15 followers
June 19, 2019
Having a deep love of the tarot and always wanting to understand how and why it works drew me to this book. Even after all these many years the power, and more importantly, the how it works intrigues me. This was a fantastic book that I will be studying for a very long time.

This book is broken into looking at the readings in three ways; intentional (based on a theme), intuitive (which is generally what I try and do letting the cards speak to me), and wandering (a combination of the two). It is not something that can be read like a standard book. Instead, the book will be ever-changing depending on the reading or purpose and the cards drawn for that specific reading and or question in which insight was give. It gives meaning to each of the cards from the three readings as well as an overall view of the card. It guides the reader on how to apply that information. There are exercises to try which I found very useful.

I can see this being a constant book that I look at, almost like a meditation ritual. One of the best books I have seen in a very long time and one I will recommend to my local metaphysical bookstore.
Profile Image for Katrina.
41 reviews1 follower
June 25, 2019
“Pathworking the Tarot” by Leeza Robertson, Is an fascinating way to read tarot. The author has put so much soul into guiding you, as a tarot reader, to better understand what the cards are revealing on an intuitive level.
For the tarot beginner this book is a source of valuable information as well as a great learning tool to get to know your cards better. This book explains all 78 cards in the Major and Minor Arcana, as well as walks the reader through pathworking exercises (intentional, intuitive and my favorite wandering) for each card. With this book your cards speak to you on a whole different level. I have spent almost two weeks now going through the pathworking lessons, and I am about halfway through my tarot deck, but I can honestly say I have a new prospective on reading tarot for myself and others. I gave this a four star rating, not for the content of the book which is wonderful, but it needs to go through editing again, as there are quite a few words that are misspelled. Blessings
#PathworkingtheTarot #Netgalley
Profile Image for Annie.
6 reviews
December 5, 2019
I love this book. I read an ebook and spent much time highlighting and creating notes on each page but I can't wait to get my hands on a paper copy so I can add pen and sticky notes to the book. This is not a single read book. This is the sort of book you study. I loved the author's voice - so intelligent, flowing and beautiful. There was much information she shared but I never felt overwhelmed. I am a novice Tarot student and one might think that this book is for advanced students only - but this is an incorrect assumption. I feel this book is a perfect starting place for a beginner as well as someone more advanced who wants to deepen their relationship with the cards. There are so many deep mediations and exercises described in this book. The author methodically introduces you to the Major Arcana and then the Minor . The book proceeds steadily and by the time you reach the end, you will have accomplished so much. I can't wait to spend more time with the suggested exercises and meditations. Thank you to Leeza Robertson for sharing all this wisdom.
Profile Image for Sisi Belle.
74 reviews4 followers
June 18, 2024
I happened upon this book at a local library and didn't know anything about it going in. I think this book is best for beginners to tarot, but might also be a good tool for connecting with a new deck (especially if it's a non-traditional style). The author makes it clear in the beginning that the book is best used as a card-a-day style reference book (or even 1 card per week). It definitely holds true to that model. Seeing as I was borrowing the book, that would take roughly 2.5 months to complete and I doubt the library would appreciate that.

That being said, there's a basic thought process for each card in which you're asked to meditate in the individual card and write down your findings. Personally, I don't feel this is something one needs a book for, though it is good advice for getting comfortable with your deck of choice.

The 3 different methods to connect with the cards is nice and you can switch it up as you choose.
Profile Image for Tabitha Chamberlain.
275 reviews5 followers
October 16, 2019
truthfully i would probably give this 3.5 Stars.

i like the way she works through the set up also keeping in mind that not everyone reads tarot the same. reason for that is that i was looking more for the Enoch tarot based to do path working; this is NOT the book.

it tends to lend more into the "fluffy" magic friendly aspect...that's not to discount it by no means as you can learn a lot if you're taking path work serious.

i like how she offers three different ways to do the path working. one style may not work for all the tarot cards, but at the same time each style can help you push you out of your comfort zone. also really like how she brings it all together and suggest how using these techniques can help bring deeper meaning to your tarot readings.
Profile Image for Alex.
33 reviews1 follower
November 8, 2019
Thank you to NetGalley, Llewellyn Worldwide, Ltd, Llewellyn Publications for this free ARC of Pathworking The Tarot by Leeza Robertson. The review to follow is based on my own honest opinion.

I work with Tarot, I can honestly say I’ve never read a Tarot book. Having said that, I’m glad that this was my first! This book is so well organised, it’s also a book that would suit a beginner or experienced reader who may perhaps be looking for some more depth to their readings.
The exercises contained within are completely relevant and not there for the sake of including exercises.://www.facebook.com/emeraldpestcontrolse...
Profile Image for Flavia.
102 reviews6 followers
June 8, 2020
An absolute novice as far as the world of tarot cards (and reading them) are concerned, I found this book to be an absolute gem. Providing in-depth explanations of the cards potential narratives while guiding you to work on intuition to eek out meaning (I really appreciated the exercises), I will no doubt turn to this book over and over again to deepen my knowledge of this way of interpreting experience. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking to familiarise and examine the tarot card pathway.
Profile Image for Ashley (Red-Haired Ash Reads).
3,360 reviews181 followers
September 16, 2019
This was an interesting book. Each card gets an explanation about the card but then it explains three different ways to pathwork with the card.: meditation, journaling, and wandering. This part was very interesting for me and I really like the different options that was given. I will be buying this book once it comes out to use as a reference for future readings.

*ARC provided by NetGalley for an honest review.*
Profile Image for Angel .
1,536 reviews46 followers
August 21, 2019
Quick impression: After reading a couple of Tarot books that just were not that good, this was a relief. I really liked this one because the author offers an accessible tone for starters, much more down to earth. Also, there is a lot of material to work from for studying the cards. Overall, fairly easy read and good way to get you to look at the cards in depth.

Full review on my blog later.
100 reviews1 follower
September 14, 2019
Love the idea of Pathworking the Tarot and the journey it involves. This book is fascinating to me, and I'll be spending quite some time exploring it further. I find it absolutely captivating. I think a paperback version will be easier for me to read and follow.
Thank you to Netgalley for the complimentary kindle copy, and I will be buying a paperback version for my own use.
Profile Image for Annarella.
14.2k reviews165 followers
September 22, 2019
A good book, useful to beginners and skilled pratictioners.
I liked how the book is organised and I found useful ideas and hints.
It could have been a 5* but I think that the references to previous books do not help.
Recommended
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.
Profile Image for Anne.
Author 15 books286 followers
June 21, 2019
As a relative newcomer to the idea of Tarot, I found this book very helpful. Now I will open my deck and begin to apply what I’ve learned!

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and publisher for an advanced reading copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
Profile Image for Lexy.
367 reviews41 followers
June 23, 2019
I feel like this books gives you the tools to jumpstart your intuitive force, and also gives you the information that you need to move with confidence when you actually used your deck of cards. It made me realize how I need to keep researching and learning to understand the cards better.
Profile Image for Bridgett.
61 reviews20 followers
June 22, 2019
This was an excellent book. I especially liked the parts with journaling through the cards. It's a great read for any tarot enthusiast. Written well, an easy read.
Profile Image for Emilio.
223 reviews22 followers
July 7, 2020
As a thank, you to Netgalley and the publisher ( Pen and Sword History) for an advanced readers copy of Leeza Robertson’s “ Pathworking the Tarot”. This book is multifaceted as it can be used by novice and experienced tarot card readers. This book is one that should be explored in a timely manner then read consecutively. It can be of course the richness in which Robertson creates should be savored slowly as she provides much to meditate on. In this book Robertson expands on the personal journey one has with the Tarot. This is done by exploring the themes each hard holds as well as exploring meaning found in the cards and provides information in which one may meditate on. This book can be used as an exploratory tool in spiritual work or by exploring the shadow self within us all. This book is insightful and one that I will look to concerning my relationship with the cards for time to come. I gave this book four out of five stars on Goodreads.
899 reviews18 followers
August 17, 2019
an interesting look at the cards. A bit of personal opinion but also her interpretation of the cards. some explanations of the cards seen elsewhere.
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