Intuitive Tarot: 31 Days to Learn to Read Tarot Cards and Develop Your Intuition

by Brigit Esselmont

In this modern and practical guide, Brigit Esselmont (founder of Biddy Tarot and author of Everyday Tarot) takes you on an exciting, 31-day journey to understand the essence of the Tarot and tune into your inner wisdom, so that you can live life to your fullest potential (using the Tarot as your guide).

Intuitive Tarot breaks down the complex systems of the Tarot into bite-sized, actionable steps. Work your way through the daily activities and you'll be reading Tarot with ease - from Day One!

In this 31 Day Experience, you will:

Learn to confidently read Tarot for yourself and others
Discover a simple way to interpret any card quickly and accurately
End the frustration of trying to memorize all 78 card meanings
Unlock the secret to impactful and insightful readings
Learn practical Tarot wisdom, from Brigit's 25-year journey as a professional Tarot Reader and over 10,000 readings
Practice what you learn every day and ultimately become a better Tarot reader
Start to trust your intuition and lead the life you're meant to live - your way

Genres: Tarot, Nonfiction, Divination, Witchcraft, Self Help, Spirituality, Reference

200 pages, Paperback

Published October 28, 2019

About the author

Brigit Esselmont is known worldwide as a professional Tarot reader & teacher, intuitive business coach, and spiritual entrepreneur. She is the Founder of Biddy Tarot and inspires over four million people each year to live more mindful and enlightened lives, using the Tarot as a guide. A self-confessed Tarot lover, Brigit can t help but spread the love to other Tarot enthusiasts. She is the author of two popular Tarot guides and has taught over 1,200 students to read Tarot with confidence. Brigit is also a successful intuitive entrepreneur and business coach, helping heart-centered professionals build business empires that are aligned with their soul purpose. Brigit believes anyone can read Tarot. She doesnt own a crystal ball nor a crushed velvet dress. She s simply a down-to-earth, practical Taurus who likes to use the Tarot cards in everyday life. When she s not reading Tarot, Brigit loves spending time with her two daughters and husband on the Sunshine Coast in Australia.

Reviews

[Classic Bhaer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have very mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand I though it was very informational and good for a beginner. On the other hand it started rubbing me the wrong way with the amount of self promotion in this book.

Now, don't get me wrong. I am all for authors and stuff making money, but reading this book I was pulled out of reading about tarot to get essentially an ad to go to the authors website to download something, read something, or join something I need to pay for. There are at least 31 bolded urls in the book. At least 14 of them are for something you pay additionally for. So, the author is getting money via sign ups after free trials or outright purchases or sign ups for a course and ad revenue due to increase traffic.

Now, like I said, I can totally get wanting to want to drive more people to your site. The problem is with how frequent and how it is presented in the text. It seriously pulled me out of my reading so many times. Also, one of the free items was a 6 page download that could have easily been added to the book already. Now, at first I thought this might be because the author wanted to only present new things in the book, but that is not that case. There were a few things I read on the website already that were also in the book. (Example Day 22: Creating a Sacred Space).

Now, with that all out of the way. The information in this book is really informative and I think it is broken down very well. The information is done in short bursts and you have activities you can work with to get a hands on experience. It really is wonderful for beginners. If you don't mind bolded self promotion throughout your reading experience and you have not read a lot on the website I say give it a go.

[Ankita Goswami · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great beginners' Tarot guide book. 10/10 would recommend it to someone who just bought their first tarot deck. It doesn't have traditional meanings of the card, but helps you understand what tarot cards are and how to use them for effective readings. It makes the entire process seem fairly easy.

[✨Bean's Books✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good beginner's book but it is a little confusing. The information in this book is a little conflicting. Like should we learn the meanings of the cards or should we use our intuition? I agree with the author that you should have a good base of knowledge of what the cards symbolize and mean in order for you to read intuitively. I guess my question is at what point do we put down the book?
Besides that minor hiccup there are lots of wonderful suggestions and activities that you can do to develop your skills with Tarot in this book. A great starter!

[Layla Reaves · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is geared more towards beginners, although it states it's for both beginners and more advanced. Brigit Esselmont's website (biddytarot.com) helped me tremendously on my tarot journey, so I jumped to (ask my library to buy) this new book, especially with the name Intuitive in the title. I figure yeah it'll feature some beginner stuff, but it'll have deeper insights on how to read more with my intuition and learn to trust it. I've been studying and reading tarot for 2 years now and while I'm by no means an expert, I felt bored reading this book because it was stuff I pretty much already knew. If I had a friend who was just getting into a tarot, I'd 100% gift this book to them to get them started on their tarot journey, but it wasn't the book for me. I also didn't appreciate the ads/links to her website in seemingly every chapter. I love that Esselmont is a Queen/King of Pentacles all about her coin, but it got a little annoying after a while. Overall, great for beginners. If you've been reading for a year or more, not so much.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book over a month and a half or so, and actually did all the exercises which i often ignore. I love Brigit Esselmont and this book is just an excellent book to read if you’re trying to develop your tarot skills. It goes beyond meanings of cards to give you TONS of other things to think about—relationships between suits, placement within readings, numerology and how to develop the story of a reading. I really think this is invaluable and definitely boosted my confidence. I read it after I’d pretty much gotten the card interpretations down and it was an excellent tool for developing beyond card meanings and learning to build an integrated full picture of a tarot spread. If you’re learning tarot, just get this book. I don’t think you’ll regret it! Also—she does self promote a lot, and refer the reader back to her courses and other web offerings—but I have no issue with that. She’s amazing, and actually has a ton of resources you can buy, and she’s built a tarot empire. She’s the real deal and there are soooooo many imitators out there.

[Jackie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the book and has helped my practice immensely. I only knock it down a star because there were so many upsells scattered throughout the book.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't read this book 31 days in a row, but the chapters are not very long and a chapter can easily fit into a busy day. If you want to get into reading Tarot quickly, then I would encourage you to read a little bit of it every day. If you are not in a rush, you can take your time. As for me, I have a good handle on the traditional/textbook meaning of the upright Tarot cards and can weave cards together fairly easily. I wanted to expand my knowledge and wanted a shorter book (already had a great reference Tarot book- The Ultimate Guide to Tarot: A Beginner's Guide to the Cards, Spreads, and Revealing the Mystery of the Tarot, which I highly recommend).

This book helped me identify color meanings in the cards and common symbols used in many types of Tarot cards. It also had a basic 4 step guide to reading reversals, which I will probably try. I know some, but there are many I don't.

The only thing I didn't like about this book was the constant reference/recommendations for looking at/buying her Ultimate Guide or her Tarot course. I understand, this is the author's career, and she's self-promoting her things in her own book, honestly, I get it! However, it was in almost every chapter and was repetitive. Would have preferred there to be a Suggested Reading/Recommended Reading or Help Section at the end of the book where everything could have been listed without constantly throwing it in the reader's face.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm someone who's enjoyed using Tarot as a way to ruminate on my thoughts or get a fresh perspective--mindfulness, basically. So I know going into most of these kinds of books, the spiritual aspects won't resonate with me, but that said, there is still a lot of detail and information in this book that I found helpful.

Although I read this book faster than 31 days, I did like the day-by-day format of it, allowing you the choice to break things up into smaller chunks if you have a busy schedule. I also appreciated that each day left you with a task or activity to reinforce what she was teaching.

I will say that this book is definitely geared towards beginners (which works for me), so if you're more seasoned with Tarot, this book might not provide much new information or insights for you. And importantly, this book doesn't do a deep dive on the card meanings, rather just briefly covers them, and is more so about getting familiar with Tarot and using your intuition as a whole.

Like others have mentioned in their reviews, she does shill her own products quite a bit. I wouldn't have minded here and there, or maybe all at the end of the book as further reading (which of course she does this too, haha), but she sprinkles them as much as she can, and it does break you out of the flow of reading. (And honestly, I didn't see a need for the constant advertising. If people like one of your books enough, they will naturally go seek out others. But maybe there is psychological marketing manipulation tactic I'm unfamiliar with, and spamming ads like this is more profitable? Idk.)

I do wish there was more gender-neutral or LGBTQ language used. (This book is entirely cis-het.) Especially nowadays, it feels weird to not having a wider range of representation, given what Tarot means and how it functions. If you want a comprehensive book on the meaning of the cards, as well as a general introduction of Tarot, WITH LGBTQ acknowledgement, I highly highly recommend "Guided Tarot" by Stefanie Caponi. I would say her book is much more widely usable for readers of all experience levels.

Not to say this book didn't still have its value. I did enjoy reading the author's perspective, and her website has an insane amount of free content as well, so even if you don't pick this up, it could still be worth checking out what she has to offer.

I used this book alongside other various resources at the same time to help give me a wider perspective, and I think doing that made me enjoy the experience much more. Definitely don't limit yourself to just one person's ideas and interpretations. Definitely balance out her interpretations with others, and of course, your own! (Learning to trust your own intuition is a huge aspect of this book, after all ;))I'm someone who's enjoyed using Tarot as a way to ruminate on my thoughts or get a fresh perspective--mindfulness, basically. So I know going into most of these kinds of books, the spiritual aspects won't resonate with me, but that said, there is still a lot of detail and information in this book that I found helpful.

Although I read this book faster than 31 days, I did like the day-by-day format of it, allowing you the choice to break things up into smaller chunks if you have a busy schedule. I also appreciated that each day left you with a task or activity to reinforce what she was teaching.

I will say that this book is definitely geared towards beginners (which works for me), so if you're more seasoned with Tarot, this book might not provide much new information or insights for you. And importantly, this book doesn't do a deep dive on the card meanings, rather just briefly covers them, and is more so about getting familiar with Tarot and using your intuition as a whole.

Like others have mentioned in their reviews, she does shill her own products quite a bit. I wouldn't have minded here and there, or maybe all at the end of the book as further reading (which of course she does this too, haha), but she sprinkles them as much as she can, and it does break you out of the flow of reading. (And honestly, I didn't see a need for the constant advertising. If people like one of your books enough, they will naturally go seek out others. But maybe there is psychological marketing manipulation tactic I'm unfamiliar with, and spamming ads like this is more profitable? Idk.)

I do wish there was more gender-neutral or LGBTQ language used. (This book is entirely cis-het.) Especially nowadays, it feels weird to not having a wider range of representation, given what Tarot means and how it functions. If you want a comprehensive book on the meaning of the cards, as well as a general introduction of Tarot, WITH LGBTQ acknowledgement, I highly highly recommend "Guided Tarot" by Stefanie Caponi. I would say her book is much more widely usable for readers of all experience levels.

Not to say this book didn't still have its value. I did enjoy reading the author's perspective, and her website has an insane amount of free content as well, so even if you don't pick this up, it could still be worth checking out what she has to offer.

I used this book alongside other various resources at the same time to help give me a wider perspective, and I think doing that made me enjoy the experience much more. Definitely don't limit yourself to just one person's ideas and interpretations. Definitely balance out her interpretations with others, and of course, your own! (Learning to trust your own intuition is a huge aspect of this book, after all ;))

Great book all in all, I'm glad I read it :)

[Electric · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this read. It is for the very beginner, however there are some exercises that are helpful for thr intermediate reader.
I do NOT approve of the shameless plugs for biddy tarot website every few sentences. It really disrupts the flow of reading.
All the same, probably a good book to keep on one's shelf as there are some handy ways she guides you in how she handled her readings and interpretations.

[Sinead · Rating 4 out of 5]

For the month of January I decided to read this 31 day challenge book and learn about Tarot. It’s well laid out with manageable chunks of info each day. Would have preferred more on each card but she has another book that seems to be for that. So if you read the two in conjunction I’d say you’d have an excellent starting point for mastering tarot.

[Helen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good book to work through for a tarot beginner.
It is a self published book and a few of the pages fell out while reading, which was a tad disappointing.

The content is as it states; learn to read tarot cards from your heart and not the book. The book is divided into 3 sections. Getting started. Learn the tarot card meanings . How to read tarot for yourself and others.

The author gives daily lessons for 31 days to assist with getting to know the tarot deck and how to chose one, care for the cards and then by day 6 the cards meanings are introduced over a period of 2 weeks.
There are some tools and templates and spreads at the end of the book.

Overall a pretty good book.

A few things that I think is important to address are the following :
Lack of colour or visuals. If colour pictures are your thing, this will not be to your taste. This book is mainly text, with a few ‘hand drawn’ illustrations here and there. It’s all black and white.

Constant self promotion of her business with bold type links thrown in. I don’t have a problem with that per se, but I counted 34 in total. I think personally it was a little excessive and for me became a little annoying and I felt it was more about pushing her brand/ business than anything else. Like that persistent sales person in retail that keeps coming up to you every 5 minutes when all you want is to be left in peace to take it all in.

3/5

[Shad · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good information, poor format

Maybe some books weren't meant for Kindle. I can't read poetry books easily on Kindle. I have another book by Bright and there were no formatting problems. I bought this book soon after it was published and maybe that's the problem. Examples of the problems I'm writing about are weird page breaks and wordsthatrunntogether. I suspect the page break problem is due to pictures not being printed in the book. More distressing is you can't see most of the card spreads. Fortunately I know what a Celtic Cross looks like, but other spreads are still a mystery to me. The appendix is useless because you can't see a thing.

As I said the information in the book is good. I especially appreciated the section on the court cards. I like her journaling ideas and suggestions. The bottom line is, though, if you want to learn about the tarot and have no experience or background, this book won't help you until the formatting problems are fixed. I'm hoping for an update from Amazon.

[dawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Intuitive tarot

Wow. I have read many books on reading tarot, attended workshop's but never could remember meanings, spread's or see anything in the rider Waite tarot. Then I came across the Angel tarot cards and fell in love the pictures would draw me in finding different details every time I looked at them but I knew I had more to learn about reading these tarot cards. I came across this book it took me 2 days to read lots of information and exercises to do. I have started to do the exercises and they really work I am learning a lot more and I am definitely going to do all of the exercises in this book. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn tarot. And learning to read tarot intuitively really makes your cards feel apart of you. Also you are not forced to read Rider Waite Tarot you can use whatever tarot deck resonates with you.

[Rony Peterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Um grande auxílio pra desenvolver uma leitura pessoal
Esse livro me acompanha faz um bom tempinho, ainda que a proposta ideal do livro é um estudo mensal. Eu fui levando mais tempo em certos capítulos e também tive o hábito de revisitar algumas informações. Esse livro, junto com os conselhos de uma grande amiga, me ajudou a apreciar as belezas do simbolismo contido no Tarot e conseguir utilizá-lo. E como diz a autora do livro no último capítulo, o término desse livro é o início de novas possibilidades e é também a continuação da jornada de aprendizagem do Tarot.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Biddy Tarot, I've used the website for years. This is a great intro to the cards and how to get into your personal groove. It was a great refresher and even brought new ideas for me.

There are a LOT of ads for the website in this book, and I'm not a fan of "here's a tidbit but the GOOD STUFF is behind yet another paywall!"

But it's great, I have many of her other books and her tarot deck so one can't be too mad lol

[Maria DeBlassie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the exercises in this book! It has helped me develop my own tarot reading practice. I didn't follow it say-by-day like the set-up of the book, but flipped through it and worked with the exercises that spoke to me. This is a book I'll be going back to again and again for easy, flexible tarot reading strategies.

[Ivy DeWitt · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was just OK honestly. Not a bad book, but not quite as intuitive as I thought it would be. The author was less focused on self-promotion this time which was a plus, but overall it was just "ok".

[Michelle Echeverria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks.

Good read, very informative and uplifting. Thank you Biddy. Love my new deck as well. Time for the next book.

[Ami Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic! I'd like to be an academic tarot reader someday and this book is an excellent 31 day beginner's course.

[Dei-Dei · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5

[Gabrielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is not the most useful one while doing a reading, but it helps so much in understanding Tarot. Highly recommend, Esselmont is a mine of information and wisdom.

[tammy (eskel's version) · Rating 4 out of 5]

i feel weird rating this type of book. but it was very good, well-written and helpful.

[Grace Day · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5*

[Katherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great overview of the big memorization tricks (numerology, elemental associations, fools journey) with concrete homework. Pretty good for secular readers, too, outside of a little crystal stuff.

[Luíza Franz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this book was just outstanding! She had me thinking about so many important details — like the quality of the questions we ask in a spread and how it can impact the satisfaction we get with interpreting the cards involved. It was quite helpful in truly understanding the cards, instead of just memorizing their traditional meanings. I’m very happy I came across this book so early in my tarot journey!

[senseijutsu · Rating 1 out of 5]

1,5.

Este libro no le va a servir a una persona que quiera aprender. El nivel de contenido es mínimo y la autora tiene la audacia de querer venderte más cosas mientras vas leyendo (sí, es real y está lleno de enlaces para comprar). Está repleto de cuestiones progre new age que poco sirven para alguien que compre este libro, que seguramente quiera aprender Tarot. Como digo, el nivel de contenido es tan mínimo que gasta paginas y paginas enteras hablando de otras cosas y no hay ni una simple carilla dedicada a revisar o explicar algún arcano.

[ciambottina · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an inspiring and practical tarot guide for very new beginners. But I’m quite annoyed with the persistent self promotion and advertisement of her own website and courses.