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Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom: A Book of Tarot #2
Los setenta y ocho grados de sabiduría del Tarot 2. Arcanos menor
Book by Rachel Pollack
256 pages, Paperback
Published December 1, 1987
21 people are currently reading
342 people want to read
About the author
Rachel Pollack
205 books343 followersRachel Grace Pollack was an American science fiction author, comic book writer, and expert on divinatory tarot. Pollack was a great influence on the women's spirituality movement.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
May 15, 2015
For me, this book was the perfect foundation for beginning a deep study of Tarot. It lays out the philosophy and values of the Tarot tradition, demonstrating that it is as substantial as mainstream religions. The intuitive and creative aspects of Tarot get equally careful attention. I read the 1997 updated edition.
May 19, 2025
Me gusta mucho el trabajo de Pollack, siempre con cabeza e intuición.
March 25, 2016
78 Degrees of Wisdom is one of the most; if not the most overrated tarot books ever written. It is dry, utterly devoid of anything truly useful and read likes a bad 70's self-help book. I am sorry I ever spent money on this, it was an absolute waste.
September 23, 2007
Excellent reference book on tarot.
December 31, 2012
I read the one with the Major and Minor Arcana covered in one volume. One of the best, clearest tarot books I've read.
March 4, 2021
Este es un libro/guía que empecé a leer al empezar a estudiar los arcanos menores. Me ayudó a complementar y profundizar en el conocimiento de las cartas.
February 3, 2020
My adventure into the realms of Tarot continues with The Minor Arcana. Having just read the previous volume of the series (The Major Arcana), reading this one was only logical. Here we see less of the flaws and weaknesses I discussed in the review of the former, instead giving way to an endeavor that is a bit more focused and straight to the point. Pollack doesn’t dwell on one theme, card, or symbol more than she has too, which made the reading process more fluent and accessible for me. A beginner of anything doesn’t need tons of additional information. Rather, they need the basics, and they need them formulated in a way that is coherent, easy to follow, while at the same time being interesting enough to maintain the reader’s focus. The problem with writing in a way that resembles a manual more than a story is that it loses its unique allure and uniqueness. It simply doesn’t come alive in the same way. Finding a balance between the ends of that spectrum isn’t easy. The Minor Arcana gravitates towards the setup of a manual more so than its predecessor, and I think it does more good than bad for the beginning adept of Tarot.
Pollack covers the four suites and their constituent elements in a systematic and organized fashion. I suppose reading it in the course of one or two days isn’t exactly the right way to read it, so my verdict and evaluation of the book doesn’t say all that much, but whoever spends more time with it, studying it intensely, may find it very useful. After covering the four suites and all the cards/symbols in them, the author goes on to the second half of the volume, called ”Readings”. As one might expect, this section turns the spotlight to reading the cards. She provides the reader with a few different methods and models for doing Tarot readings, some of which have been developed by herself. I’m not 100% sure, but I think that she was encouraging towards the idea of developing one’s own way of working with the subject, and it would make sense considering the premisses it is predicated upon. People I know who do Tarot readings tend to find customized ways of doing it, so it would make sense if Pollack is of the same opinion.
Kaballah and the Tree of Life get some space in this volume as well, especially in the finishing chapters. Pollack explains the 10 sephiroth, and shows how they can be used as a model for Tarot readings that are… well, very complicated by the looks of it. Being interested in Kaballah myself, including it and its connection to Tarot is all but negative in my experience. It’s possible that the author could have spent more time and space on that connection, but I reckon that’s a matter of taste.
Just as with the first volume, there are parts of the book that become very confusing and that give way to cognitive overload. In this case, it’s mostly when Pollack interprets and covers some readings she has done for clients. My impression was that she could have reached similar (if not identical) conclusions by simplifying a 12 card model to one of five or at most six. Numerology, redundancy, and disjointed, superfluous information and surrounding details often has this effect when included in a book such as this one. After all, the objective must be to make sense of Tarot for those who aren’t all that well read on it. It does so in a way I feel is respectable, but just like volume #1, it has the potential to more user friendly.
3 crystal balls out of 5 possible
Pollack covers the four suites and their constituent elements in a systematic and organized fashion. I suppose reading it in the course of one or two days isn’t exactly the right way to read it, so my verdict and evaluation of the book doesn’t say all that much, but whoever spends more time with it, studying it intensely, may find it very useful. After covering the four suites and all the cards/symbols in them, the author goes on to the second half of the volume, called ”Readings”. As one might expect, this section turns the spotlight to reading the cards. She provides the reader with a few different methods and models for doing Tarot readings, some of which have been developed by herself. I’m not 100% sure, but I think that she was encouraging towards the idea of developing one’s own way of working with the subject, and it would make sense considering the premisses it is predicated upon. People I know who do Tarot readings tend to find customized ways of doing it, so it would make sense if Pollack is of the same opinion.
Kaballah and the Tree of Life get some space in this volume as well, especially in the finishing chapters. Pollack explains the 10 sephiroth, and shows how they can be used as a model for Tarot readings that are… well, very complicated by the looks of it. Being interested in Kaballah myself, including it and its connection to Tarot is all but negative in my experience. It’s possible that the author could have spent more time and space on that connection, but I reckon that’s a matter of taste.
Just as with the first volume, there are parts of the book that become very confusing and that give way to cognitive overload. In this case, it’s mostly when Pollack interprets and covers some readings she has done for clients. My impression was that she could have reached similar (if not identical) conclusions by simplifying a 12 card model to one of five or at most six. Numerology, redundancy, and disjointed, superfluous information and surrounding details often has this effect when included in a book such as this one. After all, the objective must be to make sense of Tarot for those who aren’t all that well read on it. It does so in a way I feel is respectable, but just like volume #1, it has the potential to more user friendly.
3 crystal balls out of 5 possible
February 6, 2023
I read the newest edition, but for the life of me can't find it to review it on here, so keep that in mind.
This book is full of info! An absolute classic and there's no wonder so many tarot readers recommended it to me. It is a thick book with more info than you can imagine, but it reads quite well. Especially if you want to know history and in-depth details, this is the book for you.
This book is full of info! An absolute classic and there's no wonder so many tarot readers recommended it to me. It is a thick book with more info than you can imagine, but it reads quite well. Especially if you want to know history and in-depth details, this is the book for you.
March 24, 2014
a bit too cryptic and all over the place, but good overall
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews