All Of Our Stories: The Little Red Tarot Guidebook

by Beth Maiden

The art of reading tarot is the art of telling stories. Finding stories, claiming stories, shaping them and making them our own.

Within the 78 cards of the tarot, we find every human experience. The good and the bad. The mundane and the earth-shattering. Love and hope. Inspiration and fear. Oppression, justice and liberation. Integration and transformation.

In this accessible guidebook, Beth shows how tarot helps us to take ownership of all of this and more, so we can claim and tell our beautiful, messy, totally unique life stories. She offers an approach to tarot rooted in subjectivity and self-care, one that empowers us to imagine new and different futures for ourselves and our communities.

Genres: Tarot, Nonfiction

270 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2020

Reviews

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Take this rating w/ a grain of salt as I have not actually read the entire book... but with good reason!

I'm just starting out on my tarot journey, so I was drawn to All Of Our Stories because 1) I needed somewhere to start, 2) I was already familiar with Little Red Tarot, and 3) I love Beth's open, inclusive, and thoughtful perspective of tarot. In reading the introductory sections, as well as the breakdowns of minor and major arcana, suit, and face, I felt the enthusiasm to explore, reflect, discover, and grow--which is exactly what I was hoping for!

With this book in hand, I've started doing the single card daily spread wherein l pull and then have the opportunity to learn about a random card. It'll take some time, but I'm enjoying this organic way of learning and absorbing; eventually, I hope to arrive at a compassionate and circumspect understanding of my deck! And tarot in general.

5 out of 5 novice stars ★★★★★

[Ditte · Rating 2 out of 5]

I absolutely LOVE Beth Maiden's blog Little red tarot and it was her blog that taught me how to get more out of my tarot cards and readings. But I don't think this book is what it sets out to be.
All of Our Stories is mostly just a book about the minor and major arcana and what the individual cards mean. Her blog will give more information than this book, especially since she already has written about the individual cards' meaning in detail and weaven this knowledge together with her personal life and experiences. (read her blog, seriously! It's fantastic)

When I read about this book, I thought it would be about how you can tell a story with your readings, how you can weave the cards' meanings into somethings "more", and about how Beth Maiden reads the tarot cards in a spread. I thought I would get a book that was what her blog Little red tarot was and is.

It's a good book for beginners who want to learn the meaning (traditional and Beth's own interpretation) of the cards, but for those who already know the meaning, have read her blog and have gotten to a point where the cards have gotten a deeper meaning than the traditional? It doesn't bring something new to the table or your tarot readings.

[magicandscience · Rating 5 out of 5]

This a great, accessible tarot guide book! I got a lot out of it as an experienced (and humble, ha) tarot reader, but it would also be super useful help explore your first tarot deck. Beth starts the book through sharing her introduction to tarot all those years ago, and then continues to draw on a rich legacy of intersectional writers: referencing adrinenne maree brown; Audre Lorde, Christine Miserandino's spoon theory; calling in the glorious deep lez past of Thea's tarot and it's contemporary queer reading through Oliver Pickle's "She is Sleeping in the night" to tell the story of the tarot. She offers a framework for how the cards can be read, leaving room for your own interpretations, and encouraging you to make the book your own by annotating in any variations between your own deck and the standard Rider Waite template that this book, (and many decks) follow.

This book is obviously a culmination of the love and time Beth has poured into the social justice tarot community, and it's a joy to see it all collected, here, together.

[Gina · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best tarot guidebook I have encountered. Beth gives so much time, space, energy, and respect to each card, making it feel accessible to the reader. She is unflinching in her interpretation but is also encouraging of each reader bringing their own experiences to tarot. The section on self care in tarot is revelatory. Take a card out of the deck if it's triggering? Unheard of! I first encountered this guidebook in digital form on the Little Red Tarot website and just had to purchase a physical copy. Highly recommended for use with any deck.

[~m · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great tarot book. Insightful. Clear. Simple and helpful!