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Tarot Fundamentals
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579 pages, Hardcover
First published February 8, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
February 23, 2016
Disclaimer: I kickstarted this book in 2015. Just after backing it, I became a staff writer for Lo Scarabeo. They are not paying me to write this.
Lo Scarabeo's Tarot Fundamentals is the first in a trilogy of books that uncovers the information they have gathered from 20+ years of publishing tarot decks. It's a collaborative effort written by many of the top authors in the tarot industry. This book's purpose was to be a cross between a lovely tarot coffee table book, with shiny pictures and a introduction to tarot, its uses and meanings. Tarot Fundamentals blends card meanings, card comparison, history, and a beginner's guide to working with tarot into one volume. In fact, I would go far as to call it a wonderful tarot textbook. The book has heft--it is over 600 pages long, glossy and full color pages--it contains wide margins, which gives me the impression that this book is to be used, highlighted, and written on.
What I liked: I liked the wide variety of topics contained in the text. It lends well to quick and easy reading despite the size. Even though some may seem like this is Lo Scarabeo's book to showcase various decks they've published over the years (it is, sort of), I liked the decks they included. An aspect of tarot study is to compare various decks and this book does that brilliantly. I also liked the way that this book introduces tarot history, repeating material in word as well as graphics. It accounts for the various ways of learning and I can see younger readers finding this a good resource.
What I didn't like: The book has a unique chart representation of the court cards and their relationship to one another. I'm calling this the Court Cards Quadrant. It has the power to be a powerful tool but as written it falls short of expectation. We get a short single paragraph introduction in the green pages. Then each court card gets it's unique chart and keywords in the pages that describe each card's meaning. However, the longer explanation on how to use it is hundreds of pages back in the Techniques section. I'd have preferred this little gem to be together in it's own article. It is introduced in one paragraph in the book's beginning, shown in visual and keyword format in each court card's description, and then explained how to use back in the Techniques section. There are also parts of the book where information is almost duplicated, and that space could have been saved for more meaty content. The scale of the book seems a bit larger than normal... many non-tarot images take up a huge amount of page real estate and the text is in large print.
Bottom Line: If you are looking for a tarot book that leads you through the mysteries of the card by hand, then this is your guide. I imagine that Tarot Fundamentals is the textbook Hogwarts uses in their Beginning to Tarot classes. As a seasoned reader, I did get a lot out of this book, so don't let the introductory tone fool you. There are some surprises in here.
Lo Scarabeo's Tarot Fundamentals is the first in a trilogy of books that uncovers the information they have gathered from 20+ years of publishing tarot decks. It's a collaborative effort written by many of the top authors in the tarot industry. This book's purpose was to be a cross between a lovely tarot coffee table book, with shiny pictures and a introduction to tarot, its uses and meanings. Tarot Fundamentals blends card meanings, card comparison, history, and a beginner's guide to working with tarot into one volume. In fact, I would go far as to call it a wonderful tarot textbook. The book has heft--it is over 600 pages long, glossy and full color pages--it contains wide margins, which gives me the impression that this book is to be used, highlighted, and written on.
What I liked: I liked the wide variety of topics contained in the text. It lends well to quick and easy reading despite the size. Even though some may seem like this is Lo Scarabeo's book to showcase various decks they've published over the years (it is, sort of), I liked the decks they included. An aspect of tarot study is to compare various decks and this book does that brilliantly. I also liked the way that this book introduces tarot history, repeating material in word as well as graphics. It accounts for the various ways of learning and I can see younger readers finding this a good resource.
What I didn't like: The book has a unique chart representation of the court cards and their relationship to one another. I'm calling this the Court Cards Quadrant. It has the power to be a powerful tool but as written it falls short of expectation. We get a short single paragraph introduction in the green pages. Then each court card gets it's unique chart and keywords in the pages that describe each card's meaning. However, the longer explanation on how to use it is hundreds of pages back in the Techniques section. I'd have preferred this little gem to be together in it's own article. It is introduced in one paragraph in the book's beginning, shown in visual and keyword format in each court card's description, and then explained how to use back in the Techniques section. There are also parts of the book where information is almost duplicated, and that space could have been saved for more meaty content. The scale of the book seems a bit larger than normal... many non-tarot images take up a huge amount of page real estate and the text is in large print.
Bottom Line: If you are looking for a tarot book that leads you through the mysteries of the card by hand, then this is your guide. I imagine that Tarot Fundamentals is the textbook Hogwarts uses in their Beginning to Tarot classes. As a seasoned reader, I did get a lot out of this book, so don't let the introductory tone fool you. There are some surprises in here.
February 26, 2016
It's…okay. It could have been better.
This book is the first of a proposed trilogy of tarot books that will start out mainly intended for beginners and end up mostly directed towards advanced practitioners. So understandably, most of the material in this book is beginner-level. Almost the entire first half is a basic guide to the cards, with four pages for each card in the Major Arcana and three pages each for the Minor Arcana and Court Cards. The guide offers keywords, upright and reversed meanings, and explanations of the symbols on the cards. After that, the book goes into choosing your first deck, the basics of spreads and how to do readings. Other articles cover interpreting Court Cards, reversals, gender and age issues in the cards, and how to handle the "spooky" cards. A long, detailed history of the tarot comes towards the end, and then an assortment of articles by well-known tarot authors (this book was funded by a Kickstarter campaign that exceeded its original goal; the bonus articles were some of the stretch goals).
The book covers an impressive amount of information. But I have trouble seeing it as a beginner's first book. It's comparatively expensive (hardcover, embossed cover, glossy paper, ribbon bookmark, color pictures on almost every page), large, and heavy (3.8 lbs./1.7 kg—yeah, I weighed it!), and there are a lot of books to learn tarot from that are less of a commitment. Intermediate and advanced tarot readers would probably be more likely to make that commitment, but then they probably already know most of what's in this book. Still, true to Lo Scarabeo's promises, I did find information in here that was new to me. The Court Diagram was an intriguing way to look at the Court Cards (although I agree with Jaymi's review that it's confusing to have the full explanation of the Court Diagram almost 100 pages after its introduction in the Court Card definition pages). The history of the tarot is one of the most detailed I've seen, and goes into far more depth than is usual for a beginning tarot book. Barbara Moore's article, "Tarot Truth," covers issues that beginning readers would do well to think about (do you believe that tarot can predict the future? where do you think the answers come from?).
The book is in desperate need of better editing. Sometimes it's in the organization of the material, like how information on the Court Diagram is scattered through the first half of the book. A discussion of reversed meanings comes well after the basic guide that gave reversed meanings for all the cards. And the copy editing needs help as well. The history section slews back and forth between past and present tense for no apparent reason. Nouns are capitalized randomly, usually nouns that aren't capitalized in English. There are few actual misspellings, but generally, a book with this much effort behind it deserves good editing. And yes, there are times when the book feels more like an advertisement for Lo Scarabeo's catalog of tarot decks than an unbiased guide to the tarot. Beginners may find this useful, but they can find other books better suited to their needs and bank balances; intermediate and advanced tarot readers may enjoy this, but it's not a must-have for anyone's collection.
This book is the first of a proposed trilogy of tarot books that will start out mainly intended for beginners and end up mostly directed towards advanced practitioners. So understandably, most of the material in this book is beginner-level. Almost the entire first half is a basic guide to the cards, with four pages for each card in the Major Arcana and three pages each for the Minor Arcana and Court Cards. The guide offers keywords, upright and reversed meanings, and explanations of the symbols on the cards. After that, the book goes into choosing your first deck, the basics of spreads and how to do readings. Other articles cover interpreting Court Cards, reversals, gender and age issues in the cards, and how to handle the "spooky" cards. A long, detailed history of the tarot comes towards the end, and then an assortment of articles by well-known tarot authors (this book was funded by a Kickstarter campaign that exceeded its original goal; the bonus articles were some of the stretch goals).
The book covers an impressive amount of information. But I have trouble seeing it as a beginner's first book. It's comparatively expensive (hardcover, embossed cover, glossy paper, ribbon bookmark, color pictures on almost every page), large, and heavy (3.8 lbs./1.7 kg—yeah, I weighed it!), and there are a lot of books to learn tarot from that are less of a commitment. Intermediate and advanced tarot readers would probably be more likely to make that commitment, but then they probably already know most of what's in this book. Still, true to Lo Scarabeo's promises, I did find information in here that was new to me. The Court Diagram was an intriguing way to look at the Court Cards (although I agree with Jaymi's review that it's confusing to have the full explanation of the Court Diagram almost 100 pages after its introduction in the Court Card definition pages). The history of the tarot is one of the most detailed I've seen, and goes into far more depth than is usual for a beginning tarot book. Barbara Moore's article, "Tarot Truth," covers issues that beginning readers would do well to think about (do you believe that tarot can predict the future? where do you think the answers come from?).
The book is in desperate need of better editing. Sometimes it's in the organization of the material, like how information on the Court Diagram is scattered through the first half of the book. A discussion of reversed meanings comes well after the basic guide that gave reversed meanings for all the cards. And the copy editing needs help as well. The history section slews back and forth between past and present tense for no apparent reason. Nouns are capitalized randomly, usually nouns that aren't capitalized in English. There are few actual misspellings, but generally, a book with this much effort behind it deserves good editing. And yes, there are times when the book feels more like an advertisement for Lo Scarabeo's catalog of tarot decks than an unbiased guide to the tarot. Beginners may find this useful, but they can find other books better suited to their needs and bank balances; intermediate and advanced tarot readers may enjoy this, but it's not a must-have for anyone's collection.
January 19, 2016
Really disappointing. It's one big, great commercial for Lo Scarabeo tarot decks and nothing more. The book looks and reads like a high-school textbook. Much of the artwork is generic stock-photo stuff. The text ranges from basic at best to insipid at worst. I am disppointed in myself that I got hooked in by the kickstarter campaign to fund this book. The end result is nowhere near deserving of the hype.
DO NOT BOTHER: there are much better books on the Tarot out there, and they don't come with the sales pitch for Lo Scarabeo decks.
DO NOT BOTHER: there are much better books on the Tarot out there, and they don't come with the sales pitch for Lo Scarabeo decks.
April 21, 2018
Tarot Fundamentals is the first of a three volume set published by noted deck publisher La Scarabeo. The best part of the book is also the lengthiest, in which the cards are described and interpreted one by one. Before this, I had never read a tarot book except for the ones that come in sets with particular decks, so this book will be a great resource for me as I continue to explore the cards. However, I will look for other books on the subject for a couple of reasons. First, this being a La Scarabeo book, they use only decks they publish as examples, and some of these are frankly terrible. Fortunately, their basic Rider-style deck is well done, and is the one they feature here. But the decks they offer for comparison purposes are ones I can never imagine owning or using. Other readers of both cards and this book will disagree about at least some of these decks, and that's great for you, but the other La Scarabeo decks that interest me are mostly absent here. I also found an error in the description of one card. They describe the king of wands as having a crown of flame, but the picture they are describing clearly shows him with a crown of oak leaves. That matters, because it connects him with a figure from English folklore, the Oak King, and the mistake means there can be no discussion of the significance of this.
Another disappointment to me here was the section on Tarot history. This book was funded by a Kickstarter campaign, and it feels like they ran out of time to deliver the donor rewards, and did not edit this section properly. In the early part especially, the verb tenses are a mess, and the writing itself feels disorganized. So I need to look elsewhere to answer the question of where these images originally came from, but the later part of the history section gets much better, and has some good and useful information.
Overall, this is a book that I think will help me learn to become a better reader of the cards, but it will not become my only resource. It is good enough that its lapses were more frustrating than they would have been in a weaker book. It is good enough that I don't regret buying all three volumes at once, and I am now working my way through volume two.
Another disappointment to me here was the section on Tarot history. This book was funded by a Kickstarter campaign, and it feels like they ran out of time to deliver the donor rewards, and did not edit this section properly. In the early part especially, the verb tenses are a mess, and the writing itself feels disorganized. So I need to look elsewhere to answer the question of where these images originally came from, but the later part of the history section gets much better, and has some good and useful information.
Overall, this is a book that I think will help me learn to become a better reader of the cards, but it will not become my only resource. It is good enough that its lapses were more frustrating than they would have been in a weaker book. It is good enough that I don't regret buying all three volumes at once, and I am now working my way through volume two.
April 2, 2016
this is an all in one primer for those beginning their tarot journal. it covers not only the basics given insight into things that most people wouldn't think to go over. along with covering the non-basics and ideas that most would need several extra books collected together in one idea. bonus of having several articles by some of the best known names in tarot to give you even more insight to different things that you wouldn't even think to consider.
March 25, 2016
This is now my go to book for everything tarot. It's very comprehensive and full of detailed information on each card.
November 29, 2016
Initial thoughts upon finishing: good expansive look on tarot as a whole. Sooooo many stock photos. Why so many stock photos? Also where were the sources?
September 8, 2018
Full of typo, small information, pictures are often unrelated to the topic at hand. On the bright side: impressive hardcover, looks suuuper good on the shelf.
February 6, 2022
Puoi trovare questa recensione anche sul mio blog, La siepe di more
I Tarocchi hanno una cattiva fama, tanto che la prima cosa che di solito viene in mente quando li si nomina sono le truffe dellз ciarlatanз che li usano per spillare soldi alle loro vittime, usando spesso in maniera indegna delle loro debolezze. In realtà, i Tarocchi possono essere usati in un sacco di modi interessanti: c’è chi li usa per la meditazione, chi per gioco, chi per riflettere su aspetti della propria vita.
L’uso che più mi interessa – e il motivo per cui mi sono avvicinata a queste carte – è quello di contenitore di storie. La struttura simbolica dei Tarocchi fa sì che nei soli Arcani Maggiori – banalmente, le prime ventuno carte di ogni mazzo tradizionale di settantotto carte – sia descritto il viaggio dell’eroe, mentre negli Arcani Minori siano contenuto infiniti dettagli su come quel viaggio può svolgersi. Questo sempre se ci “limitiamo” al viaggio dell’eroe: i Tarocchi possono raccontare infinite storie attraverso la decodificazione del loro significato (che può essere quello tradizionale associato a ogni carta, oppure essere stato riveduto e reinterpretato dall’artista che ha disegnato il mazzo), grazie anche alla presenza di numerosi simboli e archetipi.
Li trovo uno strumento molto utile se vi dilettate nella scrittura: è un buon modo per acquisire dimestichezza con la materia impalpabile di cui sono fatte le storie – e magari anche più divertente e interattivo di leggere manuali di scrittura creativa e simili. E perché no, scozzare le carte e disporle secondo uno dei tanti spread (una particolare sequenza di carte) e iniziare a leggerle potrebbe essere un modo di spezzare il blocco dellǝ scrittorǝ.
Questo libro è un ottimo modo per avventurarsi nel mondo dei Tarocchi, ma ve lo consiglio solo se avete davvero intenzione di approfondire l’argomento, perché è il primo di tre volumi e tutti e tre costano un occhio della testa. Magari potete iniziare da qualcosa di meno costoso (uno qualunuque dei libri scritti in tema da Giordano Berti, per esempio, esperto di Tarocchi di fama mondiale). Un altro potenziale difetto è che è disponibile solo in inglese, nonostante sia pubblicato da Lo Scarabeo, storica CE italiana di Tarocchi (immagino che, essendo un’opera che si è avvalsa di un crowdfunding per venire alla luce e che lз appassioantз di Tarocchi siano una nicchia, non avessero poi molta scelta).
Comunque, si tratta di un’opera scritta con l’ambizione di essere il più completa possibile e, anche se per il momento ho letto solo questo primo volume, direi che ci siamo. Tarot Fundamentals, oltre a darvi un’idea del significato di tutte le settantotto carte classiche, aggiunge informazioni su come, quando e perché vengono letti i Tarocchi, provvedendo un quadro completo dei motivi che fanno avvicinare a questo tipo di lettura. Ci sono anche molti consigli utili e pratici su come impare e migliorare nella lettura dei Tarocchi (compresi i punti di vista più recenti, come quello LGBTQIA+).
Viene anche riportata la storia dei Tarocchi (nati in Nord Italia, diffidate di chi vi dice in Egitto), che è molto affascinante: è piena di personaggi singolari – sapevate che uno di questi, forse il più eccentrico, Aleister Crowley, fu cacciato dall’Italia da Mussolini perché in Sicilia aveva messo su un’abbazia dove ci si dava alla pazza gioia sessuale e all’uso di droghe? Si potrebbe scrivere un romanzo solo su questo.
I Tarocchi hanno una cattiva fama, tanto che la prima cosa che di solito viene in mente quando li si nomina sono le truffe dellз ciarlatanз che li usano per spillare soldi alle loro vittime, usando spesso in maniera indegna delle loro debolezze. In realtà, i Tarocchi possono essere usati in un sacco di modi interessanti: c’è chi li usa per la meditazione, chi per gioco, chi per riflettere su aspetti della propria vita.
L’uso che più mi interessa – e il motivo per cui mi sono avvicinata a queste carte – è quello di contenitore di storie. La struttura simbolica dei Tarocchi fa sì che nei soli Arcani Maggiori – banalmente, le prime ventuno carte di ogni mazzo tradizionale di settantotto carte – sia descritto il viaggio dell’eroe, mentre negli Arcani Minori siano contenuto infiniti dettagli su come quel viaggio può svolgersi. Questo sempre se ci “limitiamo” al viaggio dell’eroe: i Tarocchi possono raccontare infinite storie attraverso la decodificazione del loro significato (che può essere quello tradizionale associato a ogni carta, oppure essere stato riveduto e reinterpretato dall’artista che ha disegnato il mazzo), grazie anche alla presenza di numerosi simboli e archetipi.
Li trovo uno strumento molto utile se vi dilettate nella scrittura: è un buon modo per acquisire dimestichezza con la materia impalpabile di cui sono fatte le storie – e magari anche più divertente e interattivo di leggere manuali di scrittura creativa e simili. E perché no, scozzare le carte e disporle secondo uno dei tanti spread (una particolare sequenza di carte) e iniziare a leggerle potrebbe essere un modo di spezzare il blocco dellǝ scrittorǝ.
Questo libro è un ottimo modo per avventurarsi nel mondo dei Tarocchi, ma ve lo consiglio solo se avete davvero intenzione di approfondire l’argomento, perché è il primo di tre volumi e tutti e tre costano un occhio della testa. Magari potete iniziare da qualcosa di meno costoso (uno qualunuque dei libri scritti in tema da Giordano Berti, per esempio, esperto di Tarocchi di fama mondiale). Un altro potenziale difetto è che è disponibile solo in inglese, nonostante sia pubblicato da Lo Scarabeo, storica CE italiana di Tarocchi (immagino che, essendo un’opera che si è avvalsa di un crowdfunding per venire alla luce e che lз appassioantз di Tarocchi siano una nicchia, non avessero poi molta scelta).
Comunque, si tratta di un’opera scritta con l’ambizione di essere il più completa possibile e, anche se per il momento ho letto solo questo primo volume, direi che ci siamo. Tarot Fundamentals, oltre a darvi un’idea del significato di tutte le settantotto carte classiche, aggiunge informazioni su come, quando e perché vengono letti i Tarocchi, provvedendo un quadro completo dei motivi che fanno avvicinare a questo tipo di lettura. Ci sono anche molti consigli utili e pratici su come impare e migliorare nella lettura dei Tarocchi (compresi i punti di vista più recenti, come quello LGBTQIA+).
Viene anche riportata la storia dei Tarocchi (nati in Nord Italia, diffidate di chi vi dice in Egitto), che è molto affascinante: è piena di personaggi singolari – sapevate che uno di questi, forse il più eccentrico, Aleister Crowley, fu cacciato dall’Italia da Mussolini perché in Sicilia aveva messo su un’abbazia dove ci si dava alla pazza gioia sessuale e all’uso di droghe? Si potrebbe scrivere un romanzo solo su questo.
June 11, 2020
Recommend for Tarot beginners. This book doesn't only provide cards meaning, but it also shows you more helpful information such as history, spreads (although few), rituals... It must be read if you want to have deep knowledge about the Tarot.
May 7, 2022
Excellent overview of Tarot cards and how to use them. This book deserves a place on your coffee table - highly recommended if you are interested in Tarot.
August 26, 2016
This book was part of a kickstarter project in 2015. Printed by Lo Scarabeo, it is a very luxurious book in that it offers so many visuals of so many tarot decks at once. Offers traditional advice and modern insights into reading the cards. If I had to play Devil's advocate and make any complaint towards such a magnanimous book, I'd say that there are too many spelling/textual errors throughout the book. The wording can be a little off, almost as if it were translated by someone who didn't speak english. Small errors but that would be the one area I'd improve upon. Lo Scarabeo is going to do an additional kickstarter project for a second volume, and it should be up or will be announced sometime in 2016.
March 7, 2016
Amazing compilation. Can't wait to see the second and third in the series!
Read
September 8, 2017this is the first book of three. A very nice book, very graphic, I like the way it is written, very friendly , actually. It is a good book for the newbies as much as for the seasoned reader.
I got the kickstarter version and the extra content is very good also.
I really recommend this book to be at the bookshelf to any Tarot aficionado.
There are some historical points that are basic to understand some images and the types of decks available.
I got the kickstarter version and the extra content is very good also.
I really recommend this book to be at the bookshelf to any Tarot aficionado.
There are some historical points that are basic to understand some images and the types of decks available.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews