The Tarot is one of the richest of all Western mystical traditions, used for centuries for divination, meditation, and self-discovery. The Essential Guide to the Tarot offers a brilliant practical overview of the modern seeker who wishes to use this system to explore their hidden anxieties, desires, tensions, and contradictions. Destiny is not a set of circumstances dreamed up randomly by fate but a path that unfolds from self-understanding. This book shows how the Tarot can be used to illuminate that path.
Psychologist David Fontana begins by describing the history and symbolism of the Tarot, and then goes on to clarify in detail the meanings of the individual cards of th Major and Minor Arcana, and the special characteristics of the four suits – Wands, Cups, Swords, and Pentacles. An original and very helpful section explains how to deal and read the cards in tried and tested formats such as the Hoseshoe and the Celtic Cross.
To illustrate the book David Fontana has chosen a much-acclaimed deck devised especially for Watkins Publishing, using traditional symbolism rooted in medieval and renaissance practice. However, the text applies equally well to other popular decks in common use including the Rider-Waite.
Ideal for both the beginner and the more experienced card-reader, this is an enlightening and inspiring, 288 page (soft cover) guide.