Review: Tarot Made Easy

If you are interested in purchasing this book through Amazon.com, click here.

Tarot Made Easy by Nancy Garen

Let me begin by saying, that while this book claims to be an "amazingly simple new method" of

reading the cards, it will not teach you to read. It is useful as a reference, but not as a means of

learning to read. The book is illustrated with the Waite-Smith deck, but could probably be used

with most other Tarot decks as well. The interpretations are certainly broad enough. The author

has come up with 32 categories, which cover all the most common subjects a querent is interested

in, and then provided an interpretation for every card for each of these 32 areas. Let's see, 78 X

32 = 2,496. That's a lot of interpretations to learn. Rather than teach you what each card means

and how to apply that meaning to different aspects of the reading, this method will keep you book

dependent. I guess it is simple, because you are not required to think, study or learn. All you have

to do is keep this book next to your cards. Garen does provide some basic Tarot information,

such as how the deck is set up, what the suits represent etc. She also provides some spreads, a

timing method and a pretty good section on numerology. However the vast majority of the book

(320 pages out of 383 total), is devoted to her interpretations by category. As previously stated,

this book is useful as a reference for those times you look at a card in a certain position and go

"Huh?", but if you purchase this book with the idea of learning to read Tarot cards from it, you

will not get very far and will most probably end up "book dependent", that is, unable to do a

reading without looking up every card in a book. This method also encourages reading each card

as a separate entity, rather than reading the spread as a whole. Despite claims to the contrary,

there is no "easy" way to learn to read the Tarot. You have to study and practice and you must

have an understanding of what each card means. If you know the 5 of cups means

disappointment, you can apply that knowledge, no matter where this card appears in the spread.

You can temper and adjust that basic interpretation based on it's position and the other cards in

the spread. This book has done all the tempering, adjusting and thinking, I might add, for you.

This method can only be called "reading" in the most superficial sense.

Tarot Made Easy

Author: Nancy Garen

ISBN: 0671670875

Excerpt

Once you have a question in mind, think of the category that can best answer it before you begin

(if you're not sure, refer to the explanation of the Thirty-two Categories of Interpretation).

Remember, you're not limited to only one category; you can read as many as you think apply.

Example

A. If your question concerns love, you might read: Romance, Unions, Others, Emotional State,

and Outcome.

B. If it's about business, you might read: Work/Career, Finances, Success, Best Course of Action,

etc.

If you are interested in purchasing this deck through Amazon.com, click here.