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A List Of The Best Tarot Books

Like with any subject, when first learning about it, one of the best methods is reading books! These are handy because you can see the list of keywords and descriptions alongside their image and other esoteric connections in some cases (like ours does).

Doing courses and listening to podcasts are also really great tools, my absolute two favourite podcasts are TFTWS and Fortune’s Wheelhouse, I highly recommend everyone to listen to them! I find combining different learning methods to be really useful for fully integrating the card meanings in a holistic way.

Other than that, the best thing you can do is to practice, practice, practice (of course)! It’s also useful to keep a journal of your daily pulls so that you can see any patterns emerge and see exactly how these themes emerge in your own life. Once you are comfortable enough reading for yourself, you can move on to your friends and family. After that, joining Facebook groups is a useful way to practice on strangers and learn Tarot tips from the community until you build up enough experience to one day become a professional reader (if that’s what you want)!

So, without further ado, here are my top 9 best books for learning with, I hope they serve you as well as they served me:

Top Nine Best Tarot Books

Most of these on the list are tried-and-true, classic literature that have been recommended hundreds of times before (and with good reason!), others are smaller, lesser-known books that I thoroughly enjoyed nonetheless. Click here if you’d like a quick guide on how to read Tarot cards reversed or How To Cleanse Your Tarot Deck.

When learning anything of this nature in the spiritual and intuitive realms, I suggest reading a couple of books in the beginning as you find your footing with the traditional meanings, and then begin to fuse them with their own individual meanings for what they represents for you personally. Then, over time, you can slowly add to your book repertoire, it’s a lifelong study that you can never get bored of! There’s always something to learn and I’ve enjoyed every book I’ve read to some degree, but these 10 below were my favourites:

1. Seventy Eight Degrees of Wisdom by Rachel Pollack

This book is basically like the bible of this realm. First published in the 1980 and revised since, it is a really excellent book to begin your journey with! It will give a succinct yet detailed overview of each Tarot card meaning. It has more of a traditional take on each of the cards (of course), but is still really valuable for today nonetheless. I would recommend combining it with a more modern version (or simply listening to TFTWS for a progressive spin, a more soul-led intuitive style of Tarot reading that I also use). Basically every Tarotist out there will have read Seventy Eight Degrees at some point!

2. Tarot Deciphered by T. Susan Chang and Mel Meleen

I love this book because it’s really detailed and in-depth, and also covers all the esoteric correspondences you could ever desire! From Numerology and Astrology, to Qabalah, colour-theory, geometry, alchemy, and more (in the style of Thoth). This is authored by the hosts of Fortune’s Wheelhouse podcast that I also highly recommend. Tarot Deciphered is definitely more advanced though so only move on to it when you feel ready otherwise your head will spin!

3. Holistic Tarot by Benebell Wen

I loved this book because it’s extremely detailed and thorough, clocking in at almost 900 pages! Holistic Tarot outlines in great depth the Tarot card meanings and their Astrological correspondences, which is really useful for giving you a greater understanding of how these two worlds link. If you are interested in not only learning key, traditional card meanings but also their Zodiac Sign and Planetary influence, then this is the book for you! Plus it has everything you could ever need from how to shuffle, to performing a reading, classic Tarot spreads, and really so much more. [For more information, you can also check out our post on How Tarot and Astrology are Connected. Another good option that I enjoyed is Tarot and Astrology by Corinne Kenner.

4. True Heart by Rachel True

This is a great book because she accompanies each card with examples from her own life to see how they play out in the real world, plus it comes with it’s own Tarot card deck- one of my favourites! And, she was one of the main actors in The Craft, which gives her major street cred in this department. This is a great visual book that is quick and easy to read, it’s good for beginners but is based on her own deck (which in turn is based on Rider Waite Smith, as most are). True Heart is a great, modern option because it also comes with its own deck, which is necessary for really grasping and embodying the messages of the cards.

5. Beginner’s Tarot Guidebook by Elysium Rituals

Of course I would be remiss if I didn’t include our own book in the list haha! The reason I think it deserves to be here is because of its easy-to-understand links with the Astrological and Numerological worlds, coupled with quick, comprehensive key meanings that are a blend between the traditional and modern understandings. We created the Beginner’s Guidebook in a simple format, with each card contained in its own page, so that you can quickly assimilate its meaning and easily refer back to it throughout your journey.

It comes in a beautiful 200+ page colour PDF so you have a true-to-form visual aid with you in your pocket wherever you go (on your phone, iPad, or laptop), as the other books, unless you buy the physical version which will be bulky and heavy, are all only available in Kindle format, which means they’re in black and white and less visually striking. Plus, it’s a great companion on guiding you through the development from beginner to advanced practitioner in one resource by combining simple techniques with expert correspondences.

To learn more about the world of Tarot, enrol in my Intuitive Tarot Course!

6. 36 Secrets by Susan T. Chang

This book is really useful for uncovering the sometimes overlooked Minor Arcana and their rich meanings. While there’s plenty of information out there focussing on the Major Arcana (and in many books you will find them mostly focussed on this aspect), 36 Secrets is useful for uncovering the intricate depth of the Minor meanings too! For more information on the decans, check out our post on How To Find Your Decan.

7. Modern Tarot by Michelle Tea

This is another book that delightfully combines real-life situations with examples from the cards to expertly depict how the archetypes can play out in the real world. This is a really useful tactic because it helps solidify the meaning and gives it practical applications. It’s written really well and is informative as well as entertaining to read. It’s also skeptic-friendly, focusing on using tarot to aid in self-reflection rather than to predict the future. Modern Tarot has relevant pop culture references, a witty sense of humour, and is a lot of fun to read!

8. 21 Ways to Read a Tarot Card by Mary K. Greer

This is another book, along with Rachel Pollack’s that you’ll hear frequently cited. As most professional Tarot readers will tell you, forming your own relationship with the cards and documenting your journey and findings in journey with the cards will be instrumental to your growth- and this book helps you do that! 21 Ways offers different ways to look at interpreting a card, get comfortable with reading Tarot reversals, and is particularly useful for having backup up your sleeves if you ever pull a blank for a meaning or a struggling to interpret a card within the context of a spread.

9. The Ultimate Guide to Tarot by Liz Dean

This is probably one of the best books for beginners to begin with, but is still useful for seasoned readers! It gives a clear, easy to understand yet detailed description of each of the cards, including spreads, how to do readings, and more. With its colourful pages and wide formatting, The Ultimate Guide to Tarot conveys its information in a manner that will delight visual learners!

There are really many, many others out there but these were my favourites as I was learning on my journey. Popular ones for when you begin to progress include Advanced Tarot Secrets by Dusty White, 365 Tarot Spreads by Sasha Graham, and also a Tarot coloring book! There are some others that are also highly recommended and famous but just didn’t vibe for me, try a few out and see what works best for you. For more posts, check out our Complete List of Tarot Meanings and The Best Decks for Beginners.

Of course, there are still some books out there that I would like to read! For example, I am just beginning to delve into the world of Thoth, and so am learning more about esoteric links and Qabalah etc. and haven’t included any of these kinds in the list yet because they are a little more advanced and I’ve only read a handful thus far so don’t have a comprehensive overview of the literature yet, but I’ll keep adding to it!

As with with anything of this nature, it’s always important to fuse traditional meanings with what works best for you, feel free to create your own interpretations of the cards as your relationship grows. In the beginning there will be a lot of reading as you get comfortable, and slowly over time can progress into more free-flow understandings.

Two Wander Tarot Readings — BOOK YOUR READING HERE

So that’s my list of the 9 best books for learning everything there is to now from their history, to pulling the cards, to keywords, reversals, spreads, Astrology, and everything in between. I hope it’s useful for you! I’d love to know if you have any others to add in the comments section below. Or if you have any other comments or suggestions, please don’t hesitate to let me know.

For more wisdom, check out our posts on Chaldean Numerology and Beginner’s Tarot Spreads.

Or, if you’d like a refresher on the different divination methods we use, read our post on The Difference Between Tarot and Oracle Cards.

To learn Tarot yourself, get our Beginner’s Tarot Guidebook or Tarot Immersion Bundle Pack complete with Zodiac Tarot spreads booklet + a 15% saving!

If you would like me to personally read the Tarot for you instead, book in a 1:1 Tarot session with me :)

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