I have been reading tarot cards for more than a decade now, and for the last five have taught others to do the same. Most people have several decks, read a bunch of books, memorize tons of definitions, and follow all the rules, but still end up being confused about how the cards relate to each other in a spread. Usually, they are trying to make "official" definitions of the cards fit an "official" spread and it just isn’t ‘clicking’ for them. Michele Morgan has written a book that breaks all the rules of tarot, and does so in a funny, engaging, and supportive style. She presents tarot reading as a storytelling process and teaches readers to use their intuition to interpret the story presented by the cards. In truth, she encourages readers to use intuition for everything: how to choose a deck, how to shuffle the cards, how many to draw, and even how to lay them on the table. Since no tarot book can be published without them, card definitions are included. This section is in the middle of the book, but I saved it for the end because I was having so much fun and making so much progress without them. They are very well written and not at all didactic, and the illustrations are wonderfully unique. Some use traditional tarot imagery, and others are more interpretive. Throughout, it is obvious how much the author loves working with tarot. She speaks of tarot cards lovingly, lingering over descriptions of her favorites and joyfully sharing her list of favorite decks. However, Morgan makes it clear that tarot is just a tool for accessing your own intuition. She makes her point by using a brilliant telephone analogy: "When you call someone on the telephone, I hope you don’t convince yourself that the phone is the one speaking to you." ~review by Lisa Mc Sherryby Michele Morgan
Conari Press, 2002
pp. 246, $16.95
