Building a Tarot library: Nine essential books to collect and study

Eliphas Levi once claimed that the archetypal power of the Tarot was so great that a person in prison alone with only a tarot deck could eventually reconstruct all of human knowledge and wisdom and attain adepthood. That may be true, but if I were the one locked in that room, these are the nine books I would want to have by my side.

The little white book.  Affectionately known to collectors as the LWB, this is the stapled booklet that comes nestled in the box with the tarot deck itself.  Some tarotists will sneer at the brief and sometimes trite meanings given in the LWB. But I will stand up for the poor derided booklet because, let's face it, everyone has to start somewhere.  And even learning basic, one-phrase meanings for all 78 cards can seem daunting when you're just getting started with the Tarot.  (Not only that, the LWB usually contains helpful notes from the artist and/or deck creator, allowing the reader to unlock the symbolism encoded in that particular deck.) If I were to get amnesia and forget everything I've ever learned about the Tarot, I would be most grateful for the LWB, condensing all that wisdom handily into one ounce of paper.

Rachel Pollack, Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom.  Considered instant classics when they were published around thirty years ago, Pollack's treatises on the Major and Minor Arcana (now combined in a single volume) have held up remarkably well.  I might not agree with all her opinions on the cards, but her imagination and insight are unparalleled.  There's not much I can say about this book that hasn't already been said.  Everyone who's even casually interested in Tarot should read it.  If you want to understand more about the Hebrew mysticism that permeates the Tarot, then add her excellent Kabalah Tree as a companion volume.

Paul Foster Case, The Tarot.  Another foundational text.  Case, who knew more about the Tarot than possibly anyone else ever, was a pivotal figure in the revival of Hermeticism.  He founded the Builders of the Adytum, the oldest and largest organization dedicated to tarot education.  So much wisdom.  So much scholarship.  It's a shame this book isn't better known.

Mary K. Greer, 21 Ways to Read a Tarot Card. After you learn the basics of the cards, Greer's expansive view will open you up to their possibilities. Her blog is also how I keep up with publications, conferences, and other happenings in the world of Tarot.

Mary K. Greer, Tarot Reversals.  Mary Greer gets another mention. Ostensibly a niche title about reading reversals, this book is actually a comprehensive dictionary of all the card meanings, reversed and upright. Learning to interpret reversed cards can bring a new level of accuracy and nuance to your readings, and this book will show you that it's not as difficult as it seems.  Even if you're not into reversals, this belongs on your bookshelf.  Her interpretations of the cards are the most astute and accurate ones that I've found. 

Alan Moore, et al. Promethea.  Available in a series of five trade paperbacks, or a three-volume deluxe edition.  This is artist/mage/megagenius Alan Moore's superhero comic cum occult manifesto, lavishly illustrated by the great J. H. Williams III.  The title character's winding trek through the Tree of Life and the Tarot, which left some comics fans squirming, is just pure ambrosia for tarot nerds.  I can't wait for the movie. (Ha ha.  Like that will happen.)

Janina Renee, Tarot: Your Everyday Guide.  Ever stared down a tarot card and thought, "Yes, but what does that mean for me?" This unique book focuses on learning to read each tarot card for practical guidance. It's fun and fluffy, but with more substance than your average book of pep talks.  I use it help interpreting cards in the "advice" position of any spread.  Also great for the practice of a daily one-card draw for inspiration and affirmation. One gripe: I wish I could tear out the card illustrations, which seem ill-chosen and don't really add anything to the text.

Aleister Crowley, The Book of Thoth: A Short Essay on the Tarot of the Egyptians.  Certainly not for beginners, but essential for the serious student.  The Book of Thoth (and the accompanying vast and visionary deck) came about in Crowley's old age, the distillation of a lifetime of Tarot study.  Crowley's density can be frustrating, his pomposity infuriating.  But there's no denying the immensity of the man's intellect, and the beauty of those strange, seductive cards.

Lon Milo Duquette, Understanding Aleister Crowley's Thoth Tarot.  Conceived as a companion volume to The Book of Thoth, Duquette's explication of Crowley is a towering work in its own right.  Each card gets its own illuminating discussion, alongside a handy list of its attributions and correspondences. The book breaks down the Qabalistic and astrological foundations for the deck's structure, which might be beyond my grasp if not for Duquette's patient tutelage.  I also love Duquette's, Book of Ordinary Oracles, which weds hard-hitting divination theory with whimsy and a sense of fun.

Honorable mentions: If you still have money and space on your bookshelf, here's a few more titles to round out your collection.

Robert Place, Tarot: History, Symbolism, and Divination.  This book narrowly missed making the first tier, due to a somewhat stern tone, and a final section of card meanings that feels a bit padded.  Place engages in some grade-A myth-busting, taking a hard look at the Tarot's true historical origins and all the misinformation that has circulated over the years.  As a bonus, it's peppered with his distinctive woodcut-style illustrations, as seen in the Alchemical Tarot and the new Tarot of the Sevenfold Mystery.

Paul Foster Case, The Book of Tokens.  A strange little volume, out of print but worth seeking out.  Akin to a prayer book, Book of Tokens presents the BOTA versions of the Major Arcana (which differ slightly from the Rider-Waite) alongside devotional poems informed by Case's knowledge of Hebrew esotericism.  Even if you're (like me) slightly allergic to gematria, it's hard not to be impressed with the insight and intensity contained in this slim book.

Chic and Tabitha Cicero, Skrying on the Tree of Life.  For the confirmed Qabalah-head.  These guided visualizations, based on the Golden Dawn material, will introduce you to all of the Tarot archetypes in their own natural habitats.

Gareth Knight, The Magical World of the Tarot: Fourfold Mirror of the Universe. An intriguing collage.  There's some art history, some meditation and pathworking, some divination. There's a sprinkling of question-and-answer exchanges with students, which are sometimes helpful, sometimes amusingly random.  But for me, Knight's best contribution is a schematic of the Major Arcana that I've not seen anywhere else, which divides the cards into four "halls" governed by four elemental rulers, which correspond to the four classical Virtues.  An obscure book worth getting for this diagram alone.

Trish Macgregor and Phyllis Vega, Power Tarot.  In the introduction, these two ladies recall honing their tarot skills in the trenches--psychic phone lines, where you have less than a minute to hit on something good before the caller hangs up.  The fruit of their experience is this book of creative and down-to-earth divinatory meanings for all the cards.  Power Tarot is a great resource for divination, especially if you read over the phone, at parties, or other venues where you need to get specific information fast, for querents who could care less about the esoteric side of the Tarot.  The first part of the book provides card meanings for questions related to love, money, health, etc.  The second part contains fun and original spreads to help pull you out of the Celtic Cross rut.