Review by Bonnie Cehovet
I have been waiting to read this book since the news
leaked out that it was in progress! Part of my reasoning
was along the same line that Mary Greer took in her
forward to the book: that the Amberstones represent a
marvelous attribute to the Tarot community - as readers,
teachers and innovators.
Their mission is to empower
through the Tarot. They are respectful of themselves,
their business, their students and their clients. I have
taken teleconference classes from the Tarot School, and
one of the things that stand out for me is their
treatment of their students. While you are there, you are
there to learn, and to have some fun along the way. The
class time is a time to put your best foot forward, and
to become part of the process - take notes, follow
the thoughts being presented, ask questions, share
reactions. Students are encouraged to share - if they feel
comfortable doing so.
At the teleconferences that I attended
there was a large amount of information presented in a
short time. The pace was fast, but time was taken to
make sure that everyone was absorbing the material. And
the study was in depth - so that often you werre
touching shadow sides of your own psyche. Respect,
courtesy, and a willingness to help - all trademarks of this
wonderful couple!
Tarot Tips is culled from the
e-newsletter of the same name that the Amberstones have been
writing through the Tarot School for several years. The
answers Ruth Ann and Wald give are in depth, to the point,
and respectful of all viewpoints. Their aim is to
empower you to find your own creative self, to experiment
on your own, and to enable your own wisdom. Tarot
Tips is a wonderful "storybook", as each question and
answer form their own story. But it goes beyond that - in
each answer is a "way" of getting to where you wnat to
go, a technique that will empower you, if you choose
to use it.
Tarot Tips is presented by grouping
questions and responses together by topic. The topics
covered are: Decks, Cards & Card Handling; Interpretation
& Meaning; Reading Techniques; Spreads; Other Things
You Can Do With Tarot; Ethics - and a personal
afterword.
Decks, Cards & Card Handling:
The questions that someone
new to Tarot might have are addressed here. Things
like: "Does my first Tarot Deck have to be gifted to
me?", and "How do I choose a deck - what is the right
deck for me?" Websites that review Tarot decks and
books, as well as publishers websites, are listed here.
What a gift to someone new to the field - or to someone
who simply has not had access to this information!
Then we get into the cool stuff - cards that fall out
of a deck when shuffling, damaged cards ... and the
newest innovation, the blank card. (You have to read the
book to hear what they have to say about each of these
things!)
Interpretation & Meaning:
Nope - this is not a section filled
with definitions for each of the 78 cards. It is a
section devoted to showing the student how to determine
their own meanings for the cards! (With the caveat that
nothing is written in stone. :) The first issue addressed
here is the use of the Universal Waite deck - whether
it needs to be the first deck for a new Tarot
student, and how it can be used in learning in conjunction
with a deck that the student is more drawn to. Card
meanings, how to look at the symbols in a given deck, card
interpretations that may seem to be contradictory for the same
card from different decks, card combinations, difficult
cards ... and the lovely but shadowy court cards are
addressed. There is more to this section - including suits
and strategic capability, reversed cards. creativity
and the suits, astrological and Qabalistic
attributions - t hey all have a place here. Want to know about
secret paths? Read this chapter!
Reading
Techniques:
Working with questions - how to form them, how to clarify
them, and what ten of the most practical questions are
is covered in this chapter. Clarity and intent - the
very basics for reading Tarot! Dealing with clients
that do not want to interact with you, following your
gut instinct with an interpretation, using numerology,
working with questions of timing - all well covered here.
There is a very nice question and answer on astrology
and Tarot that everyone should see. It is a wonderful
starting point for study.
Spreads:
This is a topic near
and dear to my heart! I love to find new spreads, and
I love to create spreads. Such a feeling of
accomplishment when it all works out! One card readings (a good
place to start learning!), different ways to do Yes/No
readings, reading without assigned positions (I had to do a
lot of readings before I was comfortable with this
when I first started out as a reader), the ubiquitous
relationship spread and more - it is all here for the student
to work with. There is a listing of websites where
Tarot spreads can be found, as well as a short listing
of relevant books.
Other Things You Can Do With
Tarot:
This heading certainly opens things up a bit! Here we
look at methods of meditation, using the Tarot for
creative writing, story circles - and my all time favorite
- birth cards (plural - they act as the gateway into
and out of each lifetime - well worth reading!).
Ethics:
The ethics of Tarot is a huge subject - one that the
Amberstones handle well. They cover how to deal with "bad
news" in a reading, how to deal with the Death card,
asking third party questions (people do this all the time
- but it is usually not that hard to show them where
the lines are drawn, and why), reading for children,
reading for the question of life spans, questions about
going pro as a reader (and determining your own Code of
Ethics) - all of this and more is found here.
There is
an appendix that lists books and sites that will help
the Tarot reader - beginning or otherwise, and a
nicely done index so that you can look up the area that
you want/need information on. Also, throughout the
book if one "Tarot Tip" leads to another tip elsewhere
in the book, the section and page for that tip is
listed with the first tip.
This is a book that I highly
recommend - it is a wonderful reference, and covers areas
that are applicable to all levels of Tarot
student/reader. I want to send my thanks to Ruth Ann and Wald for
taking the time to see this book through to its
"birth"!
© December 2003
Bonnie Cehovet is Certified Tarot Grand Master, a professional Tarot reader with over ten years experience, a Reiki Master/Teacher and a writer. Bonnie has served in various capacities with the American Tarot Association, is co-founder of the World Tarot Network, and Vice President (as well as Director of Certification) for the American Board For Tarot Certification. She has had articles appear in the 2004 and 2005 Llewellyn Tarot Reader.
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