Marcella’s Favorite Things: Books for Learning the Tarot

When I look for good books on Tarot to recommend, I like to hear the author’s voice loud and clear in the book. I don’t like a vague mystic woo-woo-ness…I honestly prefer the ones that tell the stories of past reading experiences. I like books that feel real. The ones that share their path to the Tarot and what they learned over the years. I like reading about readings. So this is what this list is about :)

My favorite book ever. This is my ultimate go-to. This is the book that I have read multiple times. This one lives in my nightstand and it’s sitting next to me as a “You go girl” inspiration. This is the book that I pick up randomly when I want to read about the history and symbolism that appears on the Tarot cards is Rachel Pollack’s Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom. Rachel Pollack is my favorite Tarotist, hands down. Her books give great history of the cards and what all of the symbolism on the cards are. Then, she slightly touches on the meanings of the cards because she believes that you are supposed to build your own interpretations while using the original meaning as a guideline. Her interpretations seem to dance around the card, weaving a story through all of the elements and history that then connects to an overall meaning that the reader can expand on in his/her/their own intuitive way overtime. It’s the best.

Rachel Pollack has another book, that I also love, called Tarot Wisdom: Spiritual Teachings and Deeper Meanings. It’s another fantastic book. It’s bigger than the other, more like textbook style that the pages are now mostly pinks, yellows, and oranges from my highlighters over the years. This one goes more into detail about the Court Cards, which I appreciate, and also goes into details about what the cards could mean when pulled during certain readings.

I’m a fan of Melissa Cynova’s Kitchen Table Tarot. What I like about this book is that she spends a lot of time talking about her spreads, her past readings, and what the cards say to her while she reads them. I like her voice; it’s clear she knows what she’s talking about. She writes as if it’s transcribed from a podcast or if I’m sitting there at her kitchen table. It’s very down to earth, yet informative. It’s excellent.

Another book I would recommend is Modern Tarot by Michelle Tea. I like this book because it feels very nomadic. Like, I slightly wish I lived the life she has lived (similar to how I felt when I read Jen Sincero’s books). I also like this book because with each meaning of each card, she includes a story that helps remind her of how that card performed in her own life. I think this would be helpful to then mirror in our own writing. In our own Tarot journal, we could keep a log of memories for when that card was most active in our life as well. I found that this book was more witchy than I am and I haven’t used any of the “spells” that she has for each card. Though that was interesting to read, regardless.

I recently read a book that someone gifted to me because it didn’t resonate with them. I won’t mention the title/author because it was truly terrible and it didn’t resonate with me, either. The author went through each card saying these are the rules and advised against deviating from tradition. Tarot is all about creating your own interpretation. Yes, just like a guitarist, you must know the rules before you can break the rules. But Tarot encourages you to build your own deck, write your own book of meanings, to learn and expand. That’s how your readings get better over the years with loads of practice because you are much more connected to your intuition.

Hope this list is helpful! In the comments, please leave any books you found helpful on your path!