The list of books or decks that I need to review keeps getting longer, as does the list of books finished or decks purchased. I love a review; reviews are some of my favorite content (mostly for makeup, but that is a story for another day).
So, in an effort to shorten my list, and provide you with my thoughts on whether these are tools or resources you should invest your hard-earned money in (especially now!), I am going to be providing you a lot more reviews.
I have attached a Google Spreadsheet at the end that shows you all the items I have reviewed for a quick reference and to keep my brain in order.
This review, like all of mine, is going to be honest. I will examine its strengths, limitations, including chapters I liked, look at how it presents the information on the tarot, and end with my thoughts on whether this is a book that you should include in your tarot practice, and on your bookshelf.
Starting off with some general information:
- Title: The Modern Witchcraft Book of Tarot: Your Complete Guide to Understanding the Tarot
- Author: Skye Alexander
- Hardcover Book, 288 pages
- Published by Simon and Schuster on May 9th, 2017
- Has a rating of 4.17 with over 1,200 ratings and 101 reviews
- I was given this book in a book bundle for Christmas with similar books, so I did not purchase this book myself. Looking online you can find used copies for as low as $6
The Breakdown of the Book
The pictures above show the breakdown of the book. Alexander starts the book with some general information about the origins of the tarot, numerology, and symbolism. This is a good introduction because it establishes a baseline of information that the reader will refer back to when they get into the individual cards.
The bulk of the book is devoted to the breakdown of the individual tarot cards and how to read them. We will return to this point in the book, because I have thoughts. We end the last section of the book with further information on how to do tarot readings, spreads, and spells. As we will get into, this is also some good, basic information that takes your tarot learning into new places.
Overall, the breakdown of the book makes sense and includes a lot of information. I like that this book includes resources to further your readings if you are a beginner, but also gives you things to do (like the spells), that help you learn the tarot in a different way, but also show you how to work with the tarot in ways that aren’t just spreads or daily pulls.
Tarot Information: Is it Good for Learning
Because a tarot book is first and foremost about learning the tarot cards, it is important to see if the book is going to give you some good information. Obviously, this is my own personal opinion, and I invite you to take what I say that resonates, and leave what doesn’t, but I thought a good way to see the quality of tarot information was to simply look at a card and break it down. Because we already did the Devil, I thought this would be a good comparison.
We get keywords at the beginning of each tarot interpretation, and I like that because keywords create immediate connections between cards and how to read them. There is an opening paragraph that describes the card, the imagery, or the historical references to help build the understanding. That’s good. It’s also good that we get the text breaks that bring in additional information. I like it all so far.
Then we get into the upright interpretations, and it starts well enough. The issue we get into is when the author writes, “….and ways you manipulate others to satisfy your needs.” Excuse me, but what the actual fuck!? This is a major issue for me for two reasons:
Reason #1: I dislike when tarot readers or authors write or describe tarot cards in a way that predicts emotions, actions, behaviors, reactions, patterns, etc. I dislike this because it pigeonholes the readings. When reading the cards this way, it’s trying to make the cards absolutely fit into this type of behavior, even if it doesn’t apply.
Reason #2: Writing about cards or people, this way can hinder a beginner’s ability to see how to read the cards in a way that adapts to different situations, clients, or periods of time. Let’s just use an example: let’s say that a new reader is doing practice readings in exchange for feedback. They pull the Devil card over and have read this book. Hopefully, they don’t believe that it speaks to a manipulative person every time, but if they believe it speaks to bad behavior, they aren’t approaching the reading with curiosity. If the person they are reading for is a person navigating peri-menopause, this reader believes that the Devil speaks to manipulation. How would they use the information in this sentence as helpful?
Simply put, this isn’t helpful or accurate. It’s also just wild to me to assume that a person is manipulative just because this card came forward. Please….
We find a lot of this predictive narrative in this page alone, but the other tarot cards are similar. The text continues into how to read for work, money, and love (main focuses for lots of people when getting a reading), and that is fine… just stop predicting that the Devil says that you manipulate or are willing to sell your soul to the devil for a profit.
I can’t…
The reversal section is similar, but good to include because a lot of books and guidebooks don’t talk about how to read reversals.
What I Liked in this Book
Let’s talk about some things I liked in this book. The chapter on symbolism is great because it breaks down repeated and often-seen symbols in the tarot and includes what these symbols speak to, or how to interpret them. Charts, like the one above and left, have a clean breakdown of these symbols that people can use as a quick reference. I think that is going to be helpful.
The chapter on spreads is good, too. There are easy spreads (only a few cards), and then longer, or more well-known spreads. This is a good foundation chapter for beginner readers to start reading cards, playing with spreads, and learning how they are unique as a reader.
The chapter on how to do tarot readings has good information on how to get in the right headspace (very important), the shelf-life of readings, using significators, and recording the readings, which helps a beginner establish rituals and practices that will be supportive as they continue to learn.
There are a lot of spells to do, and, again, I like that this takes the tarot and the reader into different territory. The spells have a heavy Wiccan feel, so I have personally had to modify these spells a great deal to do them in a way that feels authentic to me.
Another thing I really liked in this book was the quotes. The quotes this author chose resonated and provided me with a new consideration on the cards. I thought they also elevated the feel of the book, almost giving the book’s vibe more weight.
What I Didn't Like in this Book
Other than the narratives around the tarot interpretations, another thing I didn’t like was the tarot images. I know this is petty, and does not lend to the overall efficacy of the book, but the images are small, black/white/gray, and grainy. I would personally prefer to either not have them shown and save the space for the text, or the quote, or commit and make the images bigger. Again, this is more aesthetic, but I feel like it only detracts from the image and doesn’t provide anything useful.
Final Thoughts
So, here are my final thoughts: as a book that gives supportive information to help beginner readers learn how to cultivate a tarot practice outside of just understanding the tarot cards, this book would be a 4 out 5.
I thought much of the information was really good, and I could easily see this book being one that someone returns to as they learn the cards.
However, while some of the tarot information isn’t terrible, it’s not great, and that is what the bulk of this book is about. If it were just tarot information, I would give this book a 2 out of 5. The predictive narratives, like someone must be manipulative because the Devil came forward, drive me up the wall, and pigeonhole the understanding and interpretation of the cards.
Overall, I give this book a 3 out of 5. Because you can find it at a reasonable price, I think this book could be a good addition, just please be aware, or cautious around narratives that predict feelings, actions, or behaviors. These will render your readings ineffective unless you do predictive readings. If you do, then I think you would like this book.
Click here to get my Google Spreadsheet with all my reviews in a short version!
Want to Learn How to Read the Tarot
Ashlie McDiarmid
Hello there! I hope you liked this blog post. As a tarot and oracle reader, my goal with my blogs is to offer you content, resources, and access to the tools that have transformed my life.
I believe that your own intuition is the deepest form of knowing, but here in my little corner of the internet, I share insights based in intuition and instinct. I share my love for nature, witchcraft, and the wild spirit.
- If your spirit is at home in wild places
- If you feel the need to claim your autonomy as ritual
- If you want to more deeply trust your own intuition
- If you want resources or connections to tarot, oracle, witchcraft, and wild sovereignty, then welcome!
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