Infobox
Holistic Tarot
Info
Status read Year Read 2026 Rating ★★★★ Shelves Nonfiction, Spirituality, Reference
Miscellania
Note
I first encountered this book in a cafe, and I read the first few chapters for free. I always vowed to have my own copy that I could annotate because the book’s approach to tarot partially aligns with mine.
Main ideas & marginalia
Chapter 1: Tarot Analytics / A Holistic Approach
The chapter establishes (in a slightly defensive tone) the non-predictive approach that the book will take, repeatedly emphasizing that this is not “fortune-telling”.
What it is:
- a bringing forth to the conscious what is already unconsciously known
- an interpretation of symbols and predispositions (not fates) to analyze a situation for insights
- an engagement of the imagination and intuition
- a tool for creative problem-solving
Chapter 2: A Concise History Lesson
The chapter summarizes the recorded and theorized history of the Tarot, beginning from a distinct and almost unrecognizable form in East Asia and becoming the more familiar form it was in Italy as tarocci.
Chapter 3: Allaying Fears And Offering Theories
The chapter goes on to dissuade negative misconceptions about tarot, like The Devil or Death cards, or the myth that tarot sets your fate in stone. It also lists down some useful theories that might explain how tarot “works”.
- Carl Jung’s synchronicity: events that occur together despite having no obvious causal relationship
- apophenia (Klaus Conrad) and patternicity (Michael Shermer): events themselves are objective, random and meaningless, but the human mind draws relations and meaning. That personal relevance is the insight, not unlike the famous Rorschach inkblot tests.
- the Forer (or Barnum) effect: when information is given and presented as tailored, the recipient will accept it as true.
- divine and occult theories: when the cards are spread, their interpretation becomes reality and is fixed when it was previously unset. (The divination-fulfilling prophecy.) Another occult theory is that the supernatural communicates through the cards.
- the theory of Qi (universal and personal life force energy): the seeker and practitioner’s qis are infused into the cards to tap into the cosmic qi. This is an interaction between individual consciousness, individual unconsciousness, and the collective unconsciousness.
- projective psychology: when we use signs and symbols, we attune to the expression of our subconscious.
Chapter 4: Choosing Your Deck
This chapter briefly describes how to pick a deck, though it recommends starting with the Rider-Waite. It then suggests some practices for connecting with your deck and attuning to it:
- place it in a sacred or personal place to mark its importance
- purify newly acquired decks
- at the start and end of the day, shuffle and order the cards
- store in a safe but special packaging, especially if it has some significance to you, like silk
Chapter 5: Anatomy of The RWS Tarot
The chapter introduces the various traits and correspondences for reading tarot cards, such as their yin/yang alignment and the classical element attributed to them. It also samples some ways that practices and practitioners disagree in their attribution, as is the case with The Magician.
- Major Arcana depict the Seeker’s inner realm, sometimes forces outside their control. They advise mental changes.
- Minor Arcana depict the outer realm, and advise physical changes.
Chapter 6: The Personal Journal
The chapter prescribes ways of keeping a journal to advance one’s tarot practice. Key sections include:
- personal glossary of card meanings
- reading logs and client notes
- card reflections
- practice development: personal philosophy, spreads, observations, personal code of ethics, deck reviews, critiques, synthesis with other practices
- reference library & referrals
Chapter 7: Beginner Rote Learning
This very short chapter suggests a practical learning path, and the chapters which will follow - card meanings, spreads, etc. It advises practicing on fictional “querents” like a teddy bear, and being a responsible level of ready before moving on to live seekers.
Chapter 8: Keywords
The chapter mostly provides tables of quick keywords associated with each card, upright and reversed. But it first provides an introduction to the use of keywords for practice. It pays respect to “traditional pedagogy” but strongly encourages the generation of one’s own work over time from consulting multiple sources and forming one’s own interpretations.
Chapter 10: Signifier Cards
This chapter introduces the concept of the signifier or signification card in a reading, and the various options for selecting one. In essence, the signifier represents the seeker and can assist with orienting the reading a certain way.
Chapter 11: The First Operation
The First Operation is a preliminary step done before a tarot reading. After a signifier is chosen, the Seeker shuffles the deck and cuts it into four piles, right to left. The pile that the signifier is found in will indicate the nature of the Seeker’s question. If the pile selected does not match the question, it may indicate the sub-issue that will affect the outcome of the matter.
Chapter 12: Interpreting Court Cards
This chapter goes into detail on the sixteen court cards and how to interpret them figuratively or literally, upright or reversed.