Holistic Tarot: An Integrative Approach to Using Tarot for Personal Growth Paperback – January 6, 2015

Very well done! An excellent and deep compendium that is very easy to use. Well organized in a very systematic way. You can read it from beginning to end, jump around if you wish, but I think it works better as an ongoing resource for when you need to clarify any topic. It seems to be a labour of love from the author. And by the way, the supporting site is also excellent and a very nice add-on to the book.

This book was exactly what I was looking for to break free from the customary interpretations of the cards. I don't use them for fun or leisure, and I don't read for others. I use them for myself. After decades of going around and around, I really started to get frustrated with the same old thinking. Wen's book changed all that for me. She doesn't TELL you what the card means, she offers several different interpretations, branching off from the symbols on the Rider Waite cards. If something does not resonate, she offers several possibilities. But the best thing is, because she doesn't TELL YOU what to think about a given card, you can start to really flesh out interpretations as you work with them, and your readings become more concise FOR YOU. Which is really what tarot is all about, really. The only complaint I have about this book is that I didn't see an option for hardcover, and it's a beefy book that I will have for the rest of my life. I use it daily, and a hardcover would have ensured a longer life. I would have happily paid the hardcover price! Thank you Wen. After decades of reading that the three of swords mean heartbreak and that the seven of swords means lying cheating stealing, I am FINALLY FREE!! So many fresh perspectives, and even perspectives within perspectives if the card offers several figures. I love this book. For me, this will be the book that allows me to eventually put all books down, because I will have honed my mind to think of the cards in an intuitive way. OH, sorry one thing about the content of the book that I don't appreciate is the placement interpretations of the Celtic cross. They seem super outdated and out of step with her very modern interpretations of the cards themselves, and would like to have seen an update in that as well. BUT, it forced me to return to a habit that I abandoned (getting caught in the Celtic cross look keeps you on a hamster wheel!) when I was young, and that was devising my own placement means/spreads, which is something all readers should do anyway. This way I am able to really utilize the book to its full potential. As it is now, this excellent new perspectives get really limited once you throw them in the old Celtic cross placement meanings, which feels really, really wrong and incongruous and super confusing. It actually made me angry to try to employ her new interpretations within that outmoded spread. So, I guess it was a good thing because I'm much happier with my personal placements. I would like to see a next incarnation of this book remove all spreads altogether. This would remove the box completely and allow total freedom in our interpretations. If you are new to reading, you may not feel like you can do that, or you may not know how to go about doing that. So omitting them is to encourage unfettered access to our agency.***UPDATE: one final thing that I must contest about this book. So far the only perspective that I think is absolutely wrong (like, TOTALLY wrong) is the Hierophant. There are several interpretations of the cards, yes, but the interpretation of her Hierophant is ALL negative. I see the Hierophant as a traditionalist, but not necessarily to one's peril. Yes, tradition can be the downfall of those who perpetuate or follow religious dogma, but for students and knowledge seekers, the Hierophant represents education, the seeking of education. The crossed keys symbolize a balance of thoughts: that what is being taught, and how we receive it, or rather, how we filter it and thus integrate it within our own consciousness. The Hierophant is giving the sign of blessing. So, the seeker will find blessings in the fulfillment of self-edification. There is an emphasis on the importance of education and following the traditional path of education, as depicted in his height over his disciples. This could also indicate that an attainment of wisdom and now the ability to share his wisdom with others. This is all taking into consideration that the seeker doesn't get caught up in dogma. Pure education, and the wisdom to assess and process education and transform it into wisdom grants us the position to share this wealth with others. The two pillars represent a sort of 'upright' philosophy or upright morality. The crown is one of attainment not only of 'traditional education', but spiritual education. So far this is the only perspective in her book I avoid. It seems way out of left-field and incongruous with the book as a whole, and I think it needs to be revisited, or at least expanded upon to give contrast to the almost negative interpretation offered.

I started getting into tarot about February of this past year. I have been using several websites, including the author's, to learn about the tarot and it was going fairly well. However, I am a fairly methodical person and like a very structured, more academic approach, to learning things. Once I saw Wen's companion course on her website, I ordered the book. It was exactly what I wanted. She is very methodical and structured in her approach to learning tarot. I love her appendix and endnotes. When she makes a statement, be assured that it was thoroughly researched. This is not a book you just read through. It is a book that you use a highlighter with, use page markers, take notes on, buy other books, and could probably launch an entire thesis off of for a PhD program, just saying... Please don't get the wrong idea though, all of that is optional and her book isn't stuffy in the least, it's just not a "sitting at your neighbor's table throwing down the cards" sort of style. While I enjoy all of the woo-woo stuff associated with tarot, I didn't want it to interfere with learning the tarot. Wen has removed all the mystical stuff and has provided a distilled version of tarot so that after you have a very solid understanding of the tarot, you are free to use it however you want and she encourages you to do so. Her analogy to learning the violin is exactly what she provides in Holistic Tarot. That being said, I don't think this book is perfect for everyone. I started with Biddy Tarot's website and it helped me feel like I couldn't mess things up. Once I got comfortable, it just wasn't enough and Wen's approach was exactly what I needed. If you are all about intuition, you didn't enjoy school, you hate journaling/recording things, etc., then I would probably recommend looking elsewhere. It's not that you wouldn't understand her work, it's just that you probably wouldn't enjoy the process and that kind of defeats the purpose of learning tarot, in my opinion.Things I particularly like: she touches briefly on the history of tarot and then recommends other authors to pursue to further develop your understanding of how tarot developed and why it is still relevant. I appreciated this because I have since paused in the companion course and am reading a few other books on the history of tarot that are definitely drawing on the art history and history classes I took in college, making this a thoroughly enjoyable research experience for me. I like that she includes planetary references, numerology, elements, and a whole bunch of other things to create a complete rabbit hole experience that will keep me occupied for months. I had forgotten how much I had enjoyed the research aspect of being at university and this has just made me completely happy. I have expanded on the journal template she provides in the companion course and downloaded Xotero to organize my notes and other books I'm using as references while I read hers. I like that the companion course really breaks the book down into buildable chunks so that it isn't overwhelming when you receive this massive tome at your front door because it certainly isn't fitting in your mailbox. She genuinely covers everything.For those of you who do want to incorporate tarot into Craft, I would recommend checking out her online courses. She does offer a course that deals with using tarot for Craft that is inexpensive and goes in a completely different direction than her book.Bottom line: if you genuinely are interested in getting a solid understanding of the tarot AND like structure, then do not hesitate to purchase this book.

If you can only get one book to learn tarot, this is it. I’ve been a student & reader of tarot since I was a kid back in the early 90’s and I’ve read hundreds of books on the subject, and I can honestly tell you that this is one of the best. Well written, clear, yet very detailed and comprehensive. If you’re a tarot enthusiast, you need this book!!