I have always been drawn to things like palmistry, psychic readings, and tarot cards but I have limited experience with having any of these done. There is something so appealing to me about " having your cards read" but I have never gone anywhere to pursue this. My daughter and I love all things like this and have looked at buying a deck of tarot cards and teaching ourselves. I have yet to cave but she did about 3 weeks before I was sent this book. Talk about your timing right?

This book is good for new and experienced tarot users alike. However, it focuses more on how to incorporate the cards in the deck into theater games. I was in drama club all through Jr. High and HS so I thought this was a perfect sort of twist. The book is broken up into 3 major sections. Section one deals with using the cards in a form of journal exercises. I really enjoyed the questionnaires listed to help the reader imagine what type of character each card would translate to in human form. It made the deck seem less intimidating. Section 2 is filled with various tarot theater games. I will be honest by this point my interest was starting to wane. I just felt like there was too much going on and it got a little dry for me. Section 3 is all about the card meanings. This is the section I liked most. The illustrations were very beautiful and the descriptions helped make the cards more understandable especially in the case of what it might represent in a reading.

Overall I only gave this 3 stars because I felt that it was pretty uninspiring until the last part of the book when the cards themselves were covered in more detail. However, I absolutely believe that the exercises in this book would greatly benefit a drama club on any level. It was entertaining trying to pick a card and write a detailed description of it including everything from what kind of voice it had to what it might ask for if granted 3 wishes.

This is a book that can be a useful tool to learn about Tarot. The author, a theater teacher who has also studied Tarot, brings those two passions together in a book that makes studying Tarot accessible and fun. In a nutshell, Scott Martin applies acting and theater techniques to studying and learning Tarot. The result is a book full of exercises, prompts, and ideas that you can use individually or in small groups. Whether you use Tarot for divination, meditation, or for creativity, you can get a lot out of this book. The book features 56 exercises; Martin states the book works for both beginners and advanced Tarot readers. For beginners like me, it provides new ideas for exploring the cards. For advanced users, the book may also provide new ideas for additional perspectives. If you are looking for something to add a little variety or even playfulness to your Tarot practice, this may be the book for you.


The book is arranged as follows:

Section One: Journaling Exercises. This is pretty what you do on your own. If you keep a Tarot journal as part of your practice, you'll find some good prompts here. Stumped for ideas on what to journal about? Try one of these prompts.
Section Two: Tarot Theater Games. These are mostly things to do with other people, though there may be a few you could adapt to individual writing or reflection. For the group exercises, he also explains the exercise, provides examples, and offers reflection prompts to do after the exercise. It is a good, practical set up.
Section Three: Tarot Card Meanings. This is Martin's section on meanings for readers to use as reference as needed.


I found this to be a good and useful book. Martin has an easy to read prose and a friendly tone. This is a book to pick up and browse, pick out what you like, and go from there. I really liked it, and I think it makes a good addition for any Tarot bookshelf. For libraries that collect Tarot and divination materials, this is a good addition to supplement other Tarot and divination classics. I also think the book can be useful in creative writing.

One of the things I have been trying to learn – on and off – for years, is the how to read tarot cards. I have a couple of sets which I take out regularly, along with a range of books on what the cards mean. I find them fascinating and am always rather chuffed when I can read a spread without having to refer to these books too much (if at all).

Still, though I have a lot to learn and would class myself as a beginner. So, having seen Tarot Court Cards for Beginners on Netgalley and seeing that Leeza Robertson’s books get good reviews on Goodreads, I thought this would be a good one to add to my collection.

As the title suggests, this book focuses on the Court cards – King, Queen, Knight and Page or princess, depending on the deck you are using. Princess cards aren’t something I have come across before and I thought they sounded interesting so I will be looking out for them in my next deck. The idea behind the book is that understanding the court cards can really add to your readings as they are so influential in the deck.

As the title also says, this book is for beginners and so starts with a brief history of the tarot before moving onto specific language used when reading tarot cards. It then talks about the different suits (there are four) and what they mean before moving onto the cards themselves. Throughout there are pictures to help you understand what you are seeing and reading. Starting with the lowliest of the cards, the Page and moving up to the King, Robertson breaks down the cards into four sections: as a person; as an archetypal influence; as a spiritual influence; and as a messenger (she also explains what each of these is so you don’t need to worry there). Each section is easy to follow and, I found, understand. I had lightbulb moments, which was nice, and found her interpretation of the cards to be really positive (some I have found to be rather doom and gloom).

After going through the cards, there are a series of exercises and readings you can complete to test your knowledge. They start small, with a three card spread, and plenty of explanations as to what the cards you have laid out mean. Because this was an advance copy, I struggled a bit here as the layout of the book was off but imagine there would be no problems in the final copies.

Finally, once you’ve been through the exercises, there are resources for people interested in finding out more which I thought was really helpful.

For me, this book was great and just what I was looking for. It added to my limited knowledge, was easy to follow and to read, and helped my learning through the exercises. Leeza Robertson has a nice style of writing – very personable and approachable – and doesn’t rely on jargon or try and blind you with science. For those starting out on their tarot journey I think this is a great read and I would recommend it.

Bringing the Tarot to Life is a unique tarot manual that invites the reader to use her own imagination in assimilating and interpreting the cards. I've never read anything quite like it.

Recommended for beginners or advanced practitioners of tarot cards. Every reader will most likely find an exercise or two to their liking because of the huge variety Martin offers.

This book takes us on a journey through the tarot. It helps deepen our understanding of the cards and their meanings.

This book gives a great insight into Tarot and the meanings behind the cards very interesting,I've read several before but this one I found fascinating. Would recommend.

Bringing the Tarot to Life
by Scott Martin
The tittle of the books says everything. This is about how to bring tarot to life in order for you to learn rather than memorise tarot from an intuitive point of view.
The author approaches his methodology of learning tarot base upon his experiences as an actor and drama art teacher providing an invaluable amount of exercises to work through in order to break a mechanical learning and develop an intuitive way of understanding tarot.
While the exercises could be done by your own I have hint they work better to be done in a group, therefore I think this could be an interesting reading for Tarot teacher looking to broaden her resources in teaching
On the other hand even thought the book is related to tarot this also could be a good book for those teaching or learning Drama arts, languages etc.
Despite of the book being made to awake or unfold your intuition regarding the different tarot cards the last provide a short appendix with card meaning so provides an opportunity to check whether your intuition is leading you
Overall I did enjoyed the book and I would definitively give it a go having in mind that this is a practical book and will take you time and perseverance to go through it in order to get the most of it
Happy Reading!