The Tarot Directory does what it says on the tin. This is a fantastic all-in-one intro to the meanings of the cards, how to read them, and where they came from.

I loved that this book dove a little deeper than the card meanings and gave some interesting spells and meditation sessions to go along with the major arcana. The minor arcana is given its moment, too, and each card is well-discussed. The reading layouts start easy and gradually become more complex, bringing more insight into the matters at hand.

The Tarot Directory is a good balance of history, familiar card meanings, and esotericism. There's plenty of information about developing your intuition and using the tarot cards as a mirror (my preferred method of divination) as well as specialized intention-setting spells. It's short enough to use as a reference guide during a reading, but detailed enough to offer some new insight. Great!

This book expects nothing of the reader and starts at zero. But it's detailed enough that people who aren't new to tarot can find some value here. This directory belongs with every new tarot deck! I highly recommend it for newcomers to the world of tarot.

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for providing a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

The Tarot Directory by Sarah Bartlett is a introduction to all things tarot and card reading. The book features how to use the cards for reading, an explanation into each card, what they mean, the interpretations and how to be closer to the card.

The Tarot Directory by Sarah Bartlett

Excellent introduction to the tarot that includes history, meaning, terms, use, care, and more. I loved the illustrations and that each page was colorful and informative.

The book is divided into: Key to the basics, major Arcana, Minor Arcana and Spreads with interpretation of them. I liked that each card was presented with information relevant to it, ways to become more in tune with each card and then how to put them together in meaningful ways.

I have seen the idea of “getting to know the cards personally” and learning from and with them before but especially liked the way this and a few other ideas were offered and explained. This book had several spreads to use and ideas for spiritual growth while using the cards.

This is a book I would like to add to my library and can see going through the decks I have one card at a time and getting to know them again and better than I have known them before.

Thank you to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group – Chartwell Books for the ARC – This is my honest review.

5 Stars

An essential, go-to resource for any tarot enthusiast. Easy for quick referencing, but also detailed enough for new practitioners. Contains activities related to each card for connection and deepening of expertise

In The Tarot Directory, Sarah Bartlett breaks down tarot decks and how to interpret them. She starts by giving a basic history of the tarot and how it grew over time, then goes into breaking down the Major and Minor Arcanum. This is a basic reference guide to tarot and it is a great introduction to how to read and learn about your deck.

To begin with, this book is broken down into small sections within each chapter. The information is to the point and very clearly written and easy to understand. Within the first chapter, you learn about the history of tarot, basic deck structure, card positions, and other basic things like how to shuffle a deck. She also provides rituals, exercises, and spreads to get a basic understanding of your deck, especially how cleans a new deck.

Chapter two begins the discussion of the Major Arcanum. Each card is discussed with the key meanings, an in depth meaning, and example interpretations provided. A companion ritual, spell or activity is also provided to help connect with each card. Chapter three moves onto the Minor Arcanum, and again each card is provided key meanings and an in depth description of what it might mean. For the Minor Arcanum activities are provided for sets of cards (like swords 1-5) instead of individual activities. I found all of these descriptions and rituals as very helpful to get to know your cards.

Chapter four moves into spreads. She starts by providing a variety of three card spreads that are perfect for beginners and then moves onto more complicated spreads with 5+ cards. I found all of these very useful and loved how she broke down how to interpret larger spreads.

Overall, this was a wonderful reference book that is perfect for beginners and those well versed with tarot. Everything provided can be adapted to most tarot decks and the spreads are great for everyone. I highly recommend this book if you are looking for an introduction to reading tarot decks.

I’ve always been interested in Tarot, so this book has been great!

The way it’s set out is helpful and beautiful, and I’ve learnt a lot. Would definitely recommend!

I have a pack of tarot cards and I am not sure how to use them and I saw the tarot directory book and I really wanted to read it. The book explains how to use the cards and explains the basic and the history of the cards that I found really useful. I like how it shows you picture of each tarot card and than explains the meanings. I thought it was useful how explains how to spread the tarot cards out to.
I found this book very useful thank you NetGalley for letting me read this book.

Great read for those new to tarot or even for those who have been practicing tarot for years. This book is chock full of information and techniques. I appreciated being told the history of the tarot at the beginning. This is not always included fully in other tarot books. There were so many exercises and rituals throughout the book. I did most of them and although I didn’t feel they were all necessary, I liked that they were included. I do wish more point of views were included- there are many ways to practice tarot and the author wrote as if their way was the only way, I do appreciate reading other point of views though. I would recommend this book to a beginner alongside other tarot books so that they can form their own opinion and practice.

This is a wonderful entry book to understanding Tarot. For each card, you have keywords, the traditional meaning, and an example to observe how it can be further interpreted. Something that sets this book apart is for every card you have an exercise that builds your relationship with the cards that use items that you likely already have on hand.