I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. A fairly basic introduction on how to use tarot cards for beginners.

"Tarot for Beginners" by Ann Crane is an invaluable guide that welcomes newcomers into the world of tarot with clarity and expertise. Crane's instructional approach shines as she demystifies the art of tarot reading, providing step-by-step guidance for beginners to explore and understand the cards. The book's clear explanations and practical exercises make it accessible for those who are new to tarot, while also offering insights that can benefit more experienced practitioners. Crane's passion for tarot and her dedication to helping others embrace this ancient practice is evident in every page. "Tarot for Beginners" is a must-have companion for anyone curious about tarot, offering a solid foundation for embarking on a journey of self-discovery and intuitive exploration.

First and foremost, a huge thank you to @netgalley and Quatro Publishing Group- Fair WInds Press,for giving me the chance to read Tarot for beginners by Ann Crane in exchange for an honest review.

As someone who recently got acquainted with tarot in general, this book was one of the best things that could possibly fall into my hands. It explained a lot about the Major and Minor Arcana and also had a lot of additional info about the placement of the cards and how to interpret them as well as how to spread the tarot cards and do a reading.
What I personally liked the most was that it had certain passages that seemed almost like inner mantras to help the reader connect with each card on a more spiritual level when performing a reading. It was a detail I found really interesting and I believe many readers will think that too.
It was a really helpful guide, simple in writing and easy enough to understand the basics, which makes it the perfect tool for every beginner out there.

I thought this would be a good book to get me back into using my own tarot deck again after a few years of having not picked it up. It started well, I really enjoyed the section on the history of tarot but I did feel it could have been a longer section because id have liked more information. But then it went on to picking your deck and it had rituals for making your decision which felt like a heck of a lot of unnecessary pomp and ceremony for me, it might be what other people like but it put me off the book.
I did skip that part and carried on reading and I again liked the parts explaining the deck and the symbols but all the rituals were off-putting and just not required in my opinion.

I liked the layout of the book and the images of the tarot deck were nice but the names and numbers of the deck had clearly been typed in at a later date and stood out a mile which looked awful and was again off-putting.

this is a beautiful and informative book on the topic.
it gives a nice and basic understanding on the topic and will help the reader learn the bases of tarot.

I consider myself more of an intermediate tarot scholar, but I loved this book and I intend to buy it soon. Yes, it's a beginners guide but all beginners should be lucky enough to have such a information-packed book. She really dives into what makes each of the 78 cards unique, giving thorough explanations of both the major and the minor arcana. (So many writers get hung up on the majors -- pet peeve of mine.) What I particularly liked was how she broke down the four suits (swords, wands, pentacles, cups )BEFORE diving into the minor arcana. This is very rarely done, but it's essential. I also liked her breakdown of the court cards.

Another aspect where the book really shines is the 20 or so pages in chapter 4 on interpreting the spreads. The aforementioned suits section and this section is why although it is a beginners book, I feel I need to add it to my collection, most likely as a physical book although the e-copy was quite good too. Just my personal preference.

Thank you to netgalley.com and the publisher for sending me a free copy of this book. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I flipped through this kindle book but I find books like this really need to be in paper. I like what I was seeing so I actually went out and purchase this book in paperback. If you are new to tarot this is a great way to get to know your deck. It explains the different cards, the different Arcana's etc. It goes over the different spreads you can use and when to use them. I found this extremely helpful to learn more about the cards and how to interpret different cards and spreads.

Super cute and easy to follow Intro to Tarot. I like that Ann gives a brief history of tarot before diving into each of the cards. Having a full spread for each card that included an example of how this MAY come up was insightful. I love that throughout the book Ann gives the background to build your relationship with tarot, instead of giving a cookie-cutter way that it must be used. I read this as an ebook ARC and I'm looking forward to getting a physical copy, the artwork is pretty (I wish the cover was prettier!).

Avete presente quando un libro è scritto per la classica donna bianca 40enne che è in piena crisi di mezza età e cerca di sfogarsi con la spiritualità NewAge? Ecco, io consiglierei a loro, e solo a loro questo libro: slur, estremo focus sul "femminile" e la sua importanza, approccio molto semplicistico alla storia e tradizione delle carte, esercizi irrispettosi verso la pratica spirituale (il che mi sorprende, perchè ha un approccio estremamente spirituale e quindi che senso ha dire di ignorare le carte che si ripetono?).

Evitatelo, grazie.

I love tarot cards almost as much as I love crystals and gemstones. At last count, I've collected somewhere between 20 and 25 tarot decks, and each has its own unique art, suggested layouts, and suggested interpretations for cards. However, to paraphrase a statement by Crane in Tarot for Beginners, the tarot is based on archetypes and symbology that speak to a universal language so regardless of the deck, anyone can learn to understand this language through practice. Tarot for Beginners is a great place for those just starting to learn the tarot as well as seasoned users.

Crane breaks the book down into four primary sections: The Basics, The Major Arcana, The Minor Arcana, and Interpreting Spreads. The first sections covers precisely what it states--the basics. Crane begins with a brief history of the tarot and then moves into how to choose the deck that is right for you, caring for your deck, the deck's structure, and finally, using the cards. Exercises, affirmations, and rituals are sprinkled throughout to help you in choosing, maintaining, and becoming familiar with the deck so you aren't always relying on the suggested interpretations provided by deck creators. These also build confidence in the user's abilities and are a great way for someone new to divination with the tarot to learn to trust their intuition.

The next two sections cover the Major and Minor Arcana with exercises, rituals, and suggested interpretations for each card. I really like that Crane takes the time to address the Major and Minor separately and then further breaks the information down to individual cards all the while encouraging the reader to follow their own intuition for interpretations. There are many books on the tarot and all provide slightly different approaches and suggested ways of finding meaning within the cards. The fact that Crane states multiple times that the user shouldn't simply rely on suggested interpretations from a deck's creator but should develop their own approach and intuition is refreshing.

The final section offers several different spreads that range from a simple three-card daily draw to a nine-card complex reading. Each spread has its own benefits, but when presenting each, Crane offers an explanation of the cards' positions and an example reading. I'm always searching for new spreads to try and found a couple I hadn't tried here so I can't wait to but them to use.

Overall, Tarot for Beginners is a perfect book for anyone looking to start working with tarot cards or a seasoned reader who may be looking for ways to deepen their connection to tarot. Crane's easy writing style and conversational tone make for a quick read. This is one book that's found a permanent place on my shelf.

Tarot has always intrigued me. This book is brilliant for those of us who have never owned a pack ourselves.
The book gives good insight into Tarot. How to start out with a new pack and more importantly how to look after them. Also guides you through the meaning and how to read the cards.
Perfect for any beginner.
Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to see an ARC.

I’ve tried many books to learn about Tarot – this book is by far the best I have read. It’s clear, concise, easy to follow. Great illustrations and the perfect guide to learn about Tarot Card reading and I’d highly recommend this book if you are a beginner and wanting to learn.

The book starts with the basics – recommend which cards to use, how to prepare and take care of them – straight through from simple to complex spreads.

Highly recommend – this book is great!

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. I saw it pop up on Net Galley and given how into Tarot I've been lately, I had to request it. :)

tl;dr 3.5/5 stars. It's an okay read. Not 100% beginner friendly but not too bad, extremely spiritual, and targeted towards cis-het women only. If you go in with that in mind, you might enjoy this. It had potential, it just wasn't for me.

Not tl;dr:

I will note that this book takes a VERY spiritual approach to Tarot. So if you are a secular user, like myself, just keep that in mind. This may not be the book for you. ('The Guided Tarot' would be my suggestion for secular readers. It has a bit of spiritual-ness to that book too, but not nearly as much.) I didn't expect how heavy handed the spiritual aspect was from the description of this book, but I attempted to keep my review as unbiased and respectful as possible there, since I know the majority of Tarot readers are spiritual.

While I was excited to get going into this book, the beginning had quite a few nit-picks for me:

Starting off, as I read through the introduction, immediately there was the g-slur. So not a great first impression.

I'm not a fan of the author calling the staple Tarot deck the "Rider-Waite", since it drops the name of the artist. (No idea why we apparently value the publishing company over the woman (!) who drew the famous imagery, but :/) I've been gradually seeing more people call it the Rider-Waite-Smith, and as an artist myself, I appreciate the trend.)

I also didn't like the push for buying additional products on top of your cards, which can already be fairly expensive. For beginners, that could be overwhelming or anxiety-inducing. While I'm a secular reader, I've encountered plenty of spiritual readers who say it's totally fine to work without crystals, candles, or other special materials. Don't feel pressured to buy a bunch of extra stuff unless you really want to and can afford it. There are plenty of spiritual practices you can do without all the shinies. (Many use moonlight, just as an example, which is free and often readily available!)

That said, if you already have extra products or don't mind purchasing them, the author includes many rituals and spells for you to utilize them.

This book is definitely the most 'fortune-telly' Tarot book I've read so far. I think other spiritual books I've read were less bothersome to me. I don't think it helped that this book in general is about predicting the future, even with things unrelated to Tarot, such as when teaching you about using your intuition (which can also be used in a secular way--for non-spiritual readers). It was just a bit too much for me.

Though this book is aimed at complete beginners, I couldn't help but feel a bit lost. The author hopped from topic to topic without much connecting them, and I felt expected certain things from readers without explaining what they seemed to want. I still can't get over how straight-forward and approachable "The Guided Tarot" was, so it's hard for me not to compare other Tarot books to that one. In this instance, I feel "The Guided Tarot" does a much better job at getting you into the cards and starting, "guiding" you, as the title suggests, while leaving plenty of wiggle room for how you decide to do your studies.

Just as an example, one of the first exercises this book has with interacting with your cards is your daily pull. But this author wants you to purposely draw different cards each day, and if you get a repeat, to ignore it and draw another card. In general, seeing how you interpret each card (prior to knowing the intended meanings) is helpful, but then...why ignore a repeated pull? The author does not explain this, and I've never heard spiritual (or often non-spiritual too) readers say to do this. (In fact, for spiritual readers, repeated pulls are usually very important signs!) If the idea is to see your reaction to each card individually, why not just pull one new card each day in order, or to not shuffle them back in to avoid repeats if you want a random order? I don't know, that was just confusing to me.

Another weird decision is on the same page of explaining your daily draw, where you're not supposed to understand the card meanings and just base things off intuition, the author has card reading examples on there? Which I feel like would bias your own interpretations? (And interpreting The High Priestess as "a female mentor will be of benefit to you" feels sexist to me. I know it's an example, but it's uncomfortable for me to read. There is no gender in Tarot. The High Priestess can also be embodied in a man or non-binary person.)

I do like that the author recommends to journal, I do agree that that is important and very helpful when studying the cards and also for introspection.

I also do like how the author mentions some interpretation ideas for reversals, but also says not to worry about them. I do think it's something beginners stress about too much, so I was glad that part was included. :)

Spelling mistake on page 34: "hronological"

The book starts to really shine once you hit the card meanings. Each major arcana has: the name, keywords, an image of the card, its meaning, and an example interpretation (which I really appreciated). Along with that, each of the majors also has an exercise you can do related to the card, some of which are spells or spiritual in nature, but not all. (The minors and courts have grouped exercises.) I thought it was a great idea to include them, though once again a reminder that you can be spiritual with your cards without purchasing additional items. (Though I wish, especially as a beginner book, there was more guidance. The 'Strength' exercise requires knowledge of chakras.)

And going back to the "High Priestess = female mentor", after reading the descriptions of the cards and the examples, this book was clearly written for only cis-het female readers. There has been zero mention of the cards lacking gender (which is a real surprise, I think this is the first resource [book, video, article, etc] that has ever excluded that), and there has been no definitions or examples with readings for men, non-binary, or non-straight readers. Huge disappointment there, I wish it was made more obvious who the target audience is. I know there are a lot of female Tarot readers, but there are also a ton of non-binary readers, and many more men have begun picking up the practice too. Feels very exclusionary to me.

The end of the book explains spreads with various ones you can try along with short example readings, which I liked.

In the end, I think the book has quite a few strong points, but it's hard for me to completely love it, given the issues I mentioned above. I don't think it's a bad book. I think it could've been more inclusive and have a little more fine-tuning to make it stronger. As is, it was just an okay read for me.

My thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

<img src="https://i.pinimg.com/originals/3a/0d/06/3a0d06d54ac2c9a22da700cf71246969.gif"/>

This guidebook for beginner tarot card readers is set up in a slightly new manner: there are rituals or "exercises" that the author provides after the standard introductory text or the explanations of the individual suits, etc.

<img src="https://media.giphy.com/media/26his0JJrH1eyF9Ju/giphy.gif"/>

The word "incantations" often came to mind as I read through these various rituals.

<img src="https://img.wattpad.com/b1afe9606a915f64e526d6e11c056f7dd505988d/68747470733a2f2f646174612e77686963646e2e636f6d2f696d616765732f3137343431313636322f6f726967696e616c2e676966?s=fit&h=360&w=360&q=80"/>

At some points I queried some of the author's interpretations of certain cards, but she correctly pointed out that variations in interpretation can be unique to each tarot reader and also to the type of deck you are using.

<img src="https://hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/images/astro-tarot-cards-1556897947.gif"/>

It is true that a reading for a financial query will differ from a love or health reading, so I decided to go along with her style of reading the cards. Ann Crane also gives several options and examples for card spreads for queries about love, healing, decision-making, etc. This was the most impressive part of this guide book for me. For this reason, I happily awarded 4 stars for this handy and well illustrated guidebook.

Some final thoughts: because I am curious about EVERYTHING - and not just the metaphysical world - I research as many schools of thought as possible. Did anyone get it right? I have a suspicion that many have come close, but that we fallible humans invariably mess a good thing up when greed and self-interest come into play. Can we predict the future through tarot cards? That is still up for debate, but as a means of psychological self-examination (i.e., an extended Rorschach test!), and as a tool to aid you in decision making, it is worth a try. Better than relying on a roll of the dice... or dithering forever!

<img src="https://media2.giphy.com/media/WpObP6Qx5QXq9TxHyh/giphy.gif"/>

<img src="https://c.tenor.com/LLyKr2zJCXoAAAAC/shall-i-stay.gif"/>

Seemed like a helpful book to read. I mostly used it for research for my witch character along with a few others. And this helped alot. Kept me pulled into it and broke down alot of things. Thanks for netgalley for giving me a chance to read this book..

I was granted a copy of this book by Netgalley, in exchange for my honest opinion.
This is a very well organizer beginners guide for any baby tarot reader, very complete and well organized.
Goes by phases for started including the history to the deck structure in including how to use and interpret.
I'm very passionate about tarot decks and I never feel that I know enouothis should the called “The beginners tarot bible”. Has a very simple and well-explained language very accessible, goes along with a variety of images and techniques for using it on the daily bases and how to take care of it. Super complete guide for any tarot lover not only beginners but any tarot lover can have for researching and even gifting

Ann Crane provides a brief history of the Tarot, stating that no one is really sure of the true origin of the tarot, but for the last three hundred years or so, occultists, writers, and historians have all had a good shot at proving its source, colored by their own personal view of the tarot. But most believe that the tarot originated several thousand years
BCE in ancient Egypt, when places such as Giza and Abydos were centers for mystical practice and the worship of gods.

The author discusses the various tarot decks, the deck’s structure, stating that a standard deck of tarot cards is made up of twenty-two main cards, known as the Major Arcana, and four suits of fourteen cards, called the Minor Arcana, making seventy-eight cards in total. She discusses way of choosing your deck, cleansing, caring for your tarotshe tarot.

The author includes an empowerment ritual to perform to enhance your understanding of the structure of the deck and
to empower you with the energy of Fire, Earth, Air, Water, and the fifth energy—that of the Universe. She states that when you first start using the cards, there are various practical steps to take into consideration and as you get to know the deck, you will also start to use your own rituals for shuffling and drawing cards. Additionally, she states that there are many ways to randomly choose the tarot cards, and of the most basic and well-known methods she suggests two of her favorites, which are listed in the book.

The author states that it is important to know the tarots, and discusses each card, providing key words, it's meaning, and an example interpretation. She discusses spreads and explains the “You Now” card, as being the first card chosen because it is your first immediate engagement with the
Universe and what it’s “trying to tell you”, this card will become the real focus card, and it is this placement that is therefore hugely important. Ann Crane discusses interpreting the cards, goals and objectives, and sample reading.

This is a very nicely written book for beginners and I feel it was enhance anyone's library

Really enjoyed this book, and loved how it looked at the history of the Tarot too.

There is a ton of information in here, and it is a great reference books for beginners too.
Easy to understand, and easy to dip in and out of.

Does what it says on the tin!

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for this arc. The book was informative, interesting, and well written.

Really helpful guide to those wanting to begin using tarot, wether casual interest or looking to be more serious this book definitely covers something for everyone wanting to understand tarot , expos clearly and very practical, great guide.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion