Tarot by Numbers

Whilst I’d love to give informative feedback for this book I can’t seem to access it properly (same for all books from this publisher). It sounds great so I’ll give it five stars anyway!

If you are like me, you are someone who has tried to learn tarot by looking up each card every time one is turned over in a spread. Reading tarot through looking at each individual card makes the process cumbersome and removes the interconnectedness and intuition that more seasoned tarot practitioners are readily able to achieve.

ENTER THIS BOOK!

Tarot by numbers is the first book I've found that explained reading the cards using a holistic approach. Unlike so many others, this is not merely a reference book with a page for the meaning of each card (though it has that towards the end). Instead, Dean incorporates numerology and encourages readers to understand the larger associations of the cards and how to develop comfort with them in different sample spreads.

The content is presented in a colorful and manageable style, making this a great tool for beginner to intermediate tarot enthusiasts.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for providing me with a digital ARC is exchange for this honest review.

I can safely say this is one of the best tarot books I have ever read. It is jam-packed full of information but presented in a different way compared to other tarot books, which tend to just go through each card one by one telling you what it means.

This book, in contrast, applies numerology to the cards, instantly making them much more intuitive and easier to understand. After a brief history of tarot and a look at the background of tarot numbering and how to prepare a deck for use, the author introduces us to the major arcana. As mentioned earlier, she doesn’t go card by card as if they are separate entities, but rather recognises that these cards are connected so discusses their relationship to each other via the story of the Fool’s Journey. It was very eye-opening for me and made me feel much more comfortable with the meanings of these cards.

Next the book introduces us to the minor arcana but it is not suit by suit but rather by number, so she teaches us about all of the aces across the suits, showing their relationship to each other, and so on. For each number we are provided with a suggested spread so we can get to know how to use the cards effectively.

Applying numerology to the tarot provides a new dimension of understanding to the cards and helps provide a new perspective to the user. The rest of the books focuses more on numerology, for example creating a horoscope spread, working with the new moon, birth cards and searching for hidden numbers in the cards. The book is packed full of ideas for spreads and readings, as well as looking at more advanced practice and linking the major and minor cards by number. The Kabbala is also touched upon, making this an incredibly comprehensive tarot book.

There is a lot of information here and I think it is possibly the only book you need if you are a beginner wishing to learn tarot. More experienced readers will also surely find something new here. The books ends with a directory of card meanings covering both upright and reversed meanings. Everything you might need or want to know about tarot is here, and I recommend buying a physical copy so you can flick through it to find what you need. I shall certainly be preordering my own copy.

With thanks to Netgalley and Quarto Publishing for providing an advance review copy. All opinions are my own.

Thank you to Netgalley and to the publisher for giving me this eARC to review.

I love these sorts of books as they give a lot of information and can be great as references.

A reader worries about these things when it comes to such books:
👉Will I be able to understand what the book is trying to say/teach?
👉Will the writing be too complicated and boring with long sentences and page full paragraphs?
👉Will the book will be plain and plain cover to cover?

I had all these worries before I opened the book.

Well, here's my first impression:
✔️The presentation is cool! Pointwise, concise, short sentences, short paragraphs

✔️ Colourful pages in between

✔️ Colourful illustrations

All these added fun and made me feel that it would be easy and possible for me to grasp the information the book is going to give. And so it did too!

The cards are shown and well explained.

For the beginners like me who aren't that familiar with Tarot cards and Tarot card reading. This one is the best so far!

Thank you, Quarto Publishing Group- Fair Winds, for the advance review copy.