Here are 100 books that The Numinous Tarot Guide fans have personally recommended if you like
The Numinous Tarot Guide.
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I’ve been studying and reading tarot for more than 50 years—starting when I was a teenager. I feel called to do this work—I think of it as holy work, because every reading is an inner journey for my client, I merely serve as a guide for them to discover the insights and wisdom that already exists hidden within them. Over the years I’ve studied with some of today’s top tarot teachers, I’ve studied Kabbalah with respected rabbis. I’ve studied psychological principles with leading therapists. And I’ve studied storytelling with world-famous performers. Tarot brings all these disciplines together in a way that makes every reading an encounter with the Divine that lives within each of us.
This was the first book that ever taught people not only how to read for themselves, but also how to use the cards to attain personal insight. It will teach you how to develop a deep relationship with the cards, and it shows you how to use the cards for greater self-knowledge. Every book on this subject since has Mary K. Greer to thank. When I first came across it, it changed the way I read forever. And it gave me new tools to use the cards for my own.
The tarot classic that first promoted the practice of reading the cards not just for others but for one's own personal insight and self-transformation
“Tarot for Your Self was ground-breaking when this book was first published and is still radically significant today.” —Benebell Wen, author of Holistic Tarot
“Deciding to work with the Tarot is like embarking on a long, inward journey.”—Mary K. Greer
This tarot classic by Mary K. Greer was the first book to promote reading the cards for your own insight, revolutionizing tarot through a combined emphasis on self-teaching techniques and personal growth. Tarot for Your Self…
A moving story of love, betrayal, and the enduring power of hope in the face of darkness.
German pianist Hedda Schlagel's world collapsed when her fiancé, Fritz, vanished after being sent to an enemy alien camp in the United States during the Great War. Fifteen years later, in 1932, Hedda…
I’ve been studying and reading tarot for more than 50 years—starting when I was a teenager. I feel called to do this work—I think of it as holy work, because every reading is an inner journey for my client, I merely serve as a guide for them to discover the insights and wisdom that already exists hidden within them. Over the years I’ve studied with some of today’s top tarot teachers, I’ve studied Kabbalah with respected rabbis. I’ve studied psychological principles with leading therapists. And I’ve studied storytelling with world-famous performers. Tarot brings all these disciplines together in a way that makes every reading an encounter with the Divine that lives within each of us.
There is no personal growth or spiritual development without encountering and coming to terms with one’s shadow. It can be a frightening prospect, and it’s not a very comfortable process, but there is no getting around it. That’s why this book is important. When you confront your shadow, it helps to have a guide who has been there and done it. Steel has done the work and knows how to help you do it too. I am very grateful for this book—it helped me face inner conflicts and accept things about myself I always thought were unacceptable. It’s not an easy practice, but the results are profound.
Through Tarot work, journalling meditation, creative visualization, and dream work, you can free yourself from the shackles of the unbridled, unconscious power of your shadow self. This book is ideal for those who are in recovery from a serious addiction or illness, as well as any person seeking a deeper understanding of his or her true self.
I’ve been studying and reading tarot for more than 50 years—starting when I was a teenager. I feel called to do this work—I think of it as holy work, because every reading is an inner journey for my client, I merely serve as a guide for them to discover the insights and wisdom that already exists hidden within them. Over the years I’ve studied with some of today’s top tarot teachers, I’ve studied Kabbalah with respected rabbis. I’ve studied psychological principles with leading therapists. And I’ve studied storytelling with world-famous performers. Tarot brings all these disciplines together in a way that makes every reading an encounter with the Divine that lives within each of us.
One of my gripes about so much “new age” teaching is that it can be very Pollyanna-ish. Everything is light. Except that’s what the authors call “woo woo psychobabble”. And they’re right. This book is the cure for spiritual bypassing. It recognizes that we all have neuroses—old behavior patterns and beliefs that limit our growth and development. And it can be very difficult to look at these patterns, much less work through them. This book gives you powerful exercises that will build your personal insight into your shadow, to heal your relationship with it.
Each of us has a shadow that darkens our inner and outer lives. In Tarot for Troubled Times, Shaheen Miro and Theresa Reed show us how working with the shadow—facing it directly, leaning into it rather than away—releases power that can free ourselves from negative mental habits and destructive emotions to find healing ourselves and others. Tarot, as the authors show, offers a rich and subtle path for this profound transformation.
Through this book, you will discover a different approach to tarot, life, and self-empowerment.
This book is an elegiac meditation on the will to survive. Tor, a beluga whaler, and his wife, Astrid, a botanist specializing in Arctic flora, are stranded during the dark season of 1937-38 at his remote whaling station in the Svalbard archipelago when they misjudge ice conditions and fail to…
I started studying the tarot ten years ago with no thought that I would ever write about it. I took an introductory class in the back of a local metaphysical shop and went down a rabbit hole of books and teachings. I also enjoy readings myself - from quick fifteen minute reads at sidewalk fairs, to hour long readings in person with renowned readers, from an hour on Zoom with a famous reader, to a reading in a shop in Salem, Massachusetts during the chaos that is October in that town - I’ve benefited from them all. It has been a delight to include this interest in my latest novel.
Coming from a psychological view of the cards, Dore incorporates ideas from different psychological schools of thought such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy as well as Greek myth, Arthurian legend, folklore, fairy tales, and more.
Dore offers a unique, modern, and very personal approach to the cards and their meanings. A fascinating example for anyone building their own tarot practice and figuring out what tarot means to them on a personal and individual level.
Unlock the transformative power of tarot with this unique investigation into the psychology of its secrets, symbols and stories.
Symbols have been used in modern psychology for generations, from the interpretation of fairy tales to inkblot tests. Although tarot is often thought of as a spiritual tool for divination and fortune-telling, it too contains a set of symbols that can help us better understand our selves and align with our values. In this book, Jessica Dore reveals years of secrets and insights about how to work with tarot to activate your potential.
When I joined the Peace Corps in the early nineties, I wasn’t allowed to take much luggage. I decided to bring a Tarot deck, figuring I’d finally have time to learn it while parked in an Estonian forest. That Tarot deck opened up a world of Renaissance mysticism and magic, and I’ve been hooked ever since. Tarot cards and readings feature prominently in many of my cozy mystery novels, not the least of which are the Tea and Tarot mysteries. Now my imaginary Tarot reader from that series, Hyperion Night, has recently written his own Tarot guidebook,The Mysteries of Tarot.
When I was first learning to read Tarot, one of my big challenges was understanding how the cards worked together.
I eventually came up with my own method. But if I’d had this book when I was starting out, I would have figured things out much more quickly.
Diane Wing goes into all the basics of Tarot reading, including some of the more metaphysical elements. But this book’s strength is the extensive Tarot combinations section.
If understanding how the cards fit together is something you’re struggling with, this is your book.
Learn the Tarot to Bring Divine Guidance to Your Daily Life
Tarot empowers those who connect with its wisdom. As a tool of enlightenment, it guides, reveals hidden insights, and reflects the hopes, fears, and energies of the practitioner and seeker. Based in Universal Law, the cards form a book of metaphysics. Their interpretations change with your level of understanding to help you navigate your life path and generate alternatives. It is a boundless tool that allows you to tap into ancient wisdom that promotes deep transformation of the self and the way in which you experience interactions with the…
Until my early 50s, I detested all things spiritual. These books showed up practically on their own, without dogma or jargon, mainly to convince me that the divine existed. They’re easy to read and open to interpretation. They tricked me into a spiritual life by making it seem logical and simply a place to explore at my leisure. I try to write things that are clear and simple, and these books persuaded me that the ineffable isn’t so hard to write about. Also, I could return to these books years later, and they still speak to me. Each is capable of opening something new to me later in life.
Poetry is supposed to be difficult, right? The erudite poets like Milton, Shakespeare, Yeats, and Dickinson blend insight, psychology, philosophy, wisdom, meter, and magic sauce into a puzzle to suss out. Eliot is like that most of the time, but not in this book, where he is so direct, plain and simple, amazed and amazing, that I am not once tempted to apply critical theory.
If there is a possibility of divine inspiration, this has always felt like Exhibit 1 to me. Every time I think I might have to figure out what he’s saying, he says, “Don’t bother,” by taking me into a picture that is so concrete and full of the everyday that it paradoxically shines the divine out at me. This book can be opened anywhere, started anywhere, and it will bring me comfort and joy.
Four Quartets is the culminating achievement of T.S. Eliot's career as a poet. While containing some of the most musical and unforgettable passages in twentieth-century poetry, its four parts, 'Burnt Norton', 'East Coker', 'The Dry Salvages' and 'Little Gidding', present a rigorous meditation on the spiritual, philosophical and personal themes which preoccupied the author. It was the way in which a private voice was heard to speak for the concerns of an entire generation, in the midst of war and doubt, that confirmed it as an enduring masterpiece.
Tina Edwards loved her childhood and creating fairy houses, a passion shared with her father, a world-renowned architect. But at nine years old, she found him dead at his desk and is haunted by this memory. Tina's mother abruptly moved away, leaving Tina with feelings of abandonment and suspicion.
I’ve always believed a story should be world changing and epic on some level. Perhaps on a personal level, perhaps in the actual sense of world changing. Whether it’s for my readers of a short story, the players in a tabletop role playing game I’m running, or the arc of a novel. Some of these books help form that idea, and others supported it later in my life. I love it when a tale shakes my world—in addition to the world of the characters—and makes me question what I believe. With a doctorate in metaphysics and a love of fantasy and sci-fi, I’m always looking for ways to shake up my worldview!
Another series, and this is because the series covers a single story. The 1980s didn’t like huge books very much, so a story was often split into the much more economical (space-wise and financially) trilogy. This story shows a future that regressed into old, sustainable technology because we learned how to get to the stars and had to conserve our resources. It also follows one man who is sent to a planet to find out which religions god has appeared on that world. It’s an incredible blend of science, society, and character that has become a book I’ve recommended my entire life.
I found the tarot at the age of fourteen. Like many teenagers exploring the spirit world, I was curious about witchcraft, prophecies, numerology, astrology – it was a matter of time until I found the Tarot and fell in love with the cards. From studying Tarot, I branched out into Gnosticism, Kabbalah, and finally coming home to my culture’s Hellenic Tradition (Hellenism). I went on to college to receive a B.A. in Religion and later a M.A. in Ancient History. I give the Tarot large credit to all my later achievements in life. Those 78 cards opened my eyes to a whole world of mysteries to be unlocked.
This pick is for the history nerds like me. This book provides, in a single volume over ten selections from foundational tarot books from the last two hundred years. This book is definitely for the enthusiast who wants to go back to the study texts that are out of print or to go back to the beginning of occult Tarot. This book includes ‘old school’ fortunetelling techniques not seen in a long time. I love some old fashion fortunetelling techniques. This is also a recently published book, so you can show off a fresh hot big book on Instagram to make the followers go “ooooo.”
"A major contribution!" -Rachel Pollack, bestselling author of Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom
The definitive collection of rare, secret, and arcane tarot knowledge
The Tarot: A Collection of Secret Wisdom from Tarot's Mystical Origins is the ultimate guide to the mysteries and lost knowledge of the tarot. This single volume includes more than ten selections from foundational tarot books, all from the 19th and 20th century. Many of these critical texts have been forgotten, fallen out of print, or are impossible to acquire. The Tarot reintroduces these books to the modern-day reader, unlocking the invisible power of the tarot for a…
Making your own magic (and living “as if magic matters”) can be a part of “living the beautiful life.” Because engaging the visual and tactile qualities of tarot cards uniquely enhances the art of living, I am always looking for new things that I can do with my cards. At the same time, life is a struggle—and that is something that has been a long-term issue for me as an autistic person with serious sensory processing disorders. For this reason, I am also driven to bring a problem-solving approach to tarot and magic, and I genuinely hope this will help all the people who are dealing with their own struggles.
This is one of the most useful books in my collection, as evidenced by the lines that I’ve color-coded with highlighters and the comments I’ve scribbled in the margins.
The author belongs to a magical order that ascribes different occult associations (i.e. “mysteries”) to all 78 tarot cards, so even the sections for the minor cards can feature extensive magical discussions. For example, Willis explains how the Three of Disks (aka Pentacles) relate to the trade secrets of smithcraft and masonry and then gets into how this relates to using different-shaped altar stones in Earth Magic for crop growth, animal fertility, finding a mate, and monetary gain.
The broad array of both folk magic and ceremonial magic techniques makes this book a magical education in itself.
The Duke's Christmas Redemption
by
Arietta Richmond,
A Duke who has rejected love, a Lady who dreams of a love match, an arranged marriage, a house full of secrets, a most unneighborly neighbor, a plot to destroy reputations, an unexpected love that redeems it all.
Lady Charlotte Wyndham, given in an arranged marriage to a man she…
I often tell people that I did not choose to become involved in the Tarot; actually, it chose me. In the summer of 1982, I had a dream that was not like any other that I had before. In the middle of that dream, a dream phone rang, interrupting the storyline. When I answered the phone, I was connected to a dream law firm. I was told that I had an inheritance coming from an ancestor in England, and it is called “the Key,” The inheritance turned out to be the Tarot. Since then, I have designed over 20 Tarot and oracle decks and authored several books on the Tarot.
Ronald Decker coauthored with Michael Dummett and Thuerry Depaulis A Wicked Pack of Cards: The Origins of the Occult Tarot.
Although A Wicked Pack of Cards is an important factual history, I feel that Dummett dominated the other authors of this book with his preconception that the Tarot is only a card game that the occultists seized on as a vehicle for their fantasies. He showed little interest in its symbolism. In The Esoteric Tarot, Decker was on his own, and this allowed him to focus on the symbolism and meanings of the cards, rooted in Western mysticism.
That the Tarot originated in ancient Egypt as a divinatory tool is a romantic misconception. Ron Decker's meticulous scholarship will surprise practitioners and academics alike, revealing the Tarot's true evolution and meanings as its inventor(s) understood it.
The Tarot consists of the Minor Arcana, four suits of cards similar to our modern deck, and the Major Arcana, twenty-two allegorical or "trump" cards. Decker says the four-suit deck was invented in Asia Minor before AD 1000; Italian courtiers added the trumps in the 1400s. But Tarot was first used as a game. Tarot divination was only created in the 1700s by…
