Ru-Lee Story, Your Tarot Toolkit: Simple Activities for your Daily Practice. Woodbury, MN: Llewellyn, 2023. ISBN: 9780738774114.
The book is arranged as follows:
- Introduction.
- The Major Arcana.
- Suit of Wands.
- Suit of Cups.
- Suit of Swords.
- Suit of Pentacles.
- Conclusion.
- Works Cited.
- Further reading.
The main focus of the book is on the individual cards. The book does not offer spreads or any other additional material that may not focus directly on the cards. As the author suggests, you could read the book cover to cover, but it may work better as a reference book you can consult as needed. I wold say if you go through it card by card with your Tarot journal you may gain additional insights and learning from the cards and the activities offered. The book is designed to give "practical applications of each card, how to incorporate its message into the nitty gritty of each day" (2). You could treat the book as a sort of devotional where you work on a card a day (or whatever frequency works for you).
The Major Arcana entries include an introductory paragraph or two, short affirmations, reflections (which you could use for journaling), and at least two actions (things to do) with difficulty ranging from low to high. This also applies to the Minor Arcana cards. A small difference is the additions of pop culture character references in the court cards. The author hopes this detail "will help you connect the dots between the general descriptions of a court card and the fleshed-out illustrations of a known character" (7). Readers may or not agree with the author's character choices, but they can always add their own character choices in their reflections as they work through the book.
The book offers no frills. As I said, there are no spreads nor other extras. Card entries are not illustrated. The focus is on the text and how readers engage with the text. Journaling is strongly encouraged, but if drawing or other creative form works for you better then do that. The author's lessons do offer a degree of flexibility. The actions can vary from the low to high effort, but for the most part they are things most folks can realistically do. Readers are welcome to puck and choose how much or little to do from the actions.
I can see this being a very good book for beginners. It is easy to read, and it encourages writing and reflection. Beginners can get some very good journaling here. Outcomes can vary for mid to advanced readers as it may feel a bit too simple or too basic for advanced readers. I fall in the mid-range, and I feel I can get a lot from it if I make the time to work with the book.
Overall, this is a basic and concise Tarot book to work with the cards individually. I can recommend it mainly for beginners and for mid-range Tarot practitioners. It's easy to read and very accessible. It keeps jargon and esoterica to a minimum, so it's welcoming rather than intimidating. I'd recommend it for libraries that collect pagan and/or esoteric materials, especially if they have patrons interested in Tarot. In the end, I really like this one.
The book includes a further reading list that features a few Tarot books and some miscellaneous self-help books. I've read two of the four Tarot books listed (links go to my reviews of those books): Cynova's Kitchen Table Tarot and the companion book for the Steampunk Tarot (Moore and Fell). The book also has a list of works cited, many of them are the movies and books that provided the characters for the court cards.
4 out of 5 stars.
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Additional reading notes:
Where the power of using Tarot lies according to the author:
"Whether or not you believe that there's an element of divine intervention at work in which cards you pull, the power is in the interpretation, the intersection between your mind and heart and the story in the card" (2).
For journaling folks:
"If you are a journaling type, take a few minutes to write any thoughts that occur to you. Were there moments in your day that felt particularly suited to the card you drew? How could you have implemented more (or less) of your card's message today? Is there anyone you interacted with who seemed to carry a great deal of your card's energy or who could have used more of it?" (6)
Author's belief on Tarot's potential:
"But I do believe that tarot has the potential to bring anyone into a closer relationship with themself. It turns self-reflection into a practice of storytelling and interpretation, and that's a language that I find missing in a great deal of current mindfulness/meditation literature. I would love to see tarot more wholeheartedly embraced in mainstream culture the way that mindfulness has been embraced. I hope that beyond the affirmations, reflection questions, and activities I suggested, you're able to develop your own relationship with the characters and themes in your deck" (319).
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This book qualifies for the following 2023 Reading Challenge:
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