Josephine Ellershaw, Easy Tarot Combinations: How to Connect the Cards for Insightful Readings. Woodbury, MN: Llewellyn Worldwide, 2023. ISBN: 9780738772714.
If you read Tarot cards, and you want to improve your ability to read card combinations, this book can be helpful. Ellershaw is also the author of the Easy Tarot Handbook (link to my review). If you read the previous one, you will probably like this one too. The book is arranged as follows:
- Introduction.
- Chapter One: Overview. This includes defining Tarot combinations, advice on how to read them, and how to use the book.
- Chapter Two: The Minor Arcana: Applied Meanings and Combinations. Covers all four suits including the court cards.
- Chapter Three; The Major Arcana: Applied Meanings and Combinations.
- Chapter Four: Final Notes, including a reading checklist summary.
- Endnote, author's closing statement.
- Bibliography. Lists some works for further reading. Most books on the list are older classical texts. There are 11 books listed. From the list I've read Easy Tarot.
Each card entry includes: suit element, flow, polarity, multiple numbers, keywords and phrases, applied meaning, reversed or badly aspected, associations, similar and supporting cards, opposing and contradictory cards, and featured combinations. These terms are fully explained in Chapter One. All card entries feature the content plus a Rider Waite Smith (RWS) Tarot illustration in black and white. The card entries do provide a good amount of useful information. You get some good value here for a Tarot reference book.
You can use this book as a beginner to learn about the cards in general since the author does include the basics for each card. The core of the book is in each card's featured combinations, which provide jumping points to help us expand our reading abilities. If you need a bit of help with a card combination, this is a good book to have on hand. Naturally, it might not cover every single combination possible, but it does provide a good amount. You can also do cross referencing between card entries.
This is an easy book to read. It's accessible with a practical focus. Esoteric elements are kept to a minimum. Meanings and interpretations focus more on practical and common life matters. As a reference book, it works well. As a basic learning guide, this book can be a good supplement to other basic learning books. For those of us at the intermediate level, this can be a good option for the personal reference shelf. The book can provide additional ideas and suggestions when dealing with card combinations. The books feels a bit like a chart or handbook where you can just look up what you need and move on. It is not a deep book, but it is a solid basic reference book.
Advanced readers likely know much of this already, so I'd suggest the book for beginners and intermediate users. If you have her previous books, you may consider adding this one to your collection. I'd also recommend it for libraries that collect Tarot and esoterica books. I really liked this one overall.
4 out of 5 stars.
Additional reading notes:
Tarot combinations defined:
"In simple terms, tarot combinations are created once we have more than one card in a spread; the way they merge and blend together as we read from one to the next produces a combined meaning. In addition to the story the cards weave together when side by side, they can also add depth and a further dimension to your reading through their relationship or reinforcement of one another, and there are certain cards that, when appearing either as a sequence or collectively, provide some notable and special connections. Tarot reading is made up of a series of layers and connecting patterns, and card combinations fall within that framework" (5).
On the combinations presented:
"It can be tempting to provide some rather creative combinations, but I wanted to show a true reflection of the kind of situations that mainly turn up in real situations. I can only speak from personal experience, but I've found that regardless of country, culture, background, or financial status, the concerns most people wish to know about and address are remarkably similar, namely: buying or selling property, improvement of finances or related hiccups, starting a business or launch, starting or leaving a job, workplace issues, all manner of legal situations, and every shade of relationship matters for love, family or interpersonal. For this reason, these are the main areas you will find within the combinations" (16).
As you can see, the author keeps it real in the combinations presented. We also see people's queries are fairly universal. I'd add health queries to the commonly asked questions. While I am here I will note I avoid health questions in my readings (I am not your doctor), and as much as possible I also avoid legal and financial (I am not a lawyer nor a financial advisor). Naturally, this can vary for other cartomancers.
The beauty of Tarot:
"The beauty of tarot is that is not only shows what may be coming down the track but also a client's mental or emotional side; the influence of their hopes, fears, and attitude within a given situation; and where they have the power to create a shift" (283).
This book qualifies for the following 2023 Reading Challenge:
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