Lindsay Squire (author) and Viki Lester (illustrator), The Witch of the Forest's Guide to Tarot Magick: Discover Yourself Through Tarot--Learn About the Magick Behind the Cards. Brighton, UK: Leaping Hare Press, 2023. ISBN: 9780711280649.
This book is part of a series of guides; at this point I have not read any of the other books in the series.
This is a beginner's book for folks who may be new to witchcraft, to Tarot, or to both. The author aims to help readers integrate Tarot into their magical practice. The book is arranged as follows:
- My Story and Things to Know. A short introduction where the author describes her experience, how the book came about, and presents some things to know before starting such as Tarot is not always about fortune telling.
- Starting Your Tarot Journey. This provides some advice on basics like choosing your deck, caring for your cards, and Tarot journals.
- Practical Tarot. This chapter gives you some practical ways to start learning the cards. This includes studying card colors, symbolism, numerology, and a bit of astrology. The idea is to help you get acquainted with those elements. You can decide how much or not to bring into your readings as you practice. Depending on your interest, you may want to supplement with specific books, for example, books on astrology.
- The Major Arcana. Here the Major Arcana is defined and it goes over the cards. Entries here are very informative including basics like Zodiac sign and keywords upright and reversed. For the Major Arcana cards we also get the Fool's Journey stages.
- The Minor Arcana. The entries are pretty much the same kind of information and length, but without the single page card art per card as featured in the Major Arcana.
- Tarot Spreads. In addition to spreads, this chapter includes how to get ready for a reading. We the get a small list of 3-card and 4-card spreads and the Celtic Cross Spread. This chapter is pretty sparse, but it provides just enough to give you a start.
- Tarot Spells and Rituals. A look at using your deck for more than divination. It offers advice for using Tarot for spells and rituals. The chapter features 9 spells. Each spell includes list of materials, tools, and cards to use plus instructions. For the most part, the ingredients are simple and easy to acquire, or you may already have some in your home. Things like some specific crystals may be harder to acquire for some folks, so some creativity may be needed depending on budget and willingness to search for substitutes.
- Conclusion.
- Recommended Reading List.
For me, the advice on Tarot journaling is good. I was glad to see the author encourage this. I've kept a cartomancy journal since I started my practice, and it serves me well. The author also includes a list of journal questions and exercises to try out.
The book can be a bit inconsistent in substance as some parts are more substantial than others. Still, it is an easy read, and it is not excessively esoteric.
The book's art is mainly keyed to a deck the author made, but it is Rider Waite Smith (RWS) based, so you can use the book with any RWS or RWS based deck.
Overall, I liked the book, especially the card entries. Entries are concise and informative. A good starting book for beginners, but it may be too basic for intermediate and advanced users. This is one I would give to a beginner along with a card deck. I would consider ordering it for our library.
4 out of 5 stars.
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