Mariana Louis, Tarot and the Psychology of the Soul: Exploring the Archetypal Mirrors of the Psyche. Newburyport, MA: Weiser Books, 2026. 9781578638787.
The book is organized in four parts with 13 chapters. Topics covered include archetypal methods and techniques, the Minor Arcana, the Major Arcana, and three Tarot spreads at the end of the book.
The book as a whole is interesting, and the author does a pretty good job of explaining concepts. However, the text can still be a bit dense, so this may or not be a good book for beginners. I might not give this book to a beginner as their first Tarot book. However, if they've already read two or three beginner books, this book can be the next step up for beginners. For intermediate and advanced practitioners this book can be a good option.
If your knowledge of depth psychology is limited, the author uses the first two chapters to explain the basics and give readers and overview. Author then starts with the Minor Arcana card by card, showing how the concepts of depth psychology apply and archetypes present.
For each pip card we get a short essay on each card. We get upright and reversed meanings that draw strongly on archetypes and depth psychology. This may add a bit more insight or ideas to consider in your readings. Still, if you read within Rider Waite Smith (RWS) tradition, there is enough material you will recognize.
Major Arcana entries are similar; author divides them into four groups of archetypes: masculine and feminine, developing ego, encountering the shadow-- archetypes of descent, and approaching wholeness-- archetypes of transcendence. In this sequence, author places the Fool-0 at the end after the World-XXI. Some may or not agree with the placement, but I believe it deserves some consideration.
The author provides a card reading ritual later in the book. I thought it was very nice, but it is fairly complex. It may be a bit much for those of us who do a short daily ritual to reflect and get in touch with the Divine, or the Cosmic Joker in my case. Save this one for when you have some serious time to practice your cartomancy, and most likely for a private personal reading.
The same applies to the three card spreads offered in the book. They are fairly complex, so good for in-depth work and reflection. They may be useful too for some shadow work.
The book includes a bibliography. This can be helpful for further reading and research. Many of the works listed are by Jung or about Jung or related to Jung. For me, I may need to read a bit more by and about Jung works if for no other reason than to expand my learning and knowledge. Having said that, there are some works in the bibliography I have read that I may want to revisit. I may gain additional appreciation for this book if I revisit some of those books.
Overall this is a solid and substantial book on Tarot. I read through it to review it, but it is one to revisit and reread. It lends itself well to studying individual Tarot cards and for inner work.
I do recommend it for libraries that collect esoteric materials. It is a book that I would buy a print copy for my personal collection.
5 out of 5 stars.
Additional reading notes:
According the author, the only question we bring to the cards:
"In my years of tarot teaching and counseling, I have come to learn that the only question we bring to the cards is the one I asked on that summertime evening: how am I meant to live? While the lure to glimpse what the future holds is undeniable, we don't really want to know what's going to happen as much as we want to know what promise we hold and how to meet it" (3).
This reminds me a bit of doing reference interviews when a patron asks a question but that may not be the question they really want, and it falls to a librarian like me to help them express the real question and then find the answer. By the way, this is not first time cartomancy has reminded me of this process. I may need to think about it and write a bit more about it down the road.
An author observation and warning:
"There is a tendency in our contemporary world to self-pathologize and self-therapize, which can be misguided and even psychologically dangerous" (9).
That is a statement that is bound to piss off a few people on social media, including the anti-psychology crowd, but it is fair to say not every is nor needs to be a diagnosis. However,
"If we are thoughtful and conscientious about our approach, however, we can use these depth psychology principles to support and guide our own intuitive and therapeutic self-inquiry" (9).
The author defines divining:
"The act of divining is not so much seeing what has not yet come to pass as it is peering into the unknown with god-blessed vision, uncovering what is hidden or obscure from mortal sight" (10).
The author argues that rather than divination Tarot is or should be a tool of individuation. A bit on what it is:
"In the work of individuation we are become who we most authentically are; we are becoming whole. It is the effort of embracing our extraordinary multiplicity and complexity, accepting and appreciating it all profoundly, and integrating it into a unified, centered experience of selfhood" (11).
Aim of the book:
The aim of this book is to act as a guide into greater self-knowledge via the cards, not as a manual for how the cards can fix your life nor as a quick dose of someone else's interpretive wisdom to stand in for your own. Its true purpose is to guide you both toward a deeper relationship with the tarot and toward a deeper relationship with yourself" (14).
On journaling. I always take it as a good sign when an author encourages journaling:
"You may also want to start a tarot journal in which you record your reflections. You might begin your entries by referencing a guidebook or jotting down some meanings, but the purpose of a tarot journal is to process and record your personal, intuitive reactions. Engaging the card at this level will automatically encourage greater intimacy with it" (37).
Some books from the bibliography I'd like to read:
- Hamaker-Zondag, Karen, Tarot as a way of life: a Jungian approach to the Tarot. Weiser, 1997.
- Meditations on the Tarot: a Journey into Christian Hermeticism. Robert E. Powell, translator. Tarcher/Putnam, 1985. Note: apparently, there is an updated edition, so linked to that one.
- Nichols, Sallie, Jung and Tarot: an archetypal journey. Weiser, 1980.
Book qualifies for the following 2026 Reading Challenge:
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