The Mythic Tarot - Softcover

Greene, Liz; Sharman-Burke, Juliet

4.08

482 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0743219198 ISBN 13: 9780743219198

Publisher: Touchstone, 2001

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Gives both beginning and experienced readers a kit containing everything needed for Tarot-interpreting including a lavishly illustrated deck, a guide that pairs each suit with a mythical figure, and a reading cloth. Original.

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About the Author:

Juliet Sharman-Burke is a noted Tarot authority and analytic psychotherapist. She is the author of seven books, including The Mythic Tarot Workbook, Understanding the Tarot, Mastering the Tarot and Beginner's Guide to Tarot.

Introduction

This Workbook is intended to help Tarot students to deepen and widen their knowledge of the cards. I have had the good fortune to teach many Beginners' Workshops in Tarot which often ended with the cry: 'Now that we know what the cards mean how do we work with them?' In answer to that cry I set up Advanced Workshops. This Workbook is intended to act as a substitute for work shops. It is a sequel to The Mythic Tarot, which provided background history for all forms of Tarot cards, and outlined the basic meanings in a mythological, psychological and divinatory sense.

Although the Workbook is designed with The Mythic Tarot cards in mind, it can be used equally well with any other Tarot deck with which readers may be more familiar. The mythic pictorial imagery differs from many traditional Tarot decks but the divinatory meanings of the cards remain the same. The exercises are therefore appropriate for use with any Tarot deck. The Workbook aims to help students to structure and increase their knowledge in using the Tarot more effectively in practice. So it concentrates on the two aspects essential to all effective Tarot readings: that readers come to know themselves better via the Tarot, and that they in turn use their knowledge to help interpreting it for other people.

The Workbook comprises four parts. The first deals with the Major Arcana and concentrates on developing a richer and deeper relationship with the mysterious twenty-two Major Trumps. Guided fantasy and therapeutic colouring exercises are demonstrated in order to enable you to establish a closer relationship with the images. Particular attention is paid to the cards' uses and their value in the search for self-awareness. The second section focuses on the Court Cards and their correlation with Astrology, in particular with zodiacal sun signs through the Knight, Queen and King. The third section offers a closer understanding of the everyday meanings of the Minor Arcana, and space is provided for exercises to help fix their message clearly in the reader's understanding. The fourth section looks at various aspects of Tarot reading, layouts and use of the Tarot therapeutically; whether professionally, for friends, or for personal self-improvement.

It is important to remember that your proficiency in Tarot readings will be directly linked with the amount of effort put into study. For this reason I have devised various exercises to help you to develop a greater understanding of interpretation. Methodical performance of these exercises will produce a deeper appreciation of the breadth and depth of this fascinating subject. The exercises are structured and set out in a form that encourages you to fill in the blanks and note pages. Keeping a conscientious record of your work over weeks, months and years will develop a continuity in study, as well as charting your progress. In attempting the colouring exercises it is a good idea to record the date and your mood at the time, so that in weeks or months ahead you can look back over your notes and see how your views have changed and developed. Similarly, keeping a record of the readings you perform on the blanks provided, will act as a reminder of the outcome of your own interpretations and those made for friends or clients. I recommend that you open a file to contain photocopies of the blank spreads to facilitate this.

The style and manner of your approach to reading Tarot will naturally be unique to you. Within the generally accepted principles and symbolism of Tarot, a spread of cards is capable of interpretation in many ways, depending upon one's personal experience. I can offer an insight into my own approach to interpretation, but it will not necessarily be the same as your own. Tarot reading is a deeply personal act which can only develop with time and effort and practice.

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