Easy Guide to the Tarot

Understanding the Tarot Cards and Their Meanings

By: Dayanara Blue Star

Narrated by: Adam B Crafter

The tarot is a pack of 78 playing cards used by mystics and occultists for foretelling the future as well as for giving you a peek into your spiritual and mental pathway. Tarot cards have existed since the mid-15th century in various parts of the European continent. However, at that point it was basically used to play card games such as French tarot or the Italian tarocchini.

The word itself is derived from the Italian word tarocchi, a word which has no known origin. Some believe that the word is related to the Taro River in northern Italy. Others believe that the word originated from an Arabic word, turuq, which means "ways".

The cards seem to have come from Mamluk, Egypt, in the 14th century. At that point in time, the suits were Staves, Cups, Coins, and Swords - quite similar to the suits that exist these days.

In Europe the first tarot card deck was created in Milan, Ferrara, and Bologna in Northern Italy. This was between the years 1430 and 1450. The original purpose of the tarot was to play games. In the 18th century, the tarot began to be used for divination purposes. Manuscripts from the era reveal that there was a specific way of laying out the cards, and there was a divinatory meaning associated with each card.

The tarot has four suits, but this can vary depending on the region. Jean-Baptiste Alliette, popularly known as Etteilla, was the first to create a tarot deck especially for the purposes of divination. This 78-card deck has two distinct parts.

Take advantage of this great opportunity to understand the tarot quickly and easily!

©2015 Dayanara Blue Star (P)2015 Dayanara Blue Star

Good Study Guide

This is pretty good to help strengthen your knowledge of the traditional meanings of the cards. I find it helpful to have a deck in my hand and look at the cards as each one is described.

Missing A Ten

While I enjoyed the book for the most part a few things were missing. Most notably was the description of the ten of swords.

Good brief

Somehow missing 10 of swords interpretation which should be easily fixed. Overall, great refresher but would like a little more depth

Fascinating and helpful

Would you consider the audio edition of Easy Guide to the Tarot to be better than the print version?

It's best to have both because there's a lot of information to absorb, and the print/kindle version can be a good reference guide while the audiobook can be used for a general overview and as a refresher.

What other book might you compare Easy Guide to the Tarot to and why?

I haven't seen other audiobooks on Tarot cards. This one is quite unique.

Any additional comments?

The information is very interesting, and Adam Crafter's narration is perfect for an instructional book. Of course, don't expect to remember everything from the first listening. Having the print/kindle book to go along with the audiobook is a good idea.

Concise and precise meanings.

This book gives good concise meanings to each card that are easy to remember. Alot of books try to say too much and I get overwhelmed or lose meaning in all the explanation, that's not the case here. They give enough information to make sense but not so much you want to quit. I felt like I could see the connection between cards of the same suits much more easily than most books on tarot. Great book for beginners.

Informative and Interesting

I'm not new to tarot or witchcraft but I like to further my education by learning varied interpretations and points of view. The explanations were factual and simple enough for a beginner but also detailed enough to hold the interest of an experienced reader point out a few new insights.

Well Done !!!! Bravo

What made the experience of listening to Easy Guide to the Tarot the most enjoyable?

BRAVOI have been waiting for a book like this, LOVE IT

What other book might you compare Easy Guide to the Tarot to and why?

One of a kind so far in Audio.

Have you listened to any of Adam B Crafter’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

no

What insight do you think you’ll apply from Easy Guide to the Tarot?

Listen to it if Tarot interest you.

Any additional comments?

Bravo, Bravo, Brovo

Good for beginners. Skimpy info on many cards.

What did you like best about Easy Guide to the Tarot? What did you like least?

A good quick overview of what the cards and suits mean. Some cards go into more details than others. The swords in particular were rushed and not very informative. Still, a good listen for someone who's just starting out.

Barebones basic tarot 101

I was recalling hoping for a bit more than the reference books of my decks or a quick Google of each card could give me. If you want someone to basically read a guide book then this is fine. But I really was hoping for more about underlying themes (like how the suits and the court cards interact creating the meaning behind specific cards).

I was hoping for lore information like the significance of the pentagram being encased in a circle to crate the pentagram being a representation of something physically manifested on earth.

All I got was basic: this card means this.

For me, that's rote memorization and will happen over time and this book offers nothing unique or helpful.

Informative and detailed; narrator is little bland

Would you consider the audio edition of Easy Guide to the Tarot to be better than the print version?

Did not read the print version. I have a very busy lifestyle and audible books enables me to still enjoy books without interfering with the tasks I need to get done.

What did you like best about this story?

I really enjoyed hearing and learning about the different cards of the tarot.

Did Adam B Crafter do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

There were no characters to deferentiate. Adam was very clear, but there was no feeling in his reading. He spoke in a monotone thru the entire subject matter that made it hard for the listener to get excited about it. I got the feeling he didn't enjoy the subject he was talking about and his over pronunciation of th's made me really glad he wasn't face to face with me or he'd be spitting all over me. Also the 'E' in the word strength is pronounced with the long 'A' sound not the short 'E' sound. That was a little annoying but I enjoyed the subject matter in spite of all this. I would attribute that to the author's writing.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Tarot Cards and Their Meanings

Any additional comments?

While I can appreciate the learning the meanings of each individual card, it would also be helpful to learn a little bit about laying them out for divination and the meaning of each placement. For example; learning about the Diamond Layout, the 2 Choices Layout, or the Celtic Cross would be helpful too. It would go a long way to understanding the cards meanings better in relation to their placement in these layouts.