Tarot cards can help you unlock spiritual guidance and predictions. Learning to read tarot spreads is a fun activity, and you can use your knowledge to offer readings to others or use your tarot cards for personal development.
There are plenty of books on the topic of tarot cards. The best books on tarot cover the history and meaning of the Major and Minor Arcana and share practical advice for interpreting cards and spreads.
Here are ten of the best books on tarot.
The Ultimate Guide to Tarot: A Beginner’s Guide to the Cards, Spreads, and Revealing the Mystery of the Tarot, by Liz Dean
We recommend this guide because it’s a comprehensive introduction to tarot. If you’re a beginner, you’ll find a lot of great information about the history of the cards and explore the connections between tarot, astrology, and numerology.
The book has a huge reference section where you can look up cards and spreads. You’ll also learn everything you need to know to go through a tarot reading. Find it on Amazon.
Tarot for Beginners: A Holistic Guide to Using the Tarot for Personal Growth and Self Development, by Meg Hayertz
The idea behind this guide is to use tarot for your personal growth. You’ll find some exercises designed to help you establish connections between tarot cards and events from your life.
This guide includes a comprehensive overview of the Major Arcana and other important concepts. You’ll find insightful card profiles you can use as a reference and some helpful illustrations for interpreting spreads. Find it on Amazon.
How to Read Tarot: A Modern Guide, by Jessica Wiggan
This book takes a practical approach and provides you with everything you need to know to prepare for your first reading. You’ll find reference charts you can use during readings and some information about what the cards mean and how context can change their meaning.
This guide will get you started with simple draw techniques, and you will discover more complex spreads as you gain experience. We recommend this guide because it goes beyond the cards and explains how you can prepare for your first reading. Find it on Amazon.
Intuitive Tarot: 31 Days to Learn to Read Tarot Cards and Develop Your Intuition, by Brigit Esselmont
We love this book because of the 31-day approach. You can learn about tarot by completing a few daily activities for a month.
Spending a few minutes on reading and completing activities each day is a fun way of getting started with tarot, and the format makes the information easy to remember.
You can use these daily activities to get in touch with your intuition, and the book also includes a simple step-by-step guide you can use during readings, 25 different spreads, and some questions to help you get more out of your readings. Find it on Amazon.
Holistic Tarot: An Integrative Approach to Using Tarot for Personal Growth, by Benebell Wen
This book is a guide to using tarot for making decisions, navigating relationships, boosting creativity, and more. You will learn about the history of the cards and explore theories about tarot. The author shares some techniques you can use to memorize the attributes of the Arcana.
We recommend this book because beginners will learn a lot with the reference section and illustrations, and experienced practitioners will appreciate the more complex spreads and theoretical discussion. Find it on Amazon.
The Modern Witchcraft Book of Tarot: Your Complete Guide to Understanding the Tarot, by Skye Alexander
This modern guide to tarot adopts a Wiccan approach and focuses on the connection between tarot and magic. You will discover 12 spreads, and learn about important concepts you should know about to get started with tarot or witchcraft.
We like the fact that the book has some practical advice for incorporating tarot cards into spells. Find it on Amazon.
Tarot Talismans: Invoke the Angels of the Tarot, by Sandra Tabatha Cicero
This book explores the connection between tarot and magic. You’ll learn about the symbolism of the cards and will get some practical tips for using the cards as talismans for protection.
There is a lot of interesting material about the astrological aspect of tarot, and the book also discusses energies. We recommend this book because it covers a lot of topics, including spreads, rites, and how to use the cards for protection or healing. Find it on Amazon.
Neo Tarot: A Fresh Approach to Self-Care, Healing & Empowerment, by Jerico Mandybur
If you like the idea of using the Arcana to bring positive things into your life, this book is an ideal option for you. You can use it to explore your spirituality and learn how to use tarot for self-care.
The book is a comprehensive guide to the intuitive aspect of tarot, and we like the modern approach to interpreting the cards. The book comes with a deck so you can start practicing right away! Find it on Amazon.
Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom: A Tarot Journey to Self-Awareness, by Rachel Pollack
Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom is one of the best books on tarot. It’s a timeless classic that deserves to be on your shelf if you have an interest in the Arcana.
The book discusses the symbolism behind the cards and uses concepts from esoterism, mythology, and psychology. You can use it to learn about the history of tarot, discover classic tarot spreads, or look up references.
This book dates from 1980, and other books feel more modern, but we recommend it because it covers all the basics. Find it on Amazon.
Tarot for Your Self: A Workbook for the Inward Journey, by Mary K. Greer
This book will teach you how to read cards to make decisions and support your personal development. There is a wide range of exercises you won’t find in other guidebooks, including guided meditation sessions, tarot spreads, mandalas, visualization exercises, and affirmations.
You will find information about the cards, as well as a workbook that will walk you through different exercises. You can use this workbook to figure out what your Persona cards are or learn how to get in the right mindset for a reading. Find it on Amazon.
Conclusion
These ten books will help you get started with tarot readings. If you have some experience with the Arcana, you can use these books as a reference and focus on learning about the history or spirituality of tarot.If you’re hesitating about which book to read first, we recommend The Ultimate Guide to Tarot: A Beginner’s Guide to the Cards, Spreads, and Revealing the Mystery of the Tarot, by Liz Dean. This guide is a comprehensive resource about tarot cards and spreads, and it explores the connections between tarot and other concepts like spirituality and numerology.