Happy Friday, everyone! As many of you know by now, we here at Coffee, Book, and Candle are fans of tarot— the imagery and symbolism, themes, and stories the cards help illustrate are nothing short of magic. Because of this magic, and all the ways it can be used, tarot is seeing an incredible surge in popularity these days.
From introspection and self-improvement, to creative inspiration, to helping us consider and prepare for the future, tarot is a tool that can help us. One that, thanks to things such as fear and Hollywood, has become very much misunderstood. This makes tarot an intimidating topic to tackle for some, especially with so many out there claiming their way is THE way, and so on.
Thankfully, we have readers, teachers, and leaders like Theresa Reed— AKA The Tarot Lady— who have been working with tarot for a long time (over 30 years in Reed's case) and want to help us all understand it better.
In her book Tarot: No Questions Asked—Mastering the Art of Intuitive Reading, Reed dives into the history, meanings, and correspondences of each of the cards, as well as personal stories and insights, journaling prompts, exercises to try, and business advice, all geared toward helping you become a better intuitive reader. Now, before I say too much too fast, let's get down to it!
Genre: Spiritual Nonfiction
Rating: 5/5 Stars
Pairing: Green tea + tea cakes
THE CARDS TELL A STORY, BUT YOU WRITE THE ENDING.
One of my favorite messages Reed drives home in this book, and out in the world, is personal responsibility— while the cards can indeed point things out to us, it is ultimately up to us to put in the work to reach our goals. No card is going to magically bring love or a big pay raise.
What they CAN do is give us little nudges and reminders to empower us to be more mindful, make better decisions, and be better people in general.
But how? How do we know what the card is telling us; which interpretation are we meant to go with? And what about when the card is reversed? How do they all connect to each other? Reed answers all these questions and more.
WHAT'S IN THE LITTLE BLUE BOOK?
First off, how stinking cute is the cover of this book? It's in one of my favorite colors and goes so perfectly with my Modern Witch Tarot journal and deck by Lisa Sterle! *fangirling*
Between the blue cover, the purple lettering and accents, and the general theme of learning/communicating, my little Gemini Moon is so happy! But enough cover-love; let's get to the meat of this bad boy.
After a quick word on what tarot is, the elements, the court cards, and reversals, Reed takes us deep into tarot by going over each and every card and describing what it could mean and how it could play out, other ways of seeing the card, what the reversal could indicate, ways to embody or experience the particular energy, a question to ponder, and "tarotcises" with journal prompts.
This gives readers a general understanding of the card and many angles with which to view it from, without getting overwhelming. Her personal accounts of specific cards give us stories to connect them back to, helping to deepen our understanding of how the cards can play out in real life, as well as how important our mindsets and actions are—of how much power we have in our own lives, for better or worse.
Once she's made her way through the Majors, she does it all over again with the Minor Arcana. But that's only half the book! After you read about the individual cards, it's time to learn some Intuition Basics.
As stated before, one of Reed's main goals with this book is to help us become more intuitive readers; no longer reliant on the "Little White Book"— or even this little blue book! She begins by describing many ways our intuition tries to get our attention, ways we shut down our intuitive skills, exercises for strengthening your intuitive muscles, types of meditations to try, and so on.
THEN it's time for Road-Testing Your Skills. In this section, Reed goes over everything you need to know about reading, from cleansing your deck and choosing your environment to choosing your questions and clients/readers mindfully. Whether you want to read for yourself or start up your own tarot practice, Reed has got you covered— one thing I can tell you for sure from keeping up with her, this woman knows business; just check out her Astro-Biz Digest!
And if that weren't enough, she wraps up with a list of recommended reading to help you further explore and grow!
'How the hell can she fit all of that into such a small book?!' you may find yourself asking. I was surprised by it myself, but that's what happens when you give a Gemini a passion project!
MY THOUGHTS
I love how interactive and thought-provoking this book is. While it IS an informative tome, it's also a sort of workbook. There are so many journaling prompts, thoughts to ponder, and tarotcises (some of which inspired experiments and questions of my own) that I feel I will never be done with this book— and one of the points Reed often loves to remind us is that we are meant to be constantly learning, especially in tarot. Even masters have room to improve!
By going over a few sample readings and explaining different ways to combine and look at the cards in a Celtic Cross spread, Reed gives an even deeper understanding of how cards can work together. It's also a great way of showing how we can take apart other spreads to better understand the messages, especially when we're drawing blanks (which happens sometimes, and it's totally okay!).
What's more is that while this book is greatly educational, it's never boring. As someone who loves learning, teaching, and fun, Reed has a way of delivering content in a conversational way that feels like you're just tuning into an episode of Tarot, Transits, and Tangents— her daily morning Instagram live where she goes over the daily transits, pulls cards for each sign of the zodiac, and occasionally goes on a tangent we need to hear or unboxes a cool new deck.
[Tangent: if you haven't tuned in yet, you totally should. Every day is a hoot, and you HAVE to experience the fun that is Benny the Goat]
My favorite parts (aside from the tarotcises and journaling prompts) are the sections on How to Ask Good Questions and Other Things to Be Mindful of When Asking Questions. In these sections, it becomes clear just how much ethics plays into her own practice as she brings up things we should all be mindful of, like meddling in the affairs of others and when you should make an exception for a rule— yes, it's actually good to do this from time to time! While the more specifically business-oriented sections are highly valuable, this section is important for all of us to mull over.
I also like that she goes over reader/seeker etiquette, advising readers on how to best be of service while also letting you know how important it is to set boundaries for clients and not allow them to abuse or take advantage of you. It's also important to make sure we, as seekers/querents, are not coming at all of this the wrong way, and are respectful to those whose services we seek out.
TL;DR
While I am by no means a tarot master, I feel confident in saying that Theresa Reed has written one of the most educational, helpful, and useful books for tarot beginners; one which even the more advanced readers could find value in, if only for the different ways of interpreting, exercises, business advice, and a little helping of common sense and respect for others. They don't call her The Tarot Lady for nothin, y'a'll!
There will never be a time when I do not recommend this book to others, so go ahead and get your copy now, either here or (even better!) from your local bookstore or metaphysical shop! You'll want to be sure you have a notebook handy at home, or purchase one to go along with this book, because you're going to need it!
