The Book of Tarot

by Susan Gerulski Estes

Book Overview

Illustrated with the Morgan-Greer Tarot deck, this book approaches the tarot cards as allegory for explaining the subtle forces operating in the universe. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0871001721
• ISBN13: 9780871001726
• Release Date: January 1981
• Publisher: Morgan & Morgan, Inc.
• Length: 95 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Not bad, but...

I bought this book to use with my newly purchased Morgan-Greer tarot deck (since I couldn't find a proper book-and-deck set except at what I considered excessive out-of-print prices). I get the impression it's considered the "official" interpretive book for the deck. I have very few *concrete* complaints. It's certainly not erudite, like Arthur Waite's "Pictorial Key to the Tarot", but I wasn't looking for a reference book. In general, it was informative and well-written, and usable by beginners as well as the initiated. I wish, however, that I had something other than Greer's -- or Morgan's? Who exactly *was* Morgan? -- mini-User's Guide that came with the deck to compare with Ms. Estes book. I sometimes had a vague uneasy feeling that it wasn't quite written in the *spirit* in which the deck was created. The same sources that were used to compile the Rider-Waite deck at the turn of the 19th century were given a "modern" interpretation to construct the Morgan-Green. One result was while the cards were similar in content to the corresponding Rider-Waite version, the interpretations (at least as far as I could tell from the mini-User's Guide) were much more down-to-earth. In some cases it seemed that Estes didn't get this, especially for the traditionally "cosmic" cards, like the Fool and the Earth. Her definitions could have been pulled right out of a Rider-Waite interpretation, while Greer defines them as "an individual" with the characteristics of a Fool, and "Attainment of wealth and property... Change in status" for the Earth. Again, I wish I had more detailed information from Greer's perspective... A very small point that irritated me is that Estes' (unreversed) definitions of both the Page and Knight of Swords were incredibly *dark*, even for the Swords suit, without much from Greer to go on. (Again, as far as I know.) It seemed like something personal was leaking through, which in non-fiction is one of my pet peeves. But, hey, obsessive speculations aside, a definite thumbs up.

A great guide to a much loved and classic deck......

If you feel a deep connection and love for the Morgan-Greer deck as I do (I wrote a review elsewhere on this site on it) then this book really is a must have. It's only 94 pages, but she really adds to your understanding of the cards. I wish the description had been longer for the minor arcana, but still there is a lot of fascinating insight to be gained by this book, such as the importance and meaning of colours within the deck on each card as well as the meanings of symbols. The book is steal in price, and if this deck is close to your soul, get it!

Great Review for the Morgan Greer Deck

The description for the Morgan Greer deck is excellent, especially when Ms. Estes describes the Major Arcana (about 10 paragraphs of description per card). She goes into great detail explaining the colors, symbolism and meaning that are specific for the Morgan Greer deck. However, when she describes the Minor Arcana, she devotes only 3 paragraphs per card. I would have liked her description to be as detailed for the Minor Arcana as it is for the Major Arcana. However, it is an easy read and very informative. Good book for beginners as well, as it gives a brief description of the history of Tarot, storage of the cards, etc.