Reddit mentions of The Tarot: History, Symbolism, and Divination

In the spirit of one newb helping another, I suggest starting with a Rider-Waite (aka Waite-Smith) deck, or one of the many, many decks based on it, for the simple reason that most English-language books, websites, etc. gear their interpretations to it.

The best book on Tarot that I've come across is The Tarot: History, Symbolism, and Divination by Robert M. Place. It details the history of tarot and its symbolism and includes divinatory information on each card. Place has produced a large number of well-received tarot decks (such as the Alchemical Tarot and Mystery of the Sevenfold Tarot) in the Rider-Waite tradition, so he knows what he is talking about. I have the Kindle edition, but I would suggest buying the paperback version to make it easier to flip right to entries on specific cards.

Also, Aeclectic Tarot has pictures and reviews of a large number of decks.

Yes this is an issue with the cards.


In the original system (which you still see in Marseilles decks) Justice came before Strength. A.E. Waite switched the order of the cards to better fit into his astrological correspondences, as Leo (Strength, to him) comes before Libra (Justice, to him). Aleister Crowley then reverted the order back, putting Justice before Strength, but he changed the name of Strength to "Lust."

Some decks use the original Marseilles order, and some use the RWS order. For more information on Tarot History, I recommend the book: "The Tarot: History, Symbolism, and Divination" by Robert M Place

Ok. Start with these books. And know that despite what you’ll learn, it is still 100% okay for you to enjoy Tarot without using them for divination. Lots of people do and that’s a wonderful thing.


The Tarot: History, Symbolism, and Divination

Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom: A Book of Tarot

Tarot - The Open Reading