Book Review: Easy Tarot Handbook

 AUTHOR: Josephine Ellershaw

FORMAT: Print. As far as I know, it is only available in print format.

AVAILABILITY: I purchased the entire Easy Tarot kit from Amazon. It came boxed with the Gilded Tarot deck by Ciro Marchetti and a paper fold-out Celtic Cross Spread template.

WHAT THE BOOK OFFERS: Using the Gilded Tarot as the deck for this book, and employing over 30 years' experience, author Josephine Ellershaw introduces the beginner, and not-so-beginner, to her method of tarot reading. She goes through each suit of the Minor Arcana, followed by their Court Cards, and finishes off the Tarot definitions with those of the Major Arcana. Also in the book are a very small variety of spreads, and instructions on how to learn to read the tarot intuitively. Ms. Ellershaw brings the reader from the basics of the tarot deck and provides her method on how to handle and read the cards.

WHAT I DISLIKED ABOUT THE BOOK: I grew weary of the frequency with which the subjects of romance and marriage came up not only in the Minor Arcana, but also in the Major Arcana. It almost seemed as if this was the author's private obsession, for it was included in the explanations of cards whose definitions I've never seen it a part of. Granted, my experience is limited, but no other tarot source I'm familiar with has suggested that romance/marriage be such a priority in the tarot, not even Power Tarot, and that book has subsections for each card, including one for romance.

I also felt like Ms. Ellershaw was handing this instruction down from on high.  When I shared the passages I had difficulty accepting as mere advice to another reader who has far more experience than I have, they agreed that the author of the Easy Tarot Handbook was transmitting her personal method of reading the cards as something akin to the One True Way. 

Beyond that, some of the cards, particularly a number of those in the Major Arcana had very brief explanations that would have left me clueless as to how to employ the card in a reading. While I currently find keywords helpful, I gravitated to the books I first bought because of their more comprehensive definitions of the cards. Sometimes the Easy Tarot Handbook left much to be desired in that realm.

And one final thing: Ms. Ellershaw advocates using tarot as a predictor of future events. As far as I can recall, every other source on tarot I've come across has focused on using tarot as a tool to understanding oneself and one's place in the world at a particular time. The author of the Easy Tarot Handbook even offers suggestions of questions the reader may ask the cards as they do their personal readings, and every single question prompted the type of query that asks for peeks into the unknowable future.

WHAT I LIKED ABOUT THE BOOK: Ms. Ellershaw provides some troubleshooting advice in the back of the book which may be helpful in readings; I haven't tested it yet, mostly because I haven't done any readings where I struggled with the cards. She also provides advice on how different cards relate to one another that I may find helpful. 

I also liked her lesson suggestion which tells the beginner to take each card and write lists of what memories, thoughts, and associations the image thereon brings to mind instead of relying upon the explanation of the card from the book.

The author advises the new reader to keep a tarot journal with records of their exercises and their personal readings. She also suggests that the new reader practice doing personal readings until they understand the cards and how the cards work for them. I think both of these are sound advice.

WOULD I RECOMMEND THIS BOOK?: I would not recommend this book to a raw beginner, though that was Ms. Ellershaw's purpose in writing the book. Her fixation on romance/marriage would, I feel, mislead an impressionable new reader. Also, the brevity of some cards' definitions left me unimpressed. And I feel that the inflexibility of the "advice" provided on the care and handling of the deck would force a new reader into a mold and pattern of behavior that may not work well for them. 

However, I would suggest this book for a more experienced student of tarot who has tested other books. I feel gaining a wider familiarity with tarot would benefit any newer readers who come to this book. That should enable them to determine how useful the instruction and explanations of the cards may be to them.

CLOSING REMARKS: While this book has merits, I largely feel that the fresh, new beginner to tarot would be better served by other books. As it is, I'd say this would be a middling-useful book to anyone who has the personal flexibility to understand what may best work for them and a willingness to study wider than the Easy Tarot Handbook.