The Secret Language of Tarot

I haven't made it all the way through, however, I like the fact that they go over symbolism 3 subjects at a time. Details are given & then they give you a "journey" (meditation) to do & then a spread to work with what you just learned. My hope was that more obscure symbols like the alchemical ones would be explored but you can find that in other books or online these days for that matter. I feel like you can't learn too much. With tarot it's great to have many sources & your intuition to go on. (Example of different perspective is: The hanged man is talked about in terms of Jesus when I'd only learned about Odin.) From what I've read so far it's not only Christianity that gets mentioned though. Just throwing that out there as an example that differed from my original learning.

This book is a great reference to explaining symbolism in the RWS deck that you’ve always wondered about. It’s also formatted in a easily digestible way.I learned so much from it and it can change the way you read cards from a traditional and personal perspective.

I'm a bit surprised that this book has received so many mediocre reviews - I personally love it. I've gained a lot of knowledge about the imagery on tarot cards and symbolism in general. I find it very refreshing to own a tarot book that offers something beyond just written card meanings. This book has also expanded my ability to interpret the cards intuitively by going off the common symbolism of the cards in a spread.I do agree with some of the reviews that the writing style of this book could have used a good edit - however I think that's because it was originally a course on symbols. So it doesn't always read like a "book" - it feels more like lecture notes. Nonetheless it is filled with interesting and insightful information.I also own another book on symbols (The Ultimate Guide to the Rider Waite Tarot by Fiebig) that I don't find nearly as useful as "The Secret Language of Tarot".

As a student of Tarot for over a decade, its unusual for me to pick up a book and find a COMPLETELY fresh approach to the cards. I was/am delighted with the Amberstone's approach and their Tarot School is like the Big Bang -- Tarot is exploding for me like never before and it's beauty and expansiveness is opening wide. After buying every book I could find, studying Kabalah, Astrology, Alchemy, Jungian Psychology and joining an Esoteric School -- I've found the Amberstones bring the living tradition of Tarot and all the above-mentioned related topics together in a completely unique, articulate, and fascinating way I've never found before. After reading through the book at a single sitting, I ordered the Minor Arcana audio series from the Tarot School website and can not speak highly enough about it.The book is the tip of the Amberstone iceberg but indicative of what's beneath -- an extraordinary and magical depth, breadth, and clarity of the subject matter combined with clear dedication, love, reverence, and appreciation for the Art of Tarot.

This is a noce addition to your growing, probably already "over flowing" library of tarot knowledge. There is a foreword by Mary Greer, and an afterword by Lon Milo DuQuette. I am not going to explain who these people are because either you do or you don't and I'm not in the business of writing biographies.That being said, the book is nice in that it describes what it means to be driven to certain symbols within a card. I've read the book and I have walked away with a few pointers. For that knowledge plus the nice foreword and afterword, I give the book 3-stars.I was not a fan of the exercises. The meditations didn't do much for me and I have to admit, after some time, I skimmed them over. The cover of the book is eye catching and of course, it doesn't hurt to get endorsed by big names. If you're already working your own tarot meditations,dream work, magic etc, then you'll get by without it just fine. I bought this book used and used the a portion of the money saved towards another tarot deck.

Can’t wait to read this book. It was recommended by a friend who reads tarot.

The authors are clearly well-known and highly experienced Tarotists. However, the actual writing seems as though it is a transcript of class lectures rather than material created for the book. The main issue for me was lack of a coherent structure, which led to lack of smooth flow and transition. I don't doubt the quality of the information, I just wish the manuscript had a better organized structure and the narrative been polished by a professional editor or writer.

While the illustrations are handy in focusing attention on the specific symbols as drawn in the Rider-Waite-Smith deck... the accompanying text is not very helpful. The pillars of the High Priestess represent the labia which represents the Holy of Holies? I'm sure that is news to the Jews and classical scholars and is also completely at odds with the architectural function and usual associations with pillars. More unsourced New Age folderol.

Over the years I have sat in many development groups and have found (in my own personal experience only!) that the format of this book is similar to that type environment & teaching method. It is conducive to learning because it is easy to understand, well written and interactive. With meditations, simple spreads and questions to trigger intuitive insight. It encourages discussion and exploration of the symbols & our own inner knowing. Within a group this type of book builds confidence and enables members of the group to explore things from differing angles which have been contributed by themselves, someone else in the group or their teachers. It enables students to work with their new found skills and insight in a positive and fun way, which is helpful, insightful and a great way to learn. If I was setting up a group this would be one of the books I would choose to get clear guidance from, for the students.However, and this is purely my own personal opinion but I felt that the book could easily have been condensed down to half it's size (for individual's study - not for group work) and would in that respect have been far more useful to me when working independently, without the input or interaction of a group. In its present format I found this book to be slow and at times tedious & hard to get through. I kept losing interest in it because it is so clearly based on group teachings and interactions which, of course can be carried out as an individual but, the input from others is not there & when questions arise there is nowhere to go with it other than external reference books and therefore the book felt like it was padded out and there was something missing. If I had wanted a group teaching book I would have chosen that but I was looking for independent study and so I found this book somewhat lacking for my needs.On a more positive note, the authors of this book are clearly excellent teachers and very knowledgeable in their chosen field, sitting in their groups must be a pleasure.

I loved this book had in-depth knowledge. It was a subject that I didn't have in my collection. It has given me a deeper meaning on all the cards. Easy to read very informative. Highly recommend. Even for the beginner's to have as a reference guide on there learning tarot journey.

Great book and delivered on time, thank you!

This book is the one if you want to go layers deeper into your readings using the Rider-Waite-Smith deck. It takes your interpretation of the cards to a whole new level by allowing you to explore the symbols on many of the cards images. This is not a book with card meanings and definitely not for beginners. However if you're ready to explore the deeper meanings hidden in the symbolism, this book is excellent!

Good book on decoding tarot symbols ....