The Easiest Way to Learn the Tarot—EVER!!: Kindle Version (Aphrodite's Book of Secrets)

I'm new to Tarot. Very new. As in, bought my first deck a year or so ago, promptly started researching books to purchase, and bought about 8 or 1. The books seemed to fall into a few categories; #1. Gives you the standard interpretation of each tarot card, with paragraphs of detail, which means you'd have to basically memorize 72 upright and 72 reversed cards, so basically a book. Memorizing a book, did not appeal to me, but one could see how, with diligent practice you could possibly, after years, kind of know how to maybe read tarot. If you could stay awake. I could not.Category #2, equals books that were deeply dense, had all kinds of esoteric information in them and were so thick and full of info I felt like I could never read the book, let alone absorb everything that was inside it --let alone be able to in anyway use the information and read spreads for folks/myself, or even, you know be able to hold the damn thing without my arms giving out and my hands cramping up, from the sheer Websters Dictionary size of the things. Again, disappointing. The third category of Tarot book as I saw it, are quirky, individualistic, how to read Tarot books, and a few seemed questionable that you'd actually get a decent reading out of their style. Each one of these books, are very different from each other, and basically contradict each other and frankly with one exception seemed like they would be difficult to gain any knowledge on how to actually do a reading consistently and were not that helpful at actually teaching you, how to read Tarot.Then I found Dusty's book. It wasn't just a How To, it was a revelation. It was written in a really easy to read manner, describing a philosophy and an approach or technique that instantly resonated with me. THIS made sense. It was also more then just a book telling you what to do, it was a workbook and by using it as described, it became a textbook to understanding my subconscious. Dusty says, the cards are not Magic. They are just paper printed with ink. The magic is in you. He gives you ways to access your intuition in a standardized way that removes the woowoo, but is so effective you find yourself starting to have flashes of intuition all the time, not just when you are reading your cards. It isn't just easy, its fun! I'm practicing or listening to a new audio file, or a video almost everyday now for almost 3 months ( I can't believe it!) and I am not bored at all and I feel like I've just begun to scratch the surface, while at the same time I"m beginning to really start to get the hang of this.I quickly began to see, there was so much more I wanted to learn from Dusty White personally, not just reading the one book. I bought his second book, but I knew I needed more help and I wanted to have other people to talk to, about what I was learning, because it was starting to be eye opening.I went to his website and he is very generous, giving away a ton of free articles, audio lessons, and short video lessons etc. However, if you really want to dive in, if you want to take it to the next level, for a really affordable, nominal amount each month, you can become part of the community, take full in depth lessons that work in conjunction with the book, engage with other students in the forum. They have study groups, (which are awesome by the way, everyone is so nice) and as you progress eventually, you get additional access and can get paired up with one individual so you become study buddies. I bring this up, not because I'm trying to pimp his school, but I saw a review where someone complained that everything wasn't free at the website. Dusty gives away an enormous amount of free audio/video/articles on his website. But for those few of us who are willing to work really hard and pay a little extra (about as much as three latte's a week), you get access to an entire standardized program of education, to the forum, and to other like minded people, who we all share our information with each other. It's an actual Tarot School, not just a website to flog one book. So I for one am grateful for all the content Dusty does give away, but I'm also glad that there is this area that is for those of us who are really serious and helping each other. Also, Dusty is super available to you if you have a question or concern.So, if you are looking for just a book, that can give you the best program I've come across (in my admittedly short period of time in this arena, but a deep dive), Dusty's methods are the best I've seen. Easiest Way to Learn Tarot is just that. It is going to take some time, you aren't going to suddenly become a pro over night, but his methods, if applied consistently and diligently, will give you a easy to follow roadmap for how to get to where you want to be. If you want to continue to learn, and have access to other students, consider joining his school. It is a much more affordable alternative then several of the other options out there I investigated, one of which charges thousands of dollars for 6 months.

I have learned a lot from this book. But that's just the TL:DR version.I wasn't sure if I would because I had listened to the author's podcast (where he shares a LOT of information for free) so I checked out the ebook version. I learned so much. I couldn't have imagined how much I'd learn. The author, Dusty White, shares a lot of information about each card in the back of the book. Not just keywords, but good info. But a lot of books tell tell you about the cards in a YOU WILL READ IT THIS WAY, YOU WILL BELIEVE EACH CARD MEANS THIS, OR YOU MIGHT CAUSE GRAVE DANGER. That's not Dusty's way.The author himself says that you need to trust yourself more than keywords, that just because people in the past have felt a card means one thing, understand that if you are reading cards and feel it means something else? It does.In fact, he says, not only that but the most useful way to read cards is to depend on your intuition and the pictures on the cards. And to do THAT, he has a series of exercises for you to go through and it is these exercises that make the book worth its weight in gold.By the time I was done reading the ebook, I knew I needed a hard copy (and I say this as someone who has become mostly an ebook reader). It took me a several days to really decide to buy the book - after all, I had a kindle unlimited version. There might be no reason to spend money when money was tight to get it.I'm so glad I finally did! It's basically a workbook. In the hard copy, you can do exercises. You can highlight. You can write meaning, take notes, etc.The Easiest Way to Learn the Tarot - Ever!! has changed the way I look at and read tarot cards forever. It's definitely worth buying.

As I write this, I see I am almost the 200th person to agree that this book deserves 5 stars. That should be accolade enough - but Amazon requests at least 20 words fair comment on the book. So why did this book work for me?1994 and the Reader was using The Ancient Egyptian Tarot Deck. They were so evocative I bought a set - and I started buying Tarot books to learn. I had real trouble getting past the "How can I ever learn the meanings of 78 cards" stage. Perhaps I had the wrong cards? So I kept buying beautiful sets hoping they would trigger that explosion of revealing intuition. I also kept buying books - I now have 31. I tried everything; e.g. I tried a card a day - pick a card in the morning and dwell/meditate on it. Except, if it was "bad" card, I felt awful all day. I only learned to feel daunted and incompetent. The more daunted I felt, the more I got nervous of doing reversed cards and the more superstition got hold of me - perhaps I should have waited until someone gave me a deck? Etc. Etc. Etc. Anyway, away would go the cards until something else would re-trigger my desire to learn. So its been a long haul. 1994 - 2012.The Easiest Way to Learn the Tarot - Ever was my last ditch attempt and I am so glad I hung in there. The book has brought back that joy I felt when I first saw my first pack way back in 1994. I am using the Rider-Waite set (RWS) and have a new appreciation for its intricacies - and they are not hard to learn - now, they simply make sense. And that is before one even considers placement of the cards. What a fabulous door has been opened! In 1994 I had jumped right in into what had attracted me - splash! - and, well, swimming is a lot more fun when you have learnt how to do it. Now, I can go from the RWS deck to any deck I choose.Why is this book different? Because Dusty's exercises are games. Fun games that you want to play - by yourself or with another. Games you can play even if you don't know the meaning of a card but that teaches you the meaning while you are playing. Because Dusty's vast knowledge helps him to make clever tweaks to old standard teaching methods that switch that light bulb on! The connection between the Devil card and Ice-cream is hilarous and illuminating. Because Dusty takes the fear out of the cards. That was a big one for me as over the years I had picked up a lot of half-baked, unhelpful, uninformed mis-conceptions about the cards - thank you Dusty for setting me straight. The Book is simple, effective and Easy, and connects all the dots so you can properly use the Tarot. Dusty's teaching style is no mumbo-jumbo, non-denominational, with a fun and down-to-earth manner that helps you to develop good tools to gain insight.And, better still, You are not alone. Dusty is out there. :-) If you have a question, check out Dusty's free mp3's and video's. It's by using the cards, and watching them used, that one picks up the meanings, automatically. I found it really helpful to watch the games being played as that made me want to join in. I do admit that often in books I simply read the Exercise page and just turn the page to the next topic; this time I didn't; I was involved. The mp3's and videos are an added bonus. Dusty really wants you to "get it" and his enthusiasm is infectious. And "By George, I think I've got it!" (Apologies to "My Fair Lady") And if you want a visual - think of me like Snoopy leaping and dancing. This book has given me a quantum leap in working with the Tarot; I agree with the other reviewer that said they wish they had had this book sooner. So I write this book review to pass on the good feeling. This book made me happy. I hope it makes you happy too.