You know me so you know how unbelievably hectic September always is. But! This year is even more so!

You know me so you know how unbelievably hectic September always is. But! This year is even more so! I am surrounded by new projects and new environments and, of course, a couple of them have to do with tarot. I’ve been reading and working with this book you see here, Advanced Tarot by Paul Fenton-Smith, for a few months… and it’s been a huge push with those projects I mentioned.Its full name is Advanced Tarot: An In-Depth Guide to Practical & Intuitive Tarot Readings. It’s published by Blue Angel, a publishing house you already know as their wonderful oracle decks are featured here pretty often. It is a massive tome, at 556 pages. The pictures you see here feature it pristine and brand-new, but I will soon publish another post to showcase how it looks now after having devoured it (I’m a highlighter kind of student). The first thing I would like to emphasize before getting into details is that, despite its name, I feel this book is not only a compilation of advanced lessons, but that it also leaves space for solid tarot foundations for those who are beginning. It is geared towards reading for others (in a professional manner) but it doesn’t mean it is the only scenario where this book comes in handy.There’s so much information packed here that even listing the table of contents would be out of my usual post length. After full colour pages of all the cards from the RWS, “A Telescope Aimed at the Future” already establishes that the author is very predictive-reading-oriented. It includes an “Essential Questions Menu” within the section “Fundamental Questions for the Cards”, which can help with the inherent organization of readings. “Setting Boundaries in Readings” is filled with excellent advice to not go over our limits (no matter how much we want to help). I feel that sometimes it can become very clairvoyancy-oriented, which can be a problem for those readers that do not consider themselves clairvoyants. There are some spreads to try out and practice, but an even better section is “Designing Your Own Layouts”, which speaks for itself. His views on reversals are very interesting, showcasing an easy-to-apply method that will work from the get go, even for beginners. There are more than 30 pages of sample readings with interpretations which are wonderful to practice. The bulk of the book is obviously devoted to card meanings (pages 184 to 544), arranged numerologically and starting with the minors. These include upright and reversed meanings (covering general, career, relationship and health fields), as well as weaving connections between cards when needed. This is further enhanced at the end of the book, with three charts: one dealing with “The Meanings of Cards in Combination”, a minors chart, and a reversed minors chart.Advanced Tarot, by Paul Fenton-Smith, is a book I have thoroughly enjoyed and that has offered me new insights. I really appreciate some advice I have received, especially when setting boundaries or reading under pressure. Despite its name, I believe this can be a good beginner’s book, especially if your goal is to become fluent enough to read for others (professionally or not). It is a book I have read cover to cover, but which I have also marked and highlighted to come back to as a reference and as a reminder. For more information, head over to Blue Angel and check their oracles too! -- source link

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