Why am I passionate about this?

I've always been interested in fortune telling, and how the mysteries of life are revealed. I was especially interested in ancient Greece and the oracle of Delphi. When I was 17, a neighbor in Chicago read my tarot cards. Everything the cards indicated came true! So I got a tarot deck and started playing around with the cards. When I moved to California 10 years later, people asked me to read their cards. I obliged, it was fun, and my tarot business was born. When asked to teach tarot, I started classes. The class notes became my book Introduction to Tarot.


I wrote...

Introduction to Tarot

By Susan Levitt,

Book cover of Introduction to Tarot

What is my book about?

My book offers a comprehensive guide with detailed explanations of the Rider-Waite and Crowley Thoth decks—the two best-selling tarot decks…

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of Tarot for Your Self: A Workbook for Personal Transformation

Susan Levitt Why did I love this book?

If you journal or want to write, I highly recommend this book.

For journal keepers and writers, this is your next step in learning tarot after reading my Introduction to Tarot. Especially powerful is writing down your first impression of the cards, what Mary calls "Entering A Card" on pages 23 - 25. Fun and revealing about your inner values is "The Court Card Party" on pages 77 - 80. Most powerful for me was the "Turning Points" worksheet on page 128 to see the big picture of your life.

Plus, it contains many different types of tarot spread that can inspire you to create your own tarot magic. Bring your tarot understanding and awareness to the next level with Tarot for Yourself.

By Mary K. Greer,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Tarot for Your Self as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Originally published in 1984, this is a classic in its field. Not only is it the first book to promote reading the cards for your own insight, but it also shows you exactly how to do so. It revolutionizes learning Tarot through a combined emphasis on self-teaching techniques and personal insight.

Never before has a Tarot book so comprehensively linked the many areas of New Age thought. You will find journal writing, mythology, psychology, self-help, relationships, prosperity and right livelihood, crystals, channeling, astrology, numerology, poetry, art, and occult metaphysics--all explored and integrated with the Tarot.

This revised edition features:
Expanded…


Book cover of The Artwork & Times of Pamela Colman Smith: Artist of the Rider-Waite Tarot Deck

Susan Levitt Why did I love this book?

The most popular tarot deck in the world is illustrated by the artist Pamela Coleman Smith, yet very little is known about her. She was a fascinating woman, born in 1878 in Middlesex, England, and raised in London, New York, and Kingston, Jamaica.

In London in 1903, she joined the Order of the Golden Dawn, and in 1909, under the guidance of Arthur Edward Waite, she created a series of 78 allegorical paintings that became the Rider-Waite tarot deck. Pamela Coleman Smith died penniless and unknown in 1951, unaware of the success of her tarot deck illustrations.

This 100 page book offers a wonderful view of Pamela's creativity in many fields, and is illustrated with her beautiful and whimsical illustrations that inspire millions to this day.

By Stuart R. Kaplan,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Artwork & Times of Pamela Colman Smith as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Features insights into Pamela Colman Smith's inspirations, friendships, and collaborations, as well as an extensive selection of her artwork beyond the area of tarot.


Book cover of Essence of Tarot: Using Essential Oils, Magic, and Rituals to Empower Your Readings

Susan Levitt Why did I love this book?

If you want to create a sacred space with specific scents and love aromatherapy with organic essential oils, this book is for you! Mary correlated each of the 78 tarot cards with a scent. Some you will understand immediately, such as rose, vanilla, and ylang-ylang for The Empress card.

But what of the Hanged Man and The Tower? They, too, have a fragrance. A fun and fascinating read that is highly recommended for a different perspective on tarot.

By Mary K. Greer,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Essence of Tarot as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Empower Your Tarot Readings with the Use of Sacred Fragrances
 
The ancient art of perfumery and fragrance have long been a component of magical and spiritual rituals.
 
In Essence of Tarot, tarot master Mary K. Greer demonstrates how this primordial art can be used to enhance modern tarot practices, whether for divination, meditation, or affirmations. Learn how to create a more magical life through the union of tarot and aromatherapy. Greer, among the world’s foremost authorities on the topic, demonstrates how essential oils can enrich the tarot experience, as well as empower tarot readers.
 
No previous experience with essential oils…


Book cover of The Book of Thoth: (Egyptian Tarot)

Susan Levitt Why did I love this book?

This was the first tarot book that I read at age 17 from the Occult Bookstore in Chicago. I remember reading it cover to cover that first night. I understood it because of my childhood interest in fairy tales, mythology, Egyptian archeology, and my hobby (bordering an obsession) with foreign languages.

I attended Hebrew school as a child and studied Latin in high school. I was reading Ezra Pound's translations of the Confucian Analects at the time, but Crowley resonated more than Pound, for he used symbols in a practical manner. Aleister Crowley (1875- 1947) was a British occultist who was far ahead of his Victorian times. By any standards, this book is unique and perhaps a bit crazy. Still, I recommend it.

By Aleister Crowley, Frieda Harris (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The Book of Thoth as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"

The occult classic study of the tarot and as a key to all Western mystery traditions.

Used for many years by students of the occult for study of the tarot and as a key to all Western mystery traditions, The Book of Thoth is on the short list of must-have textbooks for modern students of the tarot and esoteric studies.

“The Tarot is a pictorial representation of the Forces of Nature as conceived by the Ancients according to a conventional symbolism. At first sight one would suppose this arrangement to be arbitrary, but it is not. It is necessitated…


Book cover of Divination for Beginners: Reading the Past, Present & Future

Susan Levitt Why did I love this book?

Over the years, when I taught tarot classes, there were always a few students who were interested in the divination aspect of tarot, but tarot was just not the right oracle for them. For animal lovers, I recommended the simpler and more direct Medicine Cards: The Discovery of Power Through the Ways of Animals by Jamie Sam's and David Carson because animal totems resonated with them. 

I recall a student who was of Norwegian ancestry who found tarot overwhelming, but the right oracle for him was The Book of Runes by Ralph H. Bloom. Even if tarot is your path, it's interesting to know of the many forms of divination that can be available to everyone.

By Scott Cunningham,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Divination for Beginners as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Anyone can practice divination. You don't need to be psychic, or believe that a higher power controls the cards. Anyone can learn to predict the future using the methods described in this book. Learn how to choose the methods that works best for you, and ask the right questions so you get accurate answers. Discover the secrets of a wide variety of methods, from Tarot cards and the I Ching to crystal gazing, palmistry, and even reading signs and omens in the world around you.

The real value of divination is in planning and prevention. If you like the answers…


Explore my book 😀

Introduction to Tarot

By Susan Levitt,

Book cover of Introduction to Tarot

What is my book about?

My book offers a comprehensive guide with detailed explanations of the Rider-Waite and Crowley Thoth decks—the two best-selling tarot decks of all time. This beautiful book is illustrated with every card from both decks and artwork from other popular decks. It includes instructions for understanding tarot structure and symbolism, basic and advanced card spreads, numerology, court cards, and other tarot topics.

This is a book that will inspire you to delve deeper into the meaning of tarot. Included are information on tarot and chakras, tarot history, the Major Arcana of the Fool's journey, astrology and the four elements (earth, air, fire, and water), tarot and feng shui, personal soul cards, tarot rituals, creating altars, tarot with pets and animals, tarot archetypes in literature, and more.

Book cover of Tarot for Your Self: A Workbook for Personal Transformation
Book cover of The Artwork & Times of Pamela Colman Smith: Artist of the Rider-Waite Tarot Deck
Book cover of Essence of Tarot: Using Essential Oils, Magic, and Rituals to Empower Your Readings

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The Nightmarchers

By J. Lincoln Fenn,

Book cover of The Nightmarchers

J. Lincoln Fenn Author Of The Nightmarchers

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

Growing up in New England, my mother had a set of books that she kept in the living room, more for display than anything else. It was The Works of Edgar Allen Poe. I read them and instantly became hooked on horror. In the seventh grade, I entertained my friends at a sleepover by telling them the mysterious clanking noise (created by the baseboard heater) was the ghost of a woman who had once lived in the farmhouse, forced to cannibalize her ten children during a particularly bad winter. And I’ve been enjoying scaring people ever since.

J.'s book list on horror that will make you cancel your travel plans

What is my book about?

In 1939, on a remote Pacific island, botanical researcher Irene Greer plunged off a waterfall to her death, leaving behind a legacy shrouded in secrets. Her great-niece Julia, a struggling journalist recovering from a divorce, seeks answers decades later.

Tasked with retrieving Dr. Greer’s discovery–a flower that could have world-changing properties–Julia unearths a story rife with hidden agendas and a missionary community unwilling to share the truth. As she confronts the eerie legends and a fellow traveler with his own motives, Julia finds that the longer she stays, the thinner the line between reality and the fantastical becomes until she…

The Nightmarchers

By J. Lincoln Fenn,

What is this book about?

From the award-winning author of Dead Souls and Poe comes an all-new bone-chilling novel where a mysterious island holds the terrifying answers to a woman's past and future.

In 1939, on a remote Pacific island, botanical researcher Irene Greer plunges off a waterfall to her death, convinced the spirits of her dead husband and daughter had joined the nightmarchers-ghosts of ancient warriors that rise from their burial sites on moonless nights. But was it suicide, or did a strange young missionary girl, Agnes, play a role in Irene's deteriorating state of mind?

It all seems like ancient family history to…


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Interested in tarot, tarot cards, and divination?

Tarot 71 books
Tarot Cards 15 books
Divination 29 books