Angeles Arrien, Ph.D. (1940 – April 24, 2014) was a Basque-American cultural anthropologist, award-winning author, educator, and consultant to many organizations and businesses. She lectures and conducts workshops worldwide, bridging cultural anthropology, psychology, and comparative religions. Her work is used in medical, academic, and corporate environments. She was the President of the Foundation for Cross-Cultural Education and Research. Her books have been translated into thirteen languages and she has received three honorary doctorate degrees in recognition of her work.
Angeles’ books include The Four-Fold Way: Walking the Paths of the Warrior; Teacher, Healer and Visionary; Signs of Life: The Five Universal Shapes and How to Use The; and The Second Half of Life: Opening the Eight Gates of Wisdom and Living in Gratitude: A Journey That Will Change Your Life.
I have several books about Tarot and have been using Tarot cards for years. According to Paul Foster Case, Tarot is a pictorial textbook of Ageless Wisdom, from whose pages have been drawn the inspiration for some of the most important works on occult science that have been published during the last one-hundred years. Its influence upon the mind of a few enlightened thinkers may be traced throughout the history of the modern revival of interest in esoteric philosophy.
In The Tarot Handbook Angeles Arrien takes Tarot beyond the limits of the fortune-telling realm. She shows us how this time-honored application is both a visual and symbolic map of consciousness, and a source of ancient wisdom.
I started out with the Osho Zen deck and book and have several other decks I have used over the years. When you get this handbook, I highly recommend to get the Thoth Deck. This book can be used by beginners as well as ardent students of the Tarot. It contains a multitude of charts, spreads, illustrations of the Thoth Deck, and other methodology tools for anyone looking for insights into personal and spiritual development.
In the introduction Angeles Arrien explains that the Tarot is a symbolic map of consciousness and an ancient book of wisdom that revels to us visually and symbolically the creative ideas and states of consciousness that appear in multiple existence in all cultures. The author demonstrates how the seventy-eight figures of the tarot are portraits and archetypes that are prevalent in the collective human experience. In addition, she teaches us to use this realization to look beyond our cultural viewpoint or bias when we approach the tarot, and to rely instead on these more important universal principles, thereby deepening the quality and accuracy of our interpretations and expanding our awareness of the human psyche.
In this book you will find a general history and use of Tarot, followed by the Major Arcana section, which explores in depth the major universal principles or archetypes that all humankind experiences at different times in life. The next section deals with the levels of mastery that we achieve in life and are symbolized by the Royalty cards. Following that, you find the Ace through Ten of each suit, the
Minor Arcana, which function as mirrors of our challenges and inherent talents: mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually. In addition, the author provides information about the life-time symbols that come from our birthday. Life-time symbols are both our Personality Symbol and our Soul symbol. They both represent our inherent potential and purpose in this lifetime.
I also appreciate the appendixes at the end of the book – a symbols glossary and the summary of all cards.
The author recommends when using the Thoth Deck to pay attention to the symbols on the cards. The provide creative ideas that can help to unlock hitherto unintelligible connections of facts. Those will enable us to penetrate deeper into the mystery of life.
Even though I trust my own judgment and intuition first when reading cards, I do often look what the book says. Since I am interested in astrology, I love the connection between the astrological signs and planets and the cards.