Some tarot books are written in a neutral, detached style like a textbook. Not this one. Sure, this is a book to help you learn to read tarot cards, but Michele Morgan writes as if she's having a conversation with the reader, so there's a strong sense of the author herself in this book. Morgan emphasizes relying on your intuition to learn to read the tarot, rather than memorizing the meanings of 78 cards from the little white book that comes with most decks—indeed, she recommends putting away your tarot books for three months to get used to getting the meaning from the cards. Morgan has a free-spirited approach to the tarot: in addition to not relying on cookbook definitions, she's not personally fond of spreads, and her section on spreads feels like she included it only under pressure from her editor or her beta readers (she gets out of that part as fast as she can!).

The book is divided into three parts. The first section is an introduction to the tarot, the second is the meanings of the cards, and the third is on spreads and ways to use the cards for magic, ritual, prayer, and creativity (more of those activities than spreads, of course). Morgan may not be comfortable telling you what the cards mean, but she did a nice job of it. Each card description is accompanied by an illustration from her friend Rebecca Richards that fits with traditional meanings of the cards without copying Pamela Coleman Smith's art. And the third section has several ideas that are unique to this book compared to other introductory tarot books.

It's not a bad book, but I am not its ideal reader. I respect Morgan's personal take on the tarot, and Richards' illustrations are charming, but I found Morgan's style annoying after a while. However, another reader could adore this book for that very same style. ( )