Ask the Universe

A review of the “Tarot Bible"

I keep my deck of Tarot wrapped in white silk and protected with clear quartz. By candle light I sit shuffling the worn edges of moments past, present and future; asking questions to the universe and flipping over their answers in symbolic imagery. Studying the figures, the objects, trying to understand, connect and interpret my findings.

Some of us on this plane of existence seek more than just the superficial. We are the kind who can’t take things at face value, appearances are deceiving and we know this all to well. We are provoked to seek what is deeper beneath the surface and see what truths we can reveal.Some of us put our faith in the powers of divination and in prayer; some count rosary beads, some kneel face down, and some lay spreads.

To ask and look upon the mirrors of the universe, through the study of Tarot and practice reading of prophecies, one can seek out the image of truth. From a selection of seventy eight cards, the answers will show themselves, but that is also dependent upon the reference book used to decipher.

I would flip through the small pocket size booklet that came with my deck, a few sentences about each card and it offered a ten card spread, called The Celtic Cross. I had one other book but it didn’t speak to me in the way that Sarah Bartlett’s four hundred paged "Tarot Bible" spoke. Chalk full with knowledge, a full spectrum of information that captures an audience of beginners and experienced tarot readers.

Some believe Tarot reading to be impure and for the dark arts of the occultists, fortune tellers and gypsy folk. So she begins this introduction with the roots of Tarot and how the universal language has been understood through out the decades of time. She defines their usage through history and their coming of age story by introducing different creators and artists involved in their evolution. She addresses the rituals involved with reading,care and storage of the Tarot deck.

The first half of the book explores the descriptions of all seven-eight cards of mystic symbolism, using the Universal Rider-Waite deck;she pictures each card in full color with key words and key phrases. Each card allotted two pages, the other page a deeper interpretation of the card as well as its placement within the spread this section generous to the beginner.

She further divides the deck addressing the two categories of the Major Arcana and the Minor Arcana. Major, the first twenty two cards of the deck, followed by the fifty six Minor suit and court cards, all of this Sarah Bartlett describes in full detail.

What makes this book different from others I have referenced, is that is doesn’t stop there. It continues on to the second half dedicated to layouts, thirty in all. Simple to complex spreads, sectioned off by everyday, relationship, revelation and destiny spreads, some include up to fourteen cards.

She ends the book with crystal correlation, astrological pairing and numerological aspects of tarot magick and connecting with the deck. This book is a powerhouse for the study of Tarot unlike any other that I have utilized.

My suggestion would include a spiral binding to the book, so it will stay open while you lay the spreads and read the cards. I also would suggest the usage of bookmarks within the binding, like Christian bibles. It would be helpful to mark pages during a reading while you flip between the description of the spread and the cards.

As I have said some of us on this plane of existence seek more than the superficial, appearances are deceiving and we know this, so when provoked to seek the image of truth. I ask you to put some faith in divining power of the Tarot along sides its fruitful companion the “Tarot Bible” and you too could sit by candle light shuffling the worn edges of moments past, present and future, and flipping over their answers of symbolic imagery. All you have to do is ask the universe.