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The Symbolism of the Tarot [Color Illustrated Edition]
- Downloads：8243
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-06-09 09:55:41
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：P.D. Ouspensky
- ISBN：161427391X
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary
2013 Reprint of 1913 Edition。 Exact facsimile of the original edition， not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software。 Front and back covers reproduce the 22 cards illustrated in color in the original edition。 This is Ouspensky's classic study of the 22 cards of the Greater Arcana。 His insightful illustrations and commentary provide a fuller understanding of the meaning of each card， how they complement each other and their respective roles in an accurate card reading。
Reviews
Karin
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Picked up this one because Jodorowsky in one of his youtube tarot readings mentioned it as a book that really formed him。 It's a nice reference material， just a small pamphlet that provides a pathworking-style look into the mystical aspects of the cards Picked up this one because Jodorowsky in one of his youtube tarot readings mentioned it as a book that really formed him。 It's a nice reference material， just a small pamphlet that provides a pathworking-style look into the mystical aspects of the cards 。。。more
Elenapetulia
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Un'introduzione meravigliosa e una prima parte anche。 La seconda， con un viaggio sui generis negli arcani， per me meno bella。 Ma profondo e intenso。 Un'introduzione meravigliosa e una prima parte anche。 La seconda， con un viaggio sui generis negli arcani， per me meno bella。 Ma profondo e intenso。 。。。more
Vin
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I really like the descriptions of the cards and the way he breaks down the suites was very helpful。 A quick read， less than 60 pages。 I wouldn't turn to this for an introduction to Tarot but I think it enhanced my understanding and interpretation of the cards as a narrative。 3 stars。 I really like the descriptions of the cards and the way he breaks down the suites was very helpful。 A quick read， less than 60 pages。 I wouldn't turn to this for an introduction to Tarot but I think it enhanced my understanding and interpretation of the cards as a narrative。 3 stars。 。。。more
Alex Tello
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In spite of being specific to the Rider Waite deck， the symbolic attributes and conceptual explanation of the the Tarot that Ouspensky delivers on this booklet is really comprehensive and clear。 Totally recommended for beginners or anyone trying to form a general concept of the major arcana
Marina Resende
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mind-blowing！！
Lenny
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I enjoyed the triangle and square explanation。 Evangelists。Passive and active， positive and negative。 Psychological and encyclopedic viewpoint of the tarotcards。 initiative， passive， shape en result。 And the idea that symbols are better to explain higher truths than language。 As above， so below。
Dharia Scarab
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An interesting book on the major arcana， told in story form。
Taliesin Mcknight
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This is an interesting booklet， but i cannot give this a good rating for several reasons。 First of all， i would like to say that it's good for a student to get as many perspectives as possible on tarot， and this does present some interesting points。 It explores each of the 22 major arcana in a narrative form and some interesting ideas about esoteric teachings of tarot are presented。However， this text reproduces a lot of the false history of tarot that originated with Court de Gebelin about the c This is an interesting booklet， but i cannot give this a good rating for several reasons。 First of all， i would like to say that it's good for a student to get as many perspectives as possible on tarot， and this does present some interesting points。 It explores each of the 22 major arcana in a narrative form and some interesting ideas about esoteric teachings of tarot are presented。However， this text reproduces a lot of the false history of tarot that originated with Court de Gebelin about the cards being a survival of ancient Egyptian wisdom （i。e。 The legendary Book of Thoth）。 While i think such legends and traditional stories are interesting， they are not accurate。 So， books like this continue the spread of inaccurate information in the occult community。 Also， this is not long enough to be considered a "book。" It's more like an article。 So， be sure and look at how many pages before you decide to buy it--supposing you're purchasing online and may not be aware of how short the text is。 That's really my main issue is that it's so short and superficial a look at tarot。 It only really addresses the meanings of the 22 major arcana and that only in a very superficial narrative form that doesn't tell us much。In conclusion， i think this is a very interesting read， and it's good to see all different perspectives on a subject， but i cannot recommend this book or give it a good rating because it's too short， incomplete， superficial， and has some inaccurate information it perpetuates。 。。。more
Amber Moors
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It was good kind of helpful but a little egoistic。 I don't see ouspensky like that really。 It was good kind of helpful but a little egoistic。 I don't see ouspensky like that really。 。。。more
Sam K
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Amazing， amazing explanations to the symbols of the taraot cards。
A
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This is an interesting but problematic little tarot guide written by Ouspensky， prior to his involvement with Gurdjieff （if I understand correctly）。On the broadest， most basic level， I am not sure I can recommend this as a guide for beginners or those in need of a resource for card meanings。 Ouspensky only covers the Major Arcana in any detail， and his basic breakdown of the card meanings is too general and in some cases questionable。 His brief breakdown of the Minor Arcana elements is also prob This is an interesting but problematic little tarot guide written by Ouspensky， prior to his involvement with Gurdjieff （if I understand correctly）。On the broadest， most basic level， I am not sure I can recommend this as a guide for beginners or those in need of a resource for card meanings。 Ouspensky only covers the Major Arcana in any detail， and his basic breakdown of the card meanings is too general and in some cases questionable。 His brief breakdown of the Minor Arcana elements is also problematic， and he doesn't really touch on the implied meanings of numbers and royals。 The more extended meanings of the cards are treated in a narrative fashion， which is a wonderful technique in terms of reading and interacting with the cards， but isn't going to detail the specific symbolism used。 Ouspensky undoubtedly refers to the Rider-Waite tarot， which consciously borrows elements from several traditions and is quite specific in terms of meaning。 While I support more intuitive approaches to the tarot and have found that approach personally quite liberating， decks like the Rider-Waite or Thoth are constructed in such an intentional way that it is useful to understand the reference points and grounding system。 According to editor Donald Tyson in his notes， Ouspensky might also be making reference to Wirth's tarot， which is essentially just a modernized form of the early Renaissance tarot decks like the well-known Marseilles tarot。 These very probably aren't making the same references， or are at least not grounded in modern magick/occult systems。 But then this bring us to the next issue with the book， which is that the text is rife with misinformation about tarot that is still getting repeated nearly 100 years later。 Most notably， the idea started in the 18th century by Antoine Court that the tarot originally came from Egypt， along with the idea that tarot was brought to Europe by Gypsies。 None of this is supported by factual evidence， and it is more likely that tarot began as a card game influenced by similar games going further back in China and India。 This， of course， doesn't mean that there isn't inherent symbolism in the cards， it's just not some hidden knowledge from occult societies in Ancient Egypt and any current occult implications have been pasted on by folks since。 I'm not going to detail the rest of the information， as editor Donald Tyson in my edition does a great job qualifying Ouspensky's statements in his notes。 If you can find this particular edition， I recommend it。Returning to my point regarding the narrative approach used by Ouspensky， I will say that this is the greatest point of interest in the book。 As I said before， he doesn't really delve into all the symbols， and many readers will find the out-of-order sequence difficult to work with as a resource。 However， those unfamiliar with this technique will find it very interesting and hopefully be able to apply the idea to their study of the cards。 Mary K。 Greer uses some similar exercises in her Tarot for Your Self， directing you through the process， which Ouspensky sadly does not do。 But the thoughtful reader with a deep interest in using tarot for self-work will no doubt find the demonstration of this method quite useful。 The connections he is able to make from card to card to create a continuous narrative might even help those applying tarot to the writing of fiction。 The numbering system he lays out is quite interesting and worth exploring， though I wish he'd used it to organize the demonstration。 Nonetheless， I plan on playing around with the system he proposes and see what I can glean from it。In conclusion， while I have some pretty strong criticisms of the content here， I did find much of it interesting and worth the read。 It didn't introduce me to much I was not already aware of， and I don't recommend it to beginners or anyone looking for another tarot guide that will break the meaning and symbolism down in a clear manner。 With the Rider-Waite specifically， you're probably better off picking up Alan Oken's Pocket Guide。。。 or reading Waite's own Pictorial Key （if you can stand the Victorian verbiage）。 Mary K。 Greer is another writer on tarot I highly recommend， and she covers more or less the same method Ouspensky uses in this text， with a more no-nonsense approach。 。。。more
Devilsjourney
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So far， this is the most brilliant explanation of the tarot I've ever read。 Quite possibly because the vast majority of the common "tarot books" for sale in the occult sections of most bookstores are absolute crap， regurgitating common definitions but lacking substance。 This is far above that。 It is important to look at it as more than a story。 So far， this is the most brilliant explanation of the tarot I've ever read。 Quite possibly because the vast majority of the common "tarot books" for sale in the occult sections of most bookstores are absolute crap， regurgitating common definitions but lacking substance。 This is far above that。 It is important to look at it as more than a story。 。。。more
the kenosha kid
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Man， what a trip！
Teleri
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While Ouspensky is better known for his work documenting the mystical system devised by his mentor， G。 I。 Gurdjieff， this early work is quite solidly researched。 I have it on Kindle。
Mario
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This is a narrative journey through each card of the major arcana。 The conceit of the work is interesting， but very limiting in terms of story telling。 Like trying to tell a coherent story using only a single image from each TV station in order， there is only so much you can do when your medium is essentially random。 Even taking that into account， though， I still think it's disappointing。 More could be done with the material， scant as it is。 This is a narrative journey through each card of the major arcana。 The conceit of the work is interesting， but very limiting in terms of story telling。 Like trying to tell a coherent story using only a single image from each TV station in order， there is only so much you can do when your medium is essentially random。 Even taking that into account， though， I still think it's disappointing。 More could be done with the material， scant as it is。 。。。more
C。J。 Prince
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I've read other Ouspensky books but haven't seen this one。 I've read other Ouspensky books but haven't seen this one。 。。。more
Eric
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This inexpensive little book is one of the most helpful when it comes to utilizing the major arcana of the Tarot。 Quite a happy find for me。
Catherine Rowan
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Ooooh， this looks interesting！
Syncreation
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