DESCRIPTION | PRAISE | READ EXCERPTS
MEDIA | STUDY GUIDES | AMENDMENTS
The following study guides are intended to help you get the most out of your copy of Holistic Tarot. The book, plus these supplements, are designed to cover three levels of tarot education: beginner, intermediate, and advanced.
Start by determining which level you are at and download the corresponding study guide and supplements below. The guide acts as a syllabus for independent tarot study and will instruct your way through the book. Please also note that the below guides are based on the author’s teaching approach only, and do not represent any other tradition or set tarot pedagogical lineage.
Also, this study is keyed specifically to the Rider-Waite-Smith tarot system.
To Tarot Instructors and Mentors: Yes, of course, please feel free to use any of these Study Guides in whole or in part, the contents or topic organization for educational purposes with your students. You can use these study guides to get a sense of how you might want to structure your own syllabus, class, or workshop. Although you’ll never get in trouble with me for not crediting, a lot of the content herein come from Holistic Tarot, published by North Atlantic Books, so to make nice with the publisher, please be sure to include attribution to the book title (Holistic Tarot: An Integrative Approach to Using Tarot for Personal Growth) or the publisher (North Atlantic Books, www.northatlanticbooks.com).
STUDY GUIDE FOR THE BEGINNER TAROT STUDENT
If you’re new to tarot and have just acquired a Rider-Waite-Smith deck, then start here. The Study Guide for the Beginner Tarot Student is a syllabus for learning tarot on your own with the Holistic Tarot text. Click on the above button to download the PDF. Also be sure to download and save the below supplements.
You are a Beginner if…
- you are not sure exactly how many cards are in a standard tarot deck;
- some of the imagery on the Rider-Waite-Smith deck seem a bit intimidating to you;
- you’re kind of wondering what all this Rider-Waite-Smith tradition talk is all about;
- when I say “tarot journal,” you draw a blank;
- you are not familiar with the Celtic Cross; and
- you find it incredulous that anyone in this world could know from memory the meanings to all those cards.
| Study Guide for the Beginner Tarot Student |
Beginner Checklist
- Get a Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot Deck. It’s not that I think every tarot reader should begin on the RWS tarot deck. Rather, I recommend that you work with a tarot deck that is pictured in the beginner tarot book you’re studying from. Holistic Tarot is keyed specifically to instructing with the Rider-Waite-Smith, so if you plan on using your copy of the book and this free course to learn tarot, then I also recommend starting with the Rider-Waite-Smith.
- Your Copy of Holistic Tarot. Get yourself a copy of Holistic Tarot. Be sure to check out the Amendments to Text section on this website and mark all corrections into your book.
- Read Lesson 1 from the Supplemental Downloads. Begin by reading the supplement provided below, titled “Transcript of Lesson 1 in Beginner Tarot” (PDF linked to title).
- Print out the First Study Guide. Print out the “Study Guide for the Beginner Tarot Student” linked above. Follow the study guide syllabus, starting with Session 1, About Tarot.
Supplemental Downloads
| Transcript of Lesson 1 in Beginner Tarot | LINK | |
| Read Me: “Holistic Tarot and the Practitioner of Craft” | LINK | |
| Blank RWS Card Meaning Entries for Tarot Journal | DOCX | |
| Log of Celtic Cross Practice Readings (Version: Waite Cross) | ||
| Rider-Waite-Smith Flash Cards for Rote Study ** | ||
| Log of Readings | ||
| Tarot Spreads Practice: Quick Reference Sheets from Appendix A (for printing convenience) | ||
| Log of Monthly Projection Readings | ||
| Morning Routine Reading Practice (Template) | DOCX | |
| Template Form for Logging a New Tarot Deck | DOCX |
** For the Rider-Waite-Smith Flash Cards for Rote Study, make sure your printer settings are set to: “Print on Both Sides” and “Flip on Short Edge.” Otherwise the front and back alignment of the flash cards will be wrong.
Beginner Guide Created: 12/17/2014
Beginner Guide Last Updated: 11/08/2016
Beginner Supplements Last Updated: 08/17/2017
STUDY GUIDE FOR THE INTERMEDIATE TAROT STUDENT
The Study Guide for the Intermediate Tarot Student presumes that you are learning tarot under the Rider-Waite-Smith tradition, have a copy of the Holistic Tarot book, and have completed the Study Guide for the Beginner Tarot Student above. Alternatively, one with a basic proficiency in tarot can also start here, skipping the Beginner Guide. You can skip the Beginner Guide and start here if you are proficient with the below-listed bullet points. If you’re somewhere between Beginner and Intermediate, still go back and start with the Beginner course.
You are Intermediate if…
- you have a working tarot journal of some sort;
- you can draw any one of the 78 cards and interpret it with semi-confidence;
- you have a basic, working knowledge of all RWS card meanings;
- you’re familiar with the Celtic Cross spread and read proficiently with it;
- okay, you don’t want to brag, but you’re kind of a pro with the three-card reading;
- you’ve dabbled with different tarot spreads before and have a strong sense of what works and doesn’t work for you; and
- you’ve done a minimum of 50 tarot readings (closed book, that is!).
| Study Guide for the Intermediate Tarot Student |
Supplemental Downloads
| Reading with Signifiers | ||
| First Operation Practice Log | ||
| Court Cards Practice Exercises | ||
| Elemental Dignities and Affinities | ||
| Elemental and Numerological Correspondences | DOCX | |
| Daily Readings | ||
| Ruminations on the Major Arcana | ||
| The Three Septenaries | ||
| Card Counting (Majority View) | ||
| Worksheet for Devising Your Own Spread | ||
| Critical Theory Technique to Interpreting Tarot Cards (Companion Course Handout) | ||
| Glossary of Gemstones and Their Metaphysical Uses (Supplement to Chapter 21) |
Intermediate Guide Created: 12/17/2014
Intermediate Guide Last Updated: 12/22/2014
Intermediate Supplements Last Updated: 09/27/2017
STUDY GUIDE FOR THE ADVANCED TAROT STUDENT
The Study Guide for the Advanced Tarot Student presumes that you have completed the Study Guide for the Intermediate Tarot Student, are proficient with the Rider-Waite-Smith tradition, and have a copy of the Holistic Tarot book. For Session 4 in the Advanced Study Guide, it is also recommended that you have a Tarot de Marseille deck and a Thoth deck to work with. Click on the above button to download the PDF. Also be sure to download and save the below supplements. Note: In traditional esoteric tarot teaching approaches, astrology and the Qabalah basics would be taught at the beginner’s level concomitant with the tarot basics. The approach here is to integrate these areas of knowledge after a strong foundation in tarot has been built.
The Advanced study guide may be right for you if…
- you have been reading Holistic Tarot by following along through the Beginner and Intermediate study guides and now see there are still chapters that the guides didn’t cover and you want to cover those chapters, or
- you’ve been studying tarot for some time under the Rider-Waite-Smith system, are proficient at the Intermediate level, and now you want more, or
- you’re thinking about going professional with tarot and offering your reading services to the public.
| Study Guide for the Advanced Tarot Student |
Supplemental Downloads
| Sample Code of Ethical Conduct for Tarot Professionals | ||
| Glyph Correspondences for the Opening of the Key | ||
| Interpreting Tarot through Astrology | ||
| Shadow Work with the Tarot (Workbook) | ||
| Sample Privacy Terms for Tarot Reading Websites | ||
| Tarot Reading and Social Inductive Reasoning | ||
| Professional Tarot Startup Business Plan Workbook | ||
| How to Earn $50K or More as a Part-Time Tarot Reader | ||
| Excerpt Chapters to “Sole Proprietorship in the Sacred Arts” |
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| Study Notes on Sigmund Freud and Carl Gustav Jung |
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ARE YOU AN ASPIRING TAROT PROFESSIONAL? Check out my archive of blog posts with the category tag “professional-tarot.” Link here.
Advanced Guide Created: 01/30/2015
Advanced Guide Last Updated: 09/01/2016
benebell wen 
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Hello Benebell
Some of the links in the study guides are not working.The advanced study guide pdf is also not working.
Thanks
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Benebell, I have been giving your beginner guide a shot and wanted to let your know on the flash cards (pages 25-26 of 40) there is some issues with printing two sided… ie. Queen and King of Cups have transposed definitions, Ace and Two of Swords have transposed definitions.
Any possible way you can fix this so I can continue using the cards without worry? Thanks so much for all your work!!!!
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Hi Crystal!
Thanks so much for the input and it’s great to hear from you. I hope the beginner’s guide is working out well for you.
I checked the flash cards again with my printer and it seems to be working. But I got emails from others before saying that the flash cards weren’t printing properly on their own printers at home. Unfortunately, there is no way to format it in a way that’s going to work universally on all printers (or at least I don’t know how to do it). My apologies for the inconvenience. However, the flash cards are provided as a DOC file, so you can definitely format and tinker it with yourself so it will print properly!
Thanks and hope this note helps!
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You may have to manually print them one page at a time; print the first page, flip your paper and print the back page. Also make sure you check your margins. I had to download it twice and adjust it quite a few times to get them to print even.
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I just downloaded the current version of the cards. The King and Queen of Cups are indeed in the wrong places. Will check for more goofs later today.
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How incredibly generous of you to share these study guides and templates. Thank you!
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I don’t even know how to express how grateful I am for your study guides. I don’t have your book yet; it’s on my list of must haves tho. In the meantime I’ve been using your study guides as an outline for what I do have. I got my first deck over a decade ago; still use them today. I could never get away from having to ‘look it up’ during a reading. Thanks to your free downloads I’m getting away from the books, using my own interpretations, developing my natural intuitive ability to read the cards. I’ve even started doing readings for people on a semi-professional level. It’s amazing how far I’ve come because of your free study guides.
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I’ve just received your book in the mail. Thank you so much for such an intelligent and well-thought out work. It adds a whole new level of respect to our craft.
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I thank you sincerely for Holistic Tarot, and for all the work you have obviously put into teaching this subject. Thank you so much for making these supplemental learning tools freely available. I’m very grateful, and a big fan!
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Hi Benebell,
I would like to know your view regarding the elemental association of the court cards(specifically with the Knights and Kings). I saw this video with a contradicting view wherein knight is fire, and king is air. The reasoning is fire being aggressive like the knights who are about action and movement. It kinda makes sense. I would love to hear your take on this, as to why you consider Kn as air and King as fire.
Btw, I really love your analytical approach to tarot and I’m really enjoying your book. ❤
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Thank you so very much!
For your Guidance in Professionalism I shall cherish all that I am learning. You are truly an exemplary human being who has been invoking a cause greater than yourself. Greed will always take and claim as their own and in return denounce your credibility.This is their inheritance, but always remember the foundation of your legacy will live much longer than your opposition in time they will burn out and conform, but until then do not fear we are here with Love and Protection,but most importantly APPRECIATION.
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Awesome stuff. Thank you! I’ll have to buy your book.
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Hi Benebell!
I just discovered your book and website and I really appreciate the wealth of information you provide. I am very drawn to the way you approach Tarot!
I do have one question though about numerology as it relates to the Court Cards and that is – when it comes to card counting, why do you assign Pages the number 7 with the other Court Cards the number 4? My technical brain is baffled by the inconsistency and I would love some rationale.
Thank you!
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Thank you for generously offering these study guides for free. I am new to tarot, have recently purchased ‘Holistic Tarot’ and will be using your study guide and all of the wonderful attachments and templates you have created and shared. I also enjoy your videos and hope you will make many more.
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Hi Benebell I was going through some of the supplements you have and the “Glossary of Gemstones and Their Metaphysical Uses (Supplement to Chapter 21)” one seems to have a broken link – getting a 404 error. Thought you may want to know. 🙂
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Hi Benebell,
Can the Archangel Power Tarot deck by Doreen Virute, which is inspired from the Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot deck be used instead?
Thanks
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Benebell, thank you for your unceasing generosity! Your work is inspiring, all-encompassing, filled with value, and timeless. I surely appreciate you and all of your offerings…
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Benebell,
Thank you for this wonderful gift! I am thoroughly enjoying all of your work and learning a lot! I just picked up tarot 2 months ago during my Covid 19 sequester. I never expected it to be anything I would truly be interested in, however I am hooked! I wish I had stumbled upon your website sooner, there is so much to learn and your approach and explanations are perfect for me.
Thank you again,
Valerie
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Hi Benebell,
Do you have planning to translate in french Holistic Tarot book ?
I wish you the Best and safe.
Best regards
Pascal
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I have “played” with tarot for years but have no memory now (I am 88) and really am interested
In keeping tarot in my life. My great-granddaughter is interested and I would love to share with her. Two of her children have the same birth card (Justice) but are so totally different in personality that it whet my curiosity again. The boy is 7 and very gentle and kind. Takes care of his sisters and the little girl who is 3 is an eager beaver and like dynamite. Fascinating to me. I would like to get back into Tarot! So much to learn!
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Thank you so so much Benebell!
I have your book and will study it with this course. I’m really grateful that you share your knowledge so freely. Of course, I will also buy some of your other courses. They sound really interesting and I want to give a bit of that back that you give to us.
Thank you!
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I wish that I could purchase your study guides on Lulu as spiralbound notebooks! Any chance that it might be available?
thank you so much for all that you’ve done, and made available to us!
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Thank you for the information; please keep writing such excellent stuff. I’ll return for more reading. You can view my website as well.
Aka.ms/phonelinkqrc
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hi bought your book a number of years ago
tried to do the tarotschool degree since 2010 but gave up as too much esoteric i bought your book about 2016 or 2017 left it on shelf. but after lost my parents i couldn’t maintain myself nor have the wisdom to help others. So now 5 years on i am i think ready to pursue something of knowledge of your course. i texted you on facebook once but you never responded not to worry. your way beyond my thoughts and thinking on tarot but i will try to complete your course now. i watch your utube channel alot and you give inspiration of thought to me and make me feel more is achievable if we just apply ourselves to what we want from life
take care
david
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Thank you so much!
Love and Light
Denise von Poser
Brazil
@vonposerdenise
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