Author: benebell

Holistic Tarot Free Study Guides: For Beginners

On By benebellIn free download, Holistic Tarot (book), tarot14 Comments

Holistic Tarot by Benebell Wen Beginner Study Guide 2

Holistic Tarot is now out in stores! You can order your copy of the book on Amazon, through the publisher’s website at North Atlantic Books, or through the distributor, Random House.

I hope you will find the book to be a timeless go-to reference source for all your tarot needs, but I also know that the sheer size of it can be intimidating.

So. I’ve created study guides and supplements for free download that will help you navigate the book and learn tarot. These study guides and supplements contain additional exercises and information that dovetail on the contents of the book.

The guides are subdivided into sessions with suggested reading, practice work, ruminations, and supplemental downloads that will help you learn tarot on your own and at your own pace. They will help you navigate the book, whether you’re reading at the beginner, intermediate, or advanced level.

Holistic Tarot by Benebell Wen Beginner Study Guide 3

If you’re just starting out, I recommend following the Study Guide for the Beginner Tarot Student, a syllabus for learning tarot on your own with the Holistic Tarot text.

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

Click on the radio button below to download the PDF.

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Supplemental Downloads

Rider-Waite-Smith Flash Cards for Rote Study

DOCX
Log of Celtic Cross Practice Readings (Version: Waite Cross)

PDF
Tarot Spreads Practice: Quick Reference Sheets from Appendix A (for printing convenience)

PDF
Log of Readings

DOCX

PDF
Morning Routine Reading Practice (Template) DOCX

Beginner Guide Created: 12/17/2014

All Holistic Tarot study guides and supplements are available for free download here on this website at HOLISTIC TAROT STUDY GUIDES.

I hope these study guides are helpful in your learning and if you do use the Beginner’s Guide, please let me know about your experience with it!

Mental Disposition and Reading Tarot Card Reversals

On By benebellIn cartomancy, divination, professional tarot, tarot, tarot card meanings, tarot community, tarot exercises8 Comments
From the Oswald Wirth Tarot.
From the Oswald Wirth Tarot.

Let’s talk about card reversals. No, not how to read card reversals. I mean why some practitioners read with card reversals and some do not. There’s the succinct answer of “to each his or her own; since we’re all different, we all approach tarot differently,” but I mean beyond that, why?

Some practitioners would feel remiss to not consider the energy of card reversals in a reading. For others, an upside down card image drives them mad and thus interferes with their intuitive abilities. You end up with a camp of tarot readers who read with reversals and a camp who does not, leaving beginners who are entering the tarot forum for the first time wondering what the heck they should do. When “just do what feels right to you” sounds too vague of an answer, let’s try to get down to some specifics.

So like reading with reversals vs. reading without reversals, we’ve got two camps of mental dispositions: the left-brained and the right-brained.

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Continue reading “Mental Disposition and Reading Tarot Card Reversals” →

Is Tarot Reading Bullshit?

On By benebellIn cartomancy, divination, professional tarot, tarot, tarot community27 Comments

I came across this video clip on the interwebs. It seems to be from one of those rational skeptic shows, one called “The Bulls**t Detective” (Series 1, Episode 4), meant to debunk “pseudoscience and . . . new age nonsense.” By the accent of the show’s host, Alasdair Jeffery, I’m assuming it hails from the UK. Not so sure of the language of the subtitles. If you’re a tarot reader, I strongly recommend that you watch this and, I hope, read my assessment of it below.

Three tarot readers are showcased: Paul Hughes-Barlow, professional tarot reader for over 20 years; Laura Boyle, professional psychic and tarot reader; and Andy Cook, a professional tarot reader with 7 years of tarot reading experience. The three practitioners (per my view) are named in the order of tarot mastery. That assumption of mine comes mainly from my high respect for Hughes-Barlow and his work and, at the end of the video, how Cook kind of loses his cool as the TV show host Jeffery quite deliberately goads him on.

Continue reading “Is Tarot Reading Bullshit?” →

Holistic Horoscopes: Your January 2015 Sun Sign and Tarot Forecast

On By benebellIn astrology, cartomancy, divination, holistic horoscopes, tarot2 Comments

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Every few months I get the itch to dabble in sun sign horoscopes. To do so, we focus on what’s up with the Sun, Mars, Mercury, and Venus, with an eye on the Moon. I use the day-night rulership approach, running transits animations for January, 2015 and analyze those transits. There’s really no science to sun sign horoscopes and anyone who tries to convince you otherwise is just pulling your leg. Still, they’re fun and every once in a while, by some synchronous fluke, can even be useful. So here we go. January, 2015, and even some additional insights into the rest of the year for each sign.

I’m also going to throw in a tarot card draw for good measure, coming to you from the Voyager Tarot by James Wanless. (Click on any of  the card images for a larger view.)

I like to open with the sun sign of the month, and that’s you, Capricorn.

Capricorn | December 22 – January 19

It could be a hectic start to the New Year and you’ll feel like you are at the center of everyone else’s personal predicaments. That’s only because people see you as always reliable and need you to be their rock. Be alert to curve balls that could get thrown your way. You’re going to feel a child-like fragility and vulnerability this month. Drama may ensue this month and it won’t be your fault. You just have to breathe, hold back, do not overreact, and try not to let the uncertainties of the future unnerve you. You’re contemplating a new course of action as part of your resolutions, but fear of the unknown holds you back. You need to regain confidence in yourself, and then blockages to your creativity can be eliminated.

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Card Drawn. Nine of Crystals: Narrowness

Your hard, impenetrable character grounds you, gives you a sense of stability, but it is also isolating and lonely. There seem to be bars over your view, restricting your perceptions. And yet such narrowness is also what keeps you focused.

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Continue reading “Holistic Horoscopes: Your January 2015 Sun Sign and Tarot Forecast” →

Review of the Wild Unknown Tarot

On By benebellIn cartomancy, deck review, divination, tarot, tarot symbolism42 Comments

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If you’re plugged in to the online tarot community in any way, even minimally, then you’ve been hearing buzz about this deck. It’s self-published and I’ve got to say, recently the self-published decks have been beating the traditional publishers. Hey traditional publishers: what are you people doing? Get with the program.

Even non-tarot people (many from the fashion world) have been getting into the Wild Unknown tarot deck. Imagery from the cards are just freakin’ everywhere. I remember first seeing an Instagram photo of someone’s tattoo and thinking, “That kind of looks like a tarot card” only to realize it was. What is going on?!

But the few glimpses of cards I saw here and there made me think that this deck would be one of those “its own unique system” decks where I’d have to do a lot of learning before I did any reading. And I’m getting to that age (sadly) where I don’t know if I want to learn any more “new tarot traditions.” So at first I thought I was going to pass.

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And then the imagery. The card’s artwork kept drawing me in, beckoning. “You want me.” No I don’t! Go away. “You want me.”

Then a few weeks ago I set a goal for myself (unrelated to this deck, and totally unrelated to tarot) and said if I met that goal, I’d reward myself with the Wild Unknown tarot deck. I met the goal and the first chance I could, bolted for the computer and placed my order.

And wow. WOW. Best decision ever. The Wild Unknown is easily one of my favorite tarot decks now.

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This is one of the highest quality decks I have come across in a long time in terms of the cardstock, the matte finish, and the box packaging. Kim Krans renders the images in hand-drawn black ink illustrations, with just a touch of color here and there so beautifully and intuitively done that they are sure to activate chakras while you read with this deck.

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Wild Unknown, Suit of Wands, Ace to Ten

I’d categorize the Wild Unknown as a Marseille-based tarot deck. After all, Key 8 in the Wild Unknown is Justice and Key 11 is Strength (as opposed to the standard RWS, which is 8/Strength, 11/Justice). However, going through The Wild Unknown Tarot Guidebook that Krans graciously included when I purchased this deck, I see a lot of card interpretation crossover from both the Rider-Waite-Smith and Thoth. In that sense, the Wild Unknown would work very well as a beginner’s deck, though such a beginner would have some work to do if she were to later try to learn the traditional Tarot de Marseille, Rider-Waite-Smith, or Thoth. So in that sense, the tarot practitioners who are calling this deck its own interpretive system have a point.

Continue reading “Review of the Wild Unknown Tarot” →

Dame Darcy’s Mermaid Tarot Deck Review

On By benebellIn cartomancy, deck review, divination, tarot, tarot symbolism27 Comments

Dame Darcy - Mermaid Tarot Deck 2

I should tell you something. I’m not that into mermaids, or sailors, or ships, nautical imagery, or 18th century colonial dress (you’ll see– like in the Two of Wands, Nine of Cups, Page of Cups, Page of Swords, Ten of Cups, etc., pictured below).

And yet I’m VERY INTO Dame Darcy’s Mermaid Tarot deck. My fingers and my head are bursting with excitement as I type this. I don’t know how she did this, how she can get someone like me to be so enamored with this tarot deck.

I first saw the deck’s vibrant images in a vlog deck review by The Four Queens, and while watching, didn’t realize it was called the Mermaid Tarot. I just saw the images and said with quite a bit of conviction and brattiness, “I want that. Now.”

Then I watched Elora Tarot’s vlog on it and, learning more about the deck, realized it’s all about mermaids and sailors and stuff. I kind of thought to myself, “but I’m not that into mermaids and sailors and stuff.”

Whatever, it didn’t matter. There was something drawing me to this deck. I don’t know what kind of spell Dame Darcy put on this deck but hey, it worked on me. It was a bit pricier than most commercial decks out there and with self-published tarot decks you don’t always know what you’re getting into, but you don’t understand– I needed to get this deck.

Dame Darcy - Mermaid Tarot Deck 1

So I got it, and now I don’t know whether to be a good Samaritan and use it as a professional reading deck to share the beauty of Dame Darcy’s artwork with everyone who gets readings from me or be selfish and horde this deck all to myself and not let anyone else touch it, ever.

Usually with tarot decks I hear word of it buzzing about for months and then at some point, I buy. With Dame Darcy’s Mermaid Tarot, it went from “I’ve never heard of it” to clicking “Add to Cart” in, like, I think less than an hour.

The above photo shows what I got with my purchase order. Two extra cards came–an extra Ace of Cups and an extra Wheel of Fortune, which is why they’re set off to the side like that. More on that later. No box, but that’s totally okay with me. I love the black velveteen drawstring bag. It’s even got a sailor’s anchor on it, going with the theme. *Love*

As she noted in her review of the deck, Kelly-Ann of The Four Queens got a stunning handwritten, hand-drawn page with a vegetarian recipe while Elora Tarot got one on seed sprouting, so that kind of got me excited about the prospect of a freebie, but alas, I guess the freebies only go to the VIP. I, however, non-VIP that I am, got no handwritten, hand-drawn page. Aww. Shucks.

Continue reading “Dame Darcy’s Mermaid Tarot Deck Review” →

Visiting North Atlantic Books

On By benebellIn Holistic Tarot (book), personal, promotional6 Comments

2014.12.03 At NAB - All Pics

I had a ton of fun yesterday meeting with all the editors and staff at North Atlantic Books. Love reading (tarot reading) for creative folks. As a tarot practitioner, you really can feel the difference. The air and general vibes have this pulse of energy you just don’t get in any other reading venue. There’s me with the lead editor behind Holistic Tarot, Leslie.

Everyone at NAB needs to be thanked, however. Authors always get all the credit for a book, but based on what I’ve witnessed over the last year, me writing the book was the easiest part of it all! What these people do to take my submitted manuscript and transform it into what you see above–and what you’ll be buying, I hope–is truly a miracle of birth. Except, really, it’s no “miracle,” like some sort of divine intervention. (Sorry, Divine!) It was a ton of brute hard work, human effort, picking away at details, editing and editing again… and editing again… and layer after layer of very personalized attention from each and every single person who laid hands on this manuscript. The one Divine part was connecting my book to North Atlantic Books. Everything else was a lot, a lot of love and labor.

Okay. That’s enough sap for one day.

I Ching Divinations in the Month of December for a Twitter Follow

On By benebellIn divination, I Ching3 Comments

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For the month of December, 2014, ending right before New Year’s Eve, I am offering I Ching divinations in exchange for following me on Twitter.

Okay come on. That’s like basically free, people. And if you’re already following me on Twitter, then it is free. Just let me know!

These are not full readings, by the way, and you will be meeting me half-way in terms of work. Let me explain.

I’ve been tackling my own translation and annotations of the I Ching so that I no longer need to work off any of the current English translations. So that’s what I’ll be using for these divinations–my own work product.

To get your I Ching divination from me, here’s what you have to do:

Continue reading “I Ching Divinations in the Month of December for a Twitter Follow” →

A Review of the Radiant Rider-Waite Tarot

On By benebellIn cartomancy, deck review, tarot20 Comments

01 Radiant Rider Waite deck

The Radiant Rider-Waite Tarot is aptly named. The colors are brighter and there is a wholly modern feel to this deck. The deck is laminated, glossy, and is printed on relatively sturdy cardstock. Holding the box, there’s a cheery vibration I get from it. The deck has a lot of great energy to offer a tarot practitioner.

I purchased the Radiant Rider-Waite because it comes highly recommended by some of the most acclaimed tarot professionals of this decade. I was looking for a professional tarot reading deck in the RWS tradition, one that would strictly be a Rider-Waite-Smith clone. I’ve started to get antsy about having too many random folk fondle with my original Rider Waite deck and my Golden Universal has been getting a lot of mileage, wear and tear as well. So I need a new professional reading deck I can use and let people play around with.

I was really, really hoping the Radiant Rider-Waite would be it.

Unfortunately, no.

02 Cartoony

Why not? It has nothing to do with the artwork, by the way. The artwork by itself is lovely. Compared to the original art by Pamela Colman Smith, this version, which are updated, vibrant recreations of Smith’s art by Virginjus Poshkus are superb. Poshkus thinned out the harsh black outlines from the Smith deck, added subtle shading, and recolored the deck so that now the images pop. There’s a bright, positive energy here, and I can see how it’s a great energy for young beginners in the RWS tradition to be working with. (And I do mean young beginners. I’m doubtful how well received this deck would be to mature beginners.)

03 Vivid

See, there’s also a cartoony vibe going on that I’m not sure works for me in a reading deck. The cartoonish renderings are distracting to me. Yes, Smith’s art isn’t fantastic, but the original RWS serves its purpose. The two-dimensional imagery in the original RWS and austere lines help me tap into my intuition. The vibrant cartoons in the Radiant Rider-Waite? Not so much.

Continue reading “A Review of the Radiant Rider-Waite Tarot” →

Chatting with Kate from Daily Tarot Girl

On By benebellIn Holistic Tarot (book), personal, tarot1 Comment

How do you not adore Kate from Daily Tarot Girl? She’s the author of The Ultimate Tarot Journal, which is a comprehensive tarot journal that is indispensable to anyone who is just starting out in activating their intuitive juices. Outside of tarot, she has many different talents and all sorts of knowledge, which is probably why she’s a great life coach.

We chatted for an interview and other than the fact I may have a little too much makeup on and rambled a whole lot, going off on tangents that now in retrospect make no sense, I had a lot of fun. This was my first video interview for Holistic Tarot and I hope the rough-around-the-edges-vibe (from me, not her– oh goodness, Kate was all professional and graceful and stuff) isn’t too off-putting.

She and I talked about first getting into tarot, our approaches to tarot, and the misunderstandings about tarot we both face. I also plugged my book, of course, and we talk about what inspired me to write it. (Actually, I don’t think I really answered her question… that turned into one of those tangents… so sorry…!)

If you’re looking for a professional tarot reading, I highly recommend contacting Kate. Just watch her weekly card readings to get a great sense of her style.