In Focus Tarot: Your Personal Guide by Stephen Bright

I’ve recently developed an interest in tarot reading, so I’m pretty much an absolute beginner. The tarot, as I discovered early on, can be beyond baffling — so many different decks, so many different interpretations — so I turned to Stephen Bright’s guide with particular interest.

It’s difficult to give a complete assessment, because — by the author’s own acknowledgment —  it’s a book to dip in and out of rather than read from beginning to end, which is what I did. Nevertheless, I found it both valuable and fascinating.

It’s very clearly set out in three sections. The first is a general introduction to what tarot is, what it isn’t (that’s important) and introduces the suits. It’s not long, but it’s clear and unfussy. The second section goes through the pack and explains every single one of the cards, and how they might be interpreted in general, in relation to a situation, and with regard to the individual doing the reading. The third covers some ways of setting out the cards (spreads) and how a reader might interpret them.

I’ve dipped into a couple of other books of this nature, and this is by far the most accessible of them. It also avoids the trap of giving so much information, in particular on the different spreads, that it becomes confusing. There’s detail where we need it — on the cards themselves — and useful and relevant examples elsewhere.

All in all, a book I can see myself going back to time and time again.

In Focus Tarot: Your Personal Guide by Stephen Bright

I received a copy of this book in return for an honest review.