How To Deal: Tarot For Everyday Life by Sami Main

After recently listening to the unabridged audio version of The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern earlier this month, I decided to read a tarot book as The Night Circus features tarot/fortune telling throughout the novel.

As a side note, I should add that I've been curious about tarot cards and tarot readings off and on throughout my adult life. Finding the appropriate first tarot book to read for the beginner has been been one issue to contend with for me personally. There are a plethora of tarot books (and tarot decks too!!) on the market and many of them are packed with what seems to be an overwhelming amount of information for those new to tarot. In fact, I was often put off by many of the tarot books I came across as many of them didn't resonate with me even though they were supposed to be books for tarot newbies (too woo woo, too new age, too hokey, too academic, too boring, too confusing, etc,). 

I simply wanted a starter tarot book that would help me understand the very basics of tarot with out being overwhelmed by a ton of information... From there I could expand my knowledge with other tarot books, YouTube videos, and so on.

I feel like I've discovered a really good tarot book for the beginner. I finished reading How To Deal: Tarot For Everyday Life by Sami Main and illustrated Marisa de la Pena this past Saturday.

What did I like about How To Deal: Tarot For Everyday Life by Sami Main?

* It's a very quick, easy and straight forward book to read!!
* It includes a table of contents and short introduction.
* It contains a positive message contained throughout the entire book.
* I loved the layout of this book and how it is divided up so that each section focuses on each of the four suits in tarot and then followed by a section covering the major arcana.
* I also enjoyed learning about the meaning  of each of the 78 cards in a tarot deck in an easy to digest single paragraph. Each paragraph gave me the overall meaning of each card's meaning distilled down to its essence.
* At the end of each section covered in the book there is a short section of questions to test your knowledge and help you better understand what you've read.
* The last section of the book covers how to do tarot readings, plus explains 8 different types of tarot layouts, and when to do each of the layouts for specific types of readings. 
* The entire books was straight forward and I can't emphasize this point enough.

What were the cons for How To Deal: Tarot For Everyday Life by Sami Main?

* It's not for the experienced tarot enthusiast.
* It isn't for the person who wants an in depth book about tarot.
* It doesn't cover reversals.
* It probably doesn't dig down deep into the entire meaning of each tarot card. But it does seem to distill the basic meaning of each card, which is essentially what I was and still am looking for at this time. I figure that I can always purchase and read another more detailed tarot book in the future once I have mastered the basics of tarot.

Another side note, How To Deal: Tarot For Everyday Life by Sami Main was published in 2018. I didn't realize at the time I purchased this book that it fell into the teen/young adult genre! I had pretty much assumed that all tarot books were written for adults and solely found in the tarot/divination/occult genre category - not the teen/young adult section.

Below is the publisher's summary I found on Amazon's website:

If you want to channel the power of the cosmos through tarot, this accessible and practical guide is for you. Written for novices and seasoned readers alike, How to Deal is packed with artwork and includes prompts, exercises, and layouts to give you the answers you're looking for.

Sometimes you just need the universe to tell you whether your crush likes you or how to handle that awkward family situation or which life path is the best one for you. Sami Main breaks down how the cards relate to one another, explaining spreads for future readings and questions to ask the cards. And she takes you through all the Major and Minor Arcana, with colorful illustrations of the cards and detailed descriptions of what they mean.

As Sami will teach you: The cards are here to guide you through life’s ups and downs—you just have to understand what they’re trying to say.

I am giving How To Deal: Tarot For Everyday Life by Sami Main a rating of 5 stars out of 5 stars.

Until my next post, happy reading!!