Wolf Child Magick
Wolf Child Magick is here to help you realign with your strength and spirit through the use of tarot as an ally. Through practicing magick and witchcraft as a powerful voice/ritual of self that will help you to reclaim the wild within. These episodes explore tarot / oracle cards and witchcraft as a journey back to self-empowerment.
Wolf Child Magick
Book Review: The Modern Witchcraft Book of Tarot (A Complete Guide to Understanding the Tarot) by Skye Alexander
In this episode, I will provide an honest review of the book The Modern Witchcraft Book of Tarot by Skye Alexander. My review will assess the strengths and weaknesses of this book, and I will share my thoughts on whether it is a valuable resource to have in your collection, particularly for beginner readers.
This book was published on 05/09/2017. It is a 288-page hardcover book. On Goodreads this book has a rating of 4.17 with over 1200, and over 101 reviews.
Main topics of this episode:
- The breakdown of the book, including the chapters I like the most: "The Language of Symbols," and "Doing Tarot Readings."
- A deeper look into the tarot information (using the Devil tarot card), and highlighting some issues I have with narratives that pigeon-hole the tarot.
- A quick look at the tarot spreads and spells provided in this book, and if they will be helpful for beginners.
- What I like the most about this book, and what I dislike most about this book.
- I give this book a rating of 3 out of 5. Can find on Goodreads.
Check out the blog post for pictures of the book layout and spreads. Want to learn tarot with personalized guidance? Book a Tarot Ally session through the link in the show notes.
Two featured songs are: Untamed by Ludlow and One Day by Ten Towers
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Contact me:
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Hello and welcome to the Wolfchild Magic Podcast. My name is Ashley, your tarot reader, mountain witch and overall wolfchild, and I thank you for being here with me today. In today's episode, I am going to be doing a book review. I have not done a book review in so long it has been forever and I'm starting to forget things that I wanted to talk about with books that I have read last year, maybe even a year and a half ago. So I'm working to get caught up on reviews for both decks tarot and oracle and books. One of the reasons that I want to do more of these reviews is because I want to give you my honest opinion on if this is something that you need as a tool or as a resource in your personal collection.
Speaker 1:I've been reading tarot for almost a decade, but from a very early spot in my practice, I leaned or learned how to not lean into just the guidebooks or into just you know, tarot books Like. I definitely had them and I used them and I loved the ones that I had. But I also found and formed a very intuitive connection to the craft and to this very special tool that we're going to be talking about today Some of the books that I have in my collection now, I feel that they can bring forward some limitations. Limitations and that's why I want to do some of these reviews is to show you some things that are going to be very standout and helpful or might put you in a pitfall that you weren't even aware of dives. At the heart of everything, I should say, is this desire for you to learn how to trust your intuition more than anything when you use any sort of divination tool and just our living life. Really, I want you to learn how to come home to your wild spirit and trust that what you're receiving is true, it's aligned, it's authentic, it's honest, and so that is what I'm going to be looking at when I do all of these reviews. Is this going to be something that comes in as a secondary resource that's going to be supportive to your intuition, or is this going to be something that might create a pitfall or might be a speed bump that you have to just at least consider Again? At the end of the day, whatever resource or tool you bring in, that choice is yours to make. This is just my honest opinion.
Speaker 1:Before we get into the episode, though, I just want to do my housekeeping. In the show notes you will find a blog post that also has pretty much the same information, but I'm going to be including pictures from this book so you can see the layout. You can see if this is a book you would like you know, with a beautiful hard cover, with a very bright, vibrant cover, the way that it's, you know, formatted and stuff, the way that the spreads are. I'm going to be showing some of that on the blog so you can go to that and look. I will also have a Google spreadsheet. I'm going to create this because one it's going to help me keep track of what reviews I have done on this podcast and on my blog for decks and books and what ones I still need to do, because my collection is bulky, let's say so. The Google spreadsheet helps me stay in order, but it's also going to be a quick reference for you to see my thoughts in a very simplistic, laid out, formatted form, and that way you can again just form your own opinion.
Speaker 1:I am also going to do a plug for a service that I offer, that if you are looking to learn tarot and you want a mentor, you want an ally, you want someone that's going to hold you accountable, but also be supportive and help you through the process. I do have that service on my website and that is listed in the show notes as Tarot Ally. Finally, I do have the author's website and a reference to Goodreads, so all of that is listed there for you to go and find this information. I just like my reviews and everything I bring here to be thorough so that I kind of do that work for you. And the last thing if you like this episode any episode that I have done please consider leaving me a rating or a review. It is the best way for this podcast to grow, because you're telling the algorithm you like it and so the algorithm is going to push me and the Wolf Child Magic podcast out to more people. It's so appreciated. Thank you so much. I do also have in-song tracks for this episode today instead of a background track, so check the chapter markers and see if you really want to listen to it or if you want to skip it. So let's go ahead and get into this review Now.
Speaker 1:The book title is the episode title as well, but the book is the Modern Witchcraft Book of Tarot your Complete Guide to Understanding the Tarot, written by Skye Alexander. I first read this book between February and March of 2024. I was given this book and a whole bundle of books as a gift for Christmas that are very similar, like the Wheel of the Year, the Book of Witchcraft, it has like love spells. There were so many books I think it was 10 books and this was one of them so I read it pretty shortly after I received it as a Christmas present and that's why I want to get these reviews out, because some of these books I've been sitting on for years and I haven't discussed them and I really want to.
Speaker 1:I'm also on the hunt now to find the two books that I learned on. One of them was also by Skye Alexander. It was titled the Only Tarot Book you Need. I'm going to hunt that down and do a review. And the other one I cannot remember the name and I don't even know why I tossed them For some reason. Sometimes I get in a very purge mode and I don't even know why I toss them. For some reason. Sometimes I get in a very purge mode and I just start throwing shit away and Grizzly's always like you're gonna want that, like I know you, and I'm like no, I'm not, it's fine, I just I'm, I'm, I'm done with it, and then I get to a point where I want it. So I'm gonna try to hunt those two books down.
Speaker 1:But the way that I'm gonna break this review down today is give you some basic information about the book and the author. I'm going to break down one of the tarot bios, kind of go through the information with you and we will get my thoughts. I'm going to talk about the chapters I liked, the spreads and the spells that are included in this book, basically what I like the most, what I don't like and then just my overall thoughts, takeaways, a rating and just tell you if this is something that I think you need again as a resource on on your bookshelf and in your collection. So, getting into just some of the basic information here, the title of the book is the Modern Witchcraft Book of Tarot your Complete Guide to Understanding the Tarot, written by Skye Alexander From Goodreads. It says that the genres for this book are witchcraft, tarot, nonfiction, spirituality, occult wicca, magic, magic reference and divination. It is 288 pages, it is a hardcover book and it was published May 9th of 2017.
Speaker 1:Some information on the author, skye Alexander, it says from her website that she is the author of more than 50 fiction and non-fiction books, many on metaphysical subjects, magic, mythology and holistic health. She also writes the Lizzie Crane Historical Mystery Series. Her stories have been published in anthologies internationally and her work has been translated into more than a dozen languages. In addition to writing, skye is an astrologer, tarot reader, feng shui practitioner and artist. She lives in Texas with her black manx cad, zoe, and when you scroll down you see Zoe, who is obviously very adorable. It goes on to say. The Discovery Channel featured her doing a ritual at Stonehenge for the TV special Secret Stonehenge, and she is a frequent guest on radio shows, podcasts, telesummits and online programs. She's been interviewed by dozens of publications, ranging from Better Homes and Gardens to USA Today to Playboy. She has so many books out there.
Speaker 1:Like I said, one of the very first books I ever read on tarot was a very small kind of compact book titled the Only Tarot Book You'll Ever Need, and it was written by her. I have read this one, and then I just finished another one a couple of days ago that was titled the Modern Witchcraft. What was it titled? The Modern Guide to Witchcraft your Complete Guide to Witches, covens and Spells, and I will be doing a review on that at some point. So she definitely has a foothold in the metaphysical community with her prolificness, her titles, her many, many books. As for this book, I couldn't find a ton of reviews outside of Goodreads and on Goodreads. I should also say that her rating for this book is 4.17, so not bad. There are 1,267 ratings and 101 reviews, so not bad, and she does have some good reviews on Goodreads. But I couldn't find any professional like statements about the book. You know, sometimes you'll see those on the back or on dust jackets. Couldn't find anything like that, but she definitely does have a pretty solid rating on Goodreads.
Speaker 1:The breakdown of the book goes into different parts. There is an introduction and then part one is getting to know the tarot. So the chapters are going to be a little bit about oracles, which is chapter one, the origins of tarot, the language of symbols, which we'll get into because it was one of my favorite chapters. And then chapter four is numerology and the tarot, and then chapter five is using the tarot. So part two opens us into chapter six, which goes all into w wands, and then the suit of cups, the suit of pentacles, the suit of swords, and then finally, chapter 10 is the major arcana. Part three is reading the cards like doing tarot readings. This was another really good chapter. And then she gives 12 tarot spreads and then the last uh section of the book is love spells, prosperity and abundance spells, spells for success, miscellaneous spells and then finally taking the next steps. So the final part of this book is all about using tarot in ways not related to specific tarot readings.
Speaker 2:Bright old train to be tamed. Nature gave a new name Source to nurture the world. Ready, sing a new tune. The rain of it all won't get me down, down, fall. There I stand and set free With my head. She makes me happy. Tell me secrets, power of words, tell me stories, legends, legends before ones who ran with the wolves broke free, free from all ropes, fair or straight. The one who can't be contained can't be contained. Wildness, I'm starting to breathe Wind in my face, sweet essence of peace. Wildness, while the stars are set free.
Speaker 1:And in my head, the essence of me, thank you. I want to talk about the tarot information because this is going to be the bulk of this book. The book is about how to read the tarot. First and foremost, it's great to have spreads, it's great to have some spells and how you can incorporate your tarot cards, but the bulk of this book is meant to be about how do you read the tarot. The tarot card that I'm going to use is going to be the devil, because I just did the deep dive on the devil on both my podcast and my blog. So if you want to also kind of cross reference with information that I give, it's kind of right there. You don't have to go digging into the archives. It also came up on my TikTok tarot poll. If you're on TikTok, come and find me. I do a poll every Monday, so he's just been coming up a lot.
Speaker 1:I thought it was a good way to just continue with his narrative for this month. The first thing that we see when you go to the blog post you will see the picture, but the first thing I see is the devil 15, and then keywords indulgence, fear, materialism or egotism. I do like that. She gives keywords. Keywords are going to be a very straightforward and concrete way to start building some connections to the tarot cards. I just personally don't like these keywords for the devil. The devil is often talked about I go into this in the deep dive but the devil is often talked about in ways that just make people fear him. It they like. When he comes forward, people are just like I don't want to work with him because it's all about obsession and indulgence, and he's really not. He's actually a great, beautiful card to work with. So I don't like these particular keywords, but I do like that they are given for each and every tarot card. I think that's going to be helpful for especially newbie, beginner readers.
Speaker 1:It goes on to say, many decks picture a medieval christian type devil complete with horns, hooves, a hairy tail and a pitchfork. The rider wait smith deck shows two small human like figures at the devil's feet, one male and one female, with chains around their neck that represent bondage to the material realm. Notice, the chains are loose, though, and the people could easily slip them off. Suggesting this card is about self-imposed limitations. I do like that, and I also like that she's speaking to the image in the card, because to me as an intuitive reader. That's one of the first downloads or forms of connection that you build to the tarot when reading intuitively is not a guidebook or a book, but what do you see in the image? So I like that she brought that in.
Speaker 1:And it goes on to say when you think of the devil, what comes to your mind. And it goes on to say, when you think of the devil, what comes to your mind, consummate evil, a mythical creature, a symbol of human indulgence, ignorance, egotism, greed or irresponsibility. I think of the devil as the obsession card. Again, I don't really love that language, that narrative, but from the keywords that's kind of what we were expecting, the kind of narrative we were expecting and the tone. There's a little snippet section that says the horned god the devil appears to be one of the more alarming cards of the major arcana. However, he does not represent satanic forces or evil, correct, he does not. That goatish guy is paganism's horned god Pan, connected to the fertility rites banned by the Christian church. Therefore, his appearance can indicate a sexual component to your question or concern. We'll talk about some of that language in just a second.
Speaker 1:In the Thoth tarot, crowley's devil is clearly phallic. It is when you look at the image, it is just straight up male genitalia. So there's that. The Thoth tarot deck is wild and weird. I will never have that deck because I'm not a huge Crowley fan for so many reasons, but also that deck is just weird as shit.
Speaker 1:Moving on, though, to the upright depiction or interpretation of the devil, it says when the devil shows up in a reading, he recommends re-evaluating your relationship to people and material things that keep you chained. I like that. It's time to let go of old fears, hang-ups, inhibitions and ways you manipulate others to satisfy your needs. That sentence started so so beautifully, ended so wrong. And then finally, it says says the devil tells you to figure out what's true and what's false, at least for you. I like that. I have to say, for a tarot interpretation on the devil, that actually wasn't terrible.
Speaker 1:So many times, so many guidebooks, so many resources and other tarot books will talk about any of the charged cards of the tarot, like the devil, the ten of swords, the tower. They just put such a negative, fearful invitation or such a negative and fearful narrative that it's easy to see why brand new readers don't ever want to work with these cards because of the way they're written. I always try to make sure when I'm talking about any single card in the tarot, doesn't matter that we remove that potential feeling or that potential narrative that just leads into negative, because every single card within a tarot deck has gifts, it has value, it has ways to help you. We just need to figure out how to sit with those cards or how to work with them in ways that work with us. So this wasn't terrible, but I will say some of the language in here still kind of rubbed me the wrong way, and here's why I will first say I do understand where we can't speak or talk or write about the tarot. That includes every single situation for every single type of person, from every walk, a lot from every walk of life. That includes all these different, different scenarios. We can't do that. That's just not going to happen. We would never be done writing on the fool if we were to do that.
Speaker 1:However, what this, what this book does, that I just I don't like because I don't think it's helpful is. It then goes the exact other way and it pigeonholes these tarot cards into such specifics that make it not helpful for especially newbie readers to see how this tarot card is going to apply to many different types of people from many different walks of life. I don't like when people talk or write about the tarot in a way where it's predictive of emotions or actions or behaviors or patterns or things that we do. I don't like that because, again, I don't find that helpful. And it even says here.
Speaker 1:So, at the very beginning of this sentence, it says it's time to let go of old fears, hang-ups, inhibitions. That's great, because that is not a specific thing. My old fears that I'm carrying around might be fear of failure, yours might be rejection, some other people's might be, you know, being alone, I don't know, but everyone has fears, everyone has a shadow, everyone has things that they need to integrate back into wholeness, which the devil does speak to. So that's not specific. That's very broad, but it's very personal because this is a very human experience that we all have to face these things. It gets very personal and very specific, though, when it goes on to say in ways you manipulate others to satisfy your needs, that is so specific, that is too specific. Your needs, that is so specific. That is too specific.
Speaker 1:Because if a brand new reader was reading this and taking this as gospel. First of all, please don't do that. Be willing to question every resource, every person you listen to, including me, like. Be willing to question what they're saying and listen to your intuition first. But if someone were to take this at face value and they sit down with someone who doesn't do this because there are people who don't manipulate for their own wants and needs how are they then going to read the devil card to this person? It pigeonholes especially newbie readers, but it pigeonholes readings to the fact that they must fit into manipulation of others and that's just simply not true. I do understand that that is a very fine line to walk, because we don't want to be so broad that we're not being helpful. But we're also being not helpful when we're so specific either. In my personal opinion again, this is just me but I feel that it's better to be more broad but still helpful, because broad means we can take it like a kite string and kind of pull it down, funnel it into our own specific situation, instead of trying to put the square peg in the round hole. Does that make sense? I feel that when we're too specific, it doesn't leave room. When we're too specific, it doesn't leave room. It doesn't leave breathing room for the tarot to be adaptive or expand or fit and wrap around a certain person in a way that works for them.
Speaker 1:In this section or this tarot bio on the devil, and with every single tarot card in this book, it will then give you how to read this card in relation to money, work and love. Those are some of the main focal points in a person's life. So that is nice. I will just again caution that some of these get very, very specific, almost too specific, like in the reading about love. It says the devil asks is an abusive, obsessive or harmful relationship adversely affecting your life? Sexual desire may cause you to overlook character flaws in a partner. Self-inflicted bondage is preventing you from moving ahead. Just again, so very clearly specific, when that's not going to be the case for so many people, like for me. If someone read the devil card for me in that way, I would be really upset because I have a very beautiful relationship with my partner. No way is that applicable to my certain situation, and that's just where, again, it gets very pigeonholed.
Speaker 1:It then goes on to have a quote and I will say there's so many quotes in this book, but I really like them. I think they're wonderful. I think that they're good because quotes speak to very complex things in very simple ways. That's why we love quotes and we love them on bumper stickers or on our Pinterest boards because they're able to do that. So I liked the choice of quotes here, and even how many they were. I didn't find it redundant. I actually found it to be kind of refreshing to have that in the book. So that was one of my personal favorite things in this book were the quotes.
Speaker 1:I will then say that the reverse section is nice. It's nice to include a way to read the cards in reversal, because some people may never want to read reversed and they just don't have to read that section of the book or of that bio, but it's nice to have in case people do want that. Again, I would just highly caution to look at how specific it is and see where we can take it out of that specific nature and have it be more applicable to more types of readings. In relation to the type of tarot information that you're getting, it wasn't terrible, but again, it wasn't the best I've ever seen. I will say, though, to be fair, that many, many guidebooks and other tarot books do this. They're trying to be so specific, to be helpful, that I just again feel like it ends up really pigeonholing and really funneling the narrative into one very specific place with not a lot of room to see how this type of card can apply to different people from different situations.
Speaker 1:Moving on to some of the other parts in this book, I will say chapter three, the language of symbols, was one that I thought was really good.
Speaker 1:This is a chapter that spoke to me because when I am doing readings, even 10 years later, when I am doing readings for people, when I first pull a card over I will look at what type of symbols are in that card, or I will point those symbols out to my client and tell them that this card has a bunch of wings in it or that this card plus this card has a lot of moons in it. So that shows that there's a need to step into liminal or into dream, into magic, into the feminine. So this was a really good chapter because it has charts, it has um ways to read the colors, it has ways to read the suit tokens like the pentacle, the cup goes into very famous suit tokens like excalibur or the holy grail. So I felt that this was a really good chapter to engage with how to read the symbols in a tarot reading, because that is definitely going to enhance your overall understanding of each and every tarot card, but it's going to allow you to give better readings for yourself or for other people.
Speaker 3:Thank you, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh. I'm here, waiting Till the fall. We're all fading, after all, in a forest We'll never see, we'll be sleeping, sleeping, oh. One day, all the loss will not become your way, all your pain Fade to memory. One day, I'm going to be alone. Thank you, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh. It's a day, so let's go back. Whatever we find in there, we'll be in touch. Darning rivers, fearsome clouds Can't hurt us. We wait now. One day, all the love Some of it Come your way. All your pain Fade to memory. One day, I'll say the same thing to them. One day, thank you. One day, all the love will somehow become your way. All your pain will fade to memory. One day.
Speaker 1:The other chapter that I really liked in this book and I will say I haven't seen as many books include some of this information was chapter 11, doing Tarot Readings. So this is where she talks about basically how to approach a tarot reading to get the best possible outcome, not just for yourself but for another person, and I like the way she approached this. So at the very beginning it says the importance of attitude in a tarot reading. Many factors affect the accuracy and clarity of a tarot reading your state of mind, as well as that of the person being read, for if you're reading for someone else will profoundly influence the reading. This is so, so true and I love that she brought this in, because when we are doing readings, we have the ability to say you know, I actually don't feel like we're in the best space together to sit in a reading. Maybe we'll revisit this in a week when we've had some breathing room. Like it's totally fine to say things like that to your clients If they're scheduling a reading, you know, and you see that some things are really off. You may want to have some grounding options or some things that you do like some breathing options, so that you kind of come into a more calm space, because she couldn't be more spot on here that when you come to a reading, your state of mind is going to impact the clarity and the profoundness of the reading, perhaps more than anything else. Are you willing to give or receive honest information that may not be something you want to hear. If you're not ready for that, then don't sit in a tarot reading. It's just that simple, you know. Wait till you are ready, if you are ever ready. I also love that she had a section in here on the shelf life of a reading. I thought that was really good because when we do readings it's important to maybe kind of see if it's just our daily poll we may not be as connective, but it's. If it's more like a next three months, you know. So I like that she included information like this and I think that is going to be very helpful for brand new readers.
Speaker 1:I found the chapter on tarot spreads to be really good too. We have 12 spreads and they're varied. There's diversity there. I personally like that she brings in just the tried and the trues. I personally like that she brings in just the tried and the trues, like the four card spread. That is situation, obstacle, action, outcome. These are amazing tarot spreads to learn your tarot deck, to learn how to read tarot, because they're straight, they're to the point. I find spreads like this to still be so welcome in my readings today. I tend to not want to do readings where the spreads are like 8, 10, 12 cards. I prefer kind of short and simple where I can really get into the three cards that were chosen. But she does have some longer spreads, so if you do like longer spreads like the Celtic Cross, she has also a Zodiac or a horoscope wheel spread. Excuse me, she has a world tree spread. So she has some good diversity here and again, no matter your expertise, I think that these are going to be good spreads and be helpful for you.
Speaker 1:The chapters on spells were good too. I find that they tend to be pretty straightforward. You don't need a ton of stuff. I have another spell book that I really like, but some of the ingredients that you would need are so weird. Now, most spells you can take and make them you know fit you. You can take them and tailor them to your own specific type of spell casting, but some of the spells in that book are just so out there where these are pretty straightforward. So if you're also looking to maybe get into some spell casting and into some witchcraft, this may be a really good book for you to have them, because then you're getting some tarot information and some basic spells to start. So that's just something to think about.
Speaker 1:I did like these From the ones that I have done. I did, like I said, have to really take and make them my own, because she does talk a lot about multitudes of three. So I don't know if she's Wiccan or just has some Wiccan leanings, or she's not Wiccan and she just believes in, like, the threefold law. Maybe that's the case. I personally don't believe in in that. So a lot of these spells you may just have to tailor to you. But again, that's helpful to see how you intuitively spell cast as well as how you intuitively read the tarot. So that's pretty much the bulk of the information.
Speaker 1:Let's go back through and summarize what I liked, what I didn't like, so that way you can make an informed decision and see if you want to buy this book and have it in your collection. I forgot to mention this, but this book also has a beautiful cover. I know we are not supposed to judge books by covers, but I do. I really do. I know I shouldn't, but I love a beautiful cover. If it has a beautiful cover, I am more inclined to buy it, and I think the cover on this is beautiful. So that is just a little food for thought if you are like me and like beautiful covers.
Speaker 1:The two chapters that I loved the most were the chapters on symbols and how to prepare yourself for doing a tarot reading, getting yourself in the right space headspace, heartspace, bodyspace. I thought that had some great information and I'm glad it was included. The quotes were some of my favorite things in this book. I found the quotes to be refreshing and again, to make connective or energetic threads to those cards that I might not have made just by reading how to read this card. You know what I mean. I found those to be very helpful.
Speaker 1:I will say I also loved the layout that we were given of each tarot bio. I thought it was very thorough. So we have the title of the card, the card that we're speaking on, we have the keywords, we have an introductory paragraph, the upright interpretation, how to read the card in relation to money, work and love and then we might have a quote or like a little snippet of information, like Pan and the horned god that we mentioned with the devil, and then we have the reversal interpretations. I find this to be very easy to digest and I just think, again, it's very thorough and straightforward. That type of layout is going to be helpful when you're doing quick references and you're reading or pulling a card and you want to have a quick kind of glance at a book or something like that. That is going to be helpful.
Speaker 1:The main thing that I did not like about this book was the way the tarot cards were written. Now, to be fair, to highlight where my bias most likely is is the fact that I read this from February to March of last year and I've been reading for almost a decade now, so some of my bias is just that I'm pretty familiar with the tarot cards. Now. I will always be a student of the tarot. I don't believe we are ever done learning, but some of the information in books like this is, and can become tedious, because we've seen many of these narratives through our study and our research over time that it's just not providing anything new. That's why I love the chapters that I mentioned, because they did give me some new things to consider.
Speaker 1:As I mentioned before, I just find such specifics when talking about the tarot can lead to not being able to see where the tarot is adaptive, where it's always evolving, where there's an ebb and there's a flow to it. When we try to put such specifics, we just really funnel it into situations that it may not speak to a lot of people. A lot of people don't manipulate others to get them their wants and needs. It would be like reading the lover's card as romantic love for someone who's telling you they don't have nor want a romantic relationship and the reader just keeps saying, no, you're gonna have a romantic relationship. That's not helpful. It's helpful instead to see where we can take a card like that and apply it to so many different types of people, so many different types of situations. However, I will say that I do understand for some people they want to learn through those specifics and then they gather more resources over time. That kind of builds out into that broader understanding. That's more inclusive, that's a little bit more adaptive. I totally understand that. So if that's the way that you read, that's the way you learn tarot, then you will find this book to be incredibly helpful.
Speaker 1:One final thing I will say that I didn't love. I do recognize that this is kind of silly and petty, maybe. So we do get an image of each tarot card next to each tarot card bio. However, the images are small, they're black and white and they're really grainy. It's hard to see what's going on. I have seen all of these images for so long that I know each and every depictions of the Rider-Waite-Smith, even though I don't own that deck.
Speaker 1:But for someone who's brand new to learning and maybe hasn't invested in a tarot deck yet, I think we either need to just not have the picture or we need to go big and bold with it. If we don't put the picture in, we have more room on the paper for the text. If we do put the picture in, then someone gets to see a big, beautiful image, like when I will do my review on the book Tarot and Tequila, which is a very fun book. Each card has its own page and it's in color and it's on glossy paper. It's not the Rider Waite, it's I don't know the name of that deck. It's very like Mexican inspired. It's a stunning deck. But that's what I really want. I want us to either really honor the tarot images or to just not include them. But to have these very small, grainy images I just don't think is helpful.
Speaker 1:So for my final thoughts, I think that if you are going to bring in any one of Skye Alexander's books in, let it be this one. I think this is the best one that I have read so far. I still need to find the only tarot book you'll ever need, because she did write that one, but I don't remember it having nearly as much information. Again, I read it a long time ago and I have to find a copy. But this one had a lot of good information. Again, there was so much in here that was included and I think that it will be helpful. I would just be cautious and considerate around the narratives that are very specific, that kind of pigeonhole, the card. You can bring them into your practice and into your understanding if you feel that it's helpful. I would still encourage you to broaden your understanding of these cards out to something that is less specific, a little more umbrella and inclusive and encompassing.
Speaker 1:Finding a copy of this book is pretty easy in a very reasonable price point. So when I did a quick search on Google. Some of the copies were around six dollars. Ebay was $6.07. There's another one for 618, 650, 747.
Speaker 1:So a lot of places will have this book for pretty reasonable and that might be a reason alone to bring it into your collection and start to build out your tarot understanding, because you're just bringing these books in. If you do buy it new. Barnes, noble has a copy for $16.99 and then Amazon has one for $10.92. But of course, I will always encourage you to go to your local bookstores, your secondhand shops. These are the best places to buy books. So, overall, I think that this is a good book to have.
Speaker 1:It wasn't one that I got done reading and I was like, well, that book was shit. I've definitely had that experience with other books and I did not have that with this book. So I think it's a good one to have and my final rating for this book is three out of five. So I hope that if you do bring this in, that it is helpful. Again, just maybe be a little cautious over some of the ways the tarot is talked about, but overall, a good tarot book. I would like to, of course, thank my patrons Deb Guy, bobby McDermid, lisa Zimmerman, nicole Smith, tracy Lanham, kim Hartnett, chris Rhee, miranda Snow, colleen Toohey, charlie Ruggles, shannon Konendyke, makai Rose and Danica Favorite. Thank you all so much for your support in me and in Wolf Child Magic, and until next time, dear listener, take care Bye.