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Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom: A Book of Tarot

Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom: A Book of TarotAuthor: Rachel Pollack
Publisher: Weiser Books
Category: Book

List Price: $19.95
Buy Used: $11.86
as of 3/10/2010 15:14 PST details
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Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars 59 reviews
Sales Rank: 10920

Media: Paperback
Pages: 368
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 8.5 x 5.3 x 1

ISBN: 1578634083
Dewey Decimal Number: 133
EAN: 9781578634088
ASIN: 1578634083

Publication Date: September 1, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days

Also Available In:

  • Hardcover - Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom: A Book of Tarot (Part 1)
  • Hardcover - Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom II: The Minor Arcana and Readings
  • Paperback - Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom
  • Paperback - Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom: A Book of Tarot, Part 1: The Major Arcana

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Editorial Reviews:

Product Description
A top tarotist's secrets to personal growth, one card at a time.

The two volumes of Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom have inspired a whole generation of tarot students. It has often been described by readers, booksellers, and teachers as the "Bible of tarot readers." It is also often cited as one of the landmark books in modern tarot, and it helped to launch the "Tarot Renaissance" of the 1980s. The two texts-one for The Major Arcana and one for The Minor Arcana--appear together in this volume, which is a reissue of the 1998 edition first published by Thorsons.

Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom draws on mythology and esoteric traditions and delves deeply into the symbolism and ideas of each card. It also gives the cards a modern psychological slant based on the pictures rather than a system of occult symbolism. This endlessly useful reference tool provides a concise history of tarot, introduces common spreads, and is a clear and readable book for both the beginning and advanced tarot student.

* Author is one of the most highly regarded tarotists in the world.
* The Major Arcana and The Minor Arcana brought together in one volume.


Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 59
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3 out of 5 stars If you have insomnia read this book   February 24, 2010
Skye (Ohio)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful

This book is not a total waste of money,there's alot to be gleened from it...if you can stay awake.Maybe it's her going on and on in lenghty PhD language,not enough laymans terms.If you have trouble falling asleep at night-I recommend Rachel Pollack's "78 Degrees of Wisdom"or the "Bible".


5 out of 5 stars Tarot Pocket Reference   February 5, 2010
Marla (Illinois)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

This book, part 1, covers the major arcana. Part 2 covers the minor arcana and some spreads. There is now an updated version that comprises a single volume. I had bought and read the set a number of years ago and bought this to replace the part that I misplaced. I'm rereading it now and think it's a great treatment of the topic. It's very thorough in a small space; going into some depth, but obviously not exhaustive. I read it as a relative novice, and am rereading it as a relative expert. It's based on the Rider-Waite deck, with some references to other decks.


1 out of 5 stars Boring Dissertation   August 8, 2009
Harper (Boston, MA)
5 out of 11 found this review helpful

This book reminds me of the saying "If it takes a lot of words to say what you have in mind, give it more thought."

This is probably the most exhausting, boring, unhelpful tarot book I've ever read. It's like reading someone's dry PhD dissertation. It this had been my intro to tarot, I would have been turned off totally from by it and never continued with the adventure. Tarot is about intuition. I don't need someone trying to make esoteric connections to every possible item or image encountered. Geesh! Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. There is way too much extraneous verbage to sort thru before you found the "wisdom" this book.



5 out of 5 stars This is a great book, loaded with meaningful insights!   July 2, 2009
Erik Weaver (Springfield, MO USA)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful

I have thoroughly enjoyed this book, and I refer back to it often. Naturally it provides a "meaning" for each card --including reversals-- but what I have found to be much more useful is the analysis given for each card. The background and exploration of meanings behind and related to the Major Arcana is especially deep. I highly recommend this book.


5 out of 5 stars Wonderful!   May 27, 2009
Mariner Blake (Washington)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

As someone who is just coming back into Tarot, I felt I needed a firmer grasp on the meanings behind the cards. Something beyond the simple "Book in hand A, cards in hand B," read out the meanings, repeat. I felt this text was much easier for me to digest because I had previous history reading cards, but might have been more challenging to digest if a complete newcomer.

It gives a fascinating insight to the symbolism and (possible) history behind the creation of the Rider-Waite deck. It is thorough, interesting, and above all an entertaining read. If there are any problems, it would be a lack of ease in locating the definitions. Some of them (particularly the Majors) are pages long, and if you're flipping through the book while doing a reading you will be hard pressed to come up with the cards keywords.

This book is much better as a background study, to help you enhance your knowledge of the cards and cement their symbolism into your mind. Being the first book I've read on Tarot outside of the little white books included in my decks, this is an encouraging first volume for my study.


Showing reviews 1-5 of 59
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