Sami Main

I use tarot for reflection and introspection instead of prediction or tapping into the spirit of the universe, and as such, I'm always curious to explore new or interesting archetypal aspects of the cards. To that end, I thought How to Deal did a fairly good job of presenting some more modern facets of the cards in a very simple and easy-to-remember way.

It doesn't touch on upright and reversed meanings, and some of the Major Arcana felt a little vague—which makes sense, considering they depict significant and nuanced elements of life, not easy to capture in a short cheery paragraph. In fact, a lack of nuance characterizes all the card descriptions, but in the Minor Arcana, that simplicity invites the reader to note patterns across the suits and ponder each court card as a person in their life.

I haven't tried any of the spreads yet, but the instructions Main offers on how to "get your space into the tarot mood" were encouraging and appealing. I'm usually pretty utilitarian in my spreads—I have fond memories of laying them on the reference desk during slow winter days—but maybe I'll try the scarf and candle approach next time.… (more)