Tarot Foundations: 31 Days to Read Tarot With Confidence

By: Brigit Esselmont

Review by: Misha

     I love Biddy Tarot, it was the main site that I always referred to when I was starting out. Brigit Esselmont is direct and to the point with all of her tarot knowledge. I was honored to have received an email from her asking me to consider reviewing her latest ebook Tarot Foundations: 31 Days to Read Tarot With Confidence. I am even more excited to be arranging her to appear as a guest on my internet tv show Universal Sight. Not being too tech savy however I was not sure I would be able to do a review for her as I am an old fashion gal that enjoys having book in hand. I have never had an interest in owning a kindle or any other computerized way of owning and reading a book. For those like me you will be happy to know that the expense of a new gadget is not needed. All you have to have on your computer is the free adobe program and this wonderful ebook for learning tarot can be enjoyed by you as well.

      This is really done in 31 days and you do not even start working with a deck at all until the 3^rd day. Brigit writes this in a way that allows one to decide what way works for them. Tarot is a diverse tool, there is no “one way” to do anything and Brigit shows that repeatedly through her book. She even gives different ways of how cleansing your deck can be done, so that one knows there isn’t a “right” way of doing anything when it comes to tarot. Every aspect of tarot is about what works for you, from which deck to use, meanings, spreads and doing readings.

      Tarot is not about memorizing some card meanings or keywords; there is an intuitive way of reading as well as the rational way. You get to try it both ways so that you are able to see firsthand what works for you.. The importance of keeping a tarot journal is explained and is one of the activities you will be doing. You will learn how to do a tarot journal, and for beginners this is a very important and helpful thing to do.

     There are lots of other things that a reader can learn that they can use when doing a reading; numerology is the one that is discussed in this book. Specific meanings are not given, the general meaning of each suit is given and a numerological meaning is given. You will do an activity in which you will use both of these principals to be able to create your own keywords. In tarot symbols are very important and this is also discussed as well.

      Besides learning all about the importance of a journal, you also are taught how to make your own keyword charts. You are also encouraged to use other outside resources, and not only Tarot Foundations and your deck.

      Tarot is something that you never stop learning about, there is always something new to learn. One can continue learning new things their entire life or stop with the basics, the choice is yours. Tarot Foundations can be done in 31 days, like it’s title, or you may take less or more days then that. This is done so that each exercise is done in a day, you may take longer or less then a day working at your own pace. I would never suggest that anyone rush through it though especially just for the sake of hurrying up in order to start charging.

        This is a wonderful book and I wish it was out years ago for myself to use. There are things in it that I personally do not agree with such as suggested decks to use and timing. I feel that some of the deck suggestions given are not appropriate for a beginner to use. Some of them do not follow the traditional Rider Waite at all and would be very confusing for someone just starting out and are using Brigit’s Tarot Foundation as their learning book. As far as timing goes that is something that is not structured and also has more then one way it can be done. For some reason Brigit deviates from her way of teaching when it comes to timing. Throughout the entire learning process you are taught so that you develop what works for you, except for timing. Brigit explains timing in one structured way, which actually does differ from my own. Timing can be done a multitude of ways and is another aspect of tarot in which each reader finds what works for them and for some reason this was not done and actually is what surprised me the most.

        This is a wonderful 5 chapter book for someone just starting to learn tarot and I highly recommend it. I also want to add that you should not rush out and buy your first tarot deck until you have purchased Tarot Foundations: 31 Days to Read Tarot With Confidence. Remember, I stated that you do not start to work with a deck until day 3 and the reason is because picking the right deck for you is discussed. This book will answer all those questions one always has about choosing their deck and if it’s ok to purchase it themselves. I found this self published work to be as professional as any that are done by a publishing company. The added plus is that it is in color and uses Rider Waite images. If you are like me and cringe at the thought of making charts Brigit explains it and how to do it so that it is easy to follow and do yourself. All the activities discussed and explained are very helpful when learning how to read tarot. I can’t recommend Tarot Foundations enough.

Click here to visit Biddy Tarot and purchase your copy of Tarot Foundations: 31 Days to Read Tarot With Confidence.

Filed under: All Articles, Tarot Book Reviews by Misha