tarot without the cards

Paul Fenton-SmithYou don’t necessarily have to have tarot cards to do a tarot reading says Paul Fenton-Smith, author of the newly revised and updated The Tarot Revealed which is published this month:

When The Tarot Revealed was first published in 1995, I gave a friend a copy and she loved it. As she didn’t have a tarot deck, Shelley consulted the book by thinking of a question and tossing it into the air. After catching it, she opened the book at random while thinking of her question. If a card appeared on that page she read the meaning. If the book was upside down when she opened it, she read the reverse meaning for that card.

The Tarot RevealedOver the months I watched her book disintegrate with use, until I couldn’t bear it any longer. For her birthday I gave her another copy of the book, with a tarot deck. Now ten years later, the cards are gradually curling up at the edges but Shelley’s copy of The Tarot Revealed remains intact, though well-used.

She no longer throws the book into the air, which is why it’s lasted so long, but she may well throw it in the air once she hears there is a new edition of The Tarot Revealed available. Better get her a copy for her next birthday!