Tarot-Inspired Book Recommendations – I

 Several years ago, Ariel Bissett made a YouTube video Tarot Card Book Recommendations that I found very fun and interesting. So fun and interesting that I’ve watched it several times. And now that I have my own Tarot deck, book log, and website, I’d like to make my own tarot card book recs to share with you all.

The deck I am currently using is The Luna Sol Tarot. It is a very colorful, gentle, and positive deck. It comes with its own little hardcover booklet for explaining the cards and their meaning, but I’ve also borrowed a book – Tarot: Connect with yourself, develop your intuition, live mindfully by Tina Gong – that I will also be using to inspire my book picks today.

Like Ariel, I will be pulling three cards and giving a book recommendation for each because why not? I highly recommend you go watch her video because it’s very well done and she has a stunningly beautiful deck of tarot cards. And if you enjoyed that video or this post, you can check out her podcast, Books Unbound, where she and her co-host each give another tarot card book recommendation in Episode #115.

If you’d like, you can intuitively pick a card from the three selected above – left, right, or center – and have that card represent the book recommended for you. Or you can read on and learn about all the books I pick. You can take what you like, leave what you don’t. And I hope you enjoy this interpretation of the cards!

I placed my first pull on the right: the Six of Swords. The element associated with Swords is air and these cards are related to the realm of thoughts and the mind. So perhaps it alludes to a more academic book, a non-fiction or really thought-provoking novel. This card also represent moving forward, away from more rocky times, towards a new land of growth. Some keywords associated with the Sixes are harmony, adjustment, and commitment. We can see the woman in this card moving forward, committing to the journey from discomfort to pleasure, and accepting the help of the “stepping stones” along her way, even though the journey may be difficult.

I thought I might need to scroll through my reading log until a book popped out to me as linked with this card, but a book has already come to me while contemplating its meaning: The Life of Pi by Yann Martel.

From the publisher: After the sinking of a cargo ship, a solitary lifeboat remains bobbing on the wild blue Pacific. The only survivors from the wreck are a sixteen-year-old boy named Pi, a hyena, a wounded zebra, an orangutan—and a 450-pound Royal Bengal tiger.

It is definitely a story of a journey, of traveling away from a terrible hardship to safety. It is also a very thought-provoking novel. It is philosophical fiction mixed with an adventure novel.

The second card I pulled was placed in the center: the King of Swords. Another Sword card, but this one is a Court card, depicting the King instead of numbers. The focus of Kings are external and some keywords associated with them are authority and control. Kings are about creating order and structure and developing and enforcing boundaries. In the image on my card, you can see that a butterfly balances on the tip of the sword, leading me to believe that his authority is not a result of aggression, but of fair leadership and delicate balance.

For this card I did choose a non-fiction book: The Bullet Journal Method by Ryder Carroll. I read it a few years ago, but it resurfaced in my mind while contemplating the King of Swords. This book is a guide for creating a journal to clearly define goals, balance calendars and schedules, and reflect on one’s day. It is all about creating order while also reflecting on what’s important in one’s life – a fair way to lead a life, for sure.

From the publisher: The book that will help you track your past, order your present, and design your future… that will teach you how to go from passenger to pilot of your own life.

The book includes systems for one to use with the three simple tools of a notebook, pencil, and time. It is incredibly flexible for users to discover the best way for themselves to be productive and find meaning, and to organize the thoughts, tasks, and events that they encounter everyday.

The last card I pulled was placed on the left: the Page of Wands. The element associated with Wands is fire and these cards are related to creativity, willpower, and inspiration. Another Court card, the Page’s focus is internal and some keywords associated with them are curiosity, observation, learning, and discovering or deciphering. Pages can often represent youth and are energetic and enthusiastic. They are excited for new things and see potential in everything.

Again, a book came to me while thinking about this card – I didn’t have to do any intentional searching through my list. It’s amazing how effortlessly my intuition takes over while reading the cards, while taking the time to stop and ponder them. The book is a middle-grade adventure novel: The Explorer by Katherine Rundell.

From the publisher: Fred, Con, Lila, and Max are on their way back to England from Manaus when the plane they’re on crashes and the pilot dies upon landing. For days they survive alone, until Fred finds a map that leads them to a ruined city, and to a secret.

This book follows four children learning to survive in the Amazonian jungle. Everything about their environment is new to them and they must discover how to handle the plants and animals around them, how to integrate them into their survival and flourish in their situation. A book about how the natural and enthusiastic curiosity of children can lead to great discoveries.

Thank you for exploring today’s tarot-inspired book recommendations. I hope you’ve found it fun or interesting or inspirational – or all three! Thanks for visiting and happy reading… of the books or the cards. 😊