Tarot Total

Review by Max Livermore

Tarot Total is, basically, a package containing the standard Rider Waite tarot deck, and The Pocket Guide to the Tarot, by Günter Hager, put into a nice plastic box (it's called a clamshell box, but you don't need to care about that), and published by AGM AGMüller, a Carta Mundi Company. 

The set has a suggested retail price of $32.00, but we've certainly seen it cheaper, and on sale it's a good buy. 

The deck, as mentioned, is the Rider Waite deck, which is always the best deck to learn on, remains a standard choice for professional tarot readers, and is probably the most recognizable tarot deck in the world. 

The Pocket Guide to the Tarot wouldn't really fit into your shirt pocket, unless you have very large pockets indeed, but it is smaller than a standard paperback book, and is 133 pages long.  The work is divided into three sections: a brief overview of and introduction to the tarot, followed by the Catalogue of Meanings (the bulk of the book, which lists the primary meaning of each card), and then Seven Layouts with Fixed Positions. 

Each card is illustrated in the book - actually twice, because illustrations show cards from both the Rider-Waite Tarot and and Tarot 1JJ decks.  Interestingly, the five decks recommended by Mr. Hager are:

• Tarot Classic

• Tarot 1JJ

• Rider-Waite Tarot

• Morgan-Greer Tarot

• Royal Fez Moroccan Tarot

The last item on the list is, I believe, now out of print.  So is the first item.

Tarot Total makes sense if you're just getting started in the tarot, or buying a gift for someone who doesn't already have a Rider-Waite deck.  It's a nice, convenient way of storing a deck and book, and the book is really, for what it is, quite worthwhile.

 *****

 

 

 

 

Of interest . . .