★ The Boho Witch★

The Tarot Masters edited by Kim Arnold

Published by Hay House UK

RRP £9.99 Hay House Price £6.99

To say that I LOVED this book would be a serious understatement. I have to begin by saying that if you know ANYONE who is a Tarot Lover then this is an absolute MUST BUY for their Festive Christmas Gift! I know that if I woke up on Christmas morning to find this in my stocking, wow I would be one serious Jubilant Girly!

The Tarot Masters features 38 tarot experts (the crème de la crème of the Tarot world) and their deeply insightful take on tarot. The book is separated into two distinct sections that flow from each other beautifully. The first section take the Major Arcana (illustrated of course) and a Tarot Expert discusses both their interpretation of the card and their journey into the world of tarot. It's bang up to date as they discuss what they are currently doing, and what projects they are working on.

So who are the tarot experts that I am so giddy about? I am so glad that you asked.

Kim Arnold, founder of the prestigious UK Tarot Conference, has managed to gleam the insights from the likes of Juliet Sharman-Burke (My first EVER tarot deck was by this wonderful expert), Richard Abbot whom was trained by the late Arthur Norris - who by the way happened to read for my Mother several times before his passing in 2010 and whom I leant a few techniques from, Mary K. Greer, Ciro Marchetti - another tarot expert whom I have high praise for, Alison Cross... and ... Oh I am not going to spoil it!

Coming from a family of psychics myself who have used a variety of methods, tools and techniques to gleam insight into people's lives, I was absolutely THRILLED at reading just how these tarot experts began their journeys. Each time I read that a Tarot Expert used the playing cards to foretell the future I high-fived my Nan in the spirit world (along with my Great Nan, and Great Great Nan, and Great, Great, Great Nan) because I recall at being just under 2 years of age and my Nan sat with me in the living room of her home teaching me the meanings of the playing cards. I thoroughly enjoyed doing this, I thought it was an important game we were playing, I think on some level, my soul knew what I was doing, and knew it was a huge part in the development of my destiny, (and family tradition) and in some way I was still innocent enough to not have my ego jumping in and messing it all up. Interestingly, my Nan always called the playing cards "the Prayer Book" or "the bible" and readings have always been "scarily" accurate.

I simply cannot praise this book high enough! If I were to stand on top of the worlds tallest Mountain and have a huge banner waving frantically at you promoting this book, it wouldn't be enough (OK I'd look like a lunatic but I'd do it anyway for this book!). Please, if you LOVE tarot as much as I do, Or even half as much, go and buy the book, Santa says you've been VEY VERY GOOD this year, you deserve it! You never know what you'll discover yourself!

http://www.hayhouse.co.uk/books/1781803048/the-tarot-masters

All written content on this blog is the work of © Dawn Brierley, Life Coach, Podcast Host, Metaphysician, Intuitive Angel Therapist, Tarot Lover & Spiritual Mentor

Archangel Power Tarot Cards by Doreen Virtue & Radleigh Valentine

Published by Hay House UK

RRP £13.99 Hay House Price £9.79

Doreen and Radleigh the tarot duo return with the new Archangel Power Tarot Cards which promise to help you drive yourself forward to making those positive life changes with the insight and wisdom you gain from using these colourful tarot cards.

I love tarot and have become somewhat of a collector for pretty decks that give powerful messages with a high level of accuracy. These tarot cards are more colourful than their previous deck the Angel Tarot Cards, however the artwork on some of these cards let them down ever so slightly. Clearly photo-shopped with images of Doreen, Radleigh and other members of their friends and family, the deck becomes somewhat hard to take seriously when you focus so much on the images. I love the idea of personalising your tarot deck and even the idea of putting Doreen and Radleigh in the deck is wonderful, I just think that with the professional reputation that both these two spiritual teachers have, I would have hoped for better photo-shopped images - with a flawless finish.

However if you can see past the imagery and focus on the card message itself from either prior experience of using tarot or the use of the accompanying guidebook then for example; pulling the Five of Gabriel or the Six of Michael won't really matter what image the cards have. You will be able to see through the imagery and focus on the message that is given - although most cards are incredibly beautiful to look at. I absolutely have some favourite cards in this deck based on their imagery and message which I will share at the end of the post.

To use these cards is a pleasant experience, shuffling is easy, flowing beautifully - I am not a fan of those sticky cards that when you shuffle just never synchronistically blend in with the other cards - you almost have to force them into place. With this deck there is no force needed, they are so gentle, and beautiful. The readings I've done for myself and my loved ones using this tarot deck have provided some amazing insight, showing what is working in life and what isn't and more importantly, what steps need to be taken to correct them. There are the major arcana cards, and each of the usual Wands, Cups, Pentacles and Swords are replaced by Gabriel, Michael, Raphael and Ariel.

This tarot deck gives you the confidence and courage to move forward based on the guidance given, and the accompanying booklet explains the meaning of each card along with guidance on how you can use these cards and give readings for yourself, friends and family if you have never used them before. A good introduction to anyone interested in tarot but never felt the courage to use them because of the seeming negative cards. Even the not so positive messages in this deck has powerful and pro-active advice to them, thus turning a negative into a positive.

Overall, a pleasing deck, and I am aware of plans for another tarot deck to be released next year (shhh it's a secret ATM) so my only deep wish is that the images on that deck will be greatly improved from this one, as I know that a lot of people are drawn to tarot by the images and also use the images to interpret them!