Bare-Bones Tarot: An In-Depth Study to Key Elements of the Tarot Paperback – December 11, 2020

This is the first Vincent Pitisci book I've bought but I've been watching him on YouTube maybe two years ago or so. I've known about the tarot for much longer but I only started getting more interested in it in the past few years through the symbolism and deeper meanings of the cards, so his focus on the Marseilles deck feels like a much different approach compared to most people on the tarot through their Rider-Waite-Smith deck's analysis. His focus is actually to not focus on card meanings but instead to just have an intuitive association between the cards and their meanings, without actually giving them concrete meanings, similar to older forms of divination like coffee grinds or whatever else. Pitisci carries this "old school" and "real" vibe about him that I find interesting, using a deck and methods that aren't as popular anymore. I personally can't get into the Marseilles and playing card divination but there is no doubt that Pitisci's experience as a professional tarot reader brings with it much knowledge. That said, I don't think it would be accurate to say that he reduces the cards down from their historical meanings and symbols, but it is more that he does things in a different way to keep things simple.From what I understand based on his preview video for this book, which I oddly watched after purchase, and from reviews of his other books, is that this book is like his older books but built upon some more and improved a bit. I don't know if this is truly correct and I don't know if I can really buy all of his books due to money, but my suggestion is that you may be better off starting with this book first if I have this information correct. This book is also usable for both the Marseilles and the Rider-Waite-Smith but the pictures featured in the book are of the Marseilles cards.The book's contents:PrefaceIntroduction: A titled look at the TarotChapter 1. Winds of Change 1969Chapter 2. Revealing the MysteryChapter 3. Card Meanings & MapsChapter 4. Card Spread Anatomy & InstructionChapter 5. Personal InfluenceClosingQuick ReferenceThe Preface is just his background story, so I have nothing to add here besides it's interesting.The introduction and first chapter are largely his views on the tarot, which at first glance looks like criticism of card symbols, but this isn't really. What he is basically trying to say is to not view the cards so literally, but to keep them as simple metaphors and symbols, or maybe more like relational concepts. I wish I could use the Marseilles but the lack of symbols in the minor arcana just doesn't register with me. I think what it is, is that Marseilles is better suited for those familiar with using playing cards regularly to retain that relationship between the cards, so for me, they're just numbers. He still makes me curious enough however, so maybe I'll buy his Marseilles deck to give it a try.The only problem I have here is how he claims no one explained why the cards work, when there are clear methods about divination seen in spiritual philosophy. The cards themselves don't tell the future, you do, it is correspondence and psychic, something of a tool to help distract the thinking mind so the truth can flow in. That's been my experience anyways in tarot reading, it feels much like precognition and synchronicity. Ride the waves of the universe to reach serendipity. Maybe trying to explain how and why it works doesn't even really matter, what matters is just making sure it does work. But Hermetic philosophy is pretty essential for explaining the tarot if anyone really needs to know some kind of explanation behind the divine.The second chapter is his explanation for a process behind how tarot cards work, a process called Creative Blending. As fascinating as it was to see data science's take on the tarot, I just thought this materialistic reductionism is not a full truth. It's still a nice read however to see a workflow regarding randomness, imagination, and creative problem solving, but I think divination better belongs in philosophy rather than psychology, even if it does include both.The third chapter is on card meanings, which begins with what I find agreeable, that every card should not be a definition but rather open to relate to any meaning and how limiting cards to specific meanings. This will actually sound really contradicting to anyone new but it will make sense once you start tarot reading. It's interesting to me how he goes on to say how he's seen the card meanings change over the past fifty years. This really makes me have to stop and think about how many factors must've gone into causing this morphology of the card meanings. It's probably more correct to say that people have changed, or at least more simple of an answer to the question. Then the rest of the chapter is probably what most of us came for, card pictures, meanings across time and meanings associated when paired with other cards, and keyword associations. The page on personality types associated with the minor arcana was also fascinating to think about.The fourth chapter on card spreads is also big and might be the real highlight of the book. It's not just showing various card spreads but actually goes quite in depth about using the card spreads and even adds how certain card positions relate to other card positions. Then it goes even deeper by explaining the general meaning behind what a specific card means in a specific card position in a specific card spread. This chapter is so thoroughly described and so vast in options, that it feels more like you were being mentored directly by the author. You can still read the whole book in a day's time, but this is like a massive chunk of paper, almost a workshop or day long boot camp.The closing is just a page of final words to conclude the book, followed by other books authored.The book ends with the Quick Reference, a really simple card guide to associate each card and suit with only one core keyword, or sometimes two words but one phrase. So this is nicer than referring to notes written in a notebook from his YouTube videos and ideal for anyone new to the tarot who are still too inexperienced to remember every card's essence. I think essence is actually a better word to describe cards than meaning now that I think about it.$24 is not bad at all for the size and content of this book. It's not the most elaborate production but the quality is well made, typical of other Amazon CreateSpace prints. The layout of the book is good in general. I would've made the page margins and little bigger and avoided hyphenated broken text, especially if using left aligned paragraphs, but it's overall easy to read and using moderate font size and style. Page numbers and chapters are in the header and there's a blank page in the back for notes if needed. I'm actually surprised that Vincent Pitisci is using self-publishing as I would've thought he'd get a publisher deal in an instant. I would expect a book like this to be on display in book stores.I'd rate the book a 4.5 or 5, it's very practical and informative as great reference material.

Vincent's new book, 'Bare - Bones Tarot' is a whopper at 467 pages including 'About The Author' & a couple of 'cheat sheets.' That said, it's printed with enough 'white space' to make this an enjoyable reading experience. Each page is filled with Vincent's unique 'no nonsense' style of important information on the art of Tarot Divination. Vincent's specialty is the Celtic Cross & his 'take' is brilliant. In addition each tarot card: in this edition, The Marseile de Tarot, created by Vincent, is used to illustrate card by card, position by position & CARD IN EACH POSITION MEANINGS. I am very grateful to have purchased my copy although I've been reading over 50 years. I started with a Swiss MdT and 'converted' to The RWS but went back to The MdT a couple of years ago. I discovered Vincent's You Tubes when the pandemic confined NYC - who knew?! What a treasure! I'm delighted to have him as guide into the world of MdT Divination 'no nonsense!' You will not be sorry for your purchase of Vincent's newest book no matter what tarot deck you choose to work with nor what kind of spread... but IF you choose to work with the MdT and Celtic Cross - you will be absolutely thrilled!

You can switch the title and subtitle because this book is an outstanding in-depth study. It may be the most significant publication on the tarot in 100 years. The book begins by explaining how the human thinking process is able to combine a random concept with known information to produce a novel understanding or new approach to a problem. This methodology, known as conceptional blending, is a logical basis for how a system like the tarot can work to increase understanding. The great majority of the book is devoted to detailed examinations of the cards, various spreads, and other features of tarot readings. Each card has a two-page, detailed examination which is easy to use because of the large format of the book. If you are interested in tarot, you will get more from this book than any other source.

I own many tarot books (and tarot decks,both RWS and Marseilles) so I have a lot of materials to compare this book with: it is a fantastic book, packed with info that's easy to digest and goes straight to the point. No wishy washy interpretations of the cards, just precise and concise information on the cards, it even shows how the interpretations have evolved with time. It covers the various possible meanings of a card according to its position in the celtic cross spread ( and Mr Pittisci's celtic cross I find particularly helpful to gain useful insight).It has become my new go to book. If you're on the fence, buy it, you won't regret it. I also purchased Mr Pittisci's own tarot de Marseilles deck on his website and this is also a great purchase.

I connected with Mr. Pitisci on YouTube. I found his style and humor pleasing. His approach to Tarot resonated with me, so I bought his books and took up tarot reading. He truly was a tarot guru. Unfortunately, Mr. Pitisci passed away. But I can still hear his voice and humor when I read his books.

This is the only Tarot book that I have not been able to put down! It is fascinating and easy to read and understand. My favorite part is that I finally found a Tarot book illustrated with the Tarot of Marseilles instead of RWS! This is the only book I will ever need to buy to learn Tarot of Marseilles! Now off to learn more from the awesome Vincent Pitisci!

I have Mr Pitisci to thank for finally getting tarot to "click" with me. This book and his videos have made a big difference in not only my ability to read the cards but also in my enjoyment of them. Yes, this book uses the Marseille deck (as do I) but it's principles can be used with pretty much any deck.