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Natalie Joanne's avatar

Great read 🙏OMG The Holistic Tarot is a MUST!!! 🙌 As for reversals, in case anyone cares for another opinion, I just like to think of it as the duality of light and shadow and how all things carry that distinction, so why wouldn’t a Tarot card? I personally really enjoy reading reversals. Yes, it can be challenging at first, but your WIND suggestion should be a great start for folks! 🫶

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Erica Phillips Graves 🔮's avatar

Substack cut my comment short ☹️

I also see the reversals as the duality, the shadow element of the card. I think it adds a rich dimension to the reading. But I also have no issue flipping it if my guides tell me to. I like to be flexible when needed.

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Natalie Joanne's avatar

Totally. The duality just feels inherent to me.

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Erica Phillips Graves 🔮's avatar

I saw the book at Barnes and nobles and looking at the sheer size of it, it struck fear in my heart. It is just enormous. I should have grabbed it from my bff’s estate last month but I did not. I remember when she was reading it tho!

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Natalie Joanne's avatar

It IS big, but it's a wonderful approach, and one that really resonates with my own style. She's also just brilliant and prolific and I love her work. But a large chunk, like many tarot books, serves as more of a reference for me. I've learned a lot from it and highly recommend.

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Erica Phillips Graves 🔮's avatar

Perhaps a 2025 adventure!

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Jenna Newell Hiott's avatar

Another brilliant installment in this series, my friend! I LOVE the spread. What an amazing way to get to know a character's journey and motivations. And thank you so much for sharing the WIND method! 💖💖

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Cameron M. Bailey's avatar

I think that you will really enjoy Holistic Tarot. It is one of my absolute favorite books on Tarot.

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Erica Phillips Graves 🔮's avatar

It's on my wish list! Glad to hear your endorsement, sir.

Any other books you recommend? Any favorites?

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Cameron M. Bailey's avatar

For modern books, another favorite is: Robert Place's 'Tarot, Magic, Alchemy, Hermeticism, and Neoplatonism.'

Old books, I've long loved Tarot of the Bohemians by Papus and Waite's Pictorial Key. But Waite's book probably isn't as great as I think it is, I've just long been a Waite fan with his writings about Freemasonry and Rosicrucianism.

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Erica Phillips Graves 🔮's avatar

Oooh! Homework! 📖

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Julie Schmidt's avatar

Loved the exploration here Erica. Lots of food for thought. Also well shared and written.

Yes, reversals are quite the controversy. I started my tarot journey using them. Then when my tarot readings became more spread based, I used the spreads to draw out the challenges and depth. Initially I was still using them, but it was complicated when reversals came into a shadow position of the spread. Was it a double negative, canceling each other out? Was it augmenting the reversal? Over time I stopped using reversals traditionally. Also because I began to look at both the upright and the reversal aspect of the card when doing a reading. Letting the other cards call it out. What cards are around it, the position, the number, etc. bringing forth whether the focus needed to be reversal or upright. So I guess after all that I do use reversals, just not in the traditional sense. And YES!!! Readings do tell a story. Always fascinating what they reveal.

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Erica Phillips Graves 🔮's avatar

Wonderful thoughts. I use reversals, out of habit mostly, but i am absolutely ok with flipping the card around if my intuition directs it. Sometimes I pull out entire spreads, and many are reversed, and I just know - nope, this is not the one. I will re-shuffle and try again. this happens with my troublesome Wild Unknown deck. I know alot of folks love that one, but I find it to be hard to shuffle and the messages are usually quite intense. I don't use it for lighter situations. I get alot of inappropriate reversals and re-draws with that deck.

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