The Creative Tarot: A Modern Guide to an Inspired Life

A ritual I love is beginning my day being intuitively guided by my tarot cards. As I share in my book The Art of Success: How Extraordinary Artists Can Help You Succeed in Business and Life. Coco Chanel, like many wealthy business people, found great wisdom, peace, comfort, and healing from oracle cards and an eclectic array of spiritual rituals.Not everyone believes in mysticism—and that’s fine. But I do. And so do a great many people. “If you want to be a serious writer or intellectual you can’t say you’re a mystic because no one will talk to you again,” says American author (and professional tarot card reader) Jessa Crispin, slightly tongue-in-cheek.Crispin, Colette Barron-Reid, and other creative people like myself are proud to join many others who invite people to experience a new, or rather old way, of living an inspired, creatively productively and prosperous life.Personally and professionally I have experienced a tremendous productivity boost by applying the wisdom and strategies contained in Crispin’s book, The Creative Tarot: A Modern Guide to an Inspired Life. So much so that it merits its own chapter. You’ll discover the life changing benefits of consulting oracles in my book., The Prosperous Author: How to Make a Living With Your Writing. Book Two: Productivity Hacks: Do Less & Make More. (Available from Amazon here—getBook.at/ProductivityHacksDoLessMakeMore.)But for now, I wanted to share how helpful I have found The Creative Tarot. I highly recommend Crispin's fabulous book to anyone who wants to live a more inspired and productive life.

Update: Four months into the Tarot adventure which, I realize, is hardly any time at all so vast the area, I still enthusiastically consult this book as an excellent framework for understanding the cards. Crispin's explanation of the undertaking (re-interpreting the present to influence the future) as well as her take on the archetypes, the suits, the numbers, and the possible messages from the cards is a wonderful starting place for a novice from which you can grow into your own style.After reading a review in "The Week", I ordered this book from the library. At first, I thought 'this is so not me', but Ms. Crispin's approach to Tarot is completely fascinating, engaging, and intuitive. In short order, a borrowed copy just wouldn't do so I ordered my own plus a Smith-Waite Tarot Deck. What an intriguing way to engage the sub-conscious in life's journey. I highly recommend this book as a gateway for the curious into the richly symbolic world of Tarot.

This is the first time I've used tarot cards and I love this book. I don't do "readings" but I pull a card, journal about what I see or think the card might mean to me in some circumstance I'm facing and then I read the "official" meaning of the card and journal about that. I love how the book is divided and so easy to use and some of the ideas about different ways to do readings. It's not really mystical or anything like that... practical and thought-starters.

This book is exactly what is described, an exploration of the Tarot with an emphasis on using it for purposes of creativity and related questions. It is not the best choice for a first, or more general, study. It is quite interesting, though, for someone who is already comfortably familiar with the cards and is an artist - which describes me. I found the interpretations, with that intent, very interesting. I didn't always agree. Sometimes I completely agreed. It was all thought provoking. The book is well organized, well thought out, offers historical perspective to help explain, and suggests exploring other works for a deeper understanding. I even expanded my general tarot knowledge because the author's descriptions often sent me back into my own notes for a fresh take on things. Overall found this to be a good addition to my tarot library, and definitely supports the use of Tarot as an artist's tool - which isn't news to anyone, but is a concept that absolutely deserves this treatment.

I don't know much about Tarot, but I know a lot more now thanks to The Creative Tarot.I first got this book from the library and as I read more and more, I had to purchase it.The history of Tarot Cards is interesting, complex, and not necessarily accepted universally. That just adds to the mystery of the deck. Jessa Crispin adds wonderful insight into the meaning of the cards. Personally, I don't know if I can ever memorize all the meanings, but Crispin refers the cards back to movies, artists, books, etc. which helped me to understand a deeper meaning of the cards and one I can relate too.Crispin has done a lot of research in order to connect to the cards. Many of those stories were interesting on their own. If you love Tarot and want to learn more then I suggest this book. I'm a beginner with Tarot. Experienced Tarot readers may gain a new perspective on the cards.

Worked my way through this book and it’s a great journey. Help Tarot practice knowledge

Just fun, enlightening, and thought provoking. The author excels about clarifying misconceptions about certain cards and challenges the individual to be careful what they wish for as true meanings are never just implied in the spiritual realm. Requires the reader to take notes and truly think about the deeper context of what a card may be representing within their complex life or where is your soul guiding you. Forces one to truly self reflect and be honest about the state of their life and if you have built the foundation or have been wasting time squatting in the wrong emotional flats.

This book is a super addition to my Tarot book collection. Jessa Crispin writes with authority and a great sense of humour.

Dona un’interpretazione innovativa in quanto specificamente legata a progetti creativi (anche se poi l’interpretazione può essere generalizzata a più aspetti di vita). L’ho trovata molto utile come approfondimento. Ci sono esempi pratici di artisti, scrittori ecc. che si possono andare a vedere in internet. Mi ha arricchita molto e torno spesso a consultarlo.

I use Tarot to write novels (or fail at it currently) and this is the only book I found that encourages such a practice.It is very well written and is very inspiring. I loved the many pictorial, musical and litterary references offered for each card and it encouraged me to do the same.

Perfect for artists who crave relative insight from their tarot practice.

An enjoyable read with an imaginative spin on the use of Tarot. The suggestions on how the cards could be interpreted to inspire, support, and review artistic and creative work, e.g. writing a novel, composing music, or ice-sculpting, etc, were helpful. I found myself reflecting on the real world stories used as examples even without attempting a reading. It also revealed fresh aspects to the traditional understanding of the classic Waite-Smith deck. The feminist outlook of the author was also evident, and it added a certain je ne sais quoi to the writing.