I don't know the actual percentages, but based on my experience writing for this website I suspect that greater than 50% of books on tarot approach the subject as if the reader is either completely unfamiliar with the cards or else looking for any guidance beyond what their friend told them when they gifted them a deck. Which, you know, great! It is an important subject upon which a tremendous amount of work has been done over the years to plumb its depths. However, if you're someone who has already laid a solid foundation with tarot you are probably familiar with the filtering that goes on as you sort out the few books that will take you to new waters amidst the ocean of well-plumbed shallows you're swimming in. And along comes the newest book from author Salicrow, Tarot as Storyteller: Psychic Development, Cartomancy, and Reading the Web of Fate. While of course every author would like their book to be picked up by every reader, this is definitely a particular spin on working with tarot cards that ought not be the first thing you hand a new practitioner.
To begin with, in Salicrow's work you are not a practitioner, a very general term - you are a seer, or at least a seer in training, struggling out of the chrysalis of your normal senses to see the world with new eyes. In Salicrow's view there are no coincidences, and your gut feelings aren't just tingles. The universe is trying to communicate with you in numerous ways, and tarot makes for an excellent medium through which these messages can pass to the observant. Becoming an intent-ful observer is a decent way of thinking about the author's work in "Tarot as Storyteller", but only in part. Working through the various exercises and meditations will move you along Salicrow's vision of you invoking narrative as a means of deepening your insight into your readings, whether you're using tarot, oracle cards, or even a "normal" deck of cards.
The up- and down-side of a book like this, a book that explores tarot (or any subject, really) through a particular lens instead of offering a broad view, is that there's a better than usual chance that the book isn't for you. I think the ideal reader is someone who has already worked with divination and done the work to understand their cards, but still feels like there's more going on with their readings that won't be teased out. If it feels like a better understanding of your reads is juuuust out of reach, Salicrow's Tarot as Storyteller is worth exploring.
~review by Wanderer
Author: Salicrow
Destiny Books, 2025
320 pg. $22.99
