If you’re ready to learn tarot you’re going to hear a lot of people talk about the Little White Book (LWB). The Little White Book is that little tiny white book that comes in (almost) every deck of tarot cards. It’s about the same size of the cards, a bit smaller, and full of card interpretations.
The most general, historical, common interpretations of the cards will be included. If it’s a specialized deck, you may find that the book has the common interpretations and some additional insight.
THE LITTLE WHITE BOOK & THE MARY EL TAROT
For those decks that are more specialized, like the the Mary El Tarot, they come with a book that is much bigger than the Little White Book. It’s called a companion book. The deck author has written a lot about her cards.
She not only wrote about what some of the meanings might be, but she’s also written about her inspiration for the art on the card. She’s written about her spiritual journey creating the deck and for each card.
So depending on the book you have you can learn some of the card basics and some of what someone else’s interpretation might be based on their experience. If they’re the artist writing about their deck you’re going to get a lot more there too.
THE LITTLE WHITE BOOK & DUST II ONYX
For those of you that may have seen or purchased the Dust II Onyx Deck, one of the most recent decks to be published, there’s a lot of incredible insight in the big black book. Her effort in the book is astounding, amazing, incredible, and well worth the read.
DON’T THROW AWAY THE LWB
Sometimes, you’ll hear from other tarot readers who may be teaching you to, œJust ignore the Little White Book. Just throw it away.Well, don’t do that. You bought the deck. The Little White Book came with it. You might as well read it. Especially if you’re not used to it.
That LWB is your fool’s journey. It’s the start and where a lot of tarot readers begin. After you’ve read it, prob 5m, then use it as a reference guide. Refer back to it as necessary. (See the exercise below)
If you’re someone who’s not picked up a tarot deck before and you’ve not been spending time reading about tarot, read the Little White Book! If you decide not to read it, do it intentionally because it’s the way you learn.
If there is someone standing in your way by prescriptively telling you not to do something or telling you to do something (like me in this article), then take what they have to say with a grain of salt. They’re initially going to be an impediment to your personal growth and learning. Later you may want to explore what they’re saying.
In the meantime, I maintain that you should read the Little White Book because it’s there for a reason. And if you want to get started learning tarot then read the Little White Book!
WHY WOULD SOMEONE TELL YOU NOT TO READ THE LWB?
EDIT: I learned something today from Janet Boyer. There was a time when the Little White Book was less than 10 pages and contained such minimal amount of text that they were deemed to be useless by people with at least some experience with tarot. And more than likely those with none!
Apparently I’ve only been exposed to the LWB that has been infused with more information than what used to be. That would explain my encouragement to read the Little White Book and also someone else’s encouragement not to read the same.
I also learned that the larger books, like those from Dust II Onyx and the Mary el Tarot are “Companion books.” So rather than also calling them and advanced LWB, I’ll up my language.
If you happen to get a companion book that looks like the one that comes with the Mary El Tarot or Dust II Onyx, then you better damn well read it. ‘Cause you’re going to find out so much more about the meanings of the cards through the eyes of the artist. They’re going to take you further than the traditional meanings because they’ve transcended them in art. And if the author of the deck is different than the artist you might learn something from them too. That’s a huge introduction into not only that deck but also into tarot.
AN EXERCISE
Here’s a way that you can work with the Little White Book or any tarot book full of what the cards mat mean. Ask your question. Shuffle with intent. Pull your card(s). Describe the card in detail. Associate the details that you notice with the question. Finalize your interpretation. Once you’ve done all that, refer back to the LWB and compare your answers.
This will hopefully enhance your understanding of the card. It will also start to help you think of the LWB as a reference and guide rather than doctrine. The magic is in you. The book is important, but you’re more so.
Do you use the book that came with your deck? If you’re looking for more to read, check out this list of tarot books.
