Thinking Tarot is a great book for the beginning student, but it has a little for the advanced student as well. The book comes with the CyberTarot software to get you started using the Rider-Waite cards. This book is published by Simon & Schuster, and is a Fireside Book (ISBN #0-684-82274-1).

Thinking Tarot starts off by asking how one thinks Tarot. It continues, in the first chapter, to explain the ways to use Tarot and by describing the archetypes. It continues in other chapters to discuss what the best questions are and with giving a brief history of the Tarot. The last couple of chapters in the book go on to discuss Tarot theory in a very scientific manor. The other compares scientific theory to the way in which Tarot works to give a very solid, working, justification to the "magic" of the Cards. I think that even the science community wouldn’t be able to dispute Mr. Aviza’s logic.

The book discusses the Major and minor cards of the Rider-Waite deck by displaying a gray-scale picture of the Card and then describing all of the different symbols on the Card. This section is very comprehensive and detailed. I had a lot of fun comparing these meanings to others that I had picked up from different sources.

The author, like most others before him and many will after him, also added a Tarot spread section after the discussion of the individual cards. This section is a little different, however, because Mr. Aviza took the time to describe all of the spreads that he included in his software. These include the Celtic Cross, Chakra Card, Horoscope, Sacred Mandala, Tree of Life, and the Mystical Three spreads. He very skillfully describes the meanings of all of the positions for each of these spreads.

The CyberTarot Software is programmed to allow you to be the reader. Unlike other software, it only gives you the meanings of the Cards. It does not relate the Card to any inverted meanings, and it does not put the Card into context with the position that it comes up in. You need to interpret the Cards inverted and spread-related definitions. Some people may like this idea, but others (ones who have little or no experience and need a little more of a boost) may not appreciate the software’s discreteness. One good thing about the software, though, is that it has very detailed pictures of the Mythic Tarot and Rider-Waite decks. So, there are ups and downs to it. C’est la vie, right!

Whether you’re a beginner or an advanced student, this book will probably be interesting to check out. Also, you may find the software interesting. I know that I found it interesting if nothing else.

Blessings to all!

Matt