Tarot Elements: Five Readings to Reset Your Life

Cerco di spiegarmi meglio: l’autrice scrive che questo è un libro di auto-aiuto New Age e che dovrebbe aiutare a spingere il pulsante di reset della propria vita quando questa va a rotoli.Ha cercato di mantenere semplice la struttura di ciascuna stesa presentata, tutte basate sui simboli alchemici degli Elementi, e tutte con le stesse domande di fondo: “A che cosa posso aggrapparmi?”, “Che cosa mi può spingere ad andare avanti?” e “Che cos’è che m’intralcia?”La struttura è sempre la medesima. E il tutto avrebbe potuto benissimo essere contenuto in un capitolo di un libro sui Tarocchi. Non c’era bisogno di introduzioni prolisse, così come non c’era bisogno di esempi prolissi (di esempi sì, ma che fossero prolissi no, e per di più con parti di testo “copiate e incollate” dall’appendice, già di suo poco chiara), così come non c’era bisogno dei fin troppo lunghi racconti personali.Per questo scrivo che è un libro del quale non c’era bisogno: ciò che ci serviva, al massimo, era _un capitolo condensato_, di certo non un intero libro che, alla lunga, risulta pure ripetitivo. A suo favore, però, ha lo stile fluido e frizzante della Cynova, che scorre che è un piacere.

From the start I found the author's sense of humour rather off-putting and I couldn't relate to the overall tone. Then I found her explanations lacked clarity or were missing something -- perhaps a sharper focus? I didn't quite understand what the sample readings were actually trying to say and didn't think they were clearly illustrating the specific element being addressed. After that, I found myself struggling to get into a lot of the exercises, mainly because by then I was finding I didn't like the somewhat fuzzy approach or, to be honest, the book itself in general. I'm afraid it's going straight back to where it came from.

I love this book for a lot of reasons and dislike for only one. The book covers a very interesting and useful subject of elemental tarot readings. I tend to read tarot for myself, so I enjoyed the format of the elemental chapters which include a section on each element, a bit about the author's life and how it relates, the spread, and then some example spreads + homework. I'll admit I haven't gotten to the homework section for the spread I read, but I'm hoping to get into it soon.In my opinion, it would be a 5/5 except for one reason: similar to Kitchen Table Tarot, the author uses incredibly immature descriptions at times for some of the cards. I'm thinking of the Knight cards in particular, but in honestly it gets scattered throughout the book. For example, the Six of Wands Reversed card starts with "To quote Captian America from Spider-Man Homecoming..." Yes, really. I guess it's topical, but for a book that tackles what I would consider being more mature subjects and has more personal stories, I wouldn't have minded less cutesy-card descriptions. That was my main hesitation in buying the book initially, and while it hasn't been removed in this book, they are slightly better.

I really enjoyed this book. As I allude in my title, she gives life advice as much as techniques for tarot reading -- and pretty good advice, too! But what I really like about her books (this one and her first, Kitchen Table Tarot) is that her readings have a positivity I don't think I've seen before. To take one example, the 5 of Pentacles, two people in the snow passing a lighted window (per the usual rendering). Most of the interpretations focus on negatives: you are without resources, you are literally out in the cold, you are shut out, etc. She says, Yes, you are currently lacking resources and out in the cold, but sanctuary is waiting for you just on the other side of that window. Her whole approach to even the most negative cards is like that, which is both refreshing and reassuring.

Melissa Cynova's first book, "Kitchen Table Tarot," was a breath of fresh air - a warm, unvarnished, practical take on Tarot that was a pleasure to read and tremendously useful, regardless of whether one is just starting out or is a well seasoned Tarot veteran. Cynova has followed this up with the marvellously engaging and uniquely useful "Tarot Elements: Five Readings to Reset Your Life," which is as accessible and no-frills as her first book, and such a gift to readers who want to deepen their practice in a real world way. The approach is deceptively simple, nicely grounded, and affords so much room for depth - exploring the elements of air, earth, fire, water, and spirit with an eye to using the Tarot to really address problems, not merely craft bandaids for them. Cynova is a sure-handed writer and reading her books is like sitting down with her to dig into the kind of readings that truly help. She crafts the book in a way that eases one through the work that is being done chapter by chapter. I enjoy her tone, and appreciate both her knowledge and her way of expressing it.Given the "interesting times" we find ourselves, readers need to be prepared to offer deeper work with the Tarot, for ourselves and our querents. "Tarot Elements: Five Readings to Reset Your Life" is a terrific resource to help with that.