“TAROT, PLAIN AND SIMPLE” By Anthony Louis, PhD/MD     

ISBN 1-56718-400-6

Anthony Louis is also the author of a critically acclaimed text, Horary Astrology: The History and Practice of Astro-Divination (Llewellyn, 1991). He is a respected lecturer and teacher who is sought internationally to lecture on Astrology and Divination systems, Tarot, etc. He is a psychiatrist with extensive clinical experience, which enlightens his study of various systems of divination, including the Tarot.

My favourite reader deck is designed by Robin Wood and is called “The Robin Wood Tarot”. Dr. Louis uses her deck for illustration in this helpful Tarot book.

“Tarot Plain and Simple” is one of three main Tarot books that I use in my Tarot teaching because of its layout, word culture and ease of understanding – that is vibrant in content and includes basic explanations of Numerology, Astrology and the Court Card System.

This book has it all!

It gives the reader a full understanding of what Tarot is and explains clearly about its recent and documented history, its intent, and some key historical Tarot characters. It provides several different ways of understanding each card in different sections. Louis covers Tarot inside and out.
What I like most about “Tarot, Plain and Simple” are the sections of definitions especially in the Minor Arcana. Each suit is represented according to the number of the card and combined in one chapter. For instance, all Ace’s are together for each suit in one chapter and an analogy is given at the beginning of each chapter discussing the Numerical, Astrological value, corresponding Major Arcana card for that number and giving key words corresponding to that numerical part of the suit. Example: For the number “5” (includes Wands, Pentacles, Swords and Cups) we learn about the influence of the major trump “The Hierophant” and that the number five is associated with the Planet Mercury and the signs Gemini and Virgo. Key words include: Upsetting the balance. Disrupted stability and struggle. Etc.
If one is accustomed to the other type of Tarot book layout, where each suit is completely set apart from the others, this can take some getting used to. But it’s worth the effort because one can learn so much more through the study of additional elements such as Numerology and Astrological influences which causes us to flex our Tarot brains a bit to expand our knowledge.

My copy of “Tarot, Plain and Simple” is coffee-stained, dog-eared and might look like it‘s ready for the trash. It just makes this book so much more valuable to me and I always recommend it to my students as one of the must have’s in their Tarot library.

Kristin Lee-Gray, CTI