The Druid Scholar

The Inner Tarot by Kate Van Horn may be one of the best books about learning the tarot that I have ever read. When I read through this book, I tried to tune into a younger version of myself. Having read the tarot off and on since 2007, I looked at this book for how it may have helped me better understand the practice of tarot if I had been able to access it from the very beginning. Kate did an excellent job creating multiple different inroads for new readers and old to build better relationships with their cards from journal prompts to meditations to quality explanations and examples. I most especially liked her section on reversals. I myself have always had a somewhat iffy relationship with reversals in the tarot and found her many different paths to understanding reversed energy enlightening.

This book is for you if you want to have a deep and personal connection to the craft of tarot reading, whether you’re still deciding what deck you want or have been reading for half your lifetime or more. The only real qualm I have with this work is that I don’t feel like the first exercise is complete. A new reader may go through the first exercise and pull the cards, but the work offers no further guidance on what to really do afterwards. The obvious answer is probably to look at those cards in the meanings section in the back of the book, but since this book is supposed to be for beginners, a little guidance there wouldn’t go amiss, I think. Either way, this is definitely the book I plan to recommend to absolute beginners in the tarot going forward. The writing is accessible, the exercises are helpful and powerful, and it models a strong practice in an era where you can pretty much do anything you wish.

This book will be released tomorrow, February 27th, 2024 in paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats.

I’m thankful to NetGalley and Sounds True Publishing for providing me with an eARC of this book to review.