Connecting with Your Higher Self
Through the Wisdom of the Cards
Review by Christian Skoorsmith
Written by Michelle Tea
Published by HarperElixer
ISBN-13: 978-0062682406
Retail U.S. $22.49
Released 2017
Modern
Tarot is a delightful and entertaining blend of reverence and
irreverence, insight and humor, timeless wisdom and cutting-edge
contemporary culture. Well-known author Michelle Tea turns her
quasi-autobiographical,
half-storytelling/half-research-paper/half-reporting-current-life
style to tarot - apparently a practice she has been at for most
of her life. Whether you are a total beginner or a seasoned expert,
you will (seriously) come away from this book with new associations
and deeper understandings of every card. Seasoned with a dash of
traditional interpretations and meanings, Tea weaves together
often-profound personal illustrations and her gleefully shocking
(counter-?) cultural observations to breathe dynamic life into each
card.
This is not a book on spreads or "how to" read tarot. It is more like a "how to read each card" (primarily for oneself), which uniquely includes a how-to BE each card. Mixing recipes and rituals, crystals and casual-witchy acts, meditations, and exercises, Tea invites readers to go beyond just reading about the cards, and slow down to experience each card first-hand.
Tea surprises me at almost every turn with this book. It was so fascinating and fresh, I couldn’t put it down. Her startling confessions and off-hand allusions to her personal life kept me perpetually surprised, smiling, laughing out loud even. And I loved her take on the cards! They were fresh and alive in a way that is rare in the world of tarot (where reverence and tradition are honored) - there was no pretense or assumption that wisdom is at all equal to dignity. If one is looking for a startling and surprising romp through the cards, I would definitely recommend this book.