If you are a person who finds doing divination with tarot cards anxiety provoking and would prefer to work with them in creative ways that lead to insight into yourself, then this book is an excellent choice. For those who have been doing readings with tarot cards for years and have become a bit stale, Tarot for self discovery adds another dimension to tarot practice and will put excitement back into your relationship with the tarot.

Nina Braden has organized the exercises in this book into three sections. The exercises in the first section are easier or more light-hearted than those in the other sections. Exercises in the second section take one on a deeper journey into the self and include exercises such as I’m the Top (which helps to improve your self-image), Lost in the Wasteland (which helps you to reconnect to your spirituality) and Let My Sun Shine (which will appeal to those who want to understand their Sun sign in a more visual way). The third section caters for specific needs such as Prosperity and Abundance and special occasions and such as weddings and holidays.

The exercises are process orientated, well-structured, accessible, innovative and varied. An important final step in many of the exercises is to put the insights you have gained into practice. It is this final step in the exercises that will take you from self-discovery to an increase in personal power. There are also instructions on how to go about creating exercises for your own unique needs, as well as examples of other peoples’ experiences with the exercises that may help build your confidence in doing them and inspire you to be more creative or serious in your approach to the exercises.

Many happy hours can be spent using these exercises as a springboard for exploring yourself and the tarot. Although the purpose of the exercises is self discovery, whether you are a beginner or an experienced reader, you will learn a great deal about tarot cards. If you are a beginner, the approach used in this book will encourage you to really look at the card and engage with the tarot characters, scenes and symbols. Beginners tend to rely too much on books to interpret tarot cards and often memorize a range of key words and phrases which do not encourage a direct engagement with the tarot card images. If you are an experienced reader, this way of working with the tarot may give you some new and original insights into the cards. Whether you are a beginner or an experienced reader these exercises will reveal the power of the imagery in the tarot to facilitate journeys of self-discovery.

Although Nina Braden recommends doing a maximum of two exercises per week, I did three in one day in the process of exploring some of these exercises and found the experience to be a powerful one. I stuck to a particular theme and did exercises from the first two sections. I first did Who Am I which involved selecting a card to describe myself, then I’m the Top for which I selected cards to represent my best qualities, and finally Life Purpose. By the end of these exercises I felt inspired and I’d gained some new insights into myself and a great deal more clarity about my life’s purpose. I thoroughly enjoyed doing the exercises which were interesting and creative and revitalized my relationship with the tarot.