Baseball Tarot

It's a quirky marriage of the New Age and the sports page. Bringing the ancient wisdom of divination by cards to the familiar actions, characters, myths, and metaphors of America's favorite pastime, Baseball Tarot is a novel way to seek answers to life questions. From being thrown a curve to hitting in the clutch to coming out of left field, clarification is in the cards. Expertly translated from traditional wisdom by Mark Lerner, author of the Page-A-Day Horoscope Calendars, and Laura Phillips, Baseball Tarot offers insights into love, work, relationships, dreams, decisions, and dilemmas. Each set includes a custom-designed, full-color 78-card Tarot deck - exquisitely illustrated by baseball artist Dan Gardiner and edged in a fifth color of gold - plus a 336-page illustrated book on how to lay out and interpret the cards. There are The Majors (major arcana) - The Rookie, The Manager, The Pitcher, The Catcher, The Ump, The Goat. The Minors (minor arcana) - Mitts, Balls, Bats, Bases. Even original layouts - The Change-up, The Diamond. As Roger Angel once said, "Baseball seems to have been invented solely for the purpose of explaining all other things in life." Step up to the plate.

How To Read Baseball Tarot If you've never consulted Tarot cards before, don't worry. There's no need to be intimidated or nervous as a beginner. For one thing, you'll easily recognize the familiar baseball rolls and situations portrayed on the cards. Also there's no pressure here: doing a reading is not like competing in a baseball game. There is no final score and no such thing as failure. Rather, doing a Tarot reading is like talking about baseball: reflective, subjective, tangential, and relaxed. Just keep at it, and over time you'll become increasingly adept at interpreting the cards. Enjoy the journey. If you're already an experienced reader, you'll find the Baseball Tarot is a snap to interpret from your first use, as the cards' meanings are consistent with traditional decks. Additionally, if you read for others, you'll soon find that this deck's language and images are especially accessible and engaging to a wide variety of people. The Cards Unwrap your deck and take a look through the cards without changing the order. As you can see images represent easily recognized baseball roles, actions and situations. Each picture is matched to its card's traditional Tarot meaning. Even if you're new to Tarot, a look through the deck should give you a general idea of a card's message without having to look it up in this book. For example, you already know that a Triple Play (the Three of Mitts) means success while an Error (the Five of Mitts) means a setback. Lay out the cards beginning with the first, the Rookie, number 0. Continue until you reach number 21. World Series. This group is called the Majors (in traditional Tarot, the Major Arcana or Trumps). The Majors represent the universal underlying principles of life. The remaining 56 cards are divided into four suits, just like a typical deck of playing cards. Together, these four suits comprise the Minors (in traditional Tarot, the Minor Arcana). The Minors represent changing circumstances, attitudes, and actions. They illustrate the challenges, conflicts, and opportunities we deal with on a day-to-day basis. The four suits that make up the Minors are Mitts, Balls, Bats, and Bases. Each suit corresponds to a traditional Tarot suit and addresses a particular area of life. Mitts relate to the realm of the heart: relationships, feelings, intuition. They correspond to the traditional suit of Cups. Balls correspond to the suit of Swords, which deals with the mind and analytical, rational thought. Bats (Wands) represent energy and creativity, and last, Bases (Pentacles) address security and the material world. Excerpted from Baseball Tarot Book & Card Set. Copyright (c) 1999. Reprinted with permission by Workman Publishing.

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Excerpted from Baseball Tarot: Book and Card Set by Mark Lerner, Dan Gardiner, Laura Philips
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.