I’m not a complete Tarot beginner, but I just picked up 78 Degrees of Wisdom, and I’m about halfway through so far. Has anyone else read this for their Tarot practice?
So far, I think it could be the perfect Tarot book for a beginner, but the individual card meanings aren’t blowing my mind or anything, and it doesn’t seem to be anything I haven’t seen before in other texts. Maybe I’m just biased but I feel like you can learn more about the Tarot from our guides here 
I do like how Pollack writes about the cards, but I don’t know if everyone really needs to read this (and that’s what some fans seem to think). I don’t know. I think I went in expecting it to hit harder right away and instead it’s more of a slow burn. Which isn’t bad, just not what I expected.
Wondering if it clicks more on a reread tbh. Some books are like that for me with tarot stuff.
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One of the very few Tarot books I’ve read more than once.
Great video on it here:
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The card meanings feel familiar for a reason. 78 Degrees was so influential that basically everything in it has been absorbed into standard tarot canon by now - you’re reading the original source of ideas you’ve already encountered elsewhere. That’s why it feels like you already know this stuff.
If you want to get value from it on reread, try approaching it as understanding where modern tarot interpretation actually comes from. The genealogy of the ideas, not the ideas themselves. In the same way, knowing Freud helps with film theory even when Freud himself is outdated.
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Honestly, it’s more of a reference book than anything. I keep coming back to 78 Degrees, but it didn’t hit hard on first read.
I think there is a reason all the best Tarot readers in the world swear by the book, but I don’t know if it’s really the best book for beginners to start with.
Once you sit with the original symbolism she unpacks, it deepens your readings way more than you’d expect. I’ve been playing around with Kabbalah correspondences in my spreads lately and that’s what made me notice how deliberately vague Pollack can be. Rather than just handing you fixed static meanings to memorize, she wants you to explore how cards interact with each other and with the question itself, which most authors don’t do.
Kind of frustrating at first if you want clear answers but the best way to go deeper into your card meanings. The payoff is there if you stick with it… just takes a while to click.
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This works much better as a second or third book. Not your first. My grandmother taught me to read cards years ago, so I was already past the basics when I picked it up - and that’s where it clicked for me.
There’s a lot of flowery backstory and personal interpretation woven through the whole thing (which I actually loved), but the actual card meanings kind of get buried under all that context. If you’re just trying to learn fundamentals… yeah, I could see that being frustrating.
The author passed away a while ago, a blow to the Tarot community as a whole. Her wisdom lives on through books she left behind and I don’t know if anyone changed the practice as much.
Most of those authors you’re comparing to probably cut their teeth on Pollack’s book first. She was a trailblazer for Tarot content creators and writers.
78 Degrees came out in the early '80s, there was basically nothing else out there for tarot readers. So the sources that feel more polished or comprehensive now are standing on that foundation, whether they acknowledge it or not.
The best thing I’ve gotten from tarot books is just seeing how different authors interpret the same cards. Like someone will have this completely unexpected take on the 3 of Swords and it just reframes everything. Never would have gotten there on my own.
I did notice Rachel Pollack’s books kinda repeat each other though. Good stuff, but diminishing returns after a while. So now I’m trying to branch out to different authors instead of just going deeper with one person (which was my habit for way too long).
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It’s the transformation stuff that makes this book. Pollack gets it in a way most authors don’t - and I think her own process with gender is why. That specific lived insight into change. You can feel it in how she writes about the cards.
I do wonder whether that’s why it worked so well when I shifted from Thoth to RWS? I was using tarot more for self-reflection than divination at that point, and the way she frames the cards as mirrors for personal journeys… that was exactly what I needed. Couldn’t have even put it into words at the time (which is kind of the whole point, I guess).
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She’s very Rider-Waite-Smith specific. Like, if your deck leans Marseille or Thoth, some of the examples just won’t land until you mentally translate them to your own imagery. And with the moon waning right now (at least where I am), it’s actually a decent time to sit with this one - more of a slow burn, less fireworks. Good for reflection, I guess.
You could say the book is a slow turn
Pollack leans heavily into a secular/psychological framework rather than anything predictive or esoteric. So if your existing tarot education already comes from that angle, yeah… It’s going to feel familiar. If you ever branch into reading for others though, her way of framing cards in terms of human development stages is useful for keeping readings grounded and accessible to skeptical querents.
I think people who feel underwhelmed are just consuming it in a format that doesn’t serve the material. This book works best as a companion to your readings. I kept it next to my reading space and would flip to whatever card came up in my daily pulls, which felt way more natural than trying to absorb it all at once.
The real value for me was using her card descriptions as journaling prompts. She drops these little psychological threads about each card - subtle ones - and they unravel in interesting ways once you sit with them and write through your own associations. Something about putting pen to paper with her framings as a starting point really helped my readings become a lot clearer.
It’s more of a reference text disguised as a narrative, if that makes sense.
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Yeah, I do wonder why it was written that way but every reading, I pick up something new - which says a lot about the depth Pollack packed in there. There’s this warmth to her approach that makes the whole experience feel like sitting down with a wise friend who genuinely wants you to understand the cards on a deeper level.
Tarot Wisdom might be more what you’re after. That’s where she really digs into comparing card meanings across different decks and traditions - she’ll take a single card and walk through how it appears in RWS versus Marseilles, Visconti-Sforza, Golden Dawn, even her own Shining Tribe deck. Plus all the correspondence. Astrology, kabbalah, the Picatrix.
78 Degrees was my first tarot book and I still go back to it when I’m stuck on a meaning. Her lit crit background shows (that field held onto Jung way longer than psychology did), which explains a lot of the approach.
I always wondered why she never gave the Thoth the same treatment. Might have finally gotten me to learn that deck.
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The Fool stepping off the cliff. Pollack just opened up this whole new path, and everyone else followed after.
So many other Tarot authors seem to borrow her anecdotes without credit. You start reading other books after finishing hers and it just becomes obvious. Kind of ruins reading other Tarot books so be warned!
She’s genuinely enjoyable to read while being so straightforward about what Tarot actually is - no dressing it up. Her approach to spiritual theories of randomness, especially. That clarity is what sets her apart, and probably why people keep quietly borrowing from her.
Her method is what got my attention. Coming from cartomancy, the meanings were less interesting than how she actually structured things. Try mapping Minors to playing-card pips and see where her numerology lines up (or doesn’t… that part’s revealing).
Part Two is the best section of the whole book. The Minor Arcana. Most people don’t talk about it enough, and I genuinely don’t get why.
Pollack does this thing where she connects the numbered cards across all four suits, drawing out patterns I had been completely blind to for years (embarrassing in hindsight). It’s like that Charlie conspiracy board meme from It’s Always Sunny with the red string everywhere… except it actually makes sense lol.
If you’re halfway through and still working through the Majors, keep going. The Minors might be where you really get what she’s saying.
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It’s because Pollack basically wrote the blueprint. Everyone else copied from it.
Back in 1980 there weren’t exactly shelves full of tarot books to choose from - we’re talking maybe two accessible options if you were lucky. So yeah… the card meanings feel familiar now. Of course they do. Every author since then has been building on her foundation, whether they credit her or not.
You’re reading the source material after absorbing all the remixes.
