Author - The Authentic Tarot: Discovering Your Inner Self

Thomas Saunders has been a professional Tarot reader for the past 18 years and has taught many seminars in the UK and America. He was a regular broadcaster on the subject on the Pete Murray Show for LBC London Radio and in 1993 became the Tarot expert for Marie Claire magazine for three years.

He is a practising dowser and long-time member of The National Federation of Spiritual Healers. He is an Associate Lecturer at the University of the Arts, London, and has delivered lectures at the Royal Academy for the British Society of Dowsers, The Princes Foundation, The Research Into Lost Knowledge Organisation (RILKO), Kairos and other groups covering the decoding of myths and fairy tales, mystery school teachings and sacred geometry.

See www.thomassaunders.net for further information.

THOMAS SAUNDERS

The Authentic Tarot is a wise combination of classical wisdom, the dynamics of myths and psychological interpretations of the profound symbolic language that is the Tarot.

A T Mann, author of The Mandala Astrological Tarot and Secrets of the Tarot.

What a wonderful, inspiring and unique book!

Thomas Saunders has managed to capture the very essence of Tarot and its real profound meaning. With pristine clarity and deep understanding of the subject he guides the reader through the maze of complicated and intricate symbols which represent various stages in an individuals development on their way to self-knowledge, the knowledge of the inner Self.

Thomas Saunders makes it clear from the start in his book that we are not to be presented with a manual on fortune-telling but with a very special, highly spiritually-charged guided tour to the core of our inner Self. He makes us realise why we are here on this very beautiful planet, what is the purpose of our lifes journey, and what we tend to forget in the mad rush of our every day life.

Anybody who is interested in the deep knowledge of the Tarot will find this book enlightening. Do not miss the chance to read this book, it is a real jewel.

Dr Jill Claxton-Oldfield

A landmark work of great significance! With ease and grace, Thomas brings to life the hidden truths of some of the world's greatest mysteries regarding the human psyche.

Dr Norma Milanovich, Author of The Light Shall Set You Free, We, The Arcturians, and Sacred Journey to Atlantis.

Thomas Saunders gives a fascinating and unique insight to the Tarot. The book offers the reader great hope and inspiration in that by the correct use of the Tarot a person can take responsibility for their own life and control their destiny. Truly an eye opener!

Sarika Jobanputra
Director, S J Associates Ltd, Chartered Certified Accountants

Not only a thorough and in-depth guide to the meaning and symbolism of the Tarot, this book contains powerful lessons for living a better life. It skilfully guides the reader to use the Tarot in the way in which they were first intended. Thomas remains objective whilst respecting those who have contributed to the craft since its inception.

A beautiful and concise history of the Tarot is woven effortlessly into the fabric of the book and takes the reader on a journey which examines the archetypes, metaphors and symbolism with which we are all innately familiar. Thomas creates a space for the reader to examine their personal journey through the story of the Tarot and invites us to accept responsibility for where we are in our lives and draw on our own inner strength

Whether an experienced Tarot reader or a beginner, this book offers a wealth of knowledge, and the opportunity to explore the meaning and symbolism of the Tarot on a level the likes of which I am yet to encounter in a single work. A must-read for all who want to deepen their knowledge and experience in this area.

Marilyn Devonish
Director, Trance Formations

The BP Grimaud edition of the Ancien Tarot de Marseille featured in this book is the recommended version as the reproduction of the images is of the highest quality and the best clarity of colour. The deck is published in both French and English by France Cartes.

To my dear grandson Leon

It is unlikely that this book would have been written without the loving encouragement, help and support of my wife Janet.

I am also indebted to John Baldock for his editorial skills, knowledge, advice and for kindly writing a most erudite Foreword to the book.

My thanks go to the anonymous David and Zoe for allowing me to publish their Tarot readings.

A very special thanks and acknowledgement to France Cartes for their kind permission to reproduce the images of the BP Grimaud edition of the Ancien Tarot de Marseille.

I also extend my thanks to all those who have granted me permission to publish extracts of the quotations.

W e all have in us a book to write, or so the saying goes, and we naturally assume this to mean that we have a novel or a book of poetry lying dormant within us, waiting until such time as we put pen to paper or fingers to computer keyboard. One day, we say, I really must sit down and write my book. One day Yet in reality we are already writing our book. It is the book of our life, and we are writing it every day. In fact, we have been writing it ever since we came into this world; but we rarely stop to read what we have written. By this I dont mean replaying our memories of the people, the events and the places that have featured in our lives up until now. These are merely the words in our book, so to speak. Like words, they have meaning. But for these disparate elements to have meaning we need to string them together, like words on a page, into sentences and paragraphs until they form a coherent story. Even then, the deeper meaning of our own personal story will probably still escape us, for when it comes to reading the book of our life we are faced with a problem: we have never been taught how to read what we are writing.

This perhaps explains why we rarely look beyond the superficialities of life the words on the pages of our book for something deeper and more fulfilling that will enhance both the meaning and purpose of our lives. And yet such instruction has always been available, although it is often dismissed as belonging to the realm of the occult. Nowadays, the word occult is widely interpreted as meaning supernatural, and is often used to infer that something is dark or evil. But in its original sense and in the sense in which Thomas Saunders uses it throughout this book it simply means hidden (from the Latin occulo, to hide). Whilst occult knowledge is sometimes deliberately hidden in order to prevent its abuse or debasement, it frequently remains hidden because it lies beyond our current level of understanding. Hence the reason for the existence of the worlds many initiatic traditions: their function is to initiate the individual, step by step, into ever deeper levels of understanding of themselves and their place within the overall scheme of things. These initiatic traditions are also sometimes referred to as mystery or mystical traditions because of the revealing insights they offer their initiates into what, up until the moment of initiation or revelation, has been a mystery beyond the realms of their understanding. The Tarot is one such initiatic or mystery tradition. But as Thomas Saunders reveals, it is also more than this: it is a book that holds the keys to understanding the book of life that we ourselves are writing.