Sweet thing, listen. The folding table at the back of the dive bar in Asbury Park has a stack on it — same seven books, same order, the corners soft from coffee rings and a candle that tipped over once in 2019. These are the ones that *teach,* not the ones that decorate. Mary K. Greer for the workbook. Rachel Pollack — God rest her — for the cards. Steven Forrest for the planets. Joanna Martine Woolfolk for the reference on a Tuesday. *Madonn'.* Read slow. Underline. Come back.
Every link below is an Amazon affiliate. You buy, Sinderella gets a few cents, the candle stays lit. *Madonn',* it's that simple.
For the niece who wants to actually learn
Mary K. Greer · ~$22
Mary K. Greer's *Tarot for Your Self* is the workbook every serious tarot reader graduates through, my child. It's been in print since 1984 and it shows — the format is dense, exercise-driven, no vibes. You don't *read* this book. You *do* it. Sinderella's copy has thirty-five years of pencil notes in the margins.
See it on Amazon → Sinderella\'s full take →
For the niece who reads philosophy at the diner
Rachel Pollack · ~$20
Rachel Pollack's *Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom* is the symbolic deep-read on the tarot — the book every other tarot writer quietly references. Pollack was a poet, a fiction writer, a Jewish mystic, and a tarot scholar. Her writing on the Major Arcana is the closest thing tarot has to a sacred text. Sinderella keeps her copy on the folding table.
See it on Amazon → Sinderella\'s full take →
For the niece who already finished Seventy-Eight Degrees
Rachel Pollack · ~$25
*Tarot Wisdom* is Rachel Pollack's 2008 follow-up to *Seventy-Eight Degrees* — same Pollack mind, same beautiful writing, but more *modern* and more *practical.* If you already read the deep one, this is the working manual. If you haven't, start with *Seventy-Eight Degrees.* Sinderella keeps both on the table.
See it on Amazon → Sinderella\'s full take →
For the niece who asked what her rising sign means
Steven Forrest · ~$18
Steven Forrest's *The Inner Sky* is the astrology starter Sinderella hands to anybody who asked what their rising sign actually means and stayed for the answer. Forrest writes evolutionary astrology — soul-purpose-and-karma flavor, but written like an English professor, not a yoga teacher. *Madonn',* it's good.
See it on Amazon → Sinderella\'s full take →Affiliate disclosure · As an Amazon Associate, Sinderella earns from qualifying purchases.
"Saint Rita for the impossible. The rest is on you."
— Sinderella · the folding table