This is the third book in a series of related tarot books Mary Greer wrote in the 1980’s.  The first book was the well-received and much beloved Tarot and Your Self: A Workbook for Personal Transformation, and the second was Tarot Constellations: Patterns of Personal Destiny.  All three books are excellent resources for learning about how to use the tarot for personal transformation, but this is my favorite of the three.  It doesn't seem to have been read by as many
people as has the first in the series, but I encourage you to hunt it down and get a copy as soon as you can.  Even if you didn't find the first book as useful as have most people, I am convinced this one will blow you away.
 
There is an incredible amount of new and intriguing information in this book.  Mary draws from a wide variety of sources.  The first four or five chapters discuss different methods of reading the cards, providing suggestions of how to ask questions, how to interpret the cards, and how to meditate on them.  Then, starting with chapter six, the cards begin to be discussed in more depth.  Chapter six discusses the correspondences of the four elements with the four suits.  This
chapter covers the four humours and the four temperaments and provides a
very useful table that lists associations of the four elements with everything from alchemical symbols, directions, seasons, moon phases, personality types, Jungian functions, symbols of Kali, level of understanding, creation gods, death rites, archangels, virtues, vices, and on and on.  Not only that, but all of the elements in the table are discussed in some depth in the chapter.  In this chapter Mary also introduces the principle of four which becomes one of the foundations of
her star spreads.
 
Chapter seven describes some element spreads that allow you to use and build on the knowledge gained in the previous chapter.  Chapter eight discusses the elements in combination by discussing their association with the court cards and with tattvas.  “Tattvas,” she explains, “are geometric forms using the primary colors to symbolize the underlying currents of material existence.  They are designed for contacting those subtle elemental realms that would normally be beyond the capabilities of sensation” (p. 87).  This chapter includes a special
Diamond Consciousness Spread that is based on tattvas.
 
Chapter nine delves even further into the inner structure of the tarot.  Here she discusses the “3 X 7 Structure of the Major Arcana,” and expounds upon the three circles, the seven triads, and the seven rays.  These first nine chapters would alone make the book worth reading.  But there is more, much, much more.
 
In chapter ten she begins discussing the “Star System” as an occult key to tarot symbolism.  The ideas here are an expansion and clarification of Papus’ ideas on the tarot.  His tetragram arrangements of the major arcana are combined with the circles and rays discussed in the previous chapter to lead to new levels of understanding.  Here, too, she begins developing her own “star system,” which forms the basis of the real meat of this book.  This is very lovely stuff.  It is impossible to describe this system in just a few sentences.  As a hint, however, I can tell you a “star” is a six-pointed hexagram, arranged with a major arcana card on each point of the star, with a seventh in the middle.  These hexagram stars of David can be viewed as two interlocking triangles, one with its apex pointed up, and the other mirroring it with its apex pointed down.  The first star has the Magician (1) at the apex of the triangle pointing up, the High Priestess
(2) on the left bottom point of that triangle, and the Empress (3) in the right bottom point of the triangle.  Then, on the apex of the triangle pointing down there is the Emperor (4), on the upper left point of that triangle is the Hierophant (5), and on the upper right point is the Lovers (6).  In the middle of the whole star is the Chariot (7).  For the second star, the middle card of the first (7) becomes the upper apex of the second upper triangle, and so on.  This arrangement of the
major arcana gives us 3 stars, with a triangle of Sun (19), Judgment (20), and World (21) left over, with the Fool (0/22) in the middle.  The associations that develop from the star system are discussed in detail in the proceeding chapters.
 
As if that weren't enough, the really fun stuff begins in the next chapter.  Here Mary integrates all that she has discussed thus far with the ideas of one of the major “channeled entities” of the 1970’s ­ Seth.  If you have never read The Nature of Personal Reality: A Seth Book, by Jane Roberts, I would strongly recommend tracking down a copy.  It was out of print for a while, but it is now being printed again, in paperback.  You don't need to have read this book to
appreciate the rest of Tarot Mirrors, however.  In fact, what Mary has done is organize Seth's ideas and integrate them with her star system in a truly amazing way.  I was blown away when I read this part of the book.  Let me illustrate with her short description of the first star:  “There are many aspects to the unlimited being you are.  You have a focused, conscious mind (Magician) and an intuitive, inner, or unconscious mind (High Priestess).  They give birth through creative imagination (Empress) to reality and reason (Emperor).  The order and structure of that reality (Emperor) is formed by personal beliefs
learned from parents, teachers, etc. and monitored by your conscience (Hierophant).  These are then projected onto the outer world and others in it (Lovers).  These characteristics form the basis of your inner identity or psyche (First Star), expressed by the ego, which directs your perceptions as you function in the world (Chariot).”
 
The next chapter expands upon all the ideas developed thus far by describing each of the major arcana in terms of the Seth material.  Chapter thirteen then provides a series of interrelated star spreads that allows you to use this material in actual readings and medication. This is a superb system.  I am surprised I have not heard of anyone using it before.  Chapter fourteen gives a sample reading using the star spreads, and it is marvelous.  It not only provides excellent illustration of the spreads, but it demonstrates a warm, understanding,
and hope-filled approach to reading for another soul who is in deep and abiding pain.  This chapter brought tears to my eyes.
 
Chapters fifteen and sixteen describe exercises for using the tarot for healing and for developing your talents, skill and abilities.  The final chapter gives an interesting look at the “future” of tarot, a future we now find ourselves in the midst of, and this makes the reading of this chapter interesting in itself.
 
So, bottom line?  Do I need to say it?  Get the book.  Read it, learn from it, use it.  You'll be very glad you did.
 
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Guest Review Copyright 2000 by Ken Fletcher
used with permission