The book begins with a foreword by Richard Webster.
This
is followed by an introduction to Saga Tarot, the differences
from other Tarot decks and why you should invest in this
one.
Even if you are not interested in doing Tarot readings, with
this deck and thanks to its characteristics you also have a
good tool for Magic and Mentalism.
Words are written on the cards that not only tell us the
symbolism of each card, but also allow us to do drawings
duplications (there are 16 cards with words that are easy to
reproduce with drawings: ower, heart, cat, bird, star, etc.).
Here is one example:
fl
We can also do Walk-around Mind Reading and that is
perhaps the part that interests me most, as it is the setting
where I usually work. You may think, but can't I do that
with any other Tarot deck? You can, but the difference is
that these cards have their name written on them (as
exempli ed in the image above) allowing any participant
who doesn't know Tarot to know the name of the card and
to make associations with the other words written on them.
This combined with the simple stack he uses and explains
further on opens many doors.
About Me (page 3 to 6)
Here we learn about the journey since 2000 of the man
behind Tarot Saga. His search for real magic, his studies of
Kenton Knepper's work, his 10 years presenting general
magic, his studies in all the books he found on the art of
readings and psychic entertainment.
His time as a teacher in a Swedish school, a job he left in
2013. By this time he had about 10 years of study in
psychology, pseudo psychology, magic, mentalism and
psychic readings.
What follows is an interesting story that led him to discover
the power of the Tarot and other oracles.
In 2013 he launches his rst effects for the magical
community and also at that time he personally meets big
names like: Richard Webster, Neal Scryer and Jon Stetson.
fi
fi
His interest in fortune telling grows and he starts working
in festivals. Turbani the Great is born and we can see it in
the short video Andreas posted a few days ago.
He travels around Sweden and Scandinavia where with
long queues in front of his tent and working 7 hours a day
he does about 2500 readings per year for all kind of
audiences.
He has been giving lectures on psychic readings, his
systems and methods, including the Saga Universal Tarot,
over the last few years.
When someone with this level of experience in the eld
speaks on a subject, I pay close attention.
Pages 7 and 8 - a brief summary of the history of Tarot.
The Basics (pages 9 to 24)
A dif cult task for most Tarot beginners is to understand the
meaning of the 78 cards.
The keywords in the Saga system make this easier
especially when we compare them with the images. The
names on the cards aren’t only written on the Major arcana
and court cards, but on all the cards.
fi
fi
There are some sentences in this chapter that I have to
underline because I think they are important, they are:
“ A psychic reading should be just a reading. If you turn
that moment into a magic trick the focus suddenly shifts. A
reading should be about the querent, not about you.”
Next he explains a short story with the Major arcana so that
we can more easily understand them, rather than having
individual pieces of information for each card.
This chapter ends with the basic meanings of Minor arcana
and how we can apply numerology to them to understand
them better and even get extra scenes to the story we want
to tell.
The Saga Reading System (Page 25 to 42)
On page 25 begins the explanation of the 4 words written
on the cards: Symbolic Meaning, Associations, General
Meaning and Alternative Meaning.
He explains with examples how he selected the words in
the symbols category and how to relate them to the querent.
In this chapter this sentence caught my attention:
“ more often than you could expect the querent has a tattoo
or a jewelry that matches some of the symbols in the spread
. When that happens the querent will remember the reading
as unique as personal.”
Associations
“I have selected the associations I got from thousands of readings
and from my studies of the Tarot. The words will make sense to
the pictures and open up for multiple associations.”
With an example of a reading for a 25 year old woman he explains
how to connect the words to the participant based on 3 aspects:
The querent
The card ( spread)
The key word
General Meaning
He points to the importance of knowing the general
meaning of the cards to give plausible readings.
“ …of course, you can make up all the meanings while you
are reading but it is like assembling IKEA furniture without
the instructions.”
We can change the meaning of the cards to make the
reading more adjusted to the querent but rst point out the
general meaning of the card. He gives an example of a
reading.
Alternative Meaning
He talks about how we can totally change the meaning of the cards
with a bad feeling. He gives examples with these cards:
fi
- The Devil
Five of Pentacles
Eight of Swords
Nine of Swords
Ten of Sword
Alternative Magic
Here he talks about the 16 cards that contain easy-to-draw words.
Dual Reality
In the deck comes a World card with words and one without
written words,he explains a routine with these cards but also
explains how to use Dual Reality well. It is an asset to any routine
even if it is not with a Tarot deck.
In the deck there is also a white card, he gives ideas on how to use
this card, one of those ideas is a Clinton Combs routine that is
published at the end of the book.
He nishes this chapter with ideas on how we can use this stack in
Walk Around for readings and mind reading.
Page 43 to page 47
An analysis of the ethical aspects of a psychic reading. Should a
mentalist do psychic readings ? If yes, how should he do it in
order to avoid problems? Gold in these pages, gold.
fi
Page 48 to page 67
He analyses here the different elements that make up a psychic
reading: The Oracle, The Reading System, Cold Reading,
Narration, Atmosphere, Intuition, Stock Lines and Trickery. This
chapter, like the previous one, should be read several times and
will be useful even if Tarot cards do not tell you anything and you
prefer other oracles.
Page 68 to page 79
The AWEC-Move
The explanation of a system of getting secret information and
erasing the evidence in front of the participant with an envelope. It
might be useful for you in longer readings. It is an interesting
method of getting the information and putting it back in the
envelope.
At the end of the reading the querent has the envelope with their
question and a forecast. He explains a system that guarantees that
for example the prediction of the participant's friends will be
different, if they also come for a reading.
Page 80 to page 103
The book ends with an explanation on how to structure the
reading. Readings with different spreads (the pyramid spread, the
Celtic cross), additional tools for readings, a brief discussion about
the different cultural aspects and how a reading changes from one
country to another due to these differences. The formula he uses
for all his readings and an explanation of each of these topics:
- Talk about the cards
- Talk about the querent’s persona
- Talk about the past
- Talk about the present
- Talk about the future
- Blind the story together
Oh, at the end there's a Clinton Combs routine. I will leave it to
you to discover and see if you like it.
Final Verdict: I see that it is a system that has not been on many
people's radar but has a lot of potential. I'm sure that if it came
accompanied by videos with the live readings (although I realize
it's not easy, since it's something personal) and explaining the
construction and use of the envelope, it would have a lot more
interest.
Eventually an interview on the different themes covered and
stories experienced throughout these thousands of readings.
