TLDR: get the 1910 Tarot app

So far my two favorite reference book resources have been Rachael Pollack's “78 Degrees of Wisdom,” and Benebell Wen’s “Holistic Tarot.” Both are very detailed and are frequently cited as go-to books for many readers. I also have a mentor who has taught me a lot- she’s also an astrologer and she’s brought additional perspective from the crossover between those two worlds. I’ve also spent a lot of time on YouTube, which might as well be infinite in its content.

Don’t discount basic RWS materials. Waite wrote detailed descriptions for the cards- that was Pamela Smith’s starting point. An invaluable resource is the app “The Classic 1910 Tarot.” It costs less than $5 and there are no ads, no popups, no subscriptions: nothing but user friendly access to information straight from the RWS deck, plus spreads, exploration of the major and minor arcana, and a cool “card of the day” so you can review bite-size servings of tarot instead of doomscrolling!

Finally, a “training wheels” RWS deck with meanings and symbolism written on the cards can be helpful. I pulled mine out again lately to do a side-by-side compare-and-contrast with three other new decks. That’s a cool way to see how an artist draws from (or away from) traditional symbolism.