Review of The Tarot Almanac: A Seasonal Guide to Divining with Your Cards by Bess Matassa:
In her latest work, Bess Matassa invites the reader into an immersive year-long journey with the tarot: The Tarot Almanac is less a quick reference and more a companion, a calendar-inflected guide that ties the rhythms of the year (seasons, astrological signs) to the 78 cards of the tarot.
From the outset, this book positions itself as a “path to uncovering each card’s meaning as it relates to the astrological energies of the calendar months.”
This book offers rich material for deep reflection as well as practical engagement. I’ll walk through how the book is structured, what it offers (and where it may leave you wanting), and how it might serve (or challenge) a reader like you.
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Structure & Content
How the book is organised:
An author’s note and introduction set the tone—light-hearted but grounded in ritual, intuition, and the idea of bonding with the deck.
A “How to Use This Book” section explains the monthly practice: you’ll work with one (or more) Major Arcana cards, some Minor Arcana cards, and court cards, spread through the month.
Twelve monthly chapters (January through December), each aligned with a zodiac sign, its element, keywords, and a set of cards to work with. Within each monthly section you find:
An introduction to the month and its astrological/seasonal flavour.
Work with a selected Major Arcana card; commentary, prompts, perhaps ritual ideas.
Work with Minor Arcana and court cards: reflection, prompts.
A card spread (layout) for the month.
“Taroscopes” (tarot-style horoscopes?) for the month.
At the back: a “Card-by-Card Mini Reference” (cheat-sheet meanings), index, notes.
What it offers:
The monthly structure gives rhythm and ritual: for a reader committed to a year’s practice, this offers a way to live with your deck, rather than simply consult it.
The blending of tarot + astrology + seasonal magic resonates with the cycles of change: from artist’s death and rebirth metaphors, this approach supports transformation and deepening.
Writing prompts, reflection questions, rituals: for someone who journals, reads, creates (like you) this can become a rich companion to your art practice and personal/spiritual development.
Encourages using your deck in a transactional way: e.g., “meet your deck” each month, work slowly. This mirrors the slow ritual of art-making, of turning the internal kaleidoscope of the self.
What it demands:
Time & commitment: To truly reap the benefits you’ll want to root yourself in a monthly practise. If you pick it up only sporadically, you’ll get some value but less of the cumulative depth.
Some prior fluency: Reviewers note that parts—especially in meditation/visualisation sections—assume you know how to do this.
A willingness to journal and reflect: It’s not just “read and glean”; it’s “work with and live through” the book.
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My Reflections (Through Your Lens)
From your perspective—waking early, living within disciplined schedules, seeking to blend art, spirituality, ritual, and introspection—this book has particular resonance.
Morning ritual potential: Since you wake at 4:45 am, the quiet hours before dawn are a fertile space for ritual. Use the monthly spread in The Tarot Almanac as part of a pre-work quiet practice: draw a card, reflect, journal. The season-based structure supports an evolving practise rather than a static one.
Artistic and symbolic resonance: The monthly pairs of card + astrological sign + seasonal theme invite you to see your artistic self through repeating cycles of change, death, rebirth—ideal for your blog about tarot, art, and the creative struggle. For example: when the sun moves into Scorpio (let’s say late October), you might work with the card selected for that month and reflect on transformation, underworld, emergence.
Duration matches your schedule: The book’s structure supports living with the deck rather than rushing. It dovetails nicely with your non-work hours (after 5:30 PM) when you aim to make art, read, do yoga. You could designate part of that time to reflect with the book.
Balance of structure & freedom: Although the book gives monthly “chapters”, you can pick up at any month, or cycle through at whatever pace suits you. Reviewers say you don’t have to start in January.
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Strengths & Weaknesses
Strengths
Rich, layered: Combines tarot, astrology, season-craft in a unified vision.
Reflective prompts deepen your relationship with the deck and yourself.
Good as a tool for long-term engagement rather than one-off readings.
Visually and conceptually forgiving: You can work at your own pace, revisit chapters.
Weaknesses
If you’re looking for quick reference or pure card-meanings without ritual, it may feel heavy or slower than you want.
Some instructions are light or rely on the reader’s prior experience—e.g., “meditate on this card” without step-by-step. Review-er comments suggest this.
Because it spans 12 months in one framework, there’s less space for in-depth deep dive of every card individually; the focus is on rhythm and season, not exhaustive card-dictionary.
If you already have many tarot journals and seasonal practices, some of the prompts may feel familiar; the book’s novelty is in its structure more than radically new card-meaning interpretations.
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How to Use It (and How I Have Thus Far)
Given my life rhythms and creative focus, here are some suggestions:
Choose your starting point: If you pick this up mid-year (or at any phase), begin with the current month’s chapter (rather than waiting for January).
Morning or evening ritual: For example, draw the Major Arcana card for the month, reflect in your journal before yoga or art time.
Layer it into your writing/blog practice: Use the monthly prompts and write an article or blog post reflecting on your tarot-theme for the month.
Art practice integration: Each month’s card and seasonal theme could become a mini-art project. E.g., create a piece of visual art, or a mixed-media piece, responding to the court cards for the month.
Yoga & ritual synergy: Use the seasonal/astrological energy as a theme for your yoga practice: e.g., when the sign is Fire, bring more dynamic flow; when Earth, grounding; tie this with the card energy.
Journal the transformation: If you’re working on improving your relationship (screen time reduction, quality time) and living a structured schedule, you can use the book’s prompts to reflect on relationship dynamics: what card is showing up when you choose connection vs screen? What seasonal motif is relevant?
Review & revisit: Every few months, flip back to previous chapters and reflect on what changed. The almanac structure supports cyclical revisiting rather than linear completion.
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Verdict
The Tarot Almanac by Bess Matassa is a beautiful, ritual-rich tool for anyone who wants to deepen their tarot practice in alignment with the seasons and astrology. For me—an artist-spirit with a schedule, journaling practice, and an interest in deeper symbolism—it offers fertile ground.
If I were to rate it in my terms: I’d give it 4 out of 5 stars. It’s engaging, thoughtfully structured, and creatively inspiring—but its value depends on your willingness to work with it rather than simply read it. Since you already live with discipline and rhythm, you’re well-placed to derive its full benefits.
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Final Thoughts:
This almanac is a companion of the hearth, urging us to sit quietly with our decks as the sun moves through the zodiac and our inner world churns like autumn leaves. Each month the cards unfold like a ritual door — we are invited not simply to read, but to become the reading: to move through sign and season, to witness our own archeology of self. In a year of steady mornings and retreating twilight, I found this book a quiet altar on which to set my scrapped canvases, my half-written poems, my longing for connection beyond the screen. It is not for the casual glance, but for the steady gaze.
