Thoth

@Barleywine thank you so much for volunteering! Students interested in your class will sign-up on the thread here, be admitted into the group and join you on this thread. Post your instructions and discussions here and they will reply. This is new so I'll keep an eye on things and make sure this thread runs smoothly! Update by Raggydoll, feb 2020: This class (and it’s teacher) is on hiatus and therefore no sign-ups are possible at the moment. All the previous lessons and discussions can be found in this thread. You are all still welcome to comment and keep sharing information here if you like 🙂

Which Thoth books do you have in your library? Which ones do you recommend, and which ones would you warn others against? How helpful where they, what are the strengths and limitations of each, and in what stage of your Thoth journey did you study them?

This is an index of all the cards studied so far in this Thoth section Please add your thoughts and ideas to the existing discussions or start new discussion threads You are welcome to start threads for cards not yet discussed and they will be added to this index later on Majors Trumps Atu O — The Fool Atu I — The Magus (The Magician) Atu II — The Priestess (The High Priestess) Atu III — The Empress Atu IV — The Emperor Atu IV - The Emperor's new clothes Atu V — The Hierophant Atu V - Bovis a' Sinistra Atu VI — The Lovers Atu VII — The Chariot Atu VII - The Grail Be…

A silent flip-through of the Aleister Crowley Tarot.

During a recent reading of Crowley's Liber A'ash vel Capricorni Pneumatici (The Book of Creation or the Goat of the Spirit) my eye was drawn to three verses that made me think of Atu X - Fortune. Adding up the verse numbers: 35 + 36 + 37 = 108. A significant number in the Dharmic religions, where it frequently appears in the number of beads in a mala or a rosary. The idea of creating the next link in an Infinite Chain led me to reflect on the fact that Atu X - Fortune is esoterically a card of aspiration. In particular it points to the challenge of maintaining spiritual aspiration amidst the whirling maelstrom of continually changing circ…

Which among the decks inspired by the Thoth do you personally like? How do they read and how often do you work with them? Do they have companion books, and would you recommend them?

Hi Everyone, I hope all of you have been doing great. I got the Thoth deck last year around this time... I have been trying to study the cards and learn the deck well.. the more I learn about Thoth, one thing gets much more clear is that it is a life long study. It blows my mind. I am in absolute awe of this deck!!! I wish I had studied this deck first and then went to RWS... the range this deck offers simply mind boggling. I have looked in a few places but didn't find a satisfactory answer... do we read reversals in Thoth spreads? I know we can take the meanings how they resonate to us while we are making sense of the cards in the spr…

I have a beautiful Thoth deck...I look at it from time to time, I may even trim it one day so I can handle it comfortably....but it intimidates me as a reading deck...Ive learned on the RWS and even dabble in TdM...but the Thoth is the "biggie" that I have not yet the courage to approach.. So those of you who love this deck, talk to me :) :)

I have both the Thoth deck that copes in the Purple (Blueish) box as well as the Green box. In the former (& much missed) AT Trading/Selling thread that people would specify whether it was the Purple or Green box. I've never pulled the 2 out and went through the deck seeking a difference in the decks but I wanted to ask… Is there a difference in to 2?

Hi all, I'm not as familiar with the Thoth system of Tarot reading as with the RWS System but understood (based on background reading) the Thoth system to be based on the Crowley/Harris Deck which was, in turn, based on Crowley's 1944 Book of Thoth. I have more recently come across a reference to Le Grand Etteilla, which is also referred to as a 'Thoth Deck'. As Le Grand Etteilla is an older Tarot system, it obviously pre-dates Crowley's Thoth. Are both systems equally known as 'Thoth' or is Grand Etteilla a fourth system of Tarot (parallel to RWS/TdeM/Crowley's Thoth)? Most sources seem to accredit Thoth solely to Crowley.…

In the legend of Orpheus his wife Eurydice is bitten by a viper and dies. Orpheus travels to the underworld, where he puts Cerberus to sleep with the music of his lyre. Subsequently Orpheus makes a bargain with Hades and Persephone in which he will be allowed to take Eurydice out the underworld, provided he leads the way and does not look back. Unfortunately, as Orpheus exits the underworld and steps into the light he forgets the bargain and looks back. Eurydice, who is walking behind him, is still in the underworld and instantly vanishes. Looking at the Hermit card we see that that he is turned away from us, focusing intently on the Orphic egg. Instead of loo…

As printed in The Book Of Thoth, that double loop in the Zodiac makes no sense. It's like Crowley tried to make two corrections where only one was needed. His self-defeating solution is a weird proof that 2=0, but I'm not sure about 0=2. Tzadi may not be The Star, but it's certainly Aquarius. You can swap cards all you like, but you can't just change the attributions in Sefer Yetzirah around to fit an aesthetic preference. You can't change both correspondences; pick one. "The galley proofs of my book look okay, but $ is not the Star; I think it's a squashed bug. Leave it in; it will keep people guessing."

Hi, I'm in the UK and I'm trying to buy a large Thoth pack (I guess the green pack) but can't find anywhere that sells it at a reasonable price or has enough reviews to convince to risk buying it. Any suggestions most welcome. I'm looking to pay not more than £30. Many thanks

Recently while glancing through The Thoth Companion by Michael Osiris Snuffin, I came upon the authors explanation for the Dove & Serpent symbolism on Atu XVI - The Tower. While I don't necessarily disagree with this interpretation, I feel it lacks the nuance of Crowley's explanation in the Book of Thoth. Crowley begins his explanation of this card by saying it represents "the destruction of existing material by fire. It may be taken as the preface to Atu XX, the Last Judgment [The Aeon], i.e., the Coming of a New Aeon." On the surface this seems to be very much in line with Snuffin. But Crowley then goes on to say that "magical symbols must always be understo…

On Page 4 of The Book of Thoth, Crowley says the Tarot is a symbolic picture of the Universe based on the Holy Qabalah. To illustrate this point he launches into a brief and highly technical explanation that frequently leaves many people confused. Reading through Barleywine's 101 thread I noticed that he passed over it in silence, despite the fact that Lon DuQuette artfully dodged an explanation in his Thoth book. In my opinion this section of the Book of Thoth is not difficult to understand, but it is very concise and might benefit from a little unpacking. Here goes.

One of the unique features of the Thoth Tarot is the correspondence between the cards and the paths of the Tree of Life that differs slightly from the pattern established by the Golden Dawn. The latter has been replicated repeatedly in many Golden Dawn derivative decks. One distinctive way the Thoth Tarot breaks with the Golden Dawn is the attribution of XVII - The Star to the path of Heh, and IV - The Emperor to the path of Tzaddi. The former change is justified by a rather deep soteriological reason that I won't go into here. But the latter change involving the Emperor is often criticised because it does not seem to fit the path of Tzaddi. The 28th path of T…

Hello. I just saw that there are thoth decks that have absolutely white borders and the ones that have green borders are apparently considered green Thoth. My deck looks like this. I am scratching my head: is my deck a green Thoth or no? Could somebody help me identify?

I've just completed my second read through of Marcus Katz' trilogy of books, Secrets of the Thoth Tarot, and thought I would jot down a few of my thoughts and opinions. Volume One: A Magical Atlas of the Universe - Thelema, Aeons, & the Major Arcana. The cover claims this book was written by "Drawing on 35 years of study of the original notebooks & diaries of Aleister Crowley." This is no idle boast. But in my opinion Mr Katz really does seem to know his stuff and writes about the Thoth Tarot as a unique and distinctive deck in its own right from an apparently knowledgeable and insightful position. The first book in the three part series i…

Hi everyone. I have a lot of RWS system decks and thought I should get at least one Thoth. Not sure if it’s a right fit yet but the art work intrigues me. I was looking on Amazon for the deck and this is the one that comes up: https://www.amazon.com/Thoth-Tarot-Deck-Aleister-Crowley/dp/1572815108/ref=sr_1_1?crid=J6JLU2L6O3UD&keywords=thoth+tarot+deck&qid=1574381662&sprefix=Thoth+tar%2Caps%2C445&sr=8-1 In the details it says: Premier edition (December 31, 2005) Then I found another version, with a different color box (both are by US Games and both are shipped and sold by Amazon, except this one is a few dollars cheaper): …

Hello, I am new to the world of tarot and am deeply drawn to the Thoth deck. I've heard it requires a lot of study to get acquainted with compared to the more popular Rider-Waite-Smith, but that's okay, I'm in no rush. In my Amazon cart I have the following items: The US Games Systems Thoth Deck (large, green box) The Book of Thoth Understanding Aleister Crowley's Thoth Tarot: New Edition Is there anything else that I need to get started? I assume the vast majority of books out there for tarot are aimed at Rider-Waite-Smith decks; is that indeed the case? I'd like to read works by Rachel Pollack and The Holisti…

Apologies if that has been answered already but is there any mass market version still available of the Thoth deck that includes all 3 alternatives of the Magus? I can only find it on older used deck at Ebay, and i recall seeing a pocket edition on Etsy (which had a different Anch-like cross on the back) which is not available anymore, but no mass-market editions. Any help appreciated (i simply love the 3rd alternative)

I'm perplexed what's going on with the decans in the Thoth Minors. Let's start with astrology. The Sign Aries has 3 decans: #1 ruled by Mars, #2 ruled by Sun, #3 ruled by Jupiter [although I found one obscure source which gives it as ruled by Venus according to the Chaldean system and ruled by Jupiter according to classical methods which the author calls Triplicity]. Thus we have 2 wands as Mars of Aries. 3 Wands as Sun of Aries. 4 wands as Venus [not Jupiter] of Aries. Until I found an obscure source about the Chaldean system being different than the *normal* system--I was completely perplexed why Thoth coincided on the first 2 Decans but gets …

When you all read Thoth, do you use the keywords as a main guide to what the card means? (I do, and it's my favorite thing about this deck.) I have a book, but I don't remember which one it is and I don't consult it often. Also, regardless of what deck I'm reading with (RWS-based, Thoth, or Marseilles) I use my own unique combo of RWS and Thoth meanings to read. I also read playing cards like a Tarot deck with RWS-esque meanings minus the missing cards, because the way I see it is that most trumps have a corresponding pip (such as the two of cups/hearts and the lovers, or the chariot and the six of swords/spades, etc.) What is the forum opinion on this.

Crowley also mentions a looming Dark Age in his concluding remarks on Atu XX - The Aeon (page 116). Where is Crowley going with this? What could possibly go so very wrong that it may require us to turn back to an obsolete spiritual world view? A bit of a tangent. Throughout human history our species has engaged in various forms of communal worship. From the small scale rites of primitive tribal societies to the pervasive influence of today's world religions, humanity has sought ways to worship something greater than itself? There are many theories where this religious instinct comes from. One of them suggests that it is a kind of psychic …

I've never used the Thoth Deck before just the rider waite illustration and the marsielles deck. I was shopping in a mystical store one day and I was about to purchase the Thoth Deck. The store clerk asked me if I was sure I wanted to purchase the deck. She said the requires someone experienced that knows what they are doing? Is this true? I just started recently but something drew me to want to buy them but the store clerk made me a bit insecure about it. What you think she meant?