Getting started with tarot through Thoth

[tarotnottaken]

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 Holistic Tarot if they'll be useful to me.

 

Thank you!

[gregory]

NEED..... That depends on you. But I would adds Snuffin: https://www.amazon.ca/Thoth-Companion-Symbolic-Meaning-Tarot/dp/0738711926 as more "down to earth" than DuQuette - for the days that DuQuette gets a bit abstruse and you sit thinking WHAT ?  found it very helpful. Also Banzhaf. Pollack is very useful, whatever she writes, but for specific Thoth study, you hav chosen well.

I could tell you a few I would ABSOLUTELY avoid, but that's a bit rude.... You might find this thread useful, though.

 

[Wyrdkiss]

19 minutes ago, Angband said:

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 Holistic Tarot if they'll be useful to me.

 

Thank you!

I'd pass on the Holistic Tarot w/ the Thoth, and dive into Duquette and the Book of Thoth itself. I think those in your cart are excellent starting points, and could theoretically last you years of study.  Lon Milo D is a gem and the book is immensely helpful.  You will bounce around and reference both a lot, and possibly with Crowley's you will return to certain areas when it feels right. I encourage this. The Thoth was also my first deck and is still my first love. You are likely in for a wonderful ride. Regarding reading material, I wish I had started  as wisely as you.

 

Enjoy!!!!

Edited October 20 by Wyrdkiss

[gregory]

I would pass on Holistic too. It is not a book to read, IMHO, but a reference book that tries to cover everything - which makes it better for dipping in to for what you need at any given moment. That said - I don't personally like it a whole lot - but recognize that others do. I bought it in a fit of FOMO, and while I don't regret owning it, I wish I had put my money elsewhere.

[tarotnottaken]

Thank you both for your helpful comments, I appreciate it. I wasn't sure how active this forum was bit it seems like it's a good place to be based on how fast I got responses. 🙂 I'll add Snuffin's The Thoth Companion and The Crowley Tarot Handbook to my cart as well. And with all that, I think I'll be set for a while.

 

I just realized there's an introductions section, so I'll go post there shortly. However, there are some other questions that I have that I might as well drop in here:

1. I'm curious about the RWS's popularity compared to the Thoth "tradition," for lack of a better term. I'm under the assumption it's because RWS came decades prior and includes less abstruse imagery, but I'd like to hear others' opinions. What would it take for the Thoth deck to gain in popularity? Or has it grown in recent years?
2. What drew you to the Thoth deck originally? For me, it's primarily the breathtaking art. I've spent several hours scanning probably well over a hundred tarot decks online and in stores and nothing has spoken to me like Lady Freida Harris's artwork has. It's just mesmerizing and the design of the cards is magnificent. I've also heard that this deck is particularly good for self-readings, meditation, self-exploration, and similar endeavors, all of which are my main reasons for getting interested in tarot.
3. Is there any other advice that you have for a brand new tarot reader when it comes to the Thoth tradition of tarot in particular before I dive in?

I know nothing about astrology, numerology, qabalah, hermeticism, esotericism, occultism, The Golden Dawn, or anything like that, so this is going to be quite the journey indeed.

 

Thanks!

[Wyrdkiss]

I purchased my first Thoth, a large "greenie" edition, at a store called The Haunted Bookshop in Arizona while visiting a friend.   The only description I can attest to about the decision, which runs beyond the risk of being cliche, is that it called to me. they were on a spinning display behind the counter. I Said, "I want that one" without hesitation.  I don't think I saw any of the other decks. If I did, I do not remember.  My eyes were on the box and it was an instantaneous decision. 

 

The art is stunning -- that was my draw too.  The notes in Duquette's book, of correspondence between Crowley and Harris by letter overseas, is nothing short of amazing. Her passion, and his demand for her excellence, is quite a story in itself.  

 

I know at one point the Thoth was the 2nd best selling deck in the world.   But i don't think anyone is concerned about how many units it is moving, aside from the publisher. It is popular for those so inclined.

 

On that note, the member on this forum known as @Aeon418 seems to have an incredible  knowledge base of the Thoth, as do a number of others.  Keep an eye out for posts to learn as you go.

And on the note of correspondence, he just offered a heads up about a book on Crowley and Harris' creative process:

 

Let us know how it goes!

 

 

 

Edited October 20 by Wyrdkiss

[Misterei]

 

4 hours ago, Angband said:

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

I own both these books. They are the 2 *must-haves* for Thoth. I also suggest Gerd Ziegler book and Angeles Arrien book [both on Amazon] which are specifically for Thoth but not purely kabbalah / Crowley based. Ziegler and Arrien both give a broader and possibly more practical [less esoteric] take on Thoth.

 

2 hours ago, Angband said:

1. I'm curious about the RWS's popularity compared to the Thoth "tradition," for lack of a better term. I'm under the assumption it's because RWS came decades prior and includes less abstruse imagery, but I'd like to hear others' opinions. What would it take for the Thoth deck to gain in popularity? Or has it grown in recent years?

Sadly there are many Tarot fans who won;t touch a Thoth deck b/c they dislike or fear Crowley. Silly but true. Also the Thoth deck has a certain gravitas that makes some ppl uncomfortable. But Crowley would have wanted it that way 🤣 

 

2 hours ago, Angband said:

1. What drew you to the Thoth deck originally? For me, it's primarily the breathtaking art. I've spent several hours scanning probably well over a hundred tarot decks online and in stores and nothing has spoken to me like Lady Freida Harris's artwork has. It's just mesmerizing and the design of the cards is magnificent. I've also heard that this deck is particularly good for self-readings, meditation, self-exploration, and similar endeavors, all of which are my main reasons for getting interested in tarot.

I had a couple friends who used it, so I got exposed to it that way. I don't read with it these days yet I don't regret learning it. I think every serious Tarot reader should be familiar with Thoth. What I learnt about Thoth, I've applied to my practice with other decks.

 

Many decks are good for meditation etc. but Thoth has that gravitas I mentioned. Tarot of the Halloween Cats and Rainbow Unicorns is never going to be the serious meditation tool that Thoth is 😠

 

2 hours ago, Angband said:

... I know nothing about astrology, numerology, qabalah, hermeticism, esotericism, occultism, The Golden Dawn, or anything like that, so this is going to be quite the journey indeed.

Which is why I suggest the Ziegler and Arrien books. Crowley was a brilliant occultist. I adore DuQuette.

***BUT***

it can get too bogged down in this one school of thought. I found that alternative takes on the deck that were more universal and practical helped me actually READ the cards.

[Chariot]

4 hours ago, Angband said:

 

1. I'm curious about the RWS's popularity compared to the Thoth "tradition," for lack of a better term. I'm under the assumption it's because RWS came decades prior and includes less abstruse imagery, but I'd like to hear others' opinions. What would it take for the Thoth deck to gain in popularity? Or has it grown in recent years?
2.  

My first tarot experience was with the RWS deck in the mid 1970s ...a friend came by and gave me an impromptu reading for fun, and I was startled by how accurate it was.  So that was my 'introduction' to tarot.  I bought a classic RWS deck soon after that and commenced learning the system.

Perhaps if she had shown up with a Thoth deck, I might now be a Thoth user. Dunno.

Maybe it's down to what system you are introduced to first?  I respect the Thoth system, and think some of the decks are beautiful indeed ...but there is so much to learn when it comes to using just one system.  And I'm old now.  I don't want to spend the rest of my years learning yet another tarot system.  I'd rather spend them expanding on the one I already use. 

I agree with several people's suggestion that Holistic Tarot by Benebel Wen is probably not the best book to buy if you are a Thoth reader.  The book really is focused mostly on the RWS system.  That being said—I think it's a fantastic source book if you are an RWS reader, and one I refer to often.  

[DanielJUK]

8 hours ago, Angband said:

I'm curious about the RWS's popularity compared to the Thoth "tradition," for lack of a better term. I'm under the assumption it's because RWS came decades prior and includes less abstruse imagery, but I'd like to hear others' opinions. What would it take for the Thoth deck to gain in popularity? Or has it grown in recent years?

 

In my view, Thoth got a bad reputation due to the notoriety of Crowley and all the press stories about him. RWS became the "respectable" deck, even though it had the same (but more subtle) esoteric associations. It's probably unfair but it did get an image, even though Crowley thrived on that media image. We regularly get people joining here saying they wouldn't touch a Thoth deck, it's entirely superstition based. I know some people won't touch any tarot but Thoth seems to repel some folk. I always find it interesting, they are all just art on card.

 

The other part of this is that RWS is so much easier to learn. It's like a deck which is so universal to pretty much everyone and with easy symbols in the images for beginners. I really want to get into Thoth but it's a lot harder to learn. So I think it's those two reasons. There are so many easy resources to learn RWS, free online, books, apps, all sorts, the stuff for Thoth is like the complete history of all the correspondences, it's challenging for sure.

[tarotnottaken]

Thank you all for the helpful replies! I appreciate it. An acquaintance is urging me to begin my tarot ventures with RWS or Marseilles (not sure what that is) despite making this thread because I don't know the first thing about astrology or all that. Maybe I'll get both?

[gregory]

10 hours ago, Misterei said:

 

I own both these books. They are the 2 *must-haves* for Thoth. I also suggest Gerd Ziegler book and Angeles Arrien book [both on Amazon] which are specifically for Thoth but not purely kabbalah / Crowley based. Ziegler and Arrien both give a broader and possibly more practical [less esoteric] take on Thoth.

 

Those - especially Arrien - are two of the books I would have lobbied against.... 

 

10 hours ago, Misterei said:

Sadly there are many Tarot fans who won;t touch a Thoth deck b/c they dislike or fear Crowley. Silly but true. Also the Thoth deck has a certain gravitas that makes some ppl uncomfortable. But Crowley would have wanted it that way 🤣 

 

The let us all fear the evil Crowley is very silly indeed.

 

10 hours ago, Misterei said:

Which is why I suggest the Ziegler and Arrien books. Crowley was a brilliant occultist. I adore DuQuette.

***BUT***

it can get too bogged down in this one school of thought. I found that alternative takes on the deck that were more universal and practical helped me actually READ the cards.

 

Arrien recommends forgetting what Crowley intended and do your own thing. That is not OK by me.

 

2 hours ago, Angband said:

Thank you all for the helpful replies! I appreciate it. An acquaintance is urging me to begin my tarot ventures with RWS or Marseilles (not sure what that is) despite making this thread because I don't know the first thing about astrology or all that. Maybe I'll get both?

 

You may as well give in and get them - you'll find them useful in the end. Marseille has unillustrated pip cards, and is a far older tradition than the others.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarot_of_Marseilles

 

[Misterei]

2 hours ago, gregory said:

Those - especially Arrien - are two of the books I would have lobbied against.... 

Yes. Arrien and Ziegler are not popular with the Thoth crowd. But I love both books b/c I learnt things about Thoth [and Tarots in general] that wasn't in Crowley or DuQuette.

2 hours ago, gregory said:

The let us all fear the evil Crowley is very silly indeed.

Right? I imagine he's in the after life having a good laugh. Then again it's a good litmus test. People who make much over their fear & loathing of Crowley tells me they are faint of heart and lack spiritual courage.

2 hours ago, gregory said:

Arrien recommends forgetting what Crowley intended and do your own thing. That is not OK by me.

I understand this point of view. OTOH Arrien teaches Crowley's technique for finding your Life Card and Year Cards. But when I read the technique in Book of Thoth I didn't understand it and never used it. Later when I read it in Arrien, it clicked, and I now find Life Cards with any deck. Clients appreciate when i do it for them.  A useful technique i never would have understood if I'd had only Crowley as my source. I don't think DuQuette teaches it.

 

As per Ziegler, he's from the Rajneesh / Osho tradition and it weirdly resonates with Thoth in it's own way. Both men got a Very Bad Reputation 🤣

As a beginner with Thoth, I found his book helpful if I just wanted to pull some cards and look-up simple meanings without worrying about Hermetic Kabbala or Thelema. Which is probably a controversial thing to say, but chacun à son goût.

Edited October 20 by Misterei

[Aeon418]

33 minutes ago, Misterei said:

Yes. Arrien and Ziegler are not popular with the Thoth crowd. But I love both books b/c I learnt things about Thoth [and Tarots in general] that wasn't in Crowley or DuQuette.

 

This is the major gripe I have with Arrien. She confuses creative intention with interpretation. In her zeal to ditch Crowley she throws out the baby with the bathwater. Reading Arrien you're not learning anything about the Thoth Tarot. Instead you're learning Arrien's highly personal interpretative gloss on a series of, seemingly,  completely random paintings that spontaneously manifested themselves on canvas before an astonished Frieda Harris. 

[tarotnottaken]

Thank you all for the continued follow-ups and input, I appreciate it. Enormously helpful! Yeah, I'll end up getting a smorgasbord over time I'm sure. I'm keen to use these cards for self-reflection, meditation, and journaling, whatever tradition I start with. You've all made my Sunday that much better. Have a good rest of your day.

[gregory]

5 hours ago, Aeon418 said:

 

This is the major gripe I have with Arrien. She confuses creative intention with interpretation. In her zeal to ditch Crowley she throws out the baby with the bathwater. Reading Arrien you're not learning anything about the Thoth Tarot. Instead you're learning Arrien's highly personal interpretative gloss on a series of, seemingly,  completely random paintings that spontaneously manifested themselves on canvas before an astonished Frieda Harris. 

 

The pelican is the killer.....

 

Stolen from another forum with apologies to Katrinka, whose post it is:

 

Arrien suggests ignoring Crowley and goes on to give made-up interpretations of the images on the cards. But she doesn't even identify the images correctly. Crowley’s pelican, according to her, is a “swan” and “the ugly duckling”, the venom is “tears of the spirit”

Just a little of what Scion said:

"I'm not sure why people would want to ignore Crowley's writings on his own deck, but I know some people do. Still, if you want to create your own interpretations why would you want HERS?! Isn't the idea of intuitive meanings that you arrive at them on your own?"

"On Arrien's discussion of the Death trump, because she hasn't done her homework, she doesn't know that the Eagle, Snake, and Scorpion are actually three different ways of magically depicting Scorpio... and flails around with the generic symbolism that you'd find in a continuing ed poetry course carefully keeping everythign upbeat and friendly. From p. 72 Tarot Handbook, Arrien: "the scorpion represents that part of ourselves willing to protect or defend ourselves," "snake sheds its skin", "the phoenix, or eagle reflects the overall vision and perspective that is needed to become even more of what we are." Uhhh, right. Not only can't she identify the actual symbol, she's just slopping the candy coat wherever her logic doesn't follow. She's got enough sense to identify the double crown as Egyptian, but again ties it into her feeble phoenix rebirth business.

"People do have to find ways to connect to symbols personally and subjectively. BUT... derivative, self-involved books like The Tarot Handbook are worse than useless. Why would I want to read a catalog of someone else's errors rather than just making mistakes on my own? At least if it's my mistake I am more invested in finding the answers rather than taking it as writ. If all we can expect from a book is someone hugging us sporadically to say that whatever we think is great and we're special and unique (just like everybody else apparently) then why is the book longer than a greeting card? and there's the answer: Arrien wrote a 320 page beautifully printed, sporadically articulate greeting card thanking Harris and giving Crowley the fluffy New-Age finger."

 

It simply - isn't OK.

Here's a whole thread about that book. https://www.tarotforum.net/threads/variant-approaches-to-the-thoth-angeles-arriens-book.98307/

[Misterei]

22 hours ago, Aeon418 said:

This is the major gripe I have with Arrien. She confuses creative intention with interpretation. In her zeal to ditch Crowley she throws out the baby with the bathwater.

Yep. I understand Arrien book is unpopular and has its faults. Then again I got tremendous benefit from the back of that book. The Life Card system [originally from Crowley] and her writings numerically connecting the Trumps and Pips. For example the 5s as relating to Hierophant card, Chariot and Tower relating to the 7s.

 

As advanced readers we might scoff at this material as being simplistic -- but as a newbie?

Her book exposed me to these 2 techniques for the first time and I've used them ever since -- with many decks. And much as people scoff at Arrien, I give her credit for an alternative take on Thoth which makes the deck accessible for people who may not wish to study Thelema and Hermetic Kabbala. Yes, eventually you would have to get into Thelema to deeply understand Thoth. But not everyone goes that route.

[Rose Lalonde]

On 10/21/2024 at 1:23 PM, Misterei said:

As advanced readers we might scoff at this material as being simplistic -- but as a newbie?

 

It's not that it's simplistic. It's (among other things) that Arrien's book miss-identifies images on the cards (or giving benefit of the doubt, she re-imagines them to what she would prefer them to be) which is confusing for a newbie who wants to learn what they're looking at.  It's like telling someone to start out with a RWS book that says the animal on the Queen of Wands is a lemur that represents punctuality.

 

I'd say her book would be more appropriate later, for someone who's already read Understanding Aleister Crowley's Thoth Tarot that OP mentioned or Snuffin's Thoth Companion that gregory mentioned. The latter just lays out what's actually on the cards. With that foundation in place Arrien would be less confusing.  (Though still not a book I personally would recommend.)

Edited October 23 by Rose Lalonde

[Aeon418]

5 hours ago, Misterei said:

Yep. I understand Arrien book is unpopular and has its faults. Then again I got tremendous benefit from the back of that book.

 

Fair enough. But if given the choice between Arrien and Ziegler, I would chose the lesser of two evil's and opt for Ziegler. 

 

Around the same level, but better than both of those two are the Akron and Hajo Banzhaf books. But I could only recommend them reluctantly through gritted teeth. 😬 

Edited October 21 by Aeon418
Typo

[Misterei]

7 hours ago, Rose Lalonde said:

It's not that it's simplistic. It's (among other things) that Arrien's book miss-identifies images on the cards (or giving benefit of the doubt, she re-imagines them to what she would prefer them to be) ...

Come to think of it, even as a newbie I ignored most of the front of the book where that stuff is written 🤣. I had read Book of Thoth first, of course.

The back of the book doesn't get into any nonsense. Just offers 2 good techniques and short card summaries. So I concede that 70% of that book is rubbish but the 30% at the back benefited my learning curve and offered me techniques I still use 30+ years later.

Edited October 22 by Misterei

[gregory]

On 10/21/2024 at 1:23 PM, Misterei said:

The Life Card system [originally from Crowley] and her writings numerically connecting the Trumps and Pips. For example the 5s as relating to Hierophant card, Chariot and Tower relating to the 7s.

 

The 5s and 7s things appear in better books than Arrien's. Jodorowsky, for one, and IIRC Unger. She may have got it from the latter. My Arrien is miles and miles away so I can't look at the moment - but did she offer any credit to others for that ? Because it was around long before her book came out.

[Misterei]

16 hours ago, gregory said:

The 5s and 7s things appear in better books than Arrien's. Jodorowsky, for one, and IIRC Unger. She may have got it from the latter. My Arrien is miles and miles away so I can't look at the moment - but did she offer any credit to others for that ? Because it was around long before her book came out.

At this point in my own career and in Tarot's evolution into the mainstream -- yes, the notion of numerologically relating Pips to Trumps is *out there* in many forms. But at the time, the Arrien book was my first exposure to the method. Thus I think fondly of the book b/c it genuinely helped me learn and grow.

 

Did she credit others for her numerological system? I don't recall, but why would she? She wrote her own take on numerology relating the Trumps and Pips which idea can't be *owned* by anyone. As you say, the idea is out there in the Public Domain of the many people who relate Tarot and Numerology.

 

Arrien assigned a shape and interpretation to each group [frex she calls the Chariot / Tower / 7s group "the Spiral" and other groups she names The Crown or whatnot]. As a reader of 45 years it seems rather silly and simplistic now.

 

But as newbie?

 

It opened my mind to playing around with numerology connections between the Trumps and Pips. I never followed Arrien slavishly but I enjoyed the directions she pointed my mind to explore. Especially after reading Crowley who does rather demand following his system. I felt like Arrien's book -- for all its faults -- set me free to think about Thoth beyond a slavish devotion to Crowley's text.

Edited October 23 by Misterei

[WhiteMoon]

On 10/19/2024 at 9:58 PM, Misterei said:

I also suggest Gerd Ziegler book and Angeles Arrien book

These are also my two favorite books on Thoth. Thoth was my second deck, after Motherpeace. I came to RWS much later. I was attracted by the Thoth art and the influence Thoth had on Motherpeace (seems counterintuitive, but Vicki Noble writes about Thoth's  influence on her in Motherpeace: A Way to the Goddess Through Myth, Art, and Tarot).

[Aeon418]

On 10/20/2024 at 2:34 AM, Angband said:

I'm curious about the RWS's popularity compared to the Thoth "tradition," for lack of a better term. I'm under the assumption it's because RWS came decades prior and includes less abstruse imagery, but I'd like to hear others' opinions. What would it take for the Thoth deck to gain in popularity? Or has it grown in recent years?

 

A simple answer is that many readers are turning to alternative decks, like the Thoth Tarot, because they have become tired of the endless slew of supposedly new decks that are nothing more than re-themed RWS. By contrast the Thoth deck is relatively free of the boring "clone deck" fad. With the Thoth you feel as if you are working with a real piece of art that is uniquely resistant to the tiresome onslaught of commercial regurgitation that afflicts the RWS scene.

 

Personal opinion alert. Most RWS readers would most probably want to read with a clone because the original deck is so vapid and tame. Most Thoth readers wouldn't want to read with anything other than the original. So-called Thoth clones are mildly interesting, but they can't match up to the real thing.

 

Aleister Crowley would probably say that the Thoth Tarot more accurately reflects our greater understanding of the universe and of ourselves. Crowley saw each of the Major Arcana as a pictorial representation of  a particular mode of human consciousness. As we change, so must the Tarot.

 

Writing of Frieda Harris and the Thoth Tarot under the pseudonym Soror I.W.E., Aleister Crowley wrote:

 

Quote

May the passionate “love under will” which she has stored in this Treasury of Truth and Beauty flow forth from the Splendour and Strength of her work to enlighten the world; may this Tarot serve as a chart for the bold seamen of the New Aeon, to guide them across the Great Sea of Understanding to the City of the Pyramids! 

 

Later in the Book of Thoth (p.170-171):

 

Quote

Let every student of this Essay, and of this book of Tahuti [The Thoth Tarot], this living Book that guides man through all Time, and leads him to Eternity at every page, hold fast this simplest, most far-reaching Doctrine in his heart and mind, inflaming the inmost of His Being, that he also, having explored each recess of the Universe, may therein find the Light of Truth, so come to the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel, and accomplish the Great Work, attain the Summum Bonum, true Wisdom and perfect Happiness!

 

You can't really say that about the RWS or its money making clones. At least not with a straight face. 😄

 

On 10/20/2024 at 2:34 AM, Angband said:

What drew you to the Thoth deck originally? 

 

I read the Book of Thoth several years before I was able to lay my hands on the actual deck. Instead of being put off by the book's complexity, I was fascinated by it. Then one day in the very early 90's I was in a shop in Nottingham called Another World. (Which used to be located on the appropriately named, Beastmarket Hill.) I was just about leave when I spotted the Thoth Tarot behind the counter. I instantly pulled my wallet and bought it on the spot without any regard for how much it cost.  

 

On 10/20/2024 at 2:34 AM, Angband said:

Is there any other advice that you have for a brand new tarot reader when it comes to the Thoth tradition of tarot in particular before I dive in?

 

Don't be frightened of Aleister Crowley.

Edited October 27 by Aeon418

[tarotnottaken]

Thank you for the in-depth and rich reply. I did end up deciding to start with Tarot de Marseille (my deck + books should be arriving tomorrow, as a matter of fact), but I'll be ordering the lavender Thoth deck and the Duquette book as a Black Friday early Christmas gift to myself. I just can't get over the artwork.

[Misterei]

On 10/27/2024 at 4:01 AM, Aeon418 said:

... tired of the endless slew of supposedly new decks that are nothing more than re-themed RWS. By contrast the Thoth deck is relatively free of the boring "clone deck" fad. With the Thoth you feel as if you are working with a real piece of art that is uniquely resistant to the tiresome onslaught of commercial regurgitation that afflicts the RWS scene.

Not furthering the topic, but this was so well-written I had to quote it 😇

Its why i began to appreciate historic decks over the past 10 years. Maybe the art isn't at the level of Thoth, but at least they resist "tiresome onslaught of commercial regurgitation ..."🤣

 

18 hours ago, Angband said:

... I did end up deciding to start with Tarot de Marseille (my deck + books should be arriving tomorrow, as a matter of fact), but I'll be ordering the lavender Thoth deck and the Duquette book as a Black Friday early Christmas gift to myself. I just can't get over the artwork.

You can't go wrong starting with a classic, historic deck [imo].

And per above, I've come to appreciate the historic decks for being unaffected by the  "tiresome onslaught of commercial regurgitation"

 

Although most instructional materials are written for RWS, Ben Dov has a great book for Marseille beginners [I read it as an advanced reader and still enjoyed it!]

Edited October 28 by Misterei