Zillich

[Grizabella]

I just got the Zillich in a tin as part of a trade and in going through it, I find that it's Thoth-based. Or at least, it looks that way to me. If it is, then this will be the first time I've used a Thoth based deck. Does anyone know if I'm right in this? The card titles are Thoth-y. I think i'm really going to get a lot of use out of this deck. I normally don't "do" Thoth, although I do have a pocket version of that deck somewhere. 

 

On AT once I was all enthused to have gotten a book about Thoth by Angeles Arrien so I got all beside myself and posted about it in the Thoth forum. Boy was that an eye-opening experience! Thoth devotees can be very defensive of the whole Thoth system and they do NOT like that book by Angeles Arrien. I went off, licked my wounds, and put away the book and the deck. However, the other day I dug the book out again, thinking I can do whatever I want in learning to use the Thoth deck and maybe this whole thing is serendipitious synchronicity at work. Lo and behold, this beautiful little Zillich in a tin has landed in my lap and I do think it's a Thoth-based little beauty. The minors are actually illustrated in a dreamy way, too, and I do like illustrated or semi-illustrated pips. 

 

So, dear Thoth-ites----am I right that this one is based on Thoth?

[gregory]

It is Thoth based - though with a dose of Waite-Smith mixed in there. And Arrien is still NOT the book to read about it, if you actually want to learn Thoth. (I was in a thread about this, maybe the one that upset you...) There is good stuff in it - but it isn't on the whole Thothy stuff and she does say best to forget what Crowley said. NOT the best attitude to take about a deck's creator, I think. Arrien will not teach you "how to use the Thoth deck"; it will show you how to read the way she suggests. Sure, read a Thoth deck any which way you like; I read it just looking at the pictures myself - but that's not the same as knowing your Thoth. I have also done the 78 card study on it - and believe me, it is heavy stuff.

Edited September 13, 2019 by gregory

[Grizabella]

No, you weren't someone who upset me, gregory. 🙂 I forget who all converged on that thread and I say things with tongue in cheek quite often. Nobody was rude to me really, but I was just kind of non-plussed on that thread. lol

 

What drew me to Angeles Arrien's book were a lot of ideas that I felt I could use to at least read with the deck. There's no way I'm ever going to get any of the Crowley tomes ino my memory, so I was just thinking of a way to make use of the deck since I didn't understand it.  I'll go back through Arrien's book and see if there are things I can make any use of. I find in looking at it again that she's pretty repetitive in lots of the information on the actual cards.

 

I really like the Zillich. I'm sure I can use it quite well, even with my limited knowledge of Thoth. It's a pretty deck. I've been learning to paint with watercolors for the past year or so and I like the art. I like the Llewellyn for the watercolor art, too.