Your Thoth Library

[Guest libra]

bumping this because it is good info and it took me forever to find it...

 

I have a weird eye disease and am replacing my important books on my kindle app.

So these three paper and ink books are up for grabs, my thoth favorites for quick reference.

If you are in the US and want all three donate $12.00 to the forum, link on the left hand side of the screen, and I'll ship them to you free.

 

Only want one? Donate $4.00..

I know I could put this in the trading/sale forum but that is off limits to the general membership and the offer is open to all.

 

Thoth Companion by Snuffin

Keywords to the Crowley Tarot, Banzhaf/Theler

Understand Crowley Tarot, DuQuette

What a great thing for you to be offering! Very generous of you :)

[Wyrdkiss]

The Book of Thoth, along with Duquette's previously mentioned, are all I use for the deck in Question. I am starting to study Crowley's work referenced in various tarot sources around the Thoth, however.

Thanks for the other Crowley and related recommendations.

Question -- On that note, has anyone read his Magick Without Tears?  I do not own it yet nor have I read it.  Often referenced by forum members over the years, along with Thoth tarot thoughts and musings.

 

https://www.amazon.com/Magick-Without-Tears-Aleister-Crowley/dp/1561840181

[gregory]

No - but you can read it FREE - there's a pdf on line:

 

http://www.tomegatherion.co.uk/magickwithouttears.pdf

 

So now I might!

 

Available here too:

 

https://hermetic.com/crowley/magick-without-tears/index 

Edited June 9, 2019 by gregory

[katrinka]

Keywords is OK, but for quick reference re: the cards, nothing beats the Corax site that was posted earlier.

DavidH071 seems to have taken his channel down. Did he make a new one someplace, or did something sour him on youtube?
I have no idea why he didn't like Duquette's book. I can't find a thing wrong with it, other than the way he attempts to paint a kinder, gentler Uncle Al. Crowley was a major a-hole. But he was also brilliant - isn't that reason enough to read his books, especially if you plan on using the Thoth? Do we really need a warm, fuzzy Wickedest Man In The World? 😆 Other than that, Duquette's book is very good, with lots of solid content, and it's clear - you're not sitting there trying to puzzle out Crowley's in jokes, riddles, etc.

[Wyrdkiss]

On 10/22/2017 at 7:54 AM, EmpyreanKnight said:

I finally got the revised edition of DuQuette's book. I'll compare it to the old edition and post the differences here. I just love the smell of new books. 🙂

 

Excellent, I'm doing the same thing right now.

 

I also agree that the Corax site is an absolutely fantastic resource.

[TheBabelite]

Trying to breathe some more activity into the Thoth subforum, as I'm falling in love with the deck/system. The Corax site looks cool - I'll have to check it out. I have been messing around with this site though:

 

http://www.esotericmeanings.com/tarot-foundations/

 

They even connect it to RWS which is cool.

[Rose Lalonde]

To quickly reference specific cards in BoT and paths/sephiroth in 777 on a desktop/laptop, the Clickable Qabalah site works well. The Tree of Life and the card images are a visual table of contents. I'm a big fan and return to it more often than the paper books I mentioned earlier (with the exception of Book M).

[pacificwaters]

13 hours ago, Rose Lalonde said:

To quickly reference specific cards in BoT and paths/sephiroth in 777 on a desktop/laptop, the Clickable Qabalah site works well. The Tree of Life and the card images are a visual table of contents. I'm a big fan and return to it more often than the paper books I mentioned earlier (with the exception of Book M).

+1 to this.

 

[Aeon418]

The three book series, Secrets of the Thoth Tarot by Marcus Katz is worth a look. Rather than seeking to ignore or write out Crowley, Katz's approach is respectful of the Thelemic inspiration and original source material behind the Thoth Tarot. The three books individually cover Majors, Minors and Courts.

 

Was there anything ground breaking or revelatory?  Not really. But everyone's mileage varies, and I'm probably not the best person to judge the usefulness of Katz' books to complete beginners.

 

In volume 1 Katz gives his own opinion of nearly every Thoth Tarot book out there. I agree with him. 😉     

[Wyrdkiss]

On 1/10/2018 at 4:15 PM, katrinka said:

The quibble with the Arrien book is that she suggests totally ignoring Crowley and goes on to give made-up interpretations of the images on the cards. (Crowley’s pelican, according to her, is a “swan” and “the ugly duckling”, the venom is “tears of the spirit”.) There's an old thread about it here http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=98307 I'm in agreement with Scion and Aeon on this. Best to at the very least least familiarize yourself with what Crowley had to say about the deck.

Absolutely 100%. I started my Thoth studies with Arrien, and wasted several years of my tarot life before purchasing the Book of Thoth, Duquette's book, and a few others. Once I discovered reliable sources, they radically changed (and improved) my experience with the deck.  

[Aeon418]

16 hours ago, Wyrdkiss said:

Absolutely 100%. I started my Thoth studies with Arrien, and wasted several years of my tarot life before purchasing the Book of Thoth, Duquette's book, and a few others. Once I discovered reliable sources, they radically changed (and improved) my experience with the deck.  

Angeles Arrien claims to have an issue with Crowley's interpretation of the Thoth Tarot. But this confuses "intention" with "interpretation." This is like saying Harris painted the cards first, and then Crowley came along after and smeared an interpretive gloss over the top. This way of putting the cart before the horse is why Arrien feels justified in throwing out Crowley and replacing him with herself. 

 

Crowley's intention informs the design of the cards. Why do certain symbols appear on specific cards and not others? Why are certain colours used in one place and not in another? The Book of Thoth is almost entirely concerned with this intentional design. This is one reason why many people seeking pre-formed interpretations struggle with the book. (Similar complaints have been levelled at DuQuette because of a perceived lack of personal interpretation in his Thoth book.)

 

Ideally the intentional design behind a Tarot card should prime the readers consciousness to flow in a certain direction. This encourages the intuition to form interpretations in harmony with a specific card in the context of a question and a spread. Arrien cuts out the first part and replaces it with her own intent, and then goes on to interpret that intent for the reader! This is great if you want insight into the personal mind of Angeles Arrien, but I don't see how it helps anyone else.      

Edited April 18, 2023 by Aeon418

[Wyrdkiss]

On 4/18/2023 at 8:20 AM, Aeon418 said:

Angeles Arrien claims to have an issue with Crowley's interpretation of the Thoth Tarot. But this confuses "intention" with "interpretation." This is like saying Harris painted the cards first, and then Crowley came along after and smeared an interpretive gloss over the top. This way of putting the cart before the horse is why Arrien feels justified in throwing out Crowley and replacing him with herself. 

 

Crowley's intention informs the design of the cards. Why do certain symbols appear on specific cards and not others? Why are certain colours used in one place and not in another? The Book of Thoth is almost entirely concerned with this intentional design. This is one reason why many people seeking pre-formed interpretations struggle with the book. (Similar complaints have been levelled at DuQuette because of a perceived lack of personal interpretation in his Thoth book.)

 

Ideally the intentional design behind a Tarot card should prime the readers consciousness to flow in a certain direction. This encourages the intuition to form interpretations in harmony with a specific card in the context of a question and a spread. Arrien cuts out the first part and replaces it with her own intent, and then goes on to interpret that intent for the reader! This is great if you want insight into the personal mind of Angeles Arrien, but I don't see how it helps anyone else.      

 

100% agree with the above, well stated.  I hope interested Thoth readers see this and take note.  

[Mr_Tea]

DuQuette's book was my first port of call when I acquired a Thoth deck. Here's part of the review I posted after working through it...

Mr DuQuette is to be applauded for not reducing his well-researched analysis of the individual cards to lists of bullet points, but key pieces of information about distinctive visual elements often seem to be missing, and there is too often a lack of focus on the reader, with the author frequently seeming more concerned about the reactions and opinions of his 'brothers and sisters in the Craft'.

These criticisms notwithstanding, the book presents a wealth of information in a reasonably accessible manner, and has been a steadfast (if sometimes eccentric or mildly irritating) guide and companion on my journey into the mysteries of the Thoth Tarot. In particular, section 1, Little Bits of Things You Should Know Before Beginning to Study Aleister Crowley's Thoth Tarot, is a very well-judged piece of contextualisation for the novice Tarot student.

[Chariot]

On 12/11/2019 at 4:54 PM, TheBabelite said:

Trying to breathe some more activity into the Thoth subforum, as I'm falling in love with the deck/system. The Corax site looks cool - I'll have to check it out. I have been messing around with this site though:

 

http://www.esotericmeanings.com/tarot-foundations/

 

They even connect it to RWS which is cool.

Just starting out with Thoth, this really appeals to me. Using colour like this.  Thanks for the suggestion.

Edited 5 hours ago by Chariot

[Nemia]

I started with Banzhaf because that's what was available back then (in German), and it's not bad, but for a better understanding, nothing beats DuQuette. I find Arrien irritating and unhelpful, Gerd Ziegler even worse, but Snuffin is good as well. 

 

For people just setting out with the Thoth, buy the DuQuette book and start working with the cards themselves. 

 

Lay them out according to their astrological associations (all Saturn cards together, all Venus cards together etc), and get used to the Tree of Life. There is a lot of wisdom in the cards themselves. 

 

Two other excellent books are M.M. Meleen's books for her Thoth-based decks: Book M for the Tabula Mundi and the Book of Seshet for the Rosetta. I'm re-reading the Book of Seshet right now, and it's great. Even if you don't have her decks, the books are a great resource for the Thoth system. The decks are wonderful as well. 

 

I would also recommend that beginners draw their own Tree of Life - it's not difficult if you start with a Flower of Life as described here. All you need is a simple divider (is that how it's called in English?). It's a great feeling when things start falling into place. 

 

Don't rush it, enjoy the process, and you can read with the Thoth deck even if you don't understand the whole theory behind it. By working with it, you'll understand it better. That's at least my experience.