View Full Version : Gone and bought it!
Melissa`
29-03-2003, 14:32
Well... after listening to most everyone here.. I went out and bought the Thoth deck today. Haven't even opened it and looked at the cards yet. But I'm here, and happy about the buy! .. Hopefully I can learn something from you guys. :)
Blessings,
Amaya
I hope you like 'em! I think they're almost perfect...they have a lot to offer, but it takes quite a bit of study and concentration to get the most out of them...I think I've barely scratched the surface of what they have to offer...
Silverlotus
29-03-2003, 15:07
I bought my deck last week. After posting questions and reading the study group, well, I couldn't help myself. I got the small blue box version, not the one I wanted, but the price was right. I'm very pleased with the deck. I certinally don't get the "bad vibes" many people mention. Maybe because my opinon of Crowley has changed recently. *shrug* I look forward to working with this deck and participating in the study group.
coldsuns
29-03-2003, 20:09
The cards tells you alot. You can see many things in one card. There are animals,signs and events. It seems to be hard and rather messy but with patient, it is very easy. You can actually master the basics within a few weeks.
I've the large version green deck. Is hard to shuffle and cant reverse but the cards really tell you alot and you will get to know the answer you want just a few glances at the cards. I hope to have the medium/normal size!! ^_^
I've had my Thoth for a couple of weeks and I too am just barely scratching the surface of the various meanings, they cards seem to shout at you sometimes they are so busy, or you see something on a particular card that you've not noticed before and wonder how you've missed it lol.
I first bought the big green version around a year ago I think but I didn't like it but wanted to get to know this deck, I love the artwork - so this version I'm using is the one in the lavender box with the 3 Magus, its a lovely version, a nice size to shuffle too and big enough so as not to miss anything from the cards. :)
Edited to say:
With the big green version, I did get the 'bad vibes' thing happening, like SilverLotus mentioned, I've posted before on the fact that I felt like I had to wash my hands after using them (the 'Dark decks' thread I started) but this version is so different, there is nothing threatening about them at all and the only thing I get from these cards is a feeling of fascination and wanting to learn how to use them.
It's funny...I got the lavender box version first, but they freaked out my girlfriend, so I returned them. Later, with her blessings, I got the green-tinted ones (didn't realize they were green-tinted until after I got them...feh).
Well, somehow, the Emperor vanished from the deck...I couldn't find him anywhere...
So I re-bought the lavender ones, and everything's fine...
Hi Richard,
When I first opened my small Thoth and started looking through the cards, I couldn't understand why I get the strange vibes off the large green deck, I know of Aleister Crowley's reputation, it wasn't as if I didn't know where the deck symbolisation originated from, so after not seeing or feeling anything wrong with my new small deck I got the large green one out, that lasted only a couple of minutes - This deck actually does make my flesh crawl lol then yet again I felt like my hands were dirty, its not that the deck is threatening, it just doesn't feel right, I've never even got farther than shuffling it lol. This deck has been cleansed a couple of times and is the reason why I won't buy anymore second hand decks or trade mine on.
But after saying that I love my new version and the readings are some of the most intense I've ever had, it really packs a punch
Hmmm...a lot of people will say that the only thing sinister about the deck is Crowley's reputation, but perhaps there's something about the green tint that rubs people the wrong way? Much like how prisons use pale pink as a calming influence? I dunno...
And yeah, they certainly pack a punch...I know someone who described them as being like someone who runs up behind you in a dark alley and starts hitting you with a baseball bat, all the while shouting things about yourself that you don't want to hear. I wouldn't go that far, but it's not the most comforting deck out there.
But it is definitely an honest deck, which is more than I can say for a lot of the "prettier" Tarots out there...
And I really wish I knew what happened to that Emperor...
(maybe he abdicated!)
i think that it's really important to avoid the 'green' deck, but not due to any weird vibes emanating from it.
everything about the Thoth deck is very carefully designed to convey specific images and symbols, and perhaps no element more so than the colors. the green tint alters the all the colors slightly, and thereby distorts their symbolic meanings relative to Crowley's intention (see 777).
the only thing i DO like better about this version is the LWB. the one that comes with the Swiss printing is pretty useless, imo. but that's a very minor consideration really. the purpose of buying the deck is to get the cards, and most people who wish to delve more deeply into the Thoth tarot will be buying the associated books anyway.
i hope you enjoy your journey of discovery with these cards. i found it to be a whole new world of tarot!
I have the lavender boxed deck. These cards are stunningly fantastic. Although, like many of you have already said, I have barely scratched the surface with them.
With regards to the 'bad vibes', I don't get any from my deck. It is HIGHLY important to remember that the artist hired to work on these cards had nothing to do with Crowley's 'darker' side, and put much positive energies into these drawings. It is such a shame that Crowley's reputation may put some people off buying what is a fantastically beautiful deck.
I've also got the mini Thoth deck that is in Susan Levitts 'Complete Tarot Kit'. Even with it being so small all the detail is there, the cards don't lose anything from being smaller and the colouring is as vibrant and clear as my other standard sized Thoth in the lavender box.
After using the Thoth deck for a while, I don't actually think of Crowley when I see the cards, all I see is the work and dedication that Lady Freida Harris put into them :)
(But I still get bad vibes off my large sickly green Thoth lol )
Originally posted by Emily
After using the Thoth deck for a while, I don't actually think of Crowley when I see the cards, all I see is the work and dedication that Lady Freida Harris put into them :)
Hallelujah! :cool:
MystiqueMoonlight
18-07-2003, 04:06
Originally posted by Emily
After using the Thoth deck for a while, I don't actually think of Crowley when I see the cards, all I see is the work and dedication that Lady Freida Harris put into them :)
(But I still get bad vibes off my large sickly green Thoth lol )
Does that mean you are dismissing the work and dedication of a life time of study?
Little Baron
18-07-2003, 06:14
I have a thoth deck but not sure which it is. I know it is not the one with the 3 magus's and it is not the large green one, so it must be the other. I don't get any bad vibes from this version; see it as quite sunny actually. Because of this, does anybody have any links to sites where the green one and my own one are compared as i would really like to see the differences.
Best wishes
Yaboot
Hi Yaboot,
I got mine in a shop that had a copy of all their decks open so you could check them out.I was able to look at both of them to make sure I got the one with out the green.
The large one with out the green is published by AGMuller. This is most likely the one you have. The other large deck with the green tinge is by US Games. Imagine if you will, looking at your deck through light green stained glass. That is what the one by US Games looks like.
US Games also puts out a small version of the Thoth in a lavender colored box. This does not have the green tinge either.
I have to say that I am very glad I purhased the Thoth deck. It speeks volumes to me.
Mimi
the greenish one doesn't really bother me much, until i see it laid down next to the Swiss printing... then it's very obvious!
the easiest way to tell them apart is by looking at the backs. the 'clear' ones have a grayish border around the edge, while the green ones do not.
No MystiqueMoonlight,
I know that without Crowley these cards wouldn't exist, they are his thoughts, his inspiration but painted by the hand of Lady Frieda, I've tried to read various works by Crowley, The book of Thoth for one and they are all hard reads, he was a very complicated, intelligent and learned man but his writing goes way over the top of my head but when I work with the deck its different, the cards have a language all of their own, its taken me a while to get used to them but I don't actually think of Crowley when I use them, the artwork seems feminine. Well its just my take on them...
I agree Emily. Ofcourse, Crowley had input into these cards. They ARE his. But I do not think of him when I am using them. Rather like when I use my Hanson-Roberts deck I do not think about Mary Hanson-Roberts (kinky!), or Rider-Waite, who's work they are based upon.
In my case, the cards are used as a stimulus to open up my intuitive reading skills. The images are highly important! And the lady who drew these was obviously a very talented individual, as these images spur intuition like the heat of Summer spurs flames in a forest.
:)
C
MystiqueMoonlight
18-07-2003, 16:41
This is not aimed at any one individual or said with any course of ill intent or insult :)
It seems that many people, and that includes people who are not invloved in this study group, or a member of Aeclectic focus on the influence of Lady Harris' artwork and the fact that she painted them as the deciding influence of the Thoth Deck.
Remember Crowley discounted many versions of each card Harris painted until she produced each one the way HE visualised them. Harris was not given artistic licence to paint the cards the way she wanted them to look.
Of course I am not doubting her talent as an artist, but I am constantly amazed at how people comment they are "thinking about Harris' influence on the deck moreover Crowley's". In reality his influence is paramount.
There is a balance in Life just as there is in Tarot. A yin and yang if you will. IMO to "see" only the yin influence or only the yang influence means you are not getting the whole picture. It's like walking down the street with blinkers over your eyes.
Whilst rumours and inuendos surround that of Crowley I would suggest that to ignore or remove ones self from his creation of the Thoth Deck is to see only half the picture. No only one quarter of the picture. Therefore when you are reading, meditating or using this deck for any other purpose you are only utilising a very small portion of it.
:)
well, i for one would never discount Crowley's work on this deck. after all (as i have said before) this was his Magnum Opus, his life's work made manifest. if he had done NOTHING else, this deck would hold his place in occult history.
but i don't think just any old artist could have transformed his vision into what we see today. Lady Freida was special, and not only for her ability to handle AC for 5 years!
her cubist style (rather revolutionary in her day) and her grasp of sacred geometry made their union a symbiosis that WE benefit from.
deserved or not, AC carries alot of baggage that many people can't get beyond. this is a narrow vision, and an unfortunate one too. it is NOT a view that i subscribe to personally, but it is a fact.
so if someone gains access to this deck ONLY through Lady Freida, then that is a good thing in my opinion (hence my "Hallelujah!" above). the rest can come later, once their boundaries have been expanded.
the Thoth deck would have been amazing had Crowley never met Harris. but it is moreso because of their union, i think.
like the Beatles, together they were greater than the sum of their parts.
she should not be discounted either.
I agree. This deck was the result of a union of two individuals. I just cannot believe that there is so much superstition surrounding it.
It is a shame that someone might be put off purchasing it because of this.
C