Reading a Liber T before Thoth.

I apologize if I'm not posting this in the correct place. I searched around for a little while, and couldn't find a thread that covered this.

The Liber T: Tarot of the Stars Eternal is being shipped to me right now. I've never read with and don't own a Thoth deck. I've studed the RWS deck and used clones up to this point.

Despite some of the Decans, I think the Liber T is a little less intimidating. I'm reading Aleister Crowley's Book of Thoth right now, just so I can have some familiarity.
Both the Thoth and Liber T feel like the kind of decks I could read intuitively, but knowing nothing about the Kabbalah, astrology, all the systems that went into creating these decks... I feel like I'd be missing out on something.

Is it a bad idea to read a Liber T before Thoth? Is Crowley's book the best place for me to start studying?
Any opinons or advice would be helpful. I have a million questions right now, and I'm very afraid of overwhelming myself.

Thanks so much,
Sashie

I don't think you have to read the Thoth before the Liber T. You have the right idea in checking out some references on the Thoth for information. You might also like to sign up for Scion's guide to the decans: http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=85073

Hi sashie,

I read with the Liber T but I can't read with the Thoth. I think the Liber T is much more intuitive than the Thoth because of the extra images, sometimes you don't need all the images on the card to get an answer to your questions.

I don't know any cabbalah or astrology either - but although the Liber T is a Thoth clone some of the images speak differently, it has a different feel. It is very easy to read with just basic meanings. I still delve into the LWB.

The Book of Thoth is a good starting point but Lon Milo DuQuette's book on the Thoth (Understanding the Thoth Tarot) will probably be more readable. I haven't used any of the other Thoth books because most of them describe the Thoth in great detail and some of it is irrelevant in the Liber T.

Also Scion has researched and written a great guide on the Decans of the Liber T - he sends it out as a PDF file to download and it makes for fascinating reading.

Once you start to read with the Liber T, it all starts to jell together, I've used this deck now for about 3 months and I'm seeing different things in the cards and it reads so well.

The Liber T won't overwhelm you, start with the basics then later on if you want look into cabbalah and astrology but you can read this deck without knowing these systems.

Congratulations on getting a great deck.

You're not alone. I have also been a student of the RWS system, and I don't own a Thoth. I figured it would be best to learn with one at a time.

But just in the last month or so, I've decided that it's time to take the plunge and begin working a little with Thoth. I'd read so many wonderful reviews of the LiberT that when I found it on sale for $9.99 last month, I purchased it instead. It certainly is a beautiful deck.


Edited to add...


I see in your profile that your favorite deck is the Phantasmagoric Theater. I picked that one up as well with the Liber T and I LOVE it!

Thank you!

Your replies make me feel so much better, thank you all!

I 'signed up' for Scion's pdf, I can't wait to soak it up.

It makes me kind of sad that there isn't a real companion book to the Liber T. I would absolutely adore having the artist's imput. It's really an impressive deck. The Dante is beautiful, as well.

The Llewellyn sale is what motivated me to obtain the Liber T. It was on my list of 'eventually,' but seeing it for ten dollars made me believe that perhaps now, the time is right.

And this is slightly off subject, but Morticia, if you started posting in the Phantasmagoric study group, I would definately join you. I'd love talk about that deck.