Aleister Crowley Thoth Tarot

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 18 Jul 2003, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Kurai Yuko	18 Jul 2003
Since i came back from a trip with my friends, i felt the urge to go out and look for a new tarot deck. Useless, for i already have three good decks. Anyway, only today i had the opportunity to go out with Shana and look for this 'new deck'. We looked everywhere, and nothing. 'Well, maybe i'm just crazy', i thought. Then, just before going to the bus stop, Shana and i decided to stop by one of those esoteric shop - one that i visit a lot, but i've never found any interesting 'tarot-related thing' there. So you can imagine my surprise, when i saw a small box with the (un)famous Aleister Crowley Thoth Tarot. My eyes were almost jumping from their sockets. Unfortunately, i did not have money enough to buy this deck - it's quite expensive. But i do intend on going back to this shop on the next Monday to buy it - what i felt when seeing this deck, the sensation of 'i finally found it' was way to strong to deny... I've heard a lot about this deck complexity - they say you have to know a lot about Egyptian/Cabalistic/whatever symbols. I do not agree completely - tarot is tarot, no matter how many 'foreign symbols' the deck uses (i think that the knowledge of those symbols 'opens more door' when interpreting, although they are not all that essential). Anyway, i want to know more. People that use/have used this deck - why do you like/don't like it? Is it too complicated? What are your feeling towards this deck...any idea is welcome!!! Thanks (and sorry for the awfully long post)! Yuko

Kaz	19 Jul 2003
its my main reading deck. i love it for its clearness, it will never bore you. the art is fabulous, you dont have to know egyptain kabballa and such, i dont and i read with it np. though it might deepen your understanding of the cards. if you can only have one deck, this is a good choice ! and have a look in the thoth study group forum. pictures of the cards are attached in the threads about them, and also other interesting stuff and links for this deck you can find there.

Emily	19 Jul 2003
This deck is my favourite reading and study deck too, but like Kaz I don't know much of the kabbalah, numerology, egyptian aspects of them (yet :) ) - if The book of Thoth is too heavy a read, the poetic language distracts me, then consider getting one of the other Thoth books - ' Mirror of the Soul' or 'Keywords for the Crowley tarot', The Crowley tarot handbook to the cards' - All these give good insight to the aspects of the cards and sometimes show you things that you would miss. Also the study group gives other peoples views of the cards, also in the study group thread there is an link to the Book of Thoth online and other Crowley works. :)

Kurai Yuko	19 Jul 2003
Thank you Kaz and Emily for sharing your views! It`s means a lot to me! :) ~Yuko

Centaur	19 Jul 2003
Like Kaz and Emily, I know nothing of the Kabbalistic (is that how you spell it?!!) aspects, etc of this deck, and it reads damn fine! The accuracy of this deck never ceases to amaze me. And I love the imagery. I had a similar experience to yourself Kurai. I seemed to be compelled to purchase this deck. I had popped into a nearby spiritual shop and was flicking through a tarot catalogue when WHAM! this deck hit me right in the face. I almost felt as though I was drowning (pleasantly!) in the imagery. Also, what I love about this deck IS that there is so much to learn with regards to it. You can never stop learning about this deck! It is amazing. I definetly think you should purchase it if you feel such a strong bond with it. It will not let you down! C

Kurai Yuko	20 Jul 2003
Quote: Originally posted by Centaur I had a similar experience to yourself Kurai. I seemed to be compelled to purchase this deck. I had popped into a nearby spiritual shop and was flicking through a tarot catalogue when WHAM! this deck hit me right in the face. I almost felt as though I was drowning (pleasantly!) in the imagery. Also, what I love about this deck IS that there is so much to learn with regards to it. You can never stop learning about this deck! It is amazing. I definetly think you should purchase it if you feel such a strong bond with it. It will not let you down! C Hi Centaur! It's good to know that you had a similar experience :) Thanks for sharing! ~Yuko

truthsayer	20 Jul 2003
the thoth was my second reading deck. i find it more intense, esoteric and even more intuitive than the rws. the rws seems to give more pragmatic readings. i didn't believe all those nasty rumors about aleister crowley when i first got it. i read with it for 15 years before i got the low down about crowley. i had some temporary difficulty but some aeclectians with strong love of thoth helped me change my negative feelings. first of all, lady freida harris heavily influenced the thoth through her art and creativity. she studied sacred geometry in which she instilled into the art. i don't have the link anymore but there is a link by (is margaret or alice whicher?) that tells about the thoth's creation. i now think that with lady freida's help and vision she helped steer crowley to make the deck in her and his highest good. i don't think the deck is of itself evil or negative. crowley was a troubled man but i wouldn't believe everything you read about him. he had a way of behaving that tended to really tick people off and others may have created extra bad stories about him as a means of vengence. who knows what the real truth is because all that were involved at the time are deceased to my best knowledge.

Alobar	20 Jul 2003
well, there are plenty of biographies and stories about the man by his contemporaries. but as far as the Thoth Tarot... it is the Holy Grail, the Golden Fleece, the final word on tarot! (okay, you can tell i like it, right?). if you have the opportunity to pick it up at a good price, do so by all means!

Thoth1884	24 Jul 2003
Well.. the good thing about Egyptian stuff... most of the time... the glyphs look like what they are trying to tell you.... I know my fair share with Egyptian... I use to study Egyptian magick... but I forgot most of the glyps... but... from what i've seen in the cards.... its more about the egyptian mythology more than anything

AmounrA	26 Jul 2003
I would say that the Thoth deck is 'touched' deck. By this I mean it had to exist (like in movies, 2001 A.S.O, had to exist), and therefore received much guidance from universe. To speak my mind for a second, the parallel with movies can be useful. Most movies made are not that good, as are most tarot decks (objective opinion of course). But there are some movies, which are GENIUS. If such movies did not exist the movie industry would perhaps still make as much money, but would be weaker and far less interesting art form. Such movies mean that from time to time the industry transcends time and space. Tarot is now an industry, with children’s decks, novelty decks, dark decks, light decks...etc., but decks like Thoth & Marseilles are the real heart of the tarot. I would class RW as a novelty deck, pretty pictures sure, but not in the same league as Thoth. So thanks and praise to Lady Frieda and Mr A.C, A loving man badly maligned by the Christian press for most of the last century, together they created a deck which will last as long as humanity.

Nevada	26 Jul 2003
Wow. There's not much I can add after AmounrA's post. I still love this deck, though I've now begun collecting and learning others. It's the main one I learned with. I'm not into the Egyptian/Kabbalist studies myself, but have gotten much good use of the Thoth deck just the same. We (DH and I) are on our fourth and fifth of these decks, because we've worn them out! I have the Keywords book mentioned above and would like to comment on it but haven't had enough experience with it yet. My favorite book on the Crowley-Thoth Tarot is Gerd Ziegler's Tarot: Mirror of the Soul. Hope you get your new Crowley-Thoth soon and enjoy it as much as we have ours through the years. Brightest Blessings!

lawguy51	27 Jul 2003
I'd have to say that the Thoth deck is my main deck. I haven't used it that much to read for others but I use it for myself almost every day. It's a deck you just have to take seriously. And it's so beautiful. And it has the best court cards ever created. I do have other decks I enjoy. I've just spent a great deal of time learning to love the Shining Tribe deck which couldn't be further away from the Thoth deck. And I like pulling out my Universal Waite deck for a more calm and straight forward reading. But for me, the Thoth deck is the king/queen of decks. Lawguy51

Alobar	27 Jul 2003
:)

Moongold	27 Jul 2003
I was shown a copy of the Thoth, in the larger version in my very early days of Tarot just over a year ago. I didn't like it and kept away. It always seemed such a heavy and foreboding deck to me. A friend gave me a copy of the smaller deck (lavender coloured) a few months ago and the readings that I've done have been gentle and sometimes even mordantly witty. Eh??? What's this? You're supposed to be a Dark Deck...... Well it isn't a dark deck. It's gentle when it needs to be and hard when it needs to be, and generally spot on, and the Art Work is special.

WolfSpirit	27 Jul 2003
I got the Thoth mainly as a study deck because it had influenced so much writing / so many decks, and I had never expected I would love it as much as I do. Looking at the cards on-line they did not do that much for me - or maybe it is a deck that just had to grow on me. I am even dreaming about this deck. It is like discovering a piece of art and feeling like you had somehow known it all your life. I only have the mini Thoth - it came in a very cheap set with a book, but I think I will get some day get me the regular size deck for the art work of the majors, there is so much going on in those pictures it will probably look better in a bigger size.

Phoenyx	03 Aug 2003
I've had three Tarot decks(The Witches' Tarot and the Dragon Tarot) in my time (lol I'm only 25), and none of them have had the personality that the Thoth deck has. The Witches' while it had good artwork and was pretty didn't give me the same level of readings that the Dragon Tarot did, and at the same time, the Dragon Tarot, while accurate, didn't have the same level of personality that the Thoth deck has. I've found my readings and the general feeling from the cards to be sarcastic, gentle, and guiding, all at the same time, mixing wisdom with a humourous down-to-earth emotion. I'm in love with the Thoth.

isthmus nekoi	03 Aug 2003
Quote: Originally posted by Moongold Well it isn't a dark deck. It's gentle when it needs to be and hard when it needs to be, and generally spot on, and the Art Work is special. Agreed! I can see why Thoth has a rep for being 'dark', but it's more intense than it is anything else :) Where other decks are chilly, it's ice cold, and where other decks are warm, it burns ^_^

anjocoxo	04 Aug 2003
I'm sorry to be spoiling the fun :D but I really don't like this deck at all... I bought it because I saw some of the cards on a site (I don't remember if it was aeclectic), and since it's a must-have deck, I thought "I'll give it a try". When I saw the Major, I was astonished by the fantastic artwork; however, I really dislike the Minor. I'm a very "visual" person, and the Thoth isn't appealing to me at all. Anjo

Moonbow*	08 Nov 2003
Well just to give a balance to this, I have had this deck and 'got rid' of it. Since buying the deck (I love the art work and still feel a little sad at not having it) VERY strange things happened in my life. Call this superstitious nonsense but I was told to get rid of it, and did, and now things have gone back to normal. Has anyone else had a similar experience with this or any other deck?

The Aleister Crowley Thoth Tarot thread was originally posted on 18 Jul 2003 in the Tarot Decks board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Tarot Decks, or read more archived threads.