lawguy51
I will commence my review of Lon Milo DuQuette's excellent book on the Thoth Tarot - long title - Understanding Aleister Crowley's Thoth Tarot - An authoritative examination of the world's most fascinating and magical tarot cards- by suggesting that everyone who uses the Thoth deck do themselves a favour and buy this book. Why? Glad you asked . This isn't the greatest book for gleaning new card interpretations for divination purposes nor does it shed light on new spreads nor does it delve extensively into the history of Tarot. But it does do as the title suggests. You read this book and your understanding of the Thoth deck, [for me at least], will expand ten fold. Why is the book so good?.....
1. It's funny. Huh, funny you say. What could be funny about the Thoth deck. Well, as it turns out, nothing. But Mr. DuQuette is self-deprecating and personable and he takes on contentious issues with tongue sometimes firmly in cheek. Example: Part One is entitled: Little Bits Of Things You Should Know Before Beginning to Study Aleister Crowley's Thoth Tarot. His point of view is avuncular and non-threatening and he makes slogging through the tough stuff a lot easier than most authors would be capable of doing.
2. He makes Crowley [gasp] seem human. Acting somewhat as an apologist, DuQuette tells the other side of the story. He makes a compelling case for Crowley's contributions as an occult scholar and purveyor of a new era in human spirituality. He gets past the rhetoric and knee-jerk reaction to Crowley and just tells it like it is.
3. DuQuette has a remarkable talent for taking extremely esoteric Hermetic knowledge and distilling it for the layperson. I now finally understand, albeit on a basic level, what the heck all those astrological symbols mean and why they are there. I now understand why the Court cards (other than the Princesses) rule 3 minor cards and why one of them is not in the suit of that particular Court card. I finally know the difference between a Cardinal sign and a Mutable sign and this book isn't really about astrology!
4. The chapter on the Rose Cross is worth the price of admission. Here I've been staring at the back of the Thoth deck for a year and a half and had no idea what I was looking at. I was so fascinated with this cross (there's an excellent reproduction of the actual rose cross on the inside back cover) that I found a picture of it on the 'net and downloaded it.
5. Having just finished Kliegman's book, this book greatly enhanced my understanding of the Tree of Life and its relationship to the Tarot.
6. Each chapter begins with excerpts of Lady Harris's letters to Crowley and vice versa that are charming, informative and benignly voyeurisitic. There is a wit and combativeness to Lady Harris's correspondence that has the affect of humanizing Crowley.
Now the book did disappoint on occasion. In the card descriptions, there is an inconsistency that I sometimes found disconcerting. With some cards, DuQuette goes on at length describing the symbolism contained therein, but in others, he becomes anecdotal and kind of forgets to describe the card for us (see Queen of Cups). There were cards that he just didn't seem to want to tell his readers too much about. But when he likes a card, you know it! As for divination, he lets Crowley speak for himself, excerpting writings of Crowley.
This book is a must for Thoth users. As importantly, if you have been turned off by what you think you know about this deck, read this book and see if you feel the same way afterwards.
Lawguy51
1. It's funny. Huh, funny you say. What could be funny about the Thoth deck. Well, as it turns out, nothing. But Mr. DuQuette is self-deprecating and personable and he takes on contentious issues with tongue sometimes firmly in cheek. Example: Part One is entitled: Little Bits Of Things You Should Know Before Beginning to Study Aleister Crowley's Thoth Tarot. His point of view is avuncular and non-threatening and he makes slogging through the tough stuff a lot easier than most authors would be capable of doing.
2. He makes Crowley [gasp] seem human. Acting somewhat as an apologist, DuQuette tells the other side of the story. He makes a compelling case for Crowley's contributions as an occult scholar and purveyor of a new era in human spirituality. He gets past the rhetoric and knee-jerk reaction to Crowley and just tells it like it is.
3. DuQuette has a remarkable talent for taking extremely esoteric Hermetic knowledge and distilling it for the layperson. I now finally understand, albeit on a basic level, what the heck all those astrological symbols mean and why they are there. I now understand why the Court cards (other than the Princesses) rule 3 minor cards and why one of them is not in the suit of that particular Court card. I finally know the difference between a Cardinal sign and a Mutable sign and this book isn't really about astrology!
4. The chapter on the Rose Cross is worth the price of admission. Here I've been staring at the back of the Thoth deck for a year and a half and had no idea what I was looking at. I was so fascinated with this cross (there's an excellent reproduction of the actual rose cross on the inside back cover) that I found a picture of it on the 'net and downloaded it.
5. Having just finished Kliegman's book, this book greatly enhanced my understanding of the Tree of Life and its relationship to the Tarot.
6. Each chapter begins with excerpts of Lady Harris's letters to Crowley and vice versa that are charming, informative and benignly voyeurisitic. There is a wit and combativeness to Lady Harris's correspondence that has the affect of humanizing Crowley.
Now the book did disappoint on occasion. In the card descriptions, there is an inconsistency that I sometimes found disconcerting. With some cards, DuQuette goes on at length describing the symbolism contained therein, but in others, he becomes anecdotal and kind of forgets to describe the card for us (see Queen of Cups). There were cards that he just didn't seem to want to tell his readers too much about. But when he likes a card, you know it! As for divination, he lets Crowley speak for himself, excerpting writings of Crowley.
This book is a must for Thoth users. As importantly, if you have been turned off by what you think you know about this deck, read this book and see if you feel the same way afterwards.
Lawguy51