Vincent said:
At first glance it might be that there appears to be a vast difference between the decks, but often the difference is only cosmetic.
Waite hid a lot of his ideas, whereas Crowley was reasonably open about them, but both sets of ideas were born in the same place... The Golden Dawn.
That's quite interesting actually. Both Crowley and Waite (Smith too) were members of the Golden Dawn. But Waite seems to have been the more guarded of the two, and that is reflected in his deck.
The minors in the Thoth deck follow the general Golden Dawn pattern (Sephiroth + Astrological), but Waite's don't for some reason. Maybe when he and Smith decided to use fully illustrated minor cards they had to make a concrete decision on how to interpret them. Essentially Waite's minors have already been interpreted once in their transformation from abstract symbol to pictorial scene.
The Thoth 2 & 3 of Wands are explosive and full of energy. This fits well with their astrological attribution of 2 of W = Mars in Aries and 3 of W = Sol in Aries. That's a lot of energy. But then I look at the respective RWS cards and I wonder where all the energy went!
The Thoth 9 of Wands has overtones of strong sexual energy (Wands + Yesod 9). But RWS shows a beaten up guy leaning on a stick. Why this apparent lack on energy?
The RWS 7 and 8 of Cups only seems to show a limited aspect of those two cards. The Thoth cards emphasise how rotten these cards really are or can be unless action is taken. Walking away ain't the answer!
The RWS 4 of Swords has an air of finality about it due to the inclusion of an apparently dead warrior. But the truce symbolised by this card is anything but final. It's an uneasy truce that could fail at any minute.
What does the 6 of Swords have to do with a journey over water? The only reason I can see for the RWS image is the astrological attribution of Mercury (travel) in Aquarius (water). But what does that have to do with the suit of Swords and the mind? The 6 of Swords represents the fluidic powers of the unbiased, scientific mind that can travel in any direction.
The Thoth 7 of Swords shows the mind being dominated and influenced by fluctuating and transient emotions. The only reason I can think for the RWS image is that maybe the guy stealing the swords didn't think first. But that's a very limited interpretation.
Why the scene of Victorian poverty on the RWS 5 of Disks? That's a very narrow interpretation in my opinion. The 5 of Disks means change and unstability in material matters but that doesn't have to mean poverty and material loss.