Thoth: Loves newbies, hates muddlers?

Girl Archer

7 coins failure oh that's a bit harsh hope you still persevering with it though. Let it know who's boss.

When l get my Thoth in a few days time l think l will just gaze at the artwork and hope l can achieve a connection. A deck interview will come later l think. Usually with new decks l do an interview straightaway but l want to be sure the Thoth gets to know my sensitivities and treats me gently :joke:

Well, it has been right because after that and a couple of wonky readings I decided to take a break, read the book/articles first and then go in semi-informed at least. You can't just dive in to Thoth, at least not in my experience.
 

MissChiff

Actually the Thoth was my first deck... I love it... It's just.... Well... It just Thoth... You will get along just fine... You're a smarttie...you will enjoy it because you love tarot!
 

Bridget

Mine basically told me during the deck interview that our relationship would be a "failure" :laugh: (drew the 7 of Coins)
Mine gave me the 10 of Swords for the kind of relationship we should have. :D
 

Barleywine

Mine gave me the 10 of Swords for the kind of relationship we should have. :D

Like Bruce Campbell as "Ash" with his boom-stick, it's just saying "Come get some!" :D
 

ravenest

Every time I have tried to read with the Thoth-based Cosmic, I get the most negative, abysmal results. That deck seems to hate my guts. It's like an old man, yelling "get off my property!"

Painful to even try. I recently bought Babalon's noir et lux deck, also Thoth, and have not even attempted to try to read with it...I should get it out and see if it will speak to me :)

It seems Thoth has a really particular opinion about who is allowed to read with it!

93 baby !


Ummm ... I will have to PM you the rest of the answer .
 

ravenest

This has become more interesting a thread than I ever thought possible.... :)

I came to "Thothy" decks only after the original Thoth, and have never felt that sort of haughtiness or hatefulness. In fact, I only used the word "hate" in the sense that the Thoth has seemed to close off to my attempts to muddle through it, but not necessarily in an unfriendly way. On the contrary, I'd say that I get a very friendly, inviting vibe from the deck.

I wasn't very familiar with Crowley the first time I picked it up, so I didn't even know about that creepy crawly factor some people tend to attach to Crowley. Those colorful swirls drew me in, and before I knew I was doing my first reading with it. Even the pips didn't give me any trouble --I just worked with the images and the titles.

Perhaps it hasn't really closed off; perhaps I'm just intimidated by the realization of the vastness of my ignorance. There's so much to learn in every card...

Ohhh ... that realisation means the door is about to open.

You know what Crowley taught about that ?

" He who knoweth little, thinketh he knoweth much; but he who knoweth much hath learned his own ignorance. Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit? There is more hope of a fool, than of him. "

http://hermetic.com/crowley/libers/lib30.html
 

Barleywine

ravenest;You know what Crowley taught about that ? " He who knoweth little said:
http://hermetic.com/crowley/libers/lib30.html[/url]

And I think Crowley thought he found the perfect "whipping boy" to practice that philosophy on. (We won't mention any names.) Every time I go back to the Book of Thoth, it teaches me that no matter how much I think I know about it, there's always more there; it's a very deep well, and the cards are no different.
 

devilkitty

Of course the Thoth loves newbies...
It has two with its eggs every morning. :p

Keep at it, there is a soldier behind that hunchback. Then another hunchback behind the soldier, and so on ad infinitum (or ad nauseam, depending on your perspective).

The Thoth (and tarot in general) is a process.
 

Zephyros

Me, I'm hardly an expert on the Thoth, but I can say that ever since I got it it has rarely ever been more than a few meters away from me, unless I forget it at work. It feels like an extension of myself, I understand it to the best of my ability and often formulate my thoughts through it. It is like my right arm and has grown with me. It isn't the same deck I bought years ago, it has morphed into something greater. I don't use the Thoth, I am the Thoth, at least insofar as my petty mind and spirit grasp it, which I'm sure isn't at the level of some here. I can't imagine my life without it, or the amazing impact it has had on me. It has been instrumental for me in becoming a better version of myself.

When I started out, all eager and Thoth-hungry, it was as other people said, sharp and shiny and abrupt. Over time it has become, in the way I see it, more mature, less extreme, perhaps a little older and shabbier but then, so have I. :) It is a reflection of myself, and only years into its study did I understand that it always was.

But it isn't a deck you learn and then just "know." It is a lifelong journey, and although people say that about a lot of decks, I wonder how many realize how true that is of this one. Have we had difficult times? Of course, but we came through them together. If anyone feels blocked by the deck in some way, don't sell yourself short by just pulling a card and thinking "oh, ten of swords, well then." You deserve better. Challenge yourself to find out why you are blocked and what that blockage means. There have been many times I have been tempted to set it aside because it unearthed demons I admit I found hard to handle. Sometimes it scared me,but it was never the deck, but always myself that created those fears. Some of the demons it points at I still can't handle.

Remember that one of the purposes of the deck and its Thelemic philosophy is to discover your True Will and to try to discard all extraneous baggage. That's what makes the deck more than just a petty cerebral exercise. Rejoice at a blockage because it is a chance to discover something about yourself. Treat it as merely difficult, or merely a deck, and that's what you get back. Take yourself on and be ready to wrestle yourself as Jacob wrestled with the angle and... well, let's just say at this point that it won't always be fun, but it is never boring.
 

Nemia

Thinking about it now... when I bought my first tarot deck and just stretched out my hand for the Thoth, I didn't know what a HUGE deck it is. I hoped to find the card that had impressed me many years before when I had my first tarot reading done by a friend, and I was more than thrilled to find that unforgettable card (Lust). I started to read with it and I had good clear readings although I had little prior knowledge. Actually, nearly zero!

I had read the book Spiritual Tarot (which is RWS based but emphasized personal work with the cards) and good basic knowledge of astrology, mythology, and a very rudimental knowledge of the Tree of Life (in the Jewish tradition, though, not the Western esoteric tradition). Looking back, I think it took me years to understand that the sweet little pet that I had sleeping in my bed was actually a huge fanged and clawed dragon :) and my respect grew and grew.

I read with different decks, I keep reading books and the more I read, the more ignorant I feel... and still, the Thoth gives me spot-on, reliable, brutally honest readings. I don't like anthropomorphizing (or whatever you call it...) tarot decks but the Thoth is tactless, and that's wonderful. No sugarcoating, just the truth.

I don't even think I can say that I grew with the Thoth. It challenged me then and now. I accept that it's possible to understand and work with the Thoth on different levels, and mine is still quite a low one compared to others here... but that doesn't mean that I can't or shouldn't read with the Thoth. We don't need a license for it, not even an inner one.

I guess it's different for each of us, but I'd cautiously say that it's possible to dive into Thoth. You might get a deeper dive if you jump with more knowledge but in my experience, even as a naive but enthusiastic ignoramus I had readings that gave me insight.

So if the Thoth calls out to you, go for it and re-discover it.