Thoth Tarot Positive or Negative Energy?

mercury8

I own several Tarot decks, among them Aleister Crowley's Thoth Deck and am curious what the forum thinks regarding the energy surrounding the deck. I like using the Deck, but am a little put off by what may seem to be negative energy possibly associated with the deck with regards to Crowley. I would like to use this deck, but am not sure if it is infused with negative energy because of Crowley, and would like to hear what others have to say.

Just as an anecdote, I once did a reading with the Thoth deck for a pregnant woman and the death card came up. I felt awful because I was not sure if that particular card was somehow influencing the woman to get an abortion! And since then I have been a little wary of using this deck.

Joe D.
 

elvenstar

I am assuming your deck came from the factory and not the man himself ;) If that is true, then I don't see why it should be infused with any kind of energy, positive or negative, other than what you infuse it with yourself. If you want to use it, go ahead and make it yours. If I were you I'd examine my own preconceptions about Crowley and how they are influencing my view of the deck. How much do you know about the creators of the other decks you own? And how much do you care?

The Death card can mean all sorts of things in all decks including the Thoth. Perhaps you need to get to know it a bit better before you feel comfortable reading for others with it?
 

Scion

The Thoth is charged with Energy, period.

There isn't any overwhelming tendency to a positiive or negative charge; that's what makes it powerful. While it's true that Crowley spent a better part of his life trying to convince the world of his iconoclastic malevolence, he was a brilliant, creative innovator in any number of estoric fields.

The Death card is a perfect card to come up for a pregnancy, which is often a lifechanging experience that marks a threshold in several lives. I can't see why reading with the Thoth indicates some additionally abortive sentiment that wouldnt' have been present if Death had come up in the TdM or the WHimsical.

IMO, you should use the deck or don't use it, but know that any value you're ascribing to it is your own perception.

Scion
 

mercury8

I own several Tarot decks, among them Aleister Crowley's Thoth Deck and am curious what the forum thinks regarding the energy surrounding the deck. I like using the Deck, but am a little put off by what may seem to be negative energy possibly associated with the deck with regards to Crowley. I would like to use this deck, but am not sure if it is infused with negative energy because of Crowley, and would like to hear what others have to say.

Just as an anecdote, I once did a reading with the Thoth Deck for a pregnant woman and the death card came up. I felt awful because I was not sure if that particular card was somehow influencing the woman to get an abortion! And since then I have been a little wary of using this deck.

Joe D.

(I put this thread in another section as well-I apologize for the repetition)
 

elvenstar

Scion said:
The Thoth is charged with Energy, period.

There isn't any overwhelming tendency to a positiive or negative charge; that's what makes it powerful.
Scion
I find this interesting Scion. I also agree that the Thoth is balanced in my limited experience with it. When writing my reply I was thinking about the physical aspect of the cards, ink and paper. Upon further reflection and after reading your post it makes me wonder. There is a difference between the physical instance of a specific physical deck or card and the Deck or Card, if that makes any sense. So where does the Deck live? In our heads? A different dimension? :laugh:

The power is in the image, independent of the physical medium of transmission. On the other hand I do believe our energy rubs off to objects we come in contact with, more so when intent is involved, so a deck is a prime candidate for that. I guess then both aspects are valid.
 

Scion

It's a great question.

A million years ago, I wrote a paper once about sacrifice, when I was doing my religion degree. My argument was that sacrifice didn't just change the thing sacrificed; the original purpose of true sacrifice was to change the person OFFERING it. Being willing to let blood is a very powerful internal change. The idea that sacrifice isn't a two-way street seems a needlessly literalist, monosopic way of seeing ritual. Much like imagining that mgaic is free and that things are changed by waving your hands and saying a word without any cost to you, which is the Hollywoodized Bewitched model of magic.... naive to say the least. Where is the cost? Where is the balance?

Moderns have this weird idea that external visible states are the be-all, and that anything you can't touch and buy idoesn't exist (and where would they get that idea :D). But our entire lives indicate that the exact opposite is true. In a sense every deck is a different deck in the hands/memory palace of each user. My Thoth is not your Thoth or anyone else's. Anymore Than my Guernica or my Oliver Twist is anyone else's. I'd argue that's one of the grerat factors with any creation. AND the surest way to determine if something is Art or just drivel. Drivel tends to be the same for everyone who ingests it; Art changes you.
 

elvenstar

Yeah, that's part of what I was talking about: 'Every deck is a different deck in the hands/memory palace of each user'. We do develop our unique relationship with things and ideas. So my mind meets with the creation of Crowley/Harris and 'my Thoth' is born.

I guess that could explain why some people just can't get on with it at all. 'Their Thoth' just isn't that friendly? This would be true for any deck, but I guess more powerful images create more powerful reactions.

So mercury, since you want to work with it, it seems your Thoth has some things to teach you about yourself (well obviously) and it's starting by showing you a mirror of your own perception of it? I'm saying this going by the above definition, I'm not personifying it. Also, remember it's not only Crowley's deck it's at least as much the creation of Frieda Harris, the artist who painted it.
 

ZenMusic

a response is pointless here...

"I felt awful because I was not sure if that particular card was somehow influencing the woman to get an abortion"

ah yeah...the only other post by mercury8 made was the

"Ever since I purchased the Thoth Deck I have wondered about its true authorship. I speculate that it was in fact painted by Frida Kahlo"
 

mercury8

Relevance

My other thread is in no way relevant to this one, thank you very much, and that was just speculation. And I think it is a perfectly valid question that can be asked, regarding the energy of the deck. As for the reading that was done for that woman, that was MY interpretation of that card. But really, thanks for your helpful reply.
 

Disa

mercury8 said:
I own several Tarot decks, among them Aleister Crowley's Thoth Deck and am curious what the forum thinks regarding the energy surrounding the deck. I like using the Deck, but am a little put off by what may seem to be negative energy possibly associated with the deck with regards to Crowley. I would like to use this deck, but am not sure if it is infused with negative energy because of Crowley, and would like to hear what others have to say.

Just as an anecdote, I once did a reading with the Thoth deck for a pregnant woman and the death card came up. I felt awful because I was not sure if that particular card was somehow influencing the woman to get an abortion! And since then I have been a little wary of using this deck.

Joe D.

Well, lets see. I have to admit when I first came across a Thoth deck I was also hesitant. I thought that it would have a huge amount of power that I could not control-but that was very early in my Tarot experience. Some of that was based on things I'd read about Crowley, some was based on my initial feeling that the cards themselves(any tarot cards) might be magickal. Combine all that with fear from my teenage years and the experiences with a certain spirit which left me feeling out of control and responsible for the well-being of said spirit and you get one confused person who has placed limitations and/or expectations on something where I don't think they should be. Later, of course, I learned if there is any magick to be had it comes from within. So there I went on my journey to see what it was I was afraid of. It seems it was my own "power" that was scaring me. What if I really am a medium, what if I really can read cards, what if I really am connected to the Universe or something bigger than myself and what if I learn to control it to some extent?- all of that caused me to have fear. Once I came to the conclusion that the cards are just ink and paper, the fear was gone. The only power in them is the power I gave them in my own mind.

I have to admit though, the Thoth is a bit intimidating to me still with all of it's layers of symbolism that I think would take me a lifetime or two to learn. I rarely study it, and I've never read with it, but I did at least buy it, and I can look at it without fear. It seems to be overwhelmingly complicated, but I haven't really given it a chance.

As far as your idea about the death card influencing the querant to have an abortion... well, to me, that seems as though you (or she) is giving the card power. I don't think the cards can influence us in that way unless we allow it.

Just my 2 cents...

Disa