Is it a 'Male Tarot'?

As an Art Historian, here is how I view the Thoth Tarot:

When I needed to study Picasso or Klimt, I needed to read their letters and biographies, which was full of debauchery and womanizing and bigotry.

When I needed to study Mesoamerican Art, I needed to know all of their stories of gory blood sacrifices and legends and at times harsh beliefs.

When I needed to study the Thoth, I needed to know and understand the system in which it was created and the beliefs of the creator, for good or ill.

The way you truly understand art is knowing the WHY. Even if you don't believe in or agree with the WHY. Knowing what the art is steeped in psychologically and culturally gives you more power and understanding.

Art can, and does, transcend its creator.


I am female and I personally am fascinated by the Thoth. Its images, colors and design are more intuitive than most. I have never felt any 'negative energy' or 'bad luck' from it because I am not intimidated by it. 99% of 'bad luck' or 'negative energy' is just placebo.


If you are uncomfortable with the images then ok, put it away. I got rid of the hermetic tarot because the images creeped me out. But just know you can appreciate the art while still taking in the WHY with a grain of salt.

nicky said:

FWIW - I think all decks in theory should embody the deck creator's beliefs...which is why the Atlantian Dolphin Mermaid Goddesses deck sucks

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And I make decks for playing cards with, so what does that say about me?

Kind of a questionable standard: humans are dynamic and constantly developing beliefs and understandings, so any expression of those beliefs and understandings is necessarily time-limited and bound to that particular expression. There's a reason why I try to pose so much of my experiments as that: I might find that the reality doesn't back up the hypothesis.

Applying to Crowley and Thoth: setting aside questions of his personal beliefs in practice (as documented by others) as opposed to his stated beliefs, we have a collaborative artwork that has some provenance of the process of creation, yet is still clearly the product of 2 artists working together. I see the choice of painter as equally significant as the design concepts of the cards themselves. Projective synthetic geometry has it's own cognitive biases that may have been something that Crowley wanted to incorporate by association. And then there's the not inconsiderable "that looks neat!" factor...

The deck's masculinity/femininity is actually neither - it's an artistic Text with variable structure and meaning. It's self-destroying in the Deleuzean sense of that term.

Coming out of the Closet - I'm a Thoth Tarot Reader!

I have an undergrad from a Bible college, spent 5 years in Christian seminaries, and still go to a church (liberal, progressive, & liturgical). Oh...and the Thoth Tarot is my reading deck.

The Lon Milo DuQuette (2003) book on the Thoth sometimes gets stomped on for not revealing secrets (he took an oath as part of the OTO), but it is killer for the historical and symbolic background of the Thoth Tarot. If you must read one book before going in, read that. Once in, the list gets bigger of course...

DuQuette (2003) stated the radical imagery was to discourage tightly-wound churchies from going in. The symbols, when deconstructed and interpreted, are quite pedestrian. "The Great Whore is riding the Beast and drinking the blood of the saints and feasting on her inequities" = "the princess, prince, queen, & king have all re-integrated themselves back in Kether [Crown/1st Sefirah]." Not quite so sexy...and Crowley liked an entrance after all. Besides, he was very passionate and only wanted passionate students. For a non-Scorpio, he certainly had the stuff to qualify...

So, will you join me and go beyond the hype to the heart? Your Higher Self must be saying something to you about this deck or else you wouldn't be here! My childhood friend showed me the Thoth Tarot in middle school and it was the first deck I wanted when I got back into Tarot 21 years later. I can still tell you exactly how the scene unfolded like a DVD.

P.s.,

I was introducing a woman to Tarot decks in a metaphysical store as a fellow customer and newbie Yoga enthusiast. First, I showed her the Dark Angel deck as an example of a dark deck, some other general decks, and then the Thoth Tarot last. She said, though didn't buy it, "That's not dark at all! Why...it's quite colorful and vibrant...full of life."

Unlike the Waite-Smith relationship, where patronizing Waite had sweet Smith under his thumb, the Harris-Crowley affair was much different. Crowley would have just modified an exisiting pack with a marker, but Harris was called by God/Goddess/Both/Higher Self/Whatever to do the deck. She paid him (instead of the other way around with Waite-Smith) and he had to take risks in "correcting her" as she could always fire him. With his fortune spent, he needed that job as her tutor in magick. Smith, on the other hand, was clearly Waite's employee and her entire estate had to be liquidated to pay her debts because he railroaded her into taking a flat fee instead of royalties like himself. So the Harris-Crowley relationship was much more respectful, even with elements of female superiority, compared to the oppression of Smith by Waite - almost a "Tarot sweatshop" relationship, if you will.

my first contact with Tarot was when a female friend did a reading for me with a Thoth deck years ago, the reading was very accurate even though my friend was an inexperienced but intuitive reader. It was the only deck she has ever owned. I did not know who Crowley was (I know, the shame of it)

I fell in love with the deck, couldn't get it out of my mind, I desperately wanted one of my own even though I had no idea how to use it. a couple of years later I bought one and there began my love of tarot.

I still had no idea who Crowley was when I bought the deck (hangs head again in double shame) and it was only when I began looking for books to help me read the cards that I found out so I guess having no pre-conceived ideas about the deck or its history meant that I just took it at face value and loved it for what it is.

For me it is not a negative or evil deck but I think it is fear that makes anything feel that way for that individual. I have a friend who think that all tarot is evil and no matter what deck it is-unicorns or fluffy kittens- they believe it is "the devils picturebook" .

I am female by the way and the Thoth is my true tarot love even though like anything I have ever been in love with I probably will never fully understand it. and I am being totally unfaithful to it by hanging around with new decks. lol

nortytiger said:

I am female by the way and the Thoth is my true tarot love even though like anything I have ever been in love with I probably will never fully understand it. and I am being totally unfaithful to it by hanging around with new decks. lol

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Way to go you. You need to chat to Lillie !

don't tell Lillie but I have *temporarily* put the Thoth away while I play with some new toys. Have locked the Thoth in a box so it can't get me in the night as it will surely get jealous and possessive