Are instruction manuals really that necessary?

Zephyros

I don't know if manuals and books can really tell you what you already know. Sticking to the "meanings" of the cards that other people wrote instead of finding out what it means for you is, well, kind of detrimental in my opinion. Otherwise why begin a journey of self dicovery like the tarot at all?
 

Emily

Hi closrapexa,

I know what you mean about giving your own meanings to the cards but the Thoth is a deck that is really busy - the Majors are full of symbolism, Minors too, that could be missed if you don't know what you are looking at. Saying that I've never been able to read 'The Book of Thoth' but I do have other Thoth books, Mirror of the the Soul, Keywords etc and to be honest I wouldn't be able to read the Thoth without them.

I like to see what authors have to say about the cards, see their views and add mine to them. This is a deck that is hard for me to get into, I can read Rider Waite symbolism and clone decks well enough without books but still like to get alternative views. I'm a natural book reader :D
 

AmounrA

The short and simple answer is , no, not in anyway.

In many ways they are just another manifestation of distraction. Their's a lot of money in the non materialist market:)
 

HOLMES

ah

i think they are for the thoth tarot .
they are necessary to give you a great foundation in order to move forward in your own way.
as the old saying one must learn to crawl to walk and to walk before running.

the manuals for the toth written by the man himself are so thick with stuff that it takes primer books to understand them.
the book on the thoth itself by lon milo duqutte is great for clarifying things.

i think there is the two schools of thought,
you may want to look at tarot for self discovery and tarot for yourself to use the tarot for that purpose,

but to read for others one has to know what they are doing especially with such an advanced deck.
 

Phoenyx*

I have to agree here somewhat with Holmes. When the creators of the decks drew them, they used their own symbolism to express what they wanted each of the cards to mean. In the case of the Thoth deck, the creators used colors, alchemical symbols, astrological symbols, and a whole bunch of Golden Dawn stuff. If you don't understand, or know what those symbols mean, its like a 2 year old American trying to read Chinese. It just makes no sense, and what is a very beautiful expressive deck, turns into just a bunch of pretty pictures.
 

Zephyros

I know what you all mean, but especially in a deck as powerful as the Thoth, the subconsious really is the most important thing you have here. I look at it and I have a feeling I'm looking at something very powerful, making me feel things I don't even understand sometimes. Something primal, even. Whether somebody knows the kabalistic classification or whatnot what the ultimately have is the own intuition. either there is a connection, or not
 

Zephyros

Sorry, I just had to bump this. It's my earliest post on AT that I could find. What a journey it has been!
 

Spiffo

It's fascinating to see what your first post is/was. There is a similar one over in the Thoth thing on the Cartomancy Forum, essentially asking the same question.

What a journey you've had indeed.
 

Zephyros

It really has been quite a journey, and "the road goes ever on." Thank you all for helping me on my journey, it truly has been a privilege.