A Thoth Beginner's Library?

gregory said:

I LIKE IT ! (and I didn't find it hostile at all ! which as I recall was one objection of yours !)

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The final line of your signature probably sums up the entire Crowley biography question. Every biography is essentially someone else' opinion on another persons character and life. And there are many shades of opinion when the subject is Aleister Crowley. But being "selective" with the facts is a different thing altogether. In some cases the biographer is almost an artist. As they paint a picture of their subject they emphasise some facts and down-play or omit others, all in line with their own biases and prejudices. (Sometimes they're a bit more creative. )

This is why every Crowley biography presents us with a different Crowley, even though the story is substantially the same in each case. In this sense every biographer acts like a lens. We are forced to see the subject through their eyes. But the best biographers know how to keep themselves in the background as much as possible. This is one area where I feel Kaczynski has been more successful than any previous Crowley biographer to date.
While reading, The Great Beast, I was painfully aware of John Symonds presence all the way through. But I can understand that some people might like the "picture" he paints.

gregory said:

Mind - I paid a whole 65 pence + postage for mine

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65p + p&p!!!!! I'd get in touch with Trading Standards if I were you. That's daylight robbery.

So when it comes to learning the symbols and such, mostly for divinatory matters, what book do you recommend. What book states the meanings of the planets and astrology in general the way Mr Crowley used it in his deck? Will I have to face his book of Toth, oir has someone else managed to translate it in to commoners language recently (as in: still in print). I'm reading Snuffin and Duquette together (Duquette for the second time now) and start to feel like Tarot is math, a whole lot of combinations to calculate the result.

By the way, for a beginner I do recommend the Graphic Novel Promethea. It is very visual and gave me a kickstart to delve into daunting subjects like the kabalah.

Any astrology book would be helpful really, you just want to start with a basic idea of the meanings of the planets and signs. If you want a traditional approach, Frawley's The Real Astrology is good, though any reasonable beginners book would work I think.