Aleister Crowley's Thoth - should i or shouldn't i ? Any advice would be welcome!

Hi Mags,

I'm just a few months into my own exploration of the Tarot and I love the Thoth. The imagery and symbology are incredibly rich and evocative. Whatever Crowley's dark reputation may have been, the cards don't feel dark to me. Although Crowley dictated the content, it's Lady Frieda Harris's artwork that you see.

As to which version, both the US Games and the AG Mueller editions are printed at the same place and look virtually identical. The small USG deck includes the two extra Magus cards, while the AGM versions have the Unicursal Hexagram card. The LWBs are also different. AGM's LWB is excerpts from Crowley's Book of Thoth. USG's has a variety of articles. It gives some background information, a list of simplified meanings, and a couple articles by Lady Frieda giving more in-depth card descriptions.

You also have to consider what size you want - the art is so intricate I really appreciate the large deck for study, but I bought a small deck too for readings because I find the big cards clumsy to shuffle.

David

There is never a good reason to avoid a classic to which you're drawn. That's true in music, literature, recipes, and Tarot decks in equal parts. We should all confront masterpieces as often as possible.

For my money, anyone who warns you away from something without having direct experience of it seems dodgy to me, like fundies who burn books they've never read cause some other gobshite told 'em to do it. Let the sheeple stick to their pens. Sheep can baa-baa-baa all day long about the fact that nothing has wings and everyone eats weeds; it's up to you whether you want to shit on them from overhead.

I say, if you're intrigued, pick up the Thoth. I'd suggest getting the LARGEST edition you can locate. The details and thoughtfulness are astonisshing, and even with the mongo scale one, you'll find yourself using a magnifying glass to catch the bits of wisdom there.

Thanks everyone, didn't realise there was a Thoth thread, i did look but musta been not looking in the right place, computers give me a headache so i gave up and posted my question....Needless to say now i know so i'm over there like a flash to get the low down....Great advice on the decks though, thanks....

As for the stone tablet i think my mum said it is there althought a stone wall is built around it now, something to do with a wall, that would need to be checked as i'm not clear on the facts....exciting though aye!!

Take care all xxMags.

Maskelyne said:

I'm just a few months into my own exploration of the Tarot and I love the Thoth. The imagery and symbology are incredibly rich and evocative. Whatever Crowley's dark reputation may have been, the cards don't feel dark to me. Although Crowley dictated the content, it's Lady Frieda Harris's artwork that you see.

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I've just started delving into the Thoth too. It was the first I deck I bought about 20 years ago, but being a newbie I was totally flummoxed by it. But now I'm really getting into studying the deck and it's helping me to learn about all kinds of topics (astrology, mythology etc). I admit that I'm struggling to read with it, but hopefully that'll come in time...

Buy it Mags . You're going to anyway at some point in the future (along with the Tarot de Marseilles and Rider-Waite).

MagsStardustBlack said:

Thanks everyone, didn't realise there was a Thoth thread, i did look but musta been not looking in the right place

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There is a whole Thoth subforum - LOOK !

Until you're sure you want to acquire the deck there are some excellent scans that you can access from here.

Horror stories abound about Crowley and the Thoth Tarot but you have to take a lot of them with a grain of salt. By the same token, Crowley has a lot of groupies who tend to slant the truth in his favor. As the old saying goes, the truth lies somewhere in the middle.

Subforum...

Ok i'm seriously missing the picture. People must be having a laugh at me, me to lol!!! "there goes mags again stumbling her way around the forum, not a clue where she is going he he he" Please beleive me when i say i'm not daft just not technology user friendly, i will find this area, i'm determined, and when i do i will take up perminant residence and stay there, cheers everyone, thanks for helping me along and encouraging me, and yes i will get the thoth deck and be happy. Will try and get a large one as that seems to be the recommended one to study. Thanks again xxMags.

Found it!!!!......Excellent!!

On the main forum menu, scroll downward. There will be a Tarot History & Iconography heading. Find Thoth Tarot.

This is a huge form. I was lost for weeks.

AW

I did post a link.....

If you see a word underlined in a post - try clicking on it !!!!