Thoth-ed...

HearthCricket

Yes, I have been officially Thothed. My order from TG arrived, yesterday, with the Big Swiss deck and the regular purple box one. Yep, going for a pocket edition, now, too. After watching that show on the History Channel, about playing cards and tarot (it showed Visconti's, Thoth, Via, etc.) I decided to pull mine out, give them a hardy shuffling and do a 3 card spread for mind, body, spirit. I never really liked the artwork, but was amazed at how nice it looked together and the reading was dead accurate, which pleasantly creeped me out.

So, 2 questions. Is there a really good book on the Thoth meanings, etc. out there? And which is the nicest version of the deck? The Swiss large is pretty awesome, colour-wise, and I liked the big cards. I am looking forward to another reading, today, with these. I could get a bit hooked on them.
 

Scion

If you're just dipping your toe in to Thothland. I'd heartily recommend Lon DuQuette's Understanding Aleister Crowley's Thoth Tarot, which really opens the door to the symbolism etc for beginners. It's a user-friendly leg up for when you feel like tackling Crowley. That said, Duuette's book is not a "keyword" book. For something a little more meaning-based check out Hajo Banzhaf's books Crowley Tarot and Keywords for the Crowley Tarot. The latter is almost excatly like an overgrown Crowley LWB on steroids. But the DuQuette will give you a much better grasp of the deck. And then gradually you can ease into the hilarious, scorching Book of Thoth. :D

Editionwise... For my money the best edition is the LARGE swiss blue box in an older edition.

Very psyched that this deck is speaking to you so adamantly, HC. It's one that never tarnishes or fades.

Scion
 

Papageno

Scion said:
If you're just dipping your toe in to Thothland. I'd heartily recommend Lon DuQuette's Understanding Aleister Crowley's Thoth Tarot, which really opens the door to the symbolism etc for beginners. It's a user-friendly leg up for when you feel like tackling Crowley. That said, Duuette's book is not a "keyword" book. For something a little more meaning-based check out Hajo Banzhaf's books Crowley Tarot and Keywords for the Crowley Tarot. The latter is almost excatly like an overgrown Crowley LWB on steroids. But the DuQuette will give you a much better grasp of the deck. And then gradually you can ease into the hilarious, scorching Book of Thoth. :D

I heartily agree with those comments......I found that you really need to read the DuQuette book before opening the Banzhaf book of keywords, otherwise they will be of no real use.
 

Aulruna

I have the Banzhaf book and it never opened anything for me (though I started reading with the help of his other works).

Can't put a finger on it really, but it doesn't seem to capture the essence.

(Am I making sense at all?)
 

Papageno

Aulruna said:
I have the Banzhaf book and it never opened anything for me (though I started reading with the help of his other works).

Can't put a finger on it really, but it doesn't seem to capture the essence.

(Am I making sense at all?)

absolutely :thumbsup:

there are various online resources which I've found to be far more helpful and meaningful.
 

Lillie

However difficult it is, I have always found Crowley's Book of Thoth worth reading.
 

Scion

Absolutely! Crowley's is THE book, but a hard start for someone wanting to do divinatory readings, no? :D
 

Lillie

Yes. It is.

If that was all you had and knew nothing about Tarot.

But most people will have the LWB, and if it's the one with the Harris essays in, it's very interesting.
It gives the tree of life and all sorts of interesting info.

Also, for purely divinatory meanings this deck is not so far from all the others, especially the RWS based ones, especially when you are just beginning with it. And especially if you already have experience with other decks.

I've never read much on this deck, just got started with the LWB, and a general tarot book.
I got the basic meanings from them, and then got the book of Thoth and have been adding to that basic store of knowledge ever since.

The BoT does contain divinatory meanings for the majors. For each of them there are a string of single words, or short phrases, such as would be found in a LWB.
The section on the courts gives a good description of each of the 'characters'. I would suggest that at the beginning someone would concentrate on that bit of the text, rather than the rest.
The minors are covered quite well, both as groups of four (the four aces, the four twos, etc) and also as a short entry for each.

For a long time, at the beginning, those were the bits I used. And I used to dip in and out of the rest trying to screw my head around it all, every little bit that made some sense adding to what I knew.

I just wanted to say this, because this book has a reputation of being very difficult, very daunting, and a lot of it is, but there are bits that a total beginner can use to sit down and just read the cards, like they would any other deck.

I think the key is not to expect to understand all of it all at once, or perhaps ever!
But to get what you can out of it, whatever stage you are at, and not to be put off by it's reputation.

I can't speak for any of the other books that are being mentioned, I have never read any of them!
I don't think they even existed when I started with this deck. Or if they did I never found them.
It seemed to be the Book of Thoth or nothing, so I did the best I could with what I had.
 

Scion

I was the same way. Back when I started with the Thoth, there was no other option. And back before the internet, very few people with whom to discuss it. Many people would argue the case that it was the best way...
 

Lillie

Yeah. It was different back then!

Finding a shop that sold decks (or even a deck!) was a feat in itself!

Books weren't much easier to come by.
Every second hand book shop was a potential treasure house that needed to be searched on a regular basis.

Sometimes I think things are too easy now.

The thrill of the chase is gone now I can just log on to the internet and find any book I want.

Sort of devalues the information in them too.