Which Thoth Companion Book Would be Best?

Jamie_1311

I already own the book of thoth and thought I would look into getting another companion book to go with my thoth deck. My birthday is coming up soon so i thought I would start thinking about which book I should get. I'm currently deciding between Understanding Aleister Crowley's Thoth Tarot by Lon Milo Duquette and The Thoth Companion by Michael Snuffin, I'm just not sure which one would be the better choice. Any suggestions or things I should consider if anyone owns either of these books?

Thanks again,

Jamie
 

Grigori

It depends I guess. Duquette won't tell you anything not in the BoT, but he's useful to better understand the BoT if help is needed. Snuffin has more details on specific symbols and has his own stuff which is different to the BoT also. You may or may not want his ideas.
 

Jamie_1311

Grigori said:
It depends I guess. Duquette won't tell you anything not in the BoT, but he's useful to better understand the BoT if help is needed. Snuffin has more details on specific symbols and has his own stuff which is different to the BoT also. You may or may not want his ideas.

Thank you Grigori, you gave me more to think about as in terms of what I should consider when buying. :)
 

Richard

As a user-friendly supplement to BoT, I would get Duquette.
 

Jamie_1311

LRichard said:
As a user-friendly supplement to BoT, I would get Duquette.

I'm really leaning towards thats one, I have alot to think about lol. How has your experience been with it?
 

Frayling0

I've been reading Duquette - he's VERY readable, so everything is pretty clear and logical. He talks about a lot of Golden Dawn stuff, the art, qabbala, and breaks the cards down one by one. He treats the reader like a normal human being with no prior knowledge of the Golden Dawn.
 

Jamie_1311

Frayling0 said:
I've been reading Duquette - he's VERY readable, so everything is pretty clear and logical. He talks about a lot of Golden Dawn stuff, the art, qabbala, and breaks the cards down one by one. He treats the reader like a normal human being with no prior knowledge of the Golden Dawn.

Sounds like it gives a good amount of information for the price, I'll have to give it a chance i guess. Thank you.
 

Aeon418

Jamie_1311 said:
I'm currently deciding between Understanding Aleister Crowley's Thoth Tarot by Lon Milo Duquette and The Thoth Companion by Michael Snuffin, I'm just not sure which one would be the better choice.
That's a difficult question to answer without knowing exactly what you're hoping to find in either of these books.

If you're looking for a book that examines and explains the symbolism of the cards, then either one is fine. Personally I lean towards DuQuette, but Snuffin is a perfectly reasonable supplement to, The Book of Thoth. Neither book focuses on interpretations of the cards. Rather the authors explanation of the symbolism enables you to begin to form your own interpretations.

On the other hand, if you're looking for a book full of someone else's second-hand interpretations of the cards then you're probably better off looking elsewhere. In the past I have mistakenly recommended DuQuette when asked for a book that "explains" the Thoth Tarot. What I did not understand was that explanation was not what they wanted. What they really wanted was a book of pre-formed "fortune-teller" style interpretations. Personally I don't see the point.
 

Jamie_1311

Aeon418 said:
That's a difficult question to answer without knowing exactly what you're hoping to find in either of these books.

If you're looking for a book that examines and explains the symbolism of the cards, then either one is fine. Personally I lean towards DuQuette, but Snuffin is a perfectly reasonable supplement to, The Book of Thoth. Neither book focuses on interpretations of the cards. Rather the authors explanation of the symbolism enables you to begin to form your own interpretations.

On the other hand, if you're looking for a book full of someone else's second-hand interpretations of the cards then you're probably better off looking elsewhere. In the past I have mistakenly recommended DuQuette when asked for a book that "explains" the Thoth Tarot. What I did not understand was that explanation was not what they wanted. What they really wanted was a book of pre-formed "fortune-teller" style interpretations. Personally I don't see the point.

It's funny you mention symbolism of the cards because that's exactly what I am after. I wasn't sure if DuQuette's book had a good depth of symbolism for each cad since I can only preview so much, I agree though that the symbolism is the only thing you really need. I personally as well would prefer learning the symbolism and turning that symbolism which I am learning into meaning, no sense for pre-formed meanings when you have all that rich symbolism to help guide you. I know the basics of tarot anyway and can't wait to read more in depth on the symbolism. Thank you for helping.
 

Frayling0

Jamie_1311 said:
It's funny you mention symbolism of the cards because that's exactly what I am after. I wasn't sure if DuQuette's book had a good depth of symbolism for each cad since I can only preview so much, I agree though that the symbolism is the only thing you really need. I personally as well would prefer learning the symbolism and turning that symbolism which I am learning into meaning, no sense for pre-formed meanings when you have all that rich symbolism to help guide you. I know the basics of tarot anyway and can't wait to read more in depth on the symbolism. Thank you for helping.

Then DuQuette is the book for you - he explains ALL the symbolism of every card. The geometry, golden dawn symbols, qaballa, planets, elements... This will be the book you're looking for :)