Which Thoth and Book

Richard

The Book of Thoth is the best Thoth book. A lot of people whine about not being able to understand it. There is no excuse for that. The only way to obtain the necessary background is to learn the necessary background material. It's as simple as that. There is information galore on the internet: Astrology, Alchemy, Qabalah, Hermeticism. It's free! If you don't wish to put forth the necessary effort, that's okay too. One's time is often not free. In that case, just don't worry or whine about it, or complain about Crowley's writing style. That's a cop out. If you want to learn, you will; if you don't, you won't. It's mostly a matter of priorities, and that's strictly a personal affair.

gregory

Chiska said:
From my own experience, the "Premiere" edition of a USGames deck is the same as "more packaging making it more difficult to steal."

Yup.

Duquette is good, so is Snuffin's Thoth Companion. But don't PAY for the Book of Thoth - though you should read it ! - as it is easy to download free !

Zephyros

LRichard said:
The Book of Thoth is the best Thoth book. A lot of people whine about not being able to understand it. There is no excuse for that. The only way to obtain the necessary background is to learn the necessary background material. It's as simple as that. There is information galore on the internet: Astrology, Alchemy, Qabalah, Hermeticism. It's free! If you don't wish to put forth the necessary effort, that's okay too. One's time is often not free. In that case, just don't worry or whine about it, or complain about Crowley's writing style. That's a cop out. If you want to learn, you will; if you don't, you won't. It's mostly a matter of priorities, and that's strictly a personal affair.

And I thought I was harsh

I agree with everything you said, but Rome wasn't built in a day. The Book of Thoth's "problem," for me, at least, isn't necessarily that it is too difficult, but perhaps too fluent. So many ideas in each sentence that you don't always know what you don't know. The internet can't always help, if you don't know what to search for.

If DuQuette's book does nothing else, it's virtue as a table of contents proved invaluable to me. When I have a muse, I'll post a list of search terms for Thoth beginners.

Richard

It's not just a matter of having the "right" book, it's about internalizing the information. For example, make a big diagram of the Tree of Life and its Tarot correlations, and attach it to the wall in a conspicuous place. Do the same with the Zodiac, ruling Planets, and other pertinent astrological information. Look at these things a lot until they are burned into the brain. Do the same with the Hebrew alphabet, with transliterations of the letters, and their classifications as Maternal, Double, or Simple. All this helps with the internalization, and it is relatively painless.

ETA. I see how the above can be misinterpreted. I'm not talking about memorizing reams of information. It is about establishing a context in which to associate the material which you read. Suppose, for example, you know that Tiphareth is number 6 and that it is the central circle in the Tree of Life. Then if you read that it is associated with the Sun and that it is where you find the Inner Self, the information more readily clicks into place and begins to make sense: Center/Sun/Self. You have a matrix into which the material can be stored and from which it can be retrieved.

Winterchild

LRichard said:
It's not just a matter of having the "right" book, it's about internalizing the information. For example, make a big diagram of the Tree of Life and its Tarot correlations, and attach it to the wall in a conspicuous place. Do the same with the Zodiac, ruling Planets, and other pertinent astrological information. Look at these things a lot until they are burned into the brain. Do the same with the Hebrew alphabet, with transliterations of the letters, and their classifications as Maternal, Double, or Simple. All this helps with the internalization, and it is relatively painless.

ETA. I see how the above can be misinterpreted. I'm not talking about memorizing reams of information. It is about establishing a context in which to associate the material which you read. Suppose, for example, you know that Tiphareth is number 6 and that it is the central circle in the Tree of Life. Then if you read that it is associated with the Sun and that it is where you find the Inner Self, the information more readily clicks into place and begins to make sense: Center/Sun/Self. You have a matrix into which the material can be stored and from which it can be retrieved.

I do get what you are saying LRichard... and yes it makes sense.... I am one for big diagrams and those brainstorm type diagrams with lines and interrelations all shown easily.... (well.. to the person who drew them!).

I do find the best way to grasp something is to do it, but some foreknowledge is always good, especially in this case, but ultimately I find the doing the talk, grinds it into the *knowing bone* Geez.... I have a language of my own!!

Kathy123

Thoth Tarot

Hey Winterchild, did you make a decision yet? I purchased a Swiss Pocket Thoth Tarot that I am looking forward to diving into more... might become one of my DOTW's

Winterchild

Kathy123 said:
Hey Winterchild, did you make a decision yet? I purchased a Swiss Pocket Thoth Tarot that I am looking forward to diving into more... might become one of my DOTW's

The only one on offer from my credit note store is the Premiere US Games so I ordered that...not got it yet but cant wait.. I have *NEVER* looked through a whole Thoth deck!!

Geez my wants list has grown, I need to get my online shop going again! Or block AT

!!!

Will post when I get it!

Winterchild

Got Thoth....

My Thoth arrived today.... standard US Games..... first thought.... I should have gotten a larger one....this really doesn't show the images too well imho.

I really like some of the cards...others not so much. The Hermit is great and I love the Nine of Swords and the Two and Eight of Pentacles..... these must have looked amazing as large paintings....watercolours??

The colours in the deck are wonderful and I really like the transparency and layers in the art.

I can see many an hour with this... and I haven't even touched on my downloaded Book of Thoth. Another thread has me wanting to find out about astrology associations and Decans, and the stories behind the names on each card.

I want a bigger Thoth though.....

I prefer the size and feel of the Deviant Moon cards by USG, to the Thoth... it's very slick... smells funny too...very strong and chemical.

Richard

Winterchild said:
My Thoth arrived today.... standard US Games..... first thought.... I should have gotten a larger one....this really doesn't show the images too well imho.......

Maybe you need the green box edition, 3.75 x 5.5 inches. ISBN: 9780913866153.

Zephyros

Winterchild said:
I can see many an hour with this... and I haven't even touched on my downloaded Book of Thoth. Another thread has me wanting to find out about astrology associations and Decans, and the stories behind the names on each card.

Good luck! I've spent the past three years looking at nothing but Thoth books, and using it intuitively for perhaps seven years before that, and I still feel I don't know anything

Download Book T as well. Much of the deck isn't original, as in, it follows basic Golden Dawn, and Book T is fairly approachable in that respect. Some parts of it differ from the Thoth (for example the changes Crowley made in the ordering of the cards) but it mostly follows the basic structure set out.

Which Thoth and Book

Richard

gregory

Zephyros

Richard

Winterchild

Kathy123

Winterchild

Winterchild

Richard

Zephyros