Thoth and zodiac - Looking for a book

Camionsauro

Hi to all! I'm Max from Italy! :D

Sorry for my english... I've started studying Thoth tarot and I would like to know something about the zodiac signs and theory behind it. Could you suggest me a good book about zodiac theory? Thanks in advance! :D
 

Michael Sternbach

Hi Max from Italy,

I am Michael from Switzerland. I am both a Tarot reader and an astrologer. There are many books on astrology but few that explain it in a way that directly relates to Tarot.

A very good but almost unknown one is The Thoth Tarot, Astrology, & Other Selected Writings by Phyllis Seckler who was a personal apprentice of Aleister Crowley.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/09334..._SX110_SY165_QL70&keywords=seckler+astrology#

For a recommendation of a book on Zodiac theory, I have to first look up its exact title when I will be back home (I am still on a bus right now).
 

Camionsauro

Thank you for the answer! I've tried to looking for the book but it's hard to find a not-so-expensive version, 80$ on Amazon! :) Keep looking for it!! :D :D
 

Nemia

I took a look at the bibliography in Lon Milo DuQuette's book about Thoth for astrology-oriented books and this is what I found:

Joan Quigley, Astrology for Adults

and in Michael Osiris Snuffin's book:

Stephen Arroyo, Astrology, Psychology, and the Four Elements

Aleister Crowley with Evangeline Adams, The General Principles of Astrology

Ariel Guttman and Kenneth Johnson, Mythic Astrology: Archetypal Powers in the Horoscope

I didn't read any of these books (had my astrology education many years ago in another language) but it seems to me that these books are a good beginning.

Ruth Aharoni's Magical Combination of Tarot and Astrology (which I did read) is very, very basic; I'd recommend it only if you really have no idea at all, and it's not Thoth-specific.
 

Spiffo

G'day Max,
Although it is not specifically Thoth related I've found Corrine Kenner's book 'Tarot & Astrology' (Llewellyn Publishing, USA, 2014, ISBN 978-0-7387-2964-0) to be a great introduction to the basics of Astrology and it's application to Tarot. It is widely available (Amazon, Book Depository, etc.). It may be good starting point for you.

93 93/93
 

Ross G Caldwell

I hope you don't spend too much money, Max, as the theory of assigning elemental, planetary and zodiac qualities to the trumps is very simple to explain.

The Golden Dawn Tarot Zodiac associations are based on the Sepher Yetzirah Hebrew alphabet correspondences, which are then assigned to their respective Tarot trumps.

The Sepher Yetzirah (SY) divides the Hebrew alphabet into three kinds of letters: three “Mother Letters” (Aleph, Mem, and Shin), twelve “Single Letters” (Heh, Vav, Zayin, Cheth, Teth, Yod, Lamed, Nun, Samekh, Ayin, Tzaddi, Qoph,), and seven “Double Letters” (Beth, Gimel, Daleth, Caph, Peh, Resh, Tau).

The Mother Letters are so called because in the SY they refer to the three elements Air, Water, and Fire, which give birth to everthing else (symbolized by the rest of the alphabet) in endless permutations.

The Seven Double Letters are so called because they have two sounds, a “hard” and a “soft” sound, for instance Beth can be pronounced as “b” or “v”. The SY refers these to the seven planets.

The Twelve Single Letters are so called because they have one sound, and the SY refers them to the signs of the Zodiac.

Thus, when the Tarot trumps are assigned to Hebrew letters, they can also be assigned these elemental and astrological qualities. This results in the following Zodiac scheme for the traditional or Tarot de Marseille order of the trumps -

Heh=Aries=Emperor
Vav=Taurus=Hierophant
Zayin=Gemini=Lovers
Cheth=Cancer=Chariot
Teth=Leo=Justice
Yod=Virgo=Hermit
Lamed=Libra=Strength
Nun=Scorpio=Death
Samekh=Sagittarius=Temperance
Ayin=Capricorn=Devil
Tzaddi=Aquarius=Star
Qoph=Pisces=Moon

In the Golden Dawn scheme, it is straight serial reading from Heh-Aries-Emperor to Qoph-Pisces-Moon. There is one exception, based on the Order’s founding document, the Cipher Manuscript, which switches the two cards in their traditional order with Justice at Teth and thus Leo, and Strength at Lamed hence Libra. The cards switched Hebrew letters and adopted the Zodiac attribution of the letter, so that Strength is now Leo and Justice is now Libra, in the Golden Dawn order.

Crowley also switched two Zodiac cards, Heh=Aries=Emperor and Tzaddi=Aquarius=Star, but in contrast to the Golden Dawn switch, the cards kept their Zodiac attribution when changing places. Thus, in Crowley’s scheme, Heh=Aquarius=Star and Tzaddi=Aries=Emperor.
 

Spiffo

Beautifully outlined there Ross.
 

Ross G Caldwell

Beautifully outlined there Ross.

I'm happy to know it was clear! I never tire of (trying to) explaining it, as it is so simple and elegant. There may be other aspects of Zodaic theory that Max is interested in, which don't require that he buy a lot of books.

I forgot to add one detail about the Golden Dawn Cipher Manuscript switch of Juctice and Strength, contrasted with Crowley's switches. In the Golden Dawn, the cards switched places, as everyone knows. In the traditional Tarot de Marseille order, Justice is VIII, and Strength (Foritude) is XI. Now in the Golden Dawn Tarot, Strength is VIII, and Justice is XI. The Hebrew alphabet remains in order, although the cards switch places and number.

Crowley innovated again in returning these two cards to their Tarot de Marseille number, but keeping the Golden Dawn Hebrew letter association, for his cards Adjustment (Justice) as VIII and Lamed, and Lust (Strength) as XI and Teth.

Thus, for the Hebrew alphabet to be in order in the Thoth deck, the numbers VIII and XI will have to switch places. Similarly, because XVII the Star is now Heh, and IV the Emperor is now Tzaddi, for the Hebrew alphabet to remain in order, the Star is to be placed between the Empress and Hierophant, and the Emperor between the Tower and the Moon. However, now the numbers on the trumps will be out of order.
 

Spiffo

Ross - I would have clicked 'like' but there is no 'like' button. Clear explanation there of the Crowley innovations compared to standard GD. I know it's a novice reaction but for me the Thoth attributions have just always felt 'right'. Thank you.

I have a tangental question - but seeing as you are on a roll ...

How do you account for the element of Earth in that schema - I ask, because, recently I was quizzed by (another) relative novice and struggled to adequately explain the whys of Earth.

Cheers,
 

Ross G Caldwell

It is not assigned to a letter in the Hebrew alphabet as an element in the SY, but is considered to have been produced by Mem, Water:

"3. The Three Mothers in the world are Aleph, Mem and Shin: the heavens were produced from Fire; the earth from the Water; and the Air from the Spirit is as a reconciler between the Fire and the Water."
(Sepher Yetzirah, Westcott translation, chapter III.
http://hermetic.com/texts/yetzirah.html )

For the Golden Dawn it also belongs to the Sephiroth as the result of 1+2+3+4=10-Malkuth-Sphere of the Elements (four classical elements, all mixed in various forms). This shows up in the Queen Scale of Colour as a divided Sephira of "Olive, Citrine, Russet, Black", one colour for each element.

In the Golden Dawn Tarot, Earth is attributed to the Universe as Tau-32 bis (secondary attribution)=Eretz (Hebrew for Land or Earth)-The Universe

The primary attribution of the Universe is of course Saturn, from the SY attributions, but the GD accounted for Earth in various ways.

They also accounted for Earth through traditional astrological elemental Zodiac associations of Signs with Elements. So the Earth Signs are:

Taurus - Hierophant
Virgo - Hermit
Capricorn - The Devil

Any fourfold scheme could also take each of the classical elements, so the Golden Dawn quite logically attrributed the Suit of Pentacles, Crowley's whirling Disks, to Earth.

Finally, through their analysis of the Tetragrammaton as the four elements, they associated the Heh final of IHVH - Princesses - Malkah (Queen), the Bride - "Thrones of the Spirit" (this refers to the doctrine of the revolution of the Name, whereby the daughter, Heh final, as bride becomes the queen by marriage with the son, Vav, who then ascend to the first two letters as Yod and Heh initial, beginning the cycle anew).