The Book of Thoth

Does anyone recommend getting the Book of Thoth (Crowley)? i have the thoth deck and was wondering if i should get that book...

The Book of Thoth is absolutely indispensable to the serious student of the Thoth Tarot. It is the ultimate source of ideas about the Thoth deck. Just buy it, buy it, buy it!!!

Now a word of warning. Most modern Tarot books are written for as wide an audience as possible. Essentially they have to reach down to the lowest rung on the ladder and be inclusive of idiots and morons.
Crowley doesn't do this. He treats you as an intelligent person right from the start, who is prepared to study and do a little research. Unfortunately this is rarely the case these days and you end up hearing some real gems like, "Crowley is a bad writer because I can't understand a word he says".

Several members of this forum, myself included, started off with nothing more than The Book of Thoth and we still survived. But these days it doesn't have to be such a rough ride. A kind soul called Lon Milo DuQuette has written a brilliant introductory book called, "Understanding Aleister Crowley's Thoth Tarot", that gently eases the new reader into the wonderful world of The Book of Thoth.

Take the plunge!

P.S. On all initiatory journeys the hero is nearly always beset by demons tempting him/her to wander from the path of the wise. These demons are called Gerd Ziegler, Hajo Banzhaf, and Angeles Arrien. This evil triad will constantly try to seduce thee and muddle thy mind with New Age clap-trap, mental diarrhoea, and pure fantasy. Beware!

I also think The Book of Thoth is essential to learning just how the Thoth ticks. It's a hard book to read, very rambling with archaic language but you'll get so much out of it. Plus if you really need help in reading and understanding it, then Lon Milo DuQuette's book 'Understanding the Thoth Tarot' might be of use.

Has this book actually been released to the public domain already? Is there an online version of it?

check out this thread: http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=75266

and a link pulled from there that seems to work:
http://www.the-book-of-thoth.com/sections-listarticles-7.html

good luck

There's a PDF version here along with lots of other goodies:

http://www.ritualmagick.org/tiki-list_file_gallery.php?galleryId=5&sort_mode=filename_asc

I don't think the Book of Thoth has been released to the public domain.

[ Looks like the following link has already been posted while I was typing this. ]

There is an online version (in 6 parts), available at the Book of Thoth web site, at:

http://www.the-book-of-thoth.com/sections-listarticles-7.html

Aeon418 said:

A kind soul called Lon Milo DuQuette has written a brilliant introductory book called, "Understanding Aleister Crowley's Thoth Tarot", that gently eases the new reader into the wonderful world of The Book of Thoth.

Click to expand...

Kind and frequently hilarious.

I'd say this book isn't necessary if you have a fairly good background in Western Esotericism, or the time/patience/curiosity to work these things out by reading Crowley's other works and lots of other scattered information. If you don't, DuQuette's introductory material is great to give you just the background you need to get a handle on the deck.

Of course, it'll more than likely whet your curiosity and you'll end up reading lots of other stuff anyway But it's a good starting point.

while you are fishing around for other stuff I'd highly recommend Formidica's blog/journal on your journey with the Thoth. Thumbs up! Link in her profile I expect.

Thanks for the links!