ravenest said:
are not ALL the other suits like this, are not the wands showing different type according to function ... look how many different swords there are ... also the cups ...
Yes, I think a bit part of the appeal of the Thoth deck, compared to the other "similar" decks (various golden dawn, and other non-scenic pips) is that each pip although not scenic, is very definately illustrated, and shows the idea of the card by modifying the suit emblem and its surrounds. But to me the variation seems to go much further in the Disks than the other suits.
All the Swords and Cups are different, related to the meanings of that card, but they are all definately still Swords or Cups. The Wands (with the exception of the 8) are all definately wands. The Disks however are sometimes Disks, but sometimes wheels, and sometimes towers, and sometimes flowers and sometimes coins, and sometimes cogs, and sometimes ying/yang symbols. The variation seems much greater in that suit. In fact looking at the cards now, the Ace, the Six and the Nine seem most "disky", the middle pillar pips. The 10 is very "Coin-y" (as is the 7, a flaw in my idea
) and the others are more varied (the left or right pillar pips).
It seems an ever stronger variance, if you think of the 2 and 3 of Disks as both being Supernal's and above the abyss. As such you'd expect them to be closer to the idealised suit emblem, which they are not. In the other suits, the only major variation seems to be the 8 of Wands, quite a way down the tree, and the variation is mostly astrological I'd thought which is apparently more important at that level.
I wonder if this is a conscious decision that Crowley/Harris made, or a happy accident?