Thoth and hermetics tarot

laurenhuang

I am new to tarot and would like to help my friend who wish to learn about thoth to ask this question

My question: are thoth tarot and hermetics tarot same as in they having the same system? If he can only buy one, which is recommended?
 

nisaba

They are the same system, but they are very different decks.

Traditionally, learn on the Thoth and move onto the Hermetic, but there is no law says you can't do it the other way around if the Hermetic Deck's artwork is more accessible to you.
 

Aeric

They are not exactly the same.

Hermetic Tarot is based on the Golden Dawn system of Tarot organization, which was the influence for future decks like the Rider Waite and the Thoth. There are other published decks that use this system, such as Golden Dawn Regardie-Wang and Golden Dawn Temple.

The Thoth deck is a unique system developed by Aleister Crowley that tailored the Golden Dawn system to his personal tastes. It incorporates elements of his religion Thelema that are not present in Golden Dawn decks or Rider Waite.

In terms of learning, that depends on the learner. Most North Americans begin learning with Rider Waite rather than Thoth, so there is less literature published about learning Thoth than Waite. However there is some great literature about the Thoth deck that would be of help to a total beginner. This includes a couple books written in more casual language that expand on Crowley's own text for the deck, The Book of Thoth.

Books exclusively about the Golden Dawn system are more rare, and although there are documents around the web about it, they are mostly brief and dry without much detail that a total beginner might find difficult. But the same can be said for the Book of Thoth itself, which can also be very dry and difficult.

Some would say that by choosing either system you are starting in the "deep end" of Tarot. But you will learn a ton from it, not just about the deck itself but about astrology, Qabalah, alchemy, and many other systems that go into it. If you already know a bit about some of these, learning one of the Tarot systems will be easier.
 

Richard

As Aeric stated, the Hermetic and the Thoth are based on different systems. The Hermetic is a Golden Dawn deck and reflects the Aeon of Osiris. In a nutshell, this Aeon is dominated by the principle of the dying god (self sacrifice). The Thoth is a Thelemic deck, reflecting the Aeon of Horus, the child (self realization). Thelema is essentially an evolution of the Golden Dawn philosophy, so Golden Dawn and Thelemic Tarot decks share much of the same formal structure as well as Qabalistic, alchemical, and astrological symbolism. Therefore, familiarity with the Golden Dawn system will go a long way toward understanding Thelemic deks.
 

laurenhuang

Just checking
If I have the hermetics tarot pass down to me but there is no book
Where can I read or refer to understand this tarot?
 

Aeric

Hermetic already comes with a pretty substantial booklet for explaining it. But the document it was based on is called Book T by the Golden Dawn and easily found online. An updated version of Book T with some changes but more information is called Liber Theta, also online. Liber Theta was written for the Golden Dawn system, but compares it to the Thoth system.
 

Nosgo

The fact that the Hermetic is only black and white can add to the difficulties of learning tarot. I've started with the Thoth and it's the one I feel "at home" (even if I had still a long way to learn) and having bought the Hermetic recently I think I would have been intimidated a lot more if it has been my starting deck. I love the Hermetic and I connect really well with it to my surprise but it has this dense look full of details, symbols etc all merging together in those black&white drawing. I think it might not be for everyone.