Switching from Rider to Thoth.

closrapexa said:

If I may, I would recommend printing out the Tree of Life, either with or instead of the Zodiac, as I actually found it simpler (even if you don't know anything about Qabala). It may look complex at first (and it is) but concentrating on simple things like the Hebrew letters and their meanings gives you great insight into it. Learning all about the Tree is impossible, but learning to read it is actually quite simple.

Once you know what each letter means (air, house, camel, etc.) you can look at a Tree and immediately see all the connections, parallels and like you said, how everything is connected to everything else. It is a highly useful filing cabinet for the entirety of Qabala and as an extension, Tarot, as you can see why things are as they are simply by looking at it.

Here is a link to help you with the letters:

http://www.byzant.com/mystical/kabbalah/Hebrew.aspx

The Zodaical attributions can be very confusing, for me at least, and I would recommend you delay that part.

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I printed off the Hermetic Cross last night from a website as well as The Tree of Life that has illustrated the Major Arcana linking the sephiroth. The library book went from looking brand new (bought in 2006 as per a stamp on the inner cover) to looking a little ratty from me flipping back and forth for references. I really should get my own copy before I'm forced to buy this one.

Thanks for the link. It's great this forum has so many people willing to help.

I also released a video that teaches you the Wands minors:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2lPGV46Vqs

akirafist said:

I also released a video that teaches you the Wands minors:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2lPGV46Vqs

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Great! This is what I was hoping to find in a Daily thread.

When I laid out the Wand cards in the Tree of Life I had noticed that it's a much less depressing suit then the others. Strife and Swiftness were two that I was wondering about. The video gave good examples of all the cards including the two mentioned.

closrapexa said:

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Re your post #2 ... what a great clear comment on the subject!

BleuReynard said:

Thank you so much.

Understanding the Thoth is on loan from the library. I have extended the return date to Jan 16, so I might not be privileged to take my time. It's on sale online. I will consider ordering it.

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HI BR, Your Library has Tarot Books? Lucky! My local one has NOTHING like that (although it has mutiple copies of modern 'romanatic, vampire' novels )

ravenest said:

Re your post #2 ... what a great clear comment on the subject!

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Thank you, only because I struggle still with these same things, having stepped up my studies over the past year or two. I actually still haven't begun "proper" astrological study yet, but pick it up as I go along, especially in the attributions to the Sephiroths. Also, I read mythology to help me with that, which is very useful as it provides contexts for why different planets and signs mean what they do.

ETA: Also I have a certain obvious advantage when it comes to Hebrew

I'm trying to dive into the Thoth. I started by trimming the cards of a large size deck after seeing just how beautiful the images looked from Le Fanu's website (thanks!). The titles are trimmed off, which makes it more challenging, but I'm much more inspired without the distracting borders.

My biggest stumbling block is trying to keep straight all of the (seemingly) innumerable image details and color symbolism of the cards, and all of their zodiacal, qabbalistic, elemental and alchemical associations.

I just finished DuQuette's Understanding Aleister Crowley's Thoth Tarot and found it very helpful. It has just about the right amount of information for a beginner. It's fairly comprehensive without getting too bogged down in the details, and it is well organized. I also started Michael Snuffin's Thoth Companion and have found it tough going. It skips over a lot of the basic material that DuQuette's book covers, but does add some useful information about the card images. These books are going to take some rereading, I think.

Aeon418, thanks for the pdf link of the Liber Theta book! I'm finding it interesting and helpful at this stage of my study. The author suggest meditating on each major arcana card while visualizing yourself within an egg of light the color of the Meditation Color (which correspond to the King Scale) for each card, which I'm going to try.

Closrapexa, do you think the Chicken Qabalah book complements DuQuette's Understanding Aleister Crowleh's Thoth Tarot book enough that it's worth reading as well? I'm trying to decide what the next step should be. Maybe the books by Robert Wang or Dion Fortune? After reading some snippets of the Book of Thoth, I'm not sure I'm quite ready for it.

Also, does anyone have any suggestions for a book that gives basic information about the color symbolism, such as how the colors were initially determined, what the different color scales mean, and how the color scales might be used in card interpretation?

Dan S said:

Closrapexa, do you think the Chicken Qabalah book complements DuQuette's Understanding Aleister Crowleh's Thoth Tarot book enough that it's worth reading as well? I'm trying to decide what the next step should be. Maybe the books by Robert Wang or Dion Fortune? After reading some snippets of the Book of Thoth, I'm not sure I'm quite ready for it.

Also, does anyone have any suggestions for a book that gives basic information about the color symbolism, such as how the colors were initially determined, what the different color scales mean, and how the color scales might be used in card interpretation?

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The DuQuette Qabalah book is great, and was my first main introduction. I read it first, then studied it and then read Wang and Fortune and am in the process of studying those, concurrently. I would recommend that first, as DuQuette is very personable and friendly, and right from the introduction you get the feeling it was written just for you. Robert Wang is fascinating, really, but even so I'm glad I got the basics down before studying that. Dion Fortune on the other hand, is a bigger pill to swallow. Not that it isn't interesting (it is, very) but she does go beyond the beginner and is more complex. After that, try reading the Book of Thoth, slowly. Once you know the basics of Qabalah it will dramatically open up to you. And read it slowly; write notes, look things up online, treat it as a textbook.

Of course, it always depends on you and how deep you want to go. Over the past few months I've become enamored of Qabalah, and decided I want to concentrate on it, regardless of Tarot. However, you don't have to, as learning the basics already gives you a wealth of insight into the structure of the Tarot (once you learn the basic language, you will be able to analyze the cards Qabalistically yourself). If you don't want to go deeper for the sake of it, I still would recommend Robert Wang, as he goes beyond DuQuette's introduction to Tarot-specific knowledge, especially centered around the Golden Dawn. When discussing the cards he also compares four kinds: the Marseilles, Thoth, RWS and of course his own Golden Dawn deck.

As to the colors, I don't know as much about that. Tried opening a study group but I didn't have time to run it and it petered out. Liber 777 has the scales themselves, but keep in mind they are also built mainly around the Qabalah, so I would recommend you delay that study until a later date, it will make much more sense. Also, Harris did some insane things with her colors so that although she stuck by the scales, she mixed and matched and used the planetary colors in some cards and other combinations in others... One of the reasons I gave up on the study group was that I saw that she would no doubt drive me insane, looking for all that. Perhaps the Thoth isn't the right deck to study the colors with, but rather the Golden Dawn Tarot, which has simpler, "by the book" coloring.

Thanks for the suggestions, Closrapexa! I've always wanted to have some understanding about the scope of Qabalah, and the DuQuette book sounds like the perfect introduction. I see from reviews online that it includes a chapter on tarot, and am hoping it will have some information that allows me to place the cards, their association with the tree of life pathways, and the Hebrew alphabet more firmly in my head.

I think I'll get the Wang book while I'm at it, as the comparison between the Thoth, RWS and Marseille tarot systems should be useful as well

Dan S said:

Thanks for the suggestions, Closrapexa! I've always wanted to have some understanding about the scope of Qabalah, and the DuQuette book sounds like the perfect introduction. I see from reviews online that it includes a chapter on tarot, and am hoping it will have some information that allows me to place the cards, their association with the tree of life pathways, and the Hebrew alphabet more firmly in my head.

I think I'll get the Wang book while I'm at it, as the comparison between the Thoth, RWS and Marseille tarot systems should be useful as well

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Just two things to look out for. The Duquette book uses the Golden Dawn Qabalah-Tarot system, and doesn't include the swap Crowley introduced for the Thoth. Also the Wang book is very useful, but his alignment of the RWS and Thoth courts Knights/Kings/Princes is all a mess and I'd argue completely wrong for a Thoth user. But both excellent books