ann823
Nisaba, that was a great suggestions, works much better!! Gregory, eventually I'll have to look up the online book, do you have a link?
Ann
Ann
Is the Thoth used much for reading?
Le Fanu
Shameful confession here, but I was so intimdated by the prospect of reading the Book of Thoth that I clung - in needy child mode - to DuQuette and Snuffin. I recently bought the Book of Thoth and was surprised at how lucid it is. Didn't someone say it was complicated? Of course, there are passages one skims over, but then there are these incredible flashes of insight and explanations which really clarify the cards.gregory said:
Im surprised at how accessible some parts of it are... I don't know what the acceptable take is on the Book of Thoth, but I find Crowley's ramblings about tarot history a bit overwhelming, yet his descriptions of the individual cards are - naturally - second to none...
Mojo Twin 2
I heartily agree, Le Fanu. In my youthful "ceremonial magick" days I read quite a bit of crowley. To me the biggest "complication" comes from the amount of cross-referencing he does to his other books. Like, if you want to really read one of his books you have to own them all.
I find the Book of Thoth to be his most accessible books. I never understood why people find it so complicated. It's pretty straightforward, especially these days where encyclopedias online can give you insight into some of the more arcane symbology.
I find the Book of Thoth to be his most accessible books. I never understood why people find it so complicated. It's pretty straightforward, especially these days where encyclopedias online can give you insight into some of the more arcane symbology.
Kosmoran
God, you people are making me wanna buy a Thoth deck for myself, lol. Should I be adventurous?
thorhammer
Absolutely. It will be the greatest adventure of your life!Kosmoran said:
I have found (bizarrely) Book 4: Liber ABA to be very helpful in understanding the Book of Thoth . . . also, Liber AL vel Legis (the Book of the Law) although that really is arcane and if you don't want to go down the Thelemic symbolism path then it might be unnecessary. But it's necessary to me.
But the most accessible, useful, engaging and lively writing of Crowley's that I've found is his Magick Without Tears, a series of letters. In some places it's pompous or overly self-aware, but mostly it's fun, funny and full of information.
It's a whole world, really, the world of the Book of Thoth. The deck ties it all together in pictorial form; that's its genius. There is so much information and "cognate" (one of my favourite words of Crowley's
) symbolism all jammed in that it's no wonder the deck is monolithic in proportion. It got stuck in my head and won't let me go.\m/ Kat
Nevada
I think you should give it a whirl.Kosmoran said:
When I got my first Thoth, there was no internet, and the few people around who knew anything about the Thoth (they'd never even used it) said such cryptic and sort of scary things about it that I would've balked, but my SO really wanted it, so we got it. It's been more than 20 years now, and I have never looked back.
WolfyJames
ann823 said:
If you want to read books about the Thoth and know more about the Thoth, one should always read the DuQuette book first. The book is an introduction, close to "Everything you wanted to know about the Thoth but never dared to ask". DuQuette debunks Crowley's bad reputation and therefore the deck's bad reputation. He includes some touching correspondences bits between Lady Harris and Crowley about the deck and each card. He vulgarizes very well some esoteric subjects that are included in the deck like Quabalah. He makes it easier after that to study deeper these subjects if you choose too. In my case I had gotten along with it DuQuette's The Chicken Qabalah, which I've heard is also a very good introduction to Qabalah. That was years ago and I have yet to open it, but I keep it in case one day I'm interested in the subject.
gregory
