I need great suggestions on learning Duquotte's book, PLEASE !!!

simply learn the Thoth in multiple passes through the material..

(depending on your background) pick some aspect that you are interested in, and then learn the cards at that level.. when ready go on to the next level..

for example:
1st pass .... focus on the meaning implied by the images on the card
(or text for minors)

2nd pass .. elementals (for the court and minors) and maybe numerology (elementals + number can tell you alot)

3rd pass astrological attributions

4th pass.. hebrew/Qabalah attributions

etc.
etc. at some point you'll probably want to read about kabbalah or astrology etc..

in whatever order you find interesting..

i'm working on a book about Thoth.. that has all the attributions described in depth for each card.. to avoid (for the reader) having to do so much research/lookup about the attributions and references

for example , i give the astrology/planet associations ..and then describe the meaning of that (in case the reader doesn't know astrology)

same for hebrew and Qabalah

based on my notebooks have hundreds of pages of research into the deck

ZenMusic said:

i'm working on a book about Thoth..

Click to expand...

Zen!

Please keep us posted... would love to know how this develops, and obviously I'll be buying a copy.

Scion

Helvetica said:

I find his main use for me was in the first section - introducing the whole system. I tend to rely on Crowley directly if I need to look up individual cards,

Click to expand...

I think DuQuette is kind of pointing the way to the BOT, Part 1 of his book could act as an introduction to BOT itself, in fact this is pretty much the purpose of the book. I agree with your comments Helvetica, esp your reference to Liber AL vel Legis!

I just want to respond that it was how I started learning tarot with the Rider Waite deck.

Do a daily card: spread the cards out, then mix them up, then shuffle, then ask "what is the card for today ?", then draw one card, get a feeling of it, then look up the meaning.

I do the same thing for a layout reading.

Never learned how the Rider Waite system work. Just read to get some ideas on the root of tarot.

Unfortunately, it does not work out with the Thoth deck.

Ah, okay. I think I understand.

I'd still suggest reading the book from the start if you want to actually get the most out of it, BUT for your daily pull purposes, you're looking in the wrong section of card discussion. It sounds like you just want LWB-style divinatory keywords/meanings, and Duquette leaves them until the very end... after he's taught all the reasoning that leads to them. Just flip to pages 278-289.

Hope that helps.

Scion

Still dont understand....

Okay, I read part I of this book twice to get the needed concept, but I still cant understand a thing from it. I then read chapters 12 and 13 and some card descriptions on part II, but still dont pick up anything, like Tree of Life, the Rose Cross, the colors, letters, etc...

So, what really is the best way to study this book ? This concept is very brandnew and hard for me.

Thanks

maybe it's the wrong book for you at this time
..maybe
a more general tarot introuduction or

The Crowley Tarot: The Handbook to the Cards by Akron, Hajo Banzhaf,

Why don't you just let Duquette teach you. He's a great teacher. The whole point of the book is to teach you simply about the Thoth deck in a digestible way. So you don't need to "study" Duquette.

sunstallion-

In order to answer your question on how to study DuQuette's book, it would be good to know exactly what it is you hope to get out of it. I've been reading your posts, and I'm still not sure what you are trying to do. Apparently you were using the Rider-Waite, then decided to expand your horizons and look into the Thoth. Why? What did you hope to gain? Were you just curious? If so, it seems that you have had a rude awakening. What is it you would like to accomplish? Tell me this, then maybe I will have a suggestion or two.

SunStallion,

I agree that RWS and Thoth are not really comparable as tarot decks and trying to do this will only add to the confusion and unhappiness. Thoth deserves to stand on it's own, it is a fabulous deck and should be approached with a clear mind-set.

I have had my deck for years, and in the early days I actually used it for readings (oh god, I'm gonna cringe when I write this, LOL) using a Jane Lyle book, choc full of RWS card intepretations. YES, I know, absolute sacrilege, but somehow it worked for me at that time...(this was literally over 20 years ago)...

Then one day I was idly browsing in waterstones and came across a book by Gerd Ziegler called 'Tarot, Mirror of the Soul' (ISBN 0-87728-683-3, not sure if it is still in print) which was - amazingly - a book with THOTH interpretations. This is still one of my favourite books on the subject, incidentally. From this I began to glean more about the astrology and symbolism of each card and it taught me to appreciate the depth of the artwork, which I had considered only surperficially before. From then on my eyes were opened. I did try the book of Thoth, and am still struggling with that one. I was advised to use it more as a refrence to dip into rather than struggle cover to cover. Duquette's book is excellent, but I do think you really need to read this cover to cover to get the full benefit. If you want to start easy, then I agree with the previous suuggestion of starting with 'Keywords for the Crowley Tarot' by Banzhaf and Theler. It gives a run down of the symbolism of each card, plus the astrological indications, sevred up in a formulaic way that is easy to use staight away. From there you could start your own notes, thoughts and ideas, and maybe look up the individual astrological combinations, or kabbalistic attributions as you get to them.

Thoth is an amazing deck, and if you feel drawn to use it then you will have a rich and surprising journey ahead of you. I just love it. It is so totally and utterly unique, enjoy your deck, and happy studying...

Fury x