Mirror of the Soul

AbstractConcept

Is it just me or is Gerd Zeigler's Mirror of the Soul a really bad Thoth book?
He completely ignores all of the Thelemic imagery, and gives everything a nice, glossy, fluffy bunny new age spin.

Anyone else get that from his book, or am I just a grumpy lil thing?

T
 

ravenest

Hi AC. Not sure if I have read that one but I have read several 'new' Tarot books on Thoth that give the same spin. The James Wanless one led the local group to refer to his book as 'The Wandless Tarot book' ... I think its called New Age Tarot. I did find some of it usefull back then but nowdays ... well I have'nt opened it for years. The same with the other books on Thoth, the best way to understand Thoth is to study all of AC's other writings.

Perhaps these type of books are good for beginers who need a simpler paradigm to be able to 'lead in' to an understanding of Thelema. This is probably good as long as one isnt mistaken for the other, which can be avoided by lots of subsidary research on Thelema.

People that equate New Aeon with New Age are deffinatly missing the point.
 

AbstractConcept

I really should have known better. But I was floating around Adyar and saw it for $15 and thought "what the hell, one can't have too many Thoth related books".
 

ravenest

Only $15 ... at Adyar! Good Lord! Are they having a close down sale?
:)
 

AbstractConcept

there's a big sale on until Sunday, but this was the rrp for some zaney theosophically divined reason (no doubt).
 

euripides

so what is a GOOD Thoth book then? (glad to spot this thread, btw ... I nearly bought that book. I hate light and fluffy. Give me heavy duty brain food...)

Euri
 

Aeon418

euripides said:
so what is a GOOD Thoth book then?
Basically there are only two good Thoth books out there. Crowley's own, The Book of Thoth, and Lon Milo DuQuette's, Understanding Aleister Crowley's Thoth Tarot. DuQuette's book is a good introduction to Crowley's very deep master piece.

All the other Thoth books on the market are fluffy, New Age, personal interpretations of the cards that pay little or no heed to the true meaning of the magical symbolism.

Ravenest made a good point earlier:
People that equate New Aeon with New Age are deffinatly missing the point.
This is so true. If you do not understand what Crowley meant by the "New Aeon" you will not understand the Thoth deck.
 

Scion

Amen, Aeon. :)

Those two, hands down. There's one more, but almost not worth mentioning: Gerald Suster's The Truth about the Tarot is a nice little book by a smart, articulate Thelemite that's concise, user-friendly, and provides rules for an ingenious educational Qabalah-rummy... but it's hard as hell to find in the States, and has been essentially superceded by DuQuette's masterful intro.


Scion
 

Edge

Aeon418 said:
If you do not understand what Crowley meant by the "New Aeon" you will not understand the Thoth deck.
93 all. :)

Understand the Thoth deck is truly a matter of answering "higher calling", I'll go one further. The BOT and the deck itself are companions, one should not have one without the other for serious study. Therefore the only truly "handy" book on the Thoth tarot would be DuQuette's. Aeon418, I couldn't agree with your comments more. :)

93,93/93
 

Aeon418

Scion said:
There's one more, but almost not worth mentioning: Gerald Suster's The Truth about the Tarot
I stand corrected. Suster's book is a worthy addition. In fact I think it's a shame that Suster's The Truth About the Tarot hasn't reached a wider audience. :(

Suster's rant against the secretly Christian-New Age is priceless. And his comments on the words Virtue and Spiritual are a joy to read. :)