Opinion of Crowley

zipporah

Do you think one's personal opinion of Crowley would affect the Thoth deck's accuracy in readings? i got quite a harsh reading from this deck the other day (which i posted in the Tarot Readings section) and i'm curious to know if any of you think my attitude toward our dearly departed Aleister (respect him, don't like him, think he was also a bit silly) would have any affect on whether or not the Thoth was a good deck for me to use.
 

tabi

I like him, respect his beliefs, and think he is brilliantly insane...however any reading I do for myself is a bit wonky but the one's for other people are great. Have no idea why.
 

Abrac

I can see how your opinions about Crowley might skew your readings somewhat since so much of Crowley is in the cards. Granted there are other influences too- Frieda Harris for example -and others who influenced Crowley along the way. Be that as it may, if you have such a low opinion of him, why would you want to use the Thoth deck in the first place?
 

zipporah

i think the cards are beautiful. It was my first deck and i had no idea when i bought it that it was any different from any others, aside from the art. And i guess i wouldn't say that i have a low opinion of him, it's just that i've yet to hear anything about him that makes me say "Oh, that Crowley, he sure was kind/magnanimous/understanding/loving/generous/etc." But i've read several things about him that made me say "Wow, he sure was smart and he really knew how to get what he wanted." So i definitely respect him. And, frankly, he's one of the most fascinating figures of the last century.
 

zipporah

tabi said:
any reading I do for myself is a bit wonky but the one's for other people are great. Have no idea why.
Interesting... i wonder if this is a common issue.
 

Lleminawc

Let's turn the question round - has your opinion of Crowley changed through working with the Thoth cards, and going on from there to his writings? For me, definitely yes.
 

zipporah

This is a very interesting question. No, my opinion of the man hasn't changed since working with his deck.
 

tabi

I would suggest reading some of the books that are out on the market. Not neccessary about Crowley's life, but the book of thoth and some of the other ones.

You need to form your own option of him, he is a really amazing person...was he a good man? I doubt it but he was a great one. He was a brilliant person with enough gall to go after what it is he wanted. How many of us sit back and wish to have that same gall for ourselves?

You also need to take in account for the time period of when he was at the height of his "career". IF they were allowed to throw people in prision of speaking out against the Church they would have done that and burned him at the stake. He was a complex and selfish person but he opened out a format that was closed to almost everyone that wasn't in the inner circles.
Does his bad outweight is good? Does it really matter at all? Or are we allowed to judge a man that died long before most of use even touch a tarot deck or for some of us were even born?

Whatever your option is, the Thoth Tarot is something very seperate and truthfully at least half of Harris' creation. Yes she listened to Crowley on what he wanted in the deck but she is the one that added in the Sacred Geometry giving the deck a whole new look.
 

Lillie

I think Crowley was really, really funny.

But I take his cards seriously.

Sometimes...
 

ravenest

zipporah said:
Do you think one's personal opinion of Crowley would affect the Thoth deck's accuracy in readings? ... I'm curious to know if any of you think my attitude toward our dearly departed Aleister (respect him, don't like him, think he was also a bit silly) would have any affect on whether or not the Thoth was a good deck for me to use.

It wont effect the cards but .... beware (insert spooky music here) of Crowley himself. He's still around, you know (ravenest looks nervously over his shoulder) and anyone who speaks negativly about the dodgey old pervert can come ..hrM*d%nk}v9Oo^3sl;u arrrghhhh! ... gurgle .. gasp ...