Amazing Crowley/Thoth Incident

Hi all,

This is my first post, and I should start by saying that I'm new to Tarot, and to the Thoth deck. After deciding that I wanted to learn about the Tarot for personal unfoldment I went shopping, and the Thoth deck picked me - I knew nothing about it's history, or about Crowley really, but the deck was my only serious choice after seeing the artwork. After buying the deck and starting to research both it and Crowley I was surprised to find that I had accidently chosen one of the most complex decks available, rich in symbolism and meaning.

Here's where things got interesting. Last night I wanted to really meditate on a card and study as much of the symbolism on the card as possible. I didn't have a magnifying glass, and wanted to really get a good look at the card, so I did the next best thing to a magnifying glass - I have a digital SLR camera with a macro-focus lens, so I took a picture of the card which allowed me to bring it into the computer at a very large size and with every detail easily viewable. I took maybe 8 or 10 pictures, shooting about 4 cards in the process.

When I brought the pictures into the computer, about five of the shots were blurry (it took me a few tries to get things set up right for the best possible shot of the card). The first card I shot was "The Fool" card. I sent the best shot of that card into Photoshop so I could zoom in and out and really see the detail. (The detail was amazing, and for anyone who is curious, this is an excellent way to really see all card detail!) That's when I noticed.

I looked up at the filename for the card. The auto-generated filename for the card (I still have a hard time getting my mind around this) was Image_0666.jpg. I sat there, absolutely stunned. The probabilities around this happening by chance are so incredibly small that it boggles the mind. This was Crowley's number. When I saw it I just froze. It also made me smile, thinking that this was Crowley's way of "winking" at me or something. It's not just that the filename had been randomly assigned, but also that out of the 10 pictures I had taken, that particular one was the first really clear shot, the first to really reveal it's detail and be in focus.

I have to say, I was more than a little overwhelmed by this - again, the probabilities against that particular photo being the 666th image taken/cataloged in my photo software, let alone the fact that it was the first clear shot of the card, plus the fact that 666 was Crowley's moniker - taken together I don't see how it can be much of anything other than his influence in my undertaking. Pure coincidence doesn't begin to satisfy as an answer.

So, with that story I want to say hello to all, and say I'm glad to have found the forum and look forward to learning. I have to say I'm almost overwhelmed already by what I think are some really powerful cards, especially based on my experience last night.

Bill V

Hi Bill,

I can only nod my head in knowing acknowledgement of your experience. I began reading Thoth in 1980, and over the years I have had far too many such "coincidences" to be able to shrug them off. The deck is magick.

It is the only deck I can read with reliably, and certainly the only one which has jumped up and smacked me upside the head time and time again.

Ross G Caldwell said:

It is the only deck .... which has jumped up and smacked me upside the head time and time again.

Click to expand...

I'm glad I got the small size

That is a pretty awesome story billv! And how lucky for you that you avoided the "which deck is right for me, I don't know if I like it, I'm just not connecting with it..." etc... that many others have to go through.

PS Welcome to AT

Oh my, Bill! (welcome to the forum!) and I have the small size too. I also like to scan the cards and blow them up. I love to focus on tiny details, and see how much more is to be seen in them than at first glance. Pretty amazing coincidence about 666. What a fun wink! (This was my first deck too, and it was what got me interested in tarot in the first place. It was not "tarot" per se, but Crowley's writing and Frieda's artwork which drew me in.)

Very cool! You're definitely on the path to *connection*--and welcome to AT, a prime springboard for plunging into the world of synchronicities!

That is a really cool story and a very bizarre!! (by bizarre, of course I mean magickal!) I too, have had many moments like this, too many to dismiss them as coincidences! I really feel like the deck, with all of its images and all of the energy put into it from its creators, is a magickal tool.

Your particular story makes me grin and reminds me why I love this deck so much.

Welcome!!

Hello Bill

That would stop me in my tracks too. I also had a strange sequence of events happen when I first bought the Thoth deck and infact I got rid of it as a result. (I have it again now )

Looking back I feel more relaxed about what happened and I would now handle things completely differently, but at time these strange things were real and were in my life.

I like the deck and I think it gives powerfully honest insights.

Amazing Crowley/Tarot Incident

Welcome to the Aeclectic Tarot, where we try to find insights and inspirations, and provide, at least, pertinent, sometimes profound questions. Occasionally, we provide answers and reliable information (joke). Your amazing coincidence or synchronicity speaks for the Magic of your mind and of the Thoth Tarot, which pictures the whole Universe beautifully and brilliantly. Tarot mirrors who we are and the infinite, wondrous World in which we find ourselves. It says to us : "Do you think that appearances explain unseen energies and spiritual impulses?" As we interact with the Tarot, we come to know more than surface reality. We dive deep down into real Reality.

I just want to add this, as I had a strange incident with the #666 as well, but on a much lesser scale than yours! My post count, back a few months ago, I hadn't been paying any attention to it at all, and was about to post a "Hello" in the New Members Forum, sometimes I go in there and say hello to all of the members that I can...anyhoo, I am going down the list, one to the next, with a pleasant hello to each, then I noticed, I was on post #666, and it was when I was saying hello to a member (don't recall the exact name) whose username was something akin to satan! It seemed so perfect, and made me wonder at the odd synchronicity.

Maybe this could be its own thread...Funny 666 stories!

Thanks to all for their messages and encouragement. I'm still in a bit of shock today after last night. I guess I'm not sure how I should interpret something like that happening - it was such a powerful moment when I saw it that I'm still somewhat in awe. Even more, the people on this board (and specifically in the Thoth thread) are probably among the relative few who could possibly understand what happened at all. People who aren't familiar with the Thoth deck and Crowley (and his sense of humor) can't possibly relate to this happening at all, at best laughing about it, and at worst thinking it is a sign of the worst possible evil and telling me to throw the cards away forever.

I guess my thoughts at this point are around the idea of this being a positive or negative experience... should I be concerned or cautious? (And admittedly, I am somewhat!) But most importantly, I know why I bought the cards and am studying, and it is with pure motives of personal development (and not for deception, financial gain, or other selfish reasons) that I pursue this quest to learn.

I am certainly glad and take great comfort that there are many here who are very knowledgeable.

Bill V