Which Box

I've been working with the Rider Waite for about seven or so years but the Thoth looks so much easier...

r0sered1ster said:

I've been working with the Rider Waite for about seven or so years but the Thoth looks so much easier...

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I find the Thoth to be easier to read, too. Probably because Crowley has included so much imagery in it, while Waite chose to adhere more strictly to his vow to preserve the secrets of the Golden Dawn and gave us only the most exterior meanings, in both deck and book. The Thoth's reputation for difficulty comes from the wealth of material that Crowley wrote about it. Once you start reading that, you realize that you have only grasped a fraction of the deck's meaning. Be that as it may, even a naive reading puts you miles ahead of the Waite.

My deck of choice is the large Thoth with the borders trimmed off. The artwork really shines, the deck is easily shuffleable, and the experience is totally visual with no words to distract. This loses you the titles and keywords, though, so you might want to keep an uncut deck of facsimile thereof around for reference.

That's exactly how I feel, like there's something just beyond my grasp of understanding with the Rider Waite. It got so frustrating I nearly walked away until I started seeing the Thoth and how different it was! Hughes-Barlow let me see just how simple and fluid readings could be, like it comes naturally, unlike some of the readings I've done with the RWS, I won't have to reach for what the cards are telling me.