What's better?

Obviously no one is better qualified the maker of the deck himself to explain the Thoth deck, but "The book of Thoth" is a really difficult book. So what's better, being based on the book by Crowley himself of reading other more approachable books, at least as a start? Does anybody have any reccomendations?

I've read most of the books available on the Thoth tarot but the only book that's made me buy The Book of Thoth is 'Understanding the Thoth Tarot' by Lon Milo DuQuette.

I know someone on here as referred to this book as the 'idiots guide' to The Book of Thoth but I used it more as a stepping stone. I had tried before to read the online version of The Book of Thoth and found it hard to concentrate and missed the feel of a paper book in my hands so I bought a copy. The Thoth is a fascinating book and well worth getting into, and the DuQuette book only adds fuel to the fire and makes you want to read the original words by Crowley.

'The Crowley Tarot' by Banzhaf is a large book full of detailed descriptions of the cards but because of this it can be overpowering, 'Mirror of the Soul' by Ziegler or 'Keywords for the Crowley Tarot' by Banzhaf offer a more gentler approach to understanding these beautiful but complex cards.

Hope this helps.

I have tried to take Crowley's book in small doses - it can be very overpowering, but there are many things in it that I can't get enough of. ( It's kind of like the first time I tired to read Grave's The White Goddess - I had no idea where the heck he was going and couldn't understand how he was gonna get there - now I am three quarters of the way through, reading, re-reading, and going over some parts just for the pleasure of it - and I plan to read it again and some of his other stuff once I finish this one.)

I have not yet gotten Duquette's book, but my Thoth chat group seems to think highly of it. Whenever I use my Thoth deck, and other Thoth style decks that may not have their own book, I have referred to Ziegler's Mirror of the Soul. It is concise, clear, gives meanings, affirmations, mediations (some of which have found their way into my meditation journal). I have used it so often it is falling apart - must get another.

Another good one - but chock full of information - is Arrien's Tarot Handbook. She gives permission to photocopy the pages she made up for logging daily cards, personal growth cards - a real help for me - I am in my second year of logging every card I pull for myself, keep the sheets in my journal, and review from time to time to see what cards keep coming up, what trends there are - a very wonderful visual aid.

Hope this helps.

Thea Lynx

I have also found the Dictionary of Symbols by Cirlot to be very helpful. There are symbols in the cards that Crowley either barely hints at, or doesn't discuss at all in the BOT (how I refer to it in my journal), but several times I've looked up something in the DOS and had an "a-ha" moment.

I'm sure any good Symbol Dictionary would work, I like that one because it talks specifically about Tarot symbolism quite a bit.

I also like Lon Milo Duquette's book as well.

Good question!

I do love reading the Book of Thoth, and I can see that I'll be reading it for years, but in order to enjoy and get the most out of the cards, I definitely draw on other sources. I love the thread posted recently about working directly from the artwork before reading the books, I like to do that as well. Also, the more general background I get on Qabalah or astrology, the more I understand Crowley's own writing. I do have the duquette book and the other main one, the Akron-Hajo Banzhaf, is more useful for me. In-depth look at every card. Really helps to read that, then read Crowley. At least for some cards!

Also, I love to look at a Crowley-influenced deck, like the Rhorig or Margarete Petersen, and think about the interaction of ideas. Sometimes that's like reading different translations of a text, I get an feel for the original as a reflection of their additional insights.

Have fun!

Ooops, I just read Emily's reply more carefully and I realize I wasn't very clear.

The Duquette is a very good general start, I agree. The one I use most, though, is "The Crowley Tarot: The Handbook to the Cards" by Akron and Hajo Banzhaf. As Emily comments, it is quite dense. I certainly could never read it cover to cover. But card-at-a-time it is extremely useful. As for a daily card draw, I would think.

Gardener said:

The Duquette is a very good general start, I agree. The one I use most, though, is "The Crowley Tarot: The Handbook to the Cards" by Akron and Hajo Banzhaf. As Emily comments, it is quite dense. I certainly could never read it cover to cover. But card-at-a-time it is extremely useful. As for a daily card draw, I would think.

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Hi - sorry for jumping in out of nowhere, but - my online bookstore tells me the Banzhaf book only covers the majors, and personally (who could have written the original post to this thread myself, tried to read the Book of Thoth, but had to give up - I just don't understand it!) I am looking for a book that will help me understand the deck as whole.

I am still not working with the Thoth because it feels so strange to me, like an intriguing neighbour that I can't conversate with because we speak different languages - but I use the Cosmic Tribe a lot, which in many ways is a Thoth clone.

BUT - question is: is the Duquette book majors-only too, or does that one cover the minors? I doubt I'll be able to buy it over the counter here, will probably have to order it - and then it's good to know what I get before it's "too late".

//Jenny

Jenny-Li said:

my online bookstore tells me the Banzhaf book only covers the majors...

BUT - question is: is the Duquette book majors-only too, or does that one cover the minors?

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Good news! Both the Akron/Banzhaf book ("The Crowley Tarot: The Handbook to the Cards"), and the DuQuette book ("Understanding Aleister Crowley's Thoth Tarot") cover the minor arcana cards. The Akron/Banzhaf book provides a bit more detail then DuQuette's book on the minors, yet both are excellent resources in my opinion.

Strange2 said:

Good news! Both the Akron/Banzhaf book, and the DuQuette book cover the minor arcana cards.

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Really? Yay - I must have been misinformed then, and for the better too, for once!

Thank you for straightening this out for me!

//Jenny

VGimlet said:

I have also found the Dictionary of Symbols by Cirlot to be very helpful. There are symbols in the cards that Crowley either barely hints at, or doesn't discuss at all in the BOT (how I refer to it in my journal), but several times I've looked up something in the DOS and had an "a-ha" moment.

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glad to see someone else recommending this book. however, unless the situation has changed recently, it is out of print. if you can find a copy, grab it!

another very good book on symbols (even better in many ways) is J.C Cooper's 'An Illustrated Encycloperia of Traditional Symbols' (ISBN 0-500-27125-9). this is very complete, and looks at each symbol from the perspective of many different cultures (Christian, Chinese, Celtic, Native American, etc).

and of course Crowley's '777' is a must!