a small personal ephipany with the thoth

faunabay

In the past I always thought about learning the Thoth deck and system but whenever I actually had the cards in my hands they repelled and overwhelmed me. I would look at the artwork and just go ICK! :(

I even owned them for awhile with a couple of books and thought well I'll get to them someday. Well I ended up trading them quite a few years ago.

Recently though I had a small ephiany. I realized what was really bothering me was not the artwork or the Crowley hoopla, but I felt overwhelmed by all the stuff I felt I HAD to learn to beable to use the deck. All the stuff I really didn't want to get into, but thought I had to. I am in NO way a studier LOL :laugh: (ask Jewel - said giggling) - I usually read more intuitively and thought I couldn't do that with the Thoth. To tell you the truth I don't even know everything you can get from these cards - it was too much for me to even comprehend.

But what I have done now is allow myself to just read intuitively until I get comfortable with that - THEN go ahead and pick just one thing to learn - for example the astrological aspects?? ignoring for the moment and not worrying about the other stuff until I get the astrological aspects down and am comfortable with those then maybe add another step. Take myself one step at a time in learning the extra things included in the Thoth.

And now all the sudden I really like the Thoth and am seeing alot of stuff just going about it intuitively! This ephipany has opened a door I thought closed forever!!! I had thought I'd never "get" the thoth or even want to!!! :p
 

Tarotphelia

That's lovely you're having such a positive experience now !
I think almost any deck can be read in whatever way you choose . I prefer not to get into a lot of the systems and mind tangles tarot deck creators lay on the cards . It doesn't feel necessary or helpful to me , and with so many different decks I'd be stuck trying to read most of them in completely different ways , which could take forever .
 

Always Wondering

I have had the best intuitive readings with the Thoth deck. I like to learn as much as I can but when I feel overwhelmed I go back to intuition. I agree with Dark Inquisitor. Your own way is the best way.
 

Umbrae

Yeah! Buying into the baggage of Crowley or the CH Thoth makes it overwhelming.

Allowing it to evolve is beautiful.
 

inanna_tarot

Hello FB *hugs*

I love the Thoth, but I stopped reading with it because I got too bogged down in all the 'learning stuff' I started to explore how it was on the tree of life and all the colours and the hebrew letters and then my brain just exploded and the thoth has been in a sort of hiding since then.

So go with your intuition coz its what makes you a reader, not knowing all the kabbalah astrology stuff.

I draw the cards now and I just remember to look with my eyes and my intuition and not worry about the rest.
 

faunabay

It really is amazing how just changing my mindset has immensely changed my reaction to this deck. And I'm excited about using it now - instead of being overwhelmed and repelled by it. Yea! :laugh:

I am thinking about buying one book - maybe the Duquette - but just for the times when certain aspects catch my attention and I want to learn more about it. Other than that I'm going to just be going with my intuition. I don't want my head to explode like inanna's! }) LOL
 

missycab

Good for you Faunabay!!!

I fall in love with this deck the minute I had it in my hands. I love the images, the colors! But I felt they had so many information!! I was a bit scared! But now I'm studying it with more energy and focus. I think I will be finally be able to read with it (a thing I haven't done with it yet).
 

faunabay

missycab said:
Good for you Faunabay!!!

I fall in love with this deck the minute I had it in my hands. I love the images, the colors! But I felt they had so many information!! I was a bit scared! But now I'm studying it with more energy and focus. I think I will be finally be able to read with it (a thing I haven't done with it yet).
See that's exactly what overwhelmed me at first. I felt I had to learn ALL this stuff before I could read with it - before I could really use it. It just made me turn away from the whole thing. I had so much "stuff" in between me and the deck I couldn't really even see the deck correctly.

Now though I've just pushed aside all that stuff that didn't allow me to really see the actual deck - all I could see was this huge mysterious learning curve I thought I had to get through first! But without all that in front of me I can really see how cool the artwork is. It really is beautiful and speaks just fine without all that "other" stuff. })
 

Scion

I'm so excited to read this FB... I'm teaching the Thoth in my seminar and the way I described it to the students was as a garden.

When you walk into a garden very few people immediately think of every formal name of every plant, and all the rules about its care and habits and the landscape blueprints... you take it in stages. :) I'm sure there are people who might do one of these things, but the truth is, nmost people walk into it and establish a personal connection.

First I gave the kids their decks and had them spread them all over the floor so they could Ooh and Aaahh over the artwork, which they did without any prompting. Everyone found cards they loved, details that intrigued them, and things that made them uncomfortable or confused. Then each week we picked another little thing to trace through the cards... just one thing.

The second week all we did was trace Nuit & Hadit & Horus imagery in the cards, as a way of getting a grip on Crowley's idea of the Aeons... (I'm not suggesting that as a course of action, but I was teaching a course) In later weeks, we took time just to look at the qabalistic bits, ditto later the astrology, ditto later the alchemy, etc etc. But this is over a period of months.

I'm not expecting these kids to swallow those topics whole. :bugeyed: I'm just walking them through the garden pointing out things I find beautiful. And each student, on their own, sort of zeroed in on the point of entry that seemed most intriguing and then set about tracing the rough edges of the info. Not in an attempt to learn all of it, but the way you'd walk through a garden, noticing colors and textures and scents and patterns, picking a leaf and sitting down under a good tree.

I've never understood the fear of complexity or information because I find those things invigorating, but that's not true of everyone. I also know that the Thoth has this reputation that dogs it. My kids knew nothing about those preconceptions so they just walked through the gate and headed for pretty colors and shapes.

So I guess all this anecdotalizing is by way of saying, I'm wildly happy for you and take your time. Find an area that interests you and ask questions about it. Each question will lead to ansdwers that lead to even more interesting questions. And after a while you'll find that when you've been in any garden long enough, it becomes yours, because it's in your head as much it's in the soil.

XOX

Scion
 

faunabay

Scion said:
I'm so excited to read this FB... I'm teaching the Thoth in my seminar and the way I described it to the students was as a garden.

When you walk into a garden very few people immediately think of every formal name of every plant, and all the rules about its care and habits and the landscape blueprints... you take it in stages. :) I'm sure there are people who might do one of these things, but the truth is, nmost people walk into it and establish a personal connection.
I think this is a very good example of what I'm thinking myself. For a very long time I felt I had to learn all the formal names and rules and care of every living thing in the garden of thoth before I could even begin to use this deck. Now though I'm just enjoying the beauty of the flowers and how they work together....without all the formal stuff. :)

The second week all we did was trace Nuit & Hadit & Horus imagery in the cards, as a way of getting a grip on Crowley's idea of the Aeons...
See - I have not one iota of an idea what this means!!! ROFL

So I guess all this anecdotalizing is by way of saying, I'm wildly happy for you and take your time. Find an area that interests you and ask questions about it. Each question will lead to ansdwers that lead to even more interesting questions. And after a while you'll find that when you've been in any garden long enough, it becomes yours, because it's in your head as much it's in the soil.
And this is exactly what I'm planning on doing. Thanks so much for your encouragment. :*