Newbie to Thoth needs advice

[RavenLuna]

I also am still thinking about what purpose magic philosophy has without a religious/enlightenment/raising consciousness/deities etc... maybe not your cup of tea...

BTW Druidry sounds interesting My partner I(n the eighties I think) was at Stonehenge for one of the solstices and their was a druid ceremony there too..

Hello fellow Brit
Leaving religion and deities aside, instead of seeking enlightenment, you could go the other way and seek rootedness in the material world. Assuming that we are spirits in human form, we'll be heading back to the realm of spirit soon enough, so you could become more mindful of the here and now and embrace this plane of existence.

I don't think that applies so much to Thelema, but it would do for other magical philosophies.

 

[ravenest]

That applies most succinctly to Thelema IMO ! And 'white school' system.

... and Ravenest's viewpoint .

... and the Police's viewpoint





" ... Where does the answer lie?
Living from day to day
If it's something we can't buy
There must be another way

We are spirits in the material world "

 

[smw]

Hello fellow Brit
Leaving religion and deities aside, instead of seeking enlightenment, you could go the other way and seek rootedness in the material world. Assuming that we are spirits in human form, we'll be heading back to the realm of spirit soon enough, so you could become more mindful of the here and now and embrace this plane of existence.

I'm kind of partial to the here and now... too partial Time is going way too quickly for my liking. Although I can get carried away at times, I don't have any firm beliefs as yet about what might happen on physical death or if we go to some kind of spiritual realm afterlife.Though I am liking the idea that the physical world is the ultimate manifestation and raising consciousness (or enlightenment) is to help integrate spirit and matter fully. In religious imagery creating heaven on earth. Or bringing the spiritual realm here. Perhaps that could also be a magical purpose...

Of course I might be assuming this spiritual realm is all fluffy...

 

[Michael Sternbach]

I also think that we are here not so much to get back to the spiritual world as quickly as we can, but rather to bring the spiritual down into the physical. The physical world will get transformed and become more spiritual, this way, to be sure - which is the goal of Creation in my understanding. Cosmic Alchemy, if you will.

I think that's what Thelema is all about. What I love about Tarot is that it shows us how to apply spiritual ideas in everyday life. Especially the Thoth deck, but not excluding others, of course.

 

[smw]

I also think that we are here not so much to get back to the spiritual world as quickly as we can, but rather to bring the spiritual down into the physical. The physical world will get transformed and become more spiritual, this way, to be sure - which is the goal of Creation in my understanding. Cosmic Alchemy, if you will.

I think that's what Thelema is all about. What I love about Tarot is that it shows us how to apply spiritual ideas in everyday life. Especially the Thoth deck, but not excluding others, of course.

Cosmic Alchemy like it!

 

[Richard]

Spirit-matter dualism too often leads to value judgements, such as spirit is good, matter is evil; or god governs the spiritual world, the devil the material world. Maybe spiritual and material are just two facets (for want of a better word) of the same reality.

 

[ravenest]

We are the alembic !

By circulating the energy, it somehow gains nor looses anything, but becomes 'somehow changed' . This is a crucial point, and Crowley makes it about 'the point' ( a concept of a 'point travelling' and experiencing things or concepts ) , in the 'Naples Arrangement'. He affirms it is the same process as 'one' traverses the initiations cycle.

Yogically, in the individual person, the same pattern is shown by the central pillar (the 'Chakra channel' ) , Imagine a bar magnet with the magnetic field around it as the 'energetic aura' of the person.

http://www.crystalinks.com/chakraflow.jpg


http://helios.gsfc.nasa.gov/barmag.jpg

I also see it in the Tarot deck (especially when I lay it out in my astro tarot spread (my adaptation mentioned in the Aces on Princess Thrones thread ) ...

as it follows the relationship to the geocentric model of the terrestrial sphere sitting inside the celestial sphere . Here the Earths axis is the central pillar, energy from the Celestial sphere circulates to the celestial pole and into the terrestrial pole, through the axis, out the other pole to the other celestial pole and out through the celestial sphere around to the other pole, back to earth pole , into the axis .... etc.

Again, the macro model and the micro ( 'yogic' ) model reflect each other .

( for a depiction of the yogic version; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDlC7oG_2W4

@ 8:05 ( the 'fountain technique' )

The old toroidal vortex again


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHyTOcfF99o

 

[Thoughtful]

l am finding the journey with Thoth exciting, much more than l thought possible. Its feeding a need within me that is both spiritual as well as earthly. l have read through DuQuette's book so many times and now l can't wait to dip into The Book of Thoth which hopefully will be with me tomorrow.

A question l have is, have you had the experience of going back to other decks and finding that when you go back to the Thoth the cards become just that, cards, that somehow you have lost all connection. It happened with me, l decided that l would like to have a change and used a deck which had always served me well. When l went back to using and studying Thoth l found l had lost all the spiritual insight and depth that l was used to, must admit l panicked a bit l wanted to get back in harmony again. Fortunately it was only temporary. l hastily put away my other decks and asked the Thoth what had happened. Had to smile, the card that came up was Prince of Swords, So it seems the Thoth gave me a very gentle rebuke, telling me that in the early stages of learning its best not to use other decks which could likely pull my mind into too many other directions and l could risk mental overload thus jeopardising my relationship with the Thoth.
Am l destined to become a one deck reader lol! not that l would mind as it seems the Thoth would never become boring for me. There are so many doors to open within each card and that's why the journey is exciting.

l am interested in the spiritual element and l understand where the cards are taking me. With that in mind l wanted to buy The Vision and the Voice but its way out of my price range, such a pity.

 

[seedcake]

l am finding the journey with Thoth exciting, much more than l thought possible. Its feeding a need within me that is both spiritual as well as earthly. l have read through DuQuette's book so many times and now l can't wait to dip into The Book of Thoth which hopefully will be with me tomorrow.

I enjoyed DuQuette's book but I don't feel to re-read it. I just can't wait for The Book of Thoth - I'll sink my teeth deep

A question l have is, have you had the experience of going back to other decks and finding that when you go back to the Thoth the cards become just that, cards, that somehow you have lost all connection. It happened with me, l decided that l would like to have a change and used a deck which had always served me well. When l went back to using and studying Thoth l found l had lost all the spiritual insight and depth that l was used to, must admit l panicked a bit l wanted to get back in harmony again. Fortunately it was only temporary. l hastily put away my other decks and asked the Thoth what had happened. Had to smile, the card that came up was Prince of Swords, So it seems the Thoth gave me a very gentle rebuke, telling me that in the early stages of learning its best not to use other decks which could likely pull my mind into too many other directions and l could risk mental overload thus jeopardising my relationship with the Thoth.
Am l destined to become a one deck reader lol! not that l would mind as it seems the Thoth would never become boring for me. There are so many doors to open within each card and that's why the journey is exciting.

l am interested in the spiritual element and l understand where the cards are taking me. With that in mind l wanted to buy The Vision and the Voice but its way out of my price range, such a pity.

It works like that with me too. But I don't want to touch other decks. I just carry around my pocket Thoth and home, doing spreads with standard version. I don't feel any urge to check with other decks. I'm not stressed about it. I'm so happy that I can dig so many meanings using tools like Tree of Life (it took me year to really start learning it), astrology and dwelling more into my own intuition. Thoth is amazing puzzle, always surprising with something new.

 

[Michael Sternbach]

No doubt, the Thoth is telling you not to go off in too many directions at once. Surely, all by itself, it is a formidable study.

Personally, even though the Thoth is my default deck and daily ally, I enjoy studying and reading with different decks occasionally, and if anything, that deepens my understanding of the Thoth as well. Then again, Thoth and me have been friends for nearly three decades.

So, as always, what is right for you depends on who and where you are.