Ross G Caldwell
I came at Thoth a different way. Back in the Spring of 1980 (I was 13), I had the Book of Thoth, but nobody sold the deck in Calgary. So I studied the book and the pictures, and hoped one day to find an actual Thoth Tarot.
In the meantime, I set out to draw my own versions of the cards, large, based on Crowley's descriptions and the pictures in the back of the book. I completed about half the trumps, in pencil, by May, before I found a bookstore that had the deck. I recommend this way of studying - put the deck aside, and design your own based on the descriptions. It doesn't have to be usable - mine were full-sized pictures, suitable for hanging on a wall, like Harris' originals. - but the attention you pay to the book itself means that you read it and reread it, it sinks in despite yourself.
Of course at 13 you soak up knowledge like a sponge - it is harder for adults. Nevertheless, although it takes greater effort to sit down and focus on Crowley's bizarre world, there are a few keys that will open almost any door once you have them in your head.
You have to, absolutely, just memorize the Hebrew alphabet and the Tree of Life, Sephiroth and Paths (the letters between the Sephiroth). The best way, the only way in my opinion, is pure rote memorization. Just learn it like a telephone number, it doesn't matter in the least if you understand anything. That comes later. Memorize it, and then write it out, again and again (and again and again...). Writing out the alphabet, and drawing the Tree of Life fully, over and over and over, is the only way to sink it into your head, like planting a seed that will later grow.
The only way to begin to understand Crowley is to understand the Tree of Life, and the only way to understand the Thoth Tarot is to understand Crowley. The Tree of Life is the sine qua non for both. Crowley structured his life on it.
In the meantime, I set out to draw my own versions of the cards, large, based on Crowley's descriptions and the pictures in the back of the book. I completed about half the trumps, in pencil, by May, before I found a bookstore that had the deck. I recommend this way of studying - put the deck aside, and design your own based on the descriptions. It doesn't have to be usable - mine were full-sized pictures, suitable for hanging on a wall, like Harris' originals. - but the attention you pay to the book itself means that you read it and reread it, it sinks in despite yourself.
Of course at 13 you soak up knowledge like a sponge - it is harder for adults. Nevertheless, although it takes greater effort to sit down and focus on Crowley's bizarre world, there are a few keys that will open almost any door once you have them in your head.
You have to, absolutely, just memorize the Hebrew alphabet and the Tree of Life, Sephiroth and Paths (the letters between the Sephiroth). The best way, the only way in my opinion, is pure rote memorization. Just learn it like a telephone number, it doesn't matter in the least if you understand anything. That comes later. Memorize it, and then write it out, again and again (and again and again...). Writing out the alphabet, and drawing the Tree of Life fully, over and over and over, is the only way to sink it into your head, like planting a seed that will later grow.
The only way to begin to understand Crowley is to understand the Tree of Life, and the only way to understand the Thoth Tarot is to understand Crowley. The Tree of Life is the sine qua non for both. Crowley structured his life on it.
that's awesome x