what one thoth card would you...

[Stormdancer]

....show to non-tarot readers, those fully unfamiliar? What card best exemplifies
The deck (aside from the effective negative ones) in your opinion.
i want to share a bit of my passion with another forum crowd.

Thanks

I'd go with either the Knight or Queen of Wands. Also the 7 of cups.

 

[Terrapin]

Lust and the Devil convey the uniqueness of the Thoth the best I think. They are so different than other traditions in tarot and convey Crowley's spirit which pervades the deck.

 

[Polydeuces]

I'm a pretty huge fan of the High Priestess and the Hermit myself. The priestess is just beautiful and you can spend quite awhile looking at the symbolism, whereas the hermit is simple and elegant

 

[Richard]

XIV Art

 

[Laura Borealis]

The Queen of Cups is good, too. When I was first looking at a friend's Thoth, back in the day, I remember really liking that card and seeing a lot in it -- all the curving lines, and her reflection in the water, and all that.

 

[Grigori]

I'd vote for ART also. I think it most encapsulates the philosophy of a magical tarot and its a stunning card. Many other cards are very attractive and could be considered for aesthetic reasons. I may also consider LUST, as it would achieve many of the same goals as ART, but more quickly weed out those I'm wasting my breath on

 

[gregory]

Atu XX The Aeon. The ideas behind this card are the very essence of the New Aeon. Without that there would be no Thoth Tarot at all.

But would a non-tarot reader get this? It took me a while to *get* the Aeon card. With no theory I'd be lost.

There's something about the Three of Cups that really gets the energy of the deck for me, so deco and rhythmic and the lovely tactile red pomegranete-y surface to the Cups and the way they all interlink, like the deck itself.

Or the floating Fool. Or the Magus. Or the remote Queen of Cups.

I beg to differ. In my experience non-readers pick up on the birth motif very quickly. It's usually experienced readers who have a hard time because they bring their Judgment-baggage with them.

I am TOTALLY with Leffy on this one. Get through to people with the ART, the sheer BEAUTY of it. Once they are hooked on that, then is the time for symbols. We are talking about first impressions and spreading the joy, not "getting" the deck, for now. Your average first viewer isn't going to be looking to picking up on motifs. Sorry, but that's the way of it, Aeon. The "essence of the Aeon" isn't something a non-tarotist will give a piss about till later, whether or not the deck would have existed without it.

Art - possibly. I was running with cooler cards. (as in temperature !) And I like 3 cups, too.

 

[jackdaw*]

I'd go with the Priestess. Personal favourites are the Emperor and the Ace of Swords, but to me they don't convey the uniqueness of the Thoth.

 

[Barleywine]

This is a fascinating thread since it shows how each of us has personally assimilated Crowley's unique vision. I think I would choose the Tower, especially if the person I was talking to was already familiar with the RWS version. The "jaws of Dis belching flame" and the Eye of Horus/Shiva are a distinct departure from the more typical "lightning-struck" motif, while still reaching the same conclusion. But the Aeon would also be a good choice since Crowley's stated purpose was to "depart completely from the tradition of the cards, in order to carry on that tradition" (and it is a consummately beautiful card). Art would be a good option for me as well since I spent a good deal of time puzzling over and coming to grips with its practical implications. Not sure about Lust; the uninitiated might fixate on the overt sexuality and miss the "joy of strength exercised" emphasis, which is much more dynamic than the "offsetting forces" paradigm evident in the tradition (although Case had an interesting perception that the Woman is opening the jaws of the Lion and allowing it to "speak," not holding them closed).

 

[gregory]

I quote the OP.

....show to non-tarot readers, those fully unfamiliar? What card best exemplifies
The deck (aside from the effective negative ones) in your opinion.
i want to share a bit of my passion with another forum crowd.

We are talking about people with NO tarot knowledge. So all these posts with "especially if they were already familiar with ..." are guessing wrongly. So are those that mention the tradition of the cards. The OP is just trying to get them interested FIRST. Traditions etc I assume come later. So does how we have all assimilated Crowley's vision. (I certainly haven't achieved that yet - after years of trying )

those fully unfamiliar

I assume means exactly what it says. So the cards I picked were just picked for their attractiveness, for how they could draw others in to the art work of the deck as a start point.