Why love the Thoth?

Chiska

funny you should mention buying it out of spite!

I had a Thoth in the early 90s, but my ex took serious exception to having something so fundamentally evil in his presence. So he smacked me around a bit and the Thoth was gone.

So, now I have several Thoth Decks. I am trying to get one of each type. I think there are 9 of them now. Not sure - I only use the one. Though one is ear marked for use in the Scrapbook of the New Aeon. And one is of course reserved for blinging (glitter and what not directly on the cards).
 

Richard

It's possible that Waite may have lacked a sense of humor.
 

Barleywine

LRichard said:
It's possible that Waite may have lacked a sense of humor.
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Especially concerning Crowley, who was overflowing with wit - all of it sarcastic - about Waite. That would give anyone a sour disposition.
 

Padma

Chiska said:
funny you should mention buying it out of spite!

I had a Thoth in the early 90s, but my ex took serious exception to having something so fundamentally evil in his presence. So he smacked me around a bit and the Thoth was gone.

So, now I have several Thoth Decks. I am trying to get one of each type. I think there are 9 of them now. Not sure - I only use the one. Though one is ear marked for use in the Scrapbook of the New Aeon. And one is of course reserved for blinging (glitter and what not directly on the cards).
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How terrible, Chiska - I am so glad you are in a different situation now. Sounds like a fab collection you have! Where did you get the idea to glitter your Thoth, I wonder? lol! Seems so lighthearted a thing to do to such a serious seeming deck...

By the way...can anyone enlighten me to how it is actually pronounced? Is it Toth, or Thot, or indeed Thoth?(which is just so darned awkward to say! )
 

Padma

closrapexa said:
Oh, and Lotus Padma, one last word about the Devil, that you mentioned you had a problem with. It is... well, it's obvious what it portrays, but even a cursory look at it will show you that it is what it is for the best of reasons. It's not smutty or pornographic, just very, very honest.

One problem I had, always, with the RWS, whatever clone you use, is that since Waite was devoutly religious, the deck tends to be a little too goody goody two shoes. Its Devil warns you away from materialistic things. The Thoth Devil (and Lust) encourages you to actually not only accept your humanity, but to enjoy it. In general, I find the whole deck a lot more forgiving than others, which makes sense. Crowley did many things he could have asked forgiveness for, so he'd hardly be the type of person who would design a deck that would judge you.
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Thanks, Closrapexa - I found that to be a very enlightening explanation of the card, and an important distinction between the two schools of thought. It also subsequently makes me "understand" the Thoth better - i.e., in that I now understand why the two schools of thought ended up in two styles of decks etc. Nice! ;) I really appreciate you taking the time to explain.
 

Juliana

Lotus Padma said:
By the way...can anyone enlighten me to how it is actually pronounced? Is it Toth, or Thot, or indeed Thoth?(which is just so darned awkward to say! )
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I definitely don't pretend to be an expert on this matter, but for what it is worth, I've been told it is pronounced Toth. And I have heard that pronunciation on all the tarot podcasts I've heard. At the very least, it seems to be a popular pronunciation.
 

Padma

Juliana said:
I definitely don't pretend to be an expert on this matter, but for what it is worth, I've been told it is pronounced Toth. And I have heard that pronunciation on all the tarot podcasts I've heard. At the very least, it seems to be a popular pronunciation.
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thanks, Juliana! I am relieved, because saying "thoth" with all the th sounds involved makes me feel like I am speaking with no teeth, or slurring drunkenly! lol! Toth sounds much easier to say ;)
 

Richard

Thoth is really an English transliteration of the Greek name Θωθ. The middle letter omega is always pronounced as a long o, as in both. The initial and terminal letters are an upper and lower case theta, and either one could be pronounced as t or th. Thus there are three possibilities: Thoth, Thot, Toth, each with a long o. Take your pick. Personally, I would rule out a short o (as in tiny tot) for various (legitimate but off topic) reasons.

The Egyptian god to which Thoth refers would probably have been pronounced something like Teheuti in ancient Egyptian (which is the AT user name of Mary K. Greer).

ETA. Oops! I left out Tot (pronounced similarly to the German word Tod (death), long o as usual.
 

Padma

LRichard said:
Thoth is really an English transliteration of the Greek name Θωθ. The middle letter omega is always pronounced as a long o, as in both. The initial and terminal letters are an upper and lower case theta, and either one could be pronounced as t or th. Thus there are three possibilities: Thoth, Thot, Toth, each with a long o. Take your pick. Personally, I would rule out a short o (as in tiny tot) for various (legitimate but off topic) reasons.

The Egyptian god to which Thoth refers would probably have been pronounced something like Teheuti in ancient Egyptian (which is the AT user name of Mary K. Greer).
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Thank you for this enlightening information, LRichard. You must study very diligently!
 
A recent Thoth convertee.... WalMart White Box Thoth?!