Thoth?

[lunes]

Please forgive my ignorance but I have read quite a few messages where people talk about "thoth".
What does this mean? How does it differ to other cards? tarot?

The simple things in life are often the hardest to understand.

Lunes

 

[Fulgour]

Thoth was (is) an Egyptian deity, often pictured
as an ibis-headed scribe (an ibis is like an heron).
Hermes Trismegestis means "thrice great Hermes"
and is a reference of sorts to Thoth since both
are often associated with the planet Mercury.

Pronunciation of "thoth" is a difficult question too,
and I've taken to rhyming it with spaghetti sauce.

 

[Citrin]

I think Aleister Crowley's Thoth Tarot deck is the most common thing members here talk about when it comes to 'thoth'. It's one of the most popular tarot decks, search for it on aeclectic.net and you can see some pictures.

I think there's a deck by Etteilla called either The Etteilla Tarot or The Book of Thoth Tarot. And I also believe an Egyptian god was called Thoth? There are also decks based on Crowley's deck that might be refered to as Thoth... Heh but I'm pretty sure you've just come across Crowley's Thoth Tarot's short/nick name. Very nice deck by the way...

 

[Zephyros]

When used, Thoth usually means (at least here on the boards) one of two things. One is the Book of Thoth, a book be Aleister Crowley that can be found here. It is an interesting book, but rahter hard to read.

Secondly, it is the deck created by Crowley himself and Lady Frieda Harris. You can see it here. In the sense of Taort it no different than any other deck. It is, however, a master piece among decks, and a very special one. At times it can be difficult to understand, it being so heavy with symbolism, but it nonetheless a great deck, and my favorite.

 

[lunes]

Thank you - I feel all the better for knowing this now!

Lunes