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Thoth Tarot

11:38 / 13.02.02

Thought I'd post up this link to a very nice thoth reading site -

Thoth Tarot

Not sure if anyone can add to the thread but then that doesn't really matter since nobody listens to a word I say anyone - but its a nice site worth checking out...

The Return Of Rothkoid

13:32 / 13.02.02

As someone who has a regular (ie: Rider-Waite derived) tarot, I don't know precisely what the difference is between the Thoth and other decks. Anyone care to tease it out for me? I know there's the Crowley connection (vaguely) but know not a lot about it - aren't they more used for ritual than regular decks?

Caveat: while I own a deck (something made me buy it - I just felt I needed one) I'm still not at all adept at using it. I need to do a lot more reading/study/work on it...

13:39 / 13.02.02

Bear, did you say something?

I find it interesting that it is using the Celtic Cross, I've always found that the OTO reading described in the Thoth booklet works very well with it.

Also interesting to note that they are using the smaller, retouched cards rather than the orginals.

But, my reading did hit home...

The Thoth tarot was designed by Crowley and Lady Frieda, doesn't mean it has more ritual uses ("regular" tarot has that in spades anyway), but that Crowley and Frieda put more modern symbols into it and more overt Heremtic, OTO, and Cabalistic images in as well. Check out the DNA spiral on the Death Card. They also adapted it to the precepts of Thelema (Tzaddi not being the Star card and what-not).

-Jesse

[ 13-02-2002: Message edited by: Rev. Jesse ]

13:49 / 13.02.02

Rothkoid: Crowley designed the Thoth deck with the assistance of Freda Harris, so the symbolism of the cards is slightly different from cards based on Pamela Coleman-Smith's designs for Waite. The underlying meaning of each card is similar enough (IMHO), however. I think the Crowley/Harris deck switches the places of Lust/Strength with Justice (I'm at work – and hungover! – so hopefully someone with a deck in front of hir can verify this.)

Lots of people use the Thoth deck for divination, it's quite popular in fact. Not just for Thelemites anymore!

16:08 / 13.02.02

I do like the Thoth deck ever so much. I have recently being enjoying much insight with the McKeen Vertigo Tarot deck. Incredible illustration.

16:12 / 13.02.02

I like the McKenna deck too, but the cards are too floppy, and I am still having trouble with the intuitive aspects of it. I feel much more at home with my Thoth deck.

My H. R. Gieger deck on the other hand...

16:15 / 13.02.02

H. R. Gieger deck..?

Where??

Gimme, gimme, gimme...

16:46 / 13.02.02

the Gieger deck is niiice - expensive though I think isn't it, think you can pick it up on ebay now and again...

I just thought I'd post the link because the reading I got was pretty much spot on and others have also said that, good way of getting to know the cards too, and a spread..

18:44 / 13.02.02

Another very beautiful deck is Salvador Dali's.

I've never used it for divination, though.

20:05 / 13.02.02

question: i have a question so i consult the fucking cards and then i do what I interprete from that. isn´t that like setting up a prison for myself. I can choose to ignore the crads but why ould i use them in the first place. isn´t doing the tarot not just another wqay of letting somone else do the decision. kind of not thinkling for yourself and doing whzat the cards tell ya.

isn´t that a problem for other people too and if yo, how do you feel about it? still only reading it and have used it once; another deck, arcus arcanum, about how i should approach someone in the future, and then i felt like an idiot for having erased all the other possibilities. not because of what the cards said, but because of this ruling out all other possibilities. isn´t it stupid to try and tell the future. isn´t it stupid to have the cards tell me what to do? the cards are a great map of the soul/universe but using the scheme of divination. I fucking am not so sure about this shit. anybody knw good, profound online info source about how and why the tarot can be used.

get the feeling I didn´t understand something. cheers.

20:06 / 13.02.02

sorry about the awful spelling. hope my point is still clear. be bad.

00:44 / 14.02.02

anyone willing to explain some of the salient features of the symbolism in the Thoth/Crowley?

Looking at the cards, I can frequently see patterns suggesting the Qabbalic Tree of Life, and some cards feature helices and ellipses...but I'm not sure what the significance of these is in terms of Thelemic interpretation.

12:44 / 14.02.02

isn´t doing the tarot...just another way of letting somone else do the decision? – bastl b

I see reading the cards more of an exploration of the possibilities in a given situation. They don't tell you what will happen, but what can happen. What does happen is up to the individual.

Hope that helps.

[ 14-02-2002: Message edited by: Ierne ]

13:24 / 14.02.02

I see them less showing what is/may happen, than a reflection of what is happening right now. More of an aid to lateral thinking than anything else.

14:41 / 14.02.02

I have found that they usually inform/make me aware of shit going on outside of what's going on in my conscious mind. I have had a few readings that are so bleak they are like a prison though so I don't really use them anymore. At the moment my life feels like a fucking prison so maybe I should start again.

14:54 / 14.02.02

What is more present in using the tarot for divination (well most respected forms of divination), is that they encompass a philosophy which is enlightening. Crowley's deck and writings are extremely valid in my opinion. It si this philosophy that I would urge someone to embrace.
If you feel like you are in a prison, then I would suggest that you stop reading cards and listen to the inner voice for a while (meditation). Get out of the rut. Ruts seem to form in my life and those who ask me for assistance through a denial or supression to face or act upon an aspect in ones life, such as changing job or leaving a partner.
To use the stepping stone analogy we are caught mid step, neither fully off of the last stone, or able to step onto the next. Paused in an awkward balancing act. Sometimes it is necessary to take that step, and face the neurosises etc that inhabit that action.

17:29 / 14.02.02

hello folks. thanks a lot for your input. I can´t comment on it right now cause i have to let it sink in.

I know of the possibility to not take the cards that seriously but to see it as a possibility or just a useful model of a possibilty. still that´s not how I use them and even if i saw it that way I would ultimately be strongly influenced by the cards but okay, you get influenced by whatever yu choose to do or whomever you consult so that´s just life. with the crowley deck you can at least do a little interpretation which i enjoy and it tells me stuff about myself.

yeah, crowley is heavily inspired by the quabbalah and the cards represent the tree of life, (I guess. I know the trumps are the paths connecting the ten different spheres of the tree so i guess the remaining cards are connected to that model too). crowley also knew his shit about egyptian mythology and also buddhism and yoga. I think he synthesized a lot of these different philosophies to make his deck as universal as possible. his the book of toth is very dense and not easy to read. I think it´s full of really great info but it´s not written in the easiest of manners. I´m halfway through it.

because of my doubts of doing it right i´m just reading on it and doing reserach but i don´t want to fully use the deck yet. i sometimes have a specific question and then i just draw a few cards and while the info i derive from that is always useful I feel like I´m embracing the tarot because i don´t have to actively make a decision. chance does it. okay, I´m done.
www.hermetic.com has a lot of crowley info and also chaosmatrix.com. reading PROMETHEA by moore and williams III is probably the best education on the tarot which can be had right now.

MJ-12: "I see them less showing what is/may happen, than a reflection of what is happening right now." could you expand a bit on that? I´m not sure I´m getting what you wrote. what´s the difference between "what is" and "what is happening right now"? me no comprende

thanks again for all the info. later

17:39 / 14.02.02

poor phrasing on my part. try
quote:less showing what is going to or may happen, than a reflection of what is happening right now

07:47 / 16.02.02

"The stars impel, they do not compel."

odd jest on horn

21:01 / 17.02.02

book of thoth complete and online, some popups though. has helped me a lot, gonna get the paper version soon, though, nothing beats paper.

gentleman loser

13:29 / 18.02.02

For those who don't know, the Giger deck has only has the Major Arcana (22 cards). From what I've seen these are not original creations, only Giger work that has been relabled. Strikes me as a cynical cash in, which annoys me to no end since Giger is one of my all time favorite artists.

See this page:

H. R. Giger Tarot: a review

I love the Thoth deck. It's beautiful to look at even if you don't use it for divination. My readings with it have been pretty damn accurate.

Bastl b, I think I understand your concerns. The Tarot (or the I Ching or any other form of divination) is not in any way something that I use to base major life decisions on, it just increases my potential awareness. I think that's what it was really intended for. I'm no expert, but my advice to you would be not to get too hung up on specific cards, but look at the reading as a whole.

It's a gestalt thing.

I hope I'm making sense here, I'm not sure!

I think it's different from each individual perception.

[ 18-02-2002: Message edited by: gentleman loser ]