Thoth Tarot Cards [Paperback]

Note that the cards in this deck (ISBN 1-57281-510-8) measure 2 7/8 by 4 /38. The size of the cards is not mentioned in the Amazon listing. This card size is great to do spreads, specially if you have small hands, but the regular size will be better to study the cards or do meditaion on them, as the details on this deck are too small. The print quality and colours are excellent, I am giving this deck 3 stars only because Amazon did not make clear what the size of the cards is.

This edition of the Crowley Thoth Tarot has "standard" size cards smaller than the usual large edition, measuring 2-7/8" x 4-3/8". This is probably a better size for doing readings. The larger size cards are fine for meditation and ritual use, but too cumbersome for reading purposes. Also, this edition comes in a large box, with the deck in its own smaller box, a 20" x 17" Celtic Cross layout sheet, and a small 48 page instruction booklet. Although this edition is printed in Belgium, it comes with the two extra Magus cards normally found in the Swiss decks, and does not include the OTO cards.

The Thoth deck was designed by Aleister Crowley, and painted by Lady Frieda Harris. The project spanned some five years, from 1938 to 1943, and it might be instructive to think about what was happening in the world during that time. Crowley was a member of the Golden Dawn, a secret society that pursued occult studies and magickal workings based in part upon the ancient Hebrew Cabala. The GD had its own Tarot deck, based upon its cabalistic teachings, which was given to initiates who were required to make their own copies, and who often did so with their own embellishments -- not surprising, since at that time there were no copy machines. Members were sworn to secrecy regarding the deck itself, but several members, including Crowley and Arthur Edward Waite, later designed and published decks based on the order's symbolism. Crowley eventually split with the GD, founding several orders of his own, among which the OTO -- Ordo Templi Orientis -- still exists and operates. In 1904, Crowley had a mystical experience of sorts, which fundamentally changed the way he looked at the world, and influenced all of his writings thereafter, including his Tarot. For this reason, there are significant differences between Crowley's Tarot and other Tarots based on the GD system.

The deck itself is of the usual Tarot structure, having 22 Major Arcana and 56 Minor Arcana. The court cards are rearranged to suit the esoteric GD interpretations. The court cards are Knight, Queen, Prince, and Princess. The Kings of the old packs are renamed Princes, and shown seated in chariots, to reflect the GD's assignment of them to elemental Air.

What makes these cards truly unique is their abstract imagery. While the deck is fully illustrated, the cards do not have the "personalized" illustrations found in the Rider-Waite-Smith deck. With the exception of the court cards, the Arcana in the GD system were never intended to represent persons, or their personal characteristics. They were intended to represent the impersonal forces and energies described by the Cabala, as understood by the Order's initiates. The design of the Crowley deck helps to avoid the trap into which readers of the Rider-Waite deck all too often fall -- projecting one's personal beliefs and characteristics into the cards, and winding up believing the cards are all about one's own personality and beliefs. It is easy to fall into that trap using cards that are illustrated with human figures, as are the Rider-Waite. Whether Waite did that intentionally, to hide the true meaning of the cards from the uninitiated, or because he really was the mental baboon Crowley thought he was, is difficult to say. I suspect neither -- Waite probably thought he was doing everyone a real favor by making the Tarot accessible, while at the same time honoring his Oath of Secrecy. In any case, the effect has been to lead readers and students down the very path the GD sought to avoid. The Tarot, at least in the initiated system of the GD and its offshoots, is an esoteric system that yields insights into otherwise invisible forces and events. It has nothing to do with "counseling," "personal growth," "empowerment," or any of the other absurdities with which the nihilism of modern revisionists has associated it.

That makes the Thoth deck one of the best to learn with, assuming one wants to learn the Tarot as its designers in the esoteric tradition intended it. Its imagery is abstract, symbolic, suggestive, and evocative. Lady Harris is often given short shrift in terms of her esoteric knowledge, but any serious study of the deck will show that her ability to translate the abstract and complex ideas of both the Order's teachings, and Crowley's elaborations thereupon, is nothing short of genius.

The booklet that comes with the deck is, in actuality, an excellent introduction to the cards and how to read them. It contains the original essay by James Wasserman, accompanied by two essays written by Lady Harris herself, which together give some excellent insights into the cards and their interpretation. The title page indicates that it has been "edited and updated" -- uhh-ohh, when I read that, I can't help thinking of the Grand Inquisitor's "We have corrected thy work!" There is a little of that, but no real harm done.

Those who would like further information on the use of the Tarot in the Golden Dawn tradition will find Introduction to the Golden Dawn Tarot and The Qabalistic Tarot: A Textbook of Mystical Philosophy, both by Dr. Robert Wang, excellent sources. The definitive guidebook to the Thoth Tarot is Crowley's own Book of Thoth A Short Essay on the Tarot of the Egyptians, Equinox Volume III, No. V which contains detailed historical and theoretical analyses, descriptions, and suggested interpretations.

I like this one over the larger version as the cards are easier for me to handle, plus the quality of the card art is more vibrant. This is one of four tarot decks that I own, and one that I have found is best used on a more intuitive level. This is a deck that not many people will be able to use unless they read Aleister Crowley's "Book of Thoth" first...for me it is best to get the facts straight from the man himself than have someone else explain it. This is a deck that I reserve for those certain times where my regular deck just won't cut it. It helps me look within myself through the artwork, and I am always surprised at what I find.

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