A couple of years ago one of my Aeclectic Tarot forum mates conducted an exercise to explore how the Minor Arcana, or "pip" cards, of the Thoth deck might be categorized as a range of emotional expressions: Joy, Anger, Love, Grief, Surprise, Fear, Trust and Anxiety. Because the Thoth pips have titles on them as … Continue reading Thoth Pip Cards as Emotions
Thoth
An Opening of the Key First Operation Template
Those who are interested in the Golden Dawn and Thoth methods of divination have the complex and lengthy Opening of the Key (OotK) series of "operations" to entertain them. This includes a relatively straightforward initial operation that provides an overview of the querent's situation at the time of the reading. It is followed by three … Continue reading An Opening of the Key First Operation Template
Confessions of an Incurable Thothie
By all reliable accounts, Aleister Crowley was not a nice man. Yet he fathered one of the enduring icons of modern tarot - the Thoth deck - along with its remarkable companion volume, The Book of Thoth or BoT. A revisionist attempt is afoot to give the lion's share of the credit for the excellence of … Continue reading Confessions of an Incurable Thothie
Wilt or Want? That is the Question
"Do what thou wilt." Arguably the four words in Aleister Crowley's vast esoteric oeuvre that are at the heart of his repugnance to polite (that is to say, religiously - and now also politically - correct) company because they seem to fly in the face of the hallowed Golden Rule. Not, of course, that he … Continue reading Wilt or Want? That is the Question
The Thoth Minor Arcana
I've worked with the Aleister Crowley/Frieda Harris Thoth deck since 1972 and have been consistently impressed by how evocative the Minor Arcana are, mainly through their use of color and mood along with Crowley's Golden-Dawn-derived titles and brief explanations in The Book of Thoth. I never felt any need for scenic illustrations and their encapsulated … Continue reading The Thoth Minor Arcana
Simple Keyword Lists
Somewhere along the way I gathered these useful lists of basic keywords for the Major and Minor Arcana of the Thoth deck. I may have condensed them myself into this particular form, but more likely they came from the Aeclectic Tarot forum or an on-line blog. If I could recall from whom, I would credit … Continue reading Simple Keyword Lists
Thoth Court Cards “By the Book”
A while back, as a service to the on-line Thoth community, I went through every paragraph of the Court Card section of the Book of Thoth, trawling Crowley's "moral characteristics" for words and phrases that could be compiled into a robust keyword list derived from his own words. After tabulating that, I created a second, … Continue reading Thoth Court Cards “By the Book”
Elemental Modifiers as Natural Phenomena
In Part Three of the Book of Thoth, Aleister Crowley briefly examines the elemental qualities of the Knight cards as natural phenomena: the “swift and violent, but transient” Knights correspond to the Lightning Flash in Wands; to Rain and Springs in Cups; to Wind in Swords; and to Mountains in Disks. Then he neatly extricates … Continue reading Elemental Modifiers as Natural Phenomena
Wrestling with the Angel: ATU XIV – Art/Temperance
It has taken me the better part of 40 years to come to grips with the divinatory meaning of the Temperance card. The common understanding that it means nothing more than “moderation” has never convinced me. Nor has all of the elevated talk in the literature about alchemical transmutation and the reconciliation of opposites (Fire … Continue reading Wrestling with the Angel: ATU XIV – Art/Temperance
Parsifal's Wheel Tarot & Astrology 