Thoth Tarot Deck Cards – June 2, 2005

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.

This is a well known, classic tarot deck and if one is into tarot it's a good addition to one collection. The art work is different than the popular decks and has strong appeal and energy. This particular deck is well made.Personally I found this deck hard to use and I couldn't connect to it, but still, its a great challenge and provides depth and perspective.

Not what you’ll be expecting if you’re accustomed to the preceding print version. Instead of unicursal hexagram and oto note there is a photo of Crowley and Harris. I didn’t like the new cards at first. My goal was to replace my older slightly damaged deck and being a creature of habit I had an adverse knee jerk reaction and even left a poor review. After closer inspection and learning why the cards looked a little different, and now after using this revised print deck, I’ve fallen in love slowly but surely with the new print version. I was already in love with the Thoth book and deck. If you’re wanting the exact same deck from prior to 2023 print you can find them easily but I highly recommend giving this deck a try. It’s beautiful. The colors are lighter and it makes it easier to make out some of the more subtle symbols. If you’re drawn to Thoth tarot trust the feeling even if you can’t fully explain why you keep finding yourself reaching for these beautiful occult images. How could you not fall in love with gods picture book?

I'm drawn to this one more than any RWS or Marsailles deck. Not because I particularly dig the artwork. It's just a good fit for my contemplative practice.

I had been reading tarot for twenty-seven years when I began to hear warnings about this deck and how people got all kind of spooky vibes from it and felt the need to steer clear of it. I had never owned a copy, but I'm not much for basing my choices on the anecdotes of ill-informed and frightened people. That was twenty-nine years ago.There were plenty of pretty decks and cute decks and simple decks and cartoon-like decks and while some of them appealed to me on a very basic level, none affected me spiritually. None cut through the layers of emotion and intellect that surround this common yet frequently misunderstood tool for divination, magick and meditation. This one did.It might be said that there's no such thing as bad press and all the warnings had simply awakened me to a source of power I had overlooked. If I bought a copy, which I did, I didn't expect Aleister Crowley to jump up from the other side of the table accompanied by high winds and lightning, but neither did I anticipate how sometimes brutally honest and alarmingly accurate this deck might be. It cut through the fog and offered clear and unambiguous advice. You might wish it was wrong. You might live in denial until its prognostications came true. Somehow, you could not deny the uncanny truth it delivered without fluff, equivocation, and fairytale explanations so many other decks offered. How many tragic choices have been made because cutesy decks felt it kinder to soften the blow and blur the truth?This deck will not lie to you. It will not cushion the blow. It will not blur the truth. Even if you are only minimally competent in tarot reading, it will offer you clarity. Whether you are wise enough to follow the advice given is up to you.But this isn't only a divinatory deck. Its carefully cultivated imagery by Aleister Crowley and artist Lady Frieda Harris literally draw you into the deck. In swirling patterns, your soul and mind are drawn. You move through the layers of the multiverse to a place within the deck from which you can learn and unlock secrets of the world and your life. You can also control them in accordance with Will and you can meditate upon them, comingling with the beings therein and taking knowledge from them. These are not easy beings or pleasant beings or nice beings, but wise beings who are not there to serve you, but who are ready to assist the worthy. Whether you are worthy or not depends on you.Here, the deck becomes a psychopomp, an initiatory guide. In the absence of reliable guidance in this day and age, the spirits of the deck can not merely take you on the Journey of the Fool, but on campaigns of understanding and enlightenment throughout your many lifetimes. This is a living deck and the aforementioned beings are very, very real whether you choose to acknowledge them or not. They care not what your opinion of them might be. Wisdom is for the strong and the strong are those whose eyes and minds are open and waiting to receive.