Thoth Tarot
The Aleister Crowley Tarot or Thoth Tarot
was created by the famous occultist Aleister Crowley (1875-1947). Lady Frieda Harris
(1877-1962) painted the cards. Although Lady Harris knew little about Tarot
and its symbolism, under the guidance of Crowley she transposed all
subtleties of his ideas into her paintings. Many a card was painted in
several versions, until one of them was approved by Crowley. The Aleister Crowley Tarot or Thoth Tarot took over five years to be completed. It was first published in
1969, after the death of both Crowley and Lady Harris. The present edition of the Aleister Crowley Tarot or Thoth Tarot was
produced by utilising the most advanced techniques of colour separation and
printing, thus faithfully reproducing the stunning colours of the original
paintings.
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Well worth having, even if you're a beginner...
This deck is my first departure from the Universal Waite Tarot deck and
it couldn't be more different! I initially bought the smaller Thoth
tarot cards, but immediately sent for this larger version when I found the
images so stunning! I'm not sure that I will use this particular deck
for everyday use - smaller cards are easier to handle, and, anyway, I'm
attached to the Rider Waite pictorial images on the minor arcana cards
- although the Thoth deck's non-pictorial minor arcana designs (and
their individual names) are still beautiful and fascinating.
The Thoth Tarot is
stimulating and exciting - especially in this large format. If you're a
tarot enthusiast, you should own this deck.
The best version of one of the classic Tarot decks
Aleister Crowley's Thoth Tarot is arguably the most significant Tarot
deck ever produced. He claimed to have put the whole of his Magickal
mind into the deck, which was produced over a four-year period with his
artist executant, Lady Frieda Harris. It certainly is one of the most
aesthetically satisfying decks around and I find that using it helps me
to deepen my knowledge of Tarot at many levels and brings out things
that I would easily miss in other decks.
This edition is the largest
version of the cards, roughly the size of postcards. As such they are
not the easiest deck to work with in divination but the extra size is
immensely valuable when the goal is meditation or detailed examination
of the card symbolism. (No deck is more rewarding than this one for
this kind of work.) Personally I keep this edition for home study and a
smaller edition for my work as a professional Tarot reader.
Thoth Tarot Cards
I have just embarked on this path, on the advice of my mentor, I bought
these cards. They are powerful, a few of my fellow students cannot use
them, but I want to try. I find them appealing, easily 'read' from a
surface point of view, hopefully as I progress, I'll find them more
enlightening.
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