Thothtober: Thoth for Non Thelemites

Ever since its publication in the 1960’s the Thoth tarot has elicited both joy and fear in equal measure. It’s a marmite deck.

Much of the negativity surrounding this deck is the result of the man behind it, Aleister Crowley – “the wickedest man in the world”. And yet the reality is that his role in many ways pales into insignificance in comparison with the effort and dedication of the artist. I’d like to take some time to embrace the woman who brought this deck to life, understand her role in its creation, de-mystify the cards and make it a deck you will always want to read with.

We are all aware of Pamela Coleman Smith, the artist behind probably one of the best loved decks in the world. It is the deck that many of us learnt to read with and as a result it holds a place in our hearts forever more. I have lost count of the times, when my brain has pulled a blank, that I have closed my eyes and seen emblazoned upon my mind’s eye the corresponding card in the Rider Waite Smith deck and all has become well with the world and the reading has flowed. But, she wasn’t the only female deck creator of that time. Moina Mathers was the artistic force behind Macgregor Mather’s Golden Dawn deck, Jessie Burns Park’s line art became the BOTA tarot, and Frieda, Lady Harris lent her genius to the Thoth.

Frieda Lady Harris

Initially Crowley wanted to get his hands on an existing Golden Dawn deck and just re-illustrate it to accompany his book “The Book of Thoth”. However, thanks to an introduction made by a mutual friend, our valiant heroine changed his mind by suggesting that he use the Tarot as the basis of her magical education. Training for which she paid handsomely; he was after all not immune to financial gain often being more than a little bit strapped for cash.  As a respectable woman in her 60’s, who by dint of both her upbringing and her marriage to a Baronet was used to the finer things in life, you would wonder why she would want to take up with a drug addled reprobate, but she did, and so began an enduring friendship which would last until the end of Crowley’s days.

“She devoted her genius to the Work. With incredible rapidity she picked up the rhythm, and with inexhaustible patience submitted to the correction of the fanatical slave-driver that she had invoked, often painting the same card as many as eight times until it measured up to his Vanadium Steel yardstick!” ― A. Crowley, The Book of Thoth

Taking nearly 5 years to paint, the respect was not a one sided affair either, the Great Beast was unusually complimentary about her and her work. However, when it came time to use her connections to show the final paintings she was very careful to do so alone. Whilst loyal, she was also astute and insisted that Crowley remained absent during these events, probably very aware of the effect that his presence may have had.

De-mystifying the deck

It isn’t easy to condense into just a few hundred words the essence of this amazing deck. It has been the subject of more than a few books, all of them fairly dense. Not surprising really as it was the magnum opus of both Harris and even in some ways Crowley despite his prolific work and writings on the Occult. For those that embrace the deck a life’s worth of study in exchange for their life’s work seems a fair trade, but it’s this devotion to one deck that puts many people off. There is a certain slightly obsessed glint that sparks in the eyes of a Thoth fan when they speak of the cards. Then of course there is the fact that, some of the Major Arcana have been renamed, that the small cards are what is known as Pips, that the ever dreaded courts don’t even match up with other ‘traditional’ decks and there is awful lot of discussion about the Qabalistic Tree of Life and ‘bang’ you have a perfect storm. Potential students run screaming, cards flying in their wake.

STOP!!!!

The beauty of this deck is that it’s complexity grows as the student grows but it can be grasped and used with very little knowledge. Anyone who has read with a standard deck can draw meaning from the cards straight away, if they are prepared to ignore all the books to start with and just use them. Crowley himself said that the level of contemplation and study necessary to understand the cards and how they interact with each other is not desirable to most people, instead he suggests that divination is used as the gateway into its mysteries. Get a deck, revel in their beauty and just use them, just remember the following key points:

1. Read Intuitively
2. Consider Dignities
3. Use Astrology/Planetary symbols
4. Use the Keywords on the cards, that’s what they are there for
5. Don’t read reversals
6. Throw away the book (until you are ready at least).

My husband, my ever suffering proof reader says I need to finish this essay with a call to arms. He’s right, but don’t tell him that. So I shall leave you with this, a quote from Crowley himself. The Tarot “must stand or fall as a system on its own merits” don’t let the words of others dissuade you from making this deck your own, take it embrace it and let it not just stand, but fly as the marvellous creation that it is.

Luckily in this day and age this should not be too hard, so many decks now deviate from the structure laid down by the initiates of the Western Mystery traditions who first shaped the modern Tarot as we know it that it’s quirks and peculiarities should not be a barrier.

Here’s to a new generations of readers free from the blinkers of dogma, primed and ready to enter into a New Aeon.

BIO: Tara Sanchez spends her time studying the oracular arts, writing, teaching workshops,, speaking at moots and conferences and most importantly reading the cards. 

You can find her at www.tarasanchez.com & almost anywhere else as @iTaraSanchez