The two goals of this three part series of blog posts are to briefly discuss Aleister Crowley’s Thoth Tarot deck, and to also to review Lon Milo DuQuette’s book Understanding Aleister Crowley’s Thoth Tarot. The first two posts in this series will focus more on the deck itself (although both DuQuette's book along with Crowley's The Book of Thoth will be used as references in the earlier posts). The third post in this series will be more focused on reviewing DuQuette's book (although Crowley's The Book of Thoth will also be discussed). Throughout this series, the Rider-Waite-Smith deck will be discussed as a point of reference.
Unfortunately, due to copyright issues, I cannot display extensive imagery from the Thoth tarot deck (Orodo Templi Orientis owns the copyright, and from what I can tell U.S. Game Systems Inc has exclusive rights to publish the deck in the United States). This is most unfortunate because I view Tarot decks in general, and this Tarot deck in particular, to be sacred “texts” (okay, Tarot decks aren’t technically “texts”, but rather a collection of images). I find the idea that private entities claiming an exclusive right to distribute such significant spiritual works long after the deaths of their authors extremely distasteful to say the least. Moreover, I strongly believe that Aleister Crowley would have wanted his works to be reproduced freely, as making money was never his primary agenda (I really have no idea how Lady Frieda Harris, the woman who painted the Thoth deck under Crowley’s guidance would have felt about this). Although I can’t show off the art work for the entire Thoth deck in this blog post, high resolution images of all 78 cards of the Thoth deck can be found at here.
Despite copyright restrictions preventing me from showing off multiple cards from the Thoth deck here (The Rider-Waite deck, having been published in 1909, is now in the public domain), displaying a single card for educational purposes arguably falls under the protection of the “Fair Use Doctrine”. Additionally, according to https://www.tarotassociation.net/how-to-use-tarot-images-in-your-readings-blog-reviews-and-books/, US Games Systems (The company that publishes the Thoth Deck in the United States, and also continues to publish the Rider-Waite deck in the United States) encourages people to use single cards on their blogs and social media accounts (so long as the copyright interests of US Games Systems is acknowledged). So, while acknowledging the copyright interest of US Games Systems, I present “The Universe” card from the Thoth deck (top) in comparison with “The World” card from the Rider-Waite deck (bottom).
Note: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and receive a small commotion when someone makes a purchase using the affiliate links that I provide (at no additional cost to the reader). Before continuing with this essay, I am providing affiliate links for the Rider-Waite deck along with affiliate links for two versions of the Thoth deck. If you decide to purchase the Thoth deck through one of these affiliate links, I STRONGLY recommend going with the one that comes in the green box, as the larger cards make it easier to see minute details (which, in the case of this Tarot deck, contain important symbolism), plus the colors on the larger cards are more vibrant, and the larger deck uses higher quality card stock.
At least in the United States, the most widely used Tarot decks are the Rider-Waite deck (henceforth “the Waite deck”) along with the numerous other decks that are closely based on the Waite deck. When I was first introduced to Tarot, it was with a deck based on the Waite deck. Part of the reason the Waite deck is so popular, especially with beginners, is that the “small cards” (i.e. the 2-10 of each suit) in this deck all depict people in various situations or engaging in various activities. The advantage of the Waite deck is that it requires little occult background in order to start using. This deck can easily be used by just about anyone to begin to develop their intuition and for day to day divination.
One significant issue I have with the Waite deck is that while the meanings of the cards are defined by their elemental, Kabbalistic, and astrological correspondences, the astrological and Kabbalistic correspondences are not made explicit (the system of the magickal elements and astrology are both integrated into the Kabbalistic system on which Tarot is based). When I started using the Waite deck, I had only a very basic understanding of the magickal elements (Fire, Water, Air, Earth, Spirit), and knew basically nothing about either Kabbalah or Astrology. During the time that I worked with the Waite deck, my understanding of the elements gradually began to improve (although the Waite deck only played a small roll in my evolving understanding of the elements), and I remained largely ignorant to the ways in which the meanings of the cards is defined by Kabbalistic and astrological correspondences. In other words, the Waite deck leaves its user ignorant to the cosmic logic that dictates the meaning of each card.
The following quote by Aleister Crowley (specifically, the second part of this quote) is true of all modern Tarot decks (virtually all of which are either directly or indirectly based on the reference deck of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn). However, the truth of this statement is far more visible in the Thoth deck than in the Rider-Waite deck:
The Tarot is a pack of seventy-eight cards. There are four suits, as in modern playing cards, which are derived from it. But the court cards number four instead of three. In addition, there are twenty-two cards called “Trumps”, each of which is a symbolic picture with a title to itself.
At first sight one would suppose this arrangement to be arbitrary, but it is not. It is necessitated, as will appear later, by the structure of the universe, and in particular of the Solar System”, as symbolized by the Holy Qabalah. This will be explained in due course. (Crowley, 1944, p. 3) (Emphasis Added)
If you are only interested in using Tarot as a divination tool, using the Waite deck may be a good choice for you. It requires little knowledge of the Western Esoteric Tradition to begin working with the Waite deck. The use of illustrations of people in the “small cards” makes it easy to see how different archetypal energies actually play out. For example, the Three of Pentacles in the Waite deck depicts people coming together to bring a new project to fruition. While this card could be useful in constructing a narrative based on the surrounding cards in a readings (in other words, it can be easily understood in an intuitive Tarot reading), what is not immediately clear is why the 3 of Pentacles has the divinatory meaning depicted on the card. In other words, while the image on the 3 of Pentacles in the Waite deck illustrates an idea, it is easy for a casual user of the deck to remain ignorant of the underlying forces that necessitate it has the meaning of the card. In Part 2 of this blog series, I will look at the same card in the Thoth deck (although in the Thoth deck it is called “3 of Disks”) and explain how in the Thoth deck the meaning of this card is necessitated by the structure of the deck, which in turn is a model of the structure of the cosmos.
Both Arthur Edward Waite (conceptual designer of the Rider-Waite-Smith deck) and Aleister Crowley were members of the influential Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. This organization conducted groundbreaking research on Tarot during their hay day in the late 19th century, and the group had their own internal reference Tarot deck which works as a highly structured system integrating Kabbalah and Astrology (along with symbolism relating to alchemy and mythology) into a highly exact system. Although the Golden Dawn’s reference deck is not in wide circulation, it still remains the basic template on which most modern Tarot decks are either directly or indirectly based. Both Waite’s deck and Crowley’s Thoth deck are ultimately based on the Golden Dawn’s reference deck (although Crowley made some modifications to make his deck fit within his new philosophical/spiritual/religious system known as Thelema). While both Waite and Crowley presumably had to take oaths of secrecy in regard to the esoteric secrets of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn (which would presumably have included the esoteric correspondences of the Order’s reference Tarot deck), the order fell apart as a cohesive organization at the beginning of the 20th century. Waite, who published his seminal deck in 1909 (only about six years after the group was dissolved), apparently felt bound by his oaths of secrecy, and his deck deliberately hides many of the esoteric elements that define the energies of each card. Fortunately, for those seeing a deck not only suited for divination, but also as a book of initiation into the mysteries of the ages, the Thoth deck provides a stunningly beautiful and deep alternative.
Before discussing what makes the Thoth deck unique, it is worth taking a minute to discuss the history of the deck. The Thoth deck was painted by Lady Frieda Harris, who pitched the idea of painting a completely new Tarot deck to illustrate a book by Crowley on the subject of Tarot (ultimately what became The Book of Thoth). Crowley was initially skeptical about the project, but agreed to begin undertaking this great work with Lady Harris when she offered to pay him 2 GBP (British Pounds) per week, (Crowley was quite broke at this point in his life) if he would both take her on as a magickal student and commit to the undertaking of the project that would ultimately result in the Thoth Tarot deck and the Book of Thoth (DuQuette, 2017, p. 15-16)). The partnership between Crowley and Harris worked out very well for the modern-day student of Tarot, as the masterpiece that emerged from their partnership was beyond anything that either Crowley or Harris would have been able to achieve without the contribution of the other. Despite this deck now most likely being one of the most popular decks in the world, most likely second only to the Waite deck, neither Crowley nor Harris lived to see the deck actually published as a deck of cards (although Crowley did publish his Book of Thoth in 1944 and Harris gave multiple exhibitions of the paintings of the cards while she was alive). From what I can tell, I can’t find an exact date as to when Lady Harris began painting the deck (under the tutelage of Crowley), but it was a multiyear project and must have been complete by June, 1941, as this is when Lady Harris gave her first public exhibitions on the paintings (DuQuette, 2017, p. 17). The paintings were not published as a deck of Tarot cards until 1969, Crowley died in 1947, while Harris died in 1962 (DuQuette, 2017, p. 17-18).
The Thoth deck is an entirely different animal from the Waite deck. The most immediately visable difference is the artwork. As can be seen in the side by side illustration of “The World” from the Waite deck and “The Universe” from the Thoth deck (displayed at the beginning of this post), the artwork on the Thoth deck is far more detailed and vibrant. It is very easy to get pulled into the artwork of the Thoth deck in a way which is, at least to me, more difficult with the Waite deck. And despite the fact that the “small cards” of the Thoth deck are not illustrated with people, they are still packed with symbolism and it is easy to feel a deep connection with the energy of the cards (which often evokes a strong emotional reaction) despite the fact that they lack illustrations of people. Harris’s use of color, which is both systematic and creative, is a major factor in the ability of the “small cards” to evoke the strong feelings they are capable of evoking. In fact, an entire chapter in DuQuette’s book is dedicated to explaining how Harris used Kabbalistic correspondences to decide on the correct color pallets of each card (I will review DuQuette’s book in more detail in a later part of this series of posts). Despite the artwork being the most immediately striking feature of the Thoth deck, I am not a professional art critique, so instead of spending more time describing the artwork of the Thoth deck, I encourage you to take a look at the artwork yourself using the link provided near the beginning of this post.
Besides the difference between the art work in The World from the Waite deck and The Universe in the Thoth deck, there is another feature that should be mentioned. Because both decks are based on the Golden Dawn's model deck, both The World and The Universe have the Kabbalistic correspondence to the Hebrew letter "Tau", which is the "double letter" that corresponds with the planet Saturn (in Kaballah each of the seven Hebrew "double letters" corresponds to one of the seven "classical planets" from Astrology). Thus, both The World and The Universe are the planetary trumps of Saturn in their respective decks. This point is made explicit in the Thoth deck (you can see the letter Tau and the astrological sign for Saturn at the bottom of The Universe in the Thoth deck). It should also be noted that traditionally the Hebrew letter Tau (and thus "The World"/"The Universe" cards) does double duty corresponding to the planet Saturn and the element of Earth. When using the Waite deck, these correspondences aren't obvious, and the deck does little to encourage the user to learn about these correspondences.
This post has been the first of three in a series of posts meant to introduce Aleister Crowley’s Thoth deck and to review Lon Milo DuQuette’s excellent book on the topic. In this post (Part 1), I provide a brief comparison between the Waite deck and the Thoth deck. So far I have discussed what I see as a major weakness of the Waite deck (the way it conceals the esoteric factors that define the meaning of each card from users of the deck), but have not really demonstrated how the Thoth deck is different. In Part 2 I will begin to discuss how the Thoth deck makes explicit the Kabbalistic correspondences that give each card its meaning, and also begin to explore some of the other esoteric characteristics of the Thoth deck. In Part 3, I will review Lon Milo DuQuette's book Understanding Aleister Crowley's Thoth Tarot: New Edition (2017) and also briefly discuss Aleister Crowley's The Book of Thoth (1944).
Crowley, A. (1944). The Book of Thoth (Egyption Tarot). Weiser Books, San Francisco, CA.
DuQuette, L. (2017). Understanding Aleister Crowley’s Thoth Tarot: New Edition”, Weisner Books.