In Part 1 of this three part series of posts reviewing the Thoth Tarot Deck & Lon Milo DuQuette’s book Understanding Aleister Crowley’s Thoth Tarot, I briefly provided a history of the Thoth deck, discussed the artwork on the deck, and also discussed what I see as a major weakness of the Waite Tarot deck as a point of comparison. Specifically, I briefly mentioned the 3 of Pentacles from the Waite deck. The 3 of Disks from the Thoth deck will be discussed in this part (Part 2) of this series of blog posts, so if you haven’t yet read Part 1, I strongly recommend doing so now (in the Thoth deck, Disks are the equivalent of Pentacles in the Waite deck).
The primary purpose of this post (Part 2 of a three part series) is to begin to explore some of the more esoteric properties of the Thoth deck. Due to the complexity of this topic, this post should only be seen as a brief introduction to the topic. If you have no knowledge of Kabbalah or astrology, and have only ever used the Waite deck, some of the material in this post will be entirely new to you. If you are unfamiliar with these topics and find them interesting, I would highly recommend Lon Milo Duquette’s book (which will be discussed in more detail in Part 3 of this series). Some readers may be a bit put off by the mention of astrology. I would like to note that even if you are of the opinion that astrology has no predictive validity, it is still worth understanding in the context of Tarot. In this context, astrology is a powerful symbolic language and system for categorizing components of “reality”.
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As noted in Part 1, despite copyright restrictions preventing me from showing 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 3 of Disks card from the Thoth deck (top) in comparison with the 3 of Pentacles card from the Waite deck (bottom).
Let’s look at the 3 of Disks as a demonstration of how the Thoth deck encourages an understanding of the underlying energies which give each card its meaning. As discussed in Part 1, and illustrated above (in the lower of the two illustrations), the 3 of Pentacles depicts a certain situation, in which people are coming together to commence work on a project. I have heard more than one person say that in the Thoth deck, the small cards illustrate the cosmic forces that come together to create the meaning of the cards, while in the Waite deck the cards illustrate examples of how those cosmic forces could play out in the real world (without acknowledging those underlying cosmic forces).
In the Thoth deck, the 3 of Disks is called “Works” (that is the title that Harris painted on the card, while in The Book of Thoth Crowley calls the card “Work” (Crowley, 1944, p. 212)). To understand the meaning of the card, a few factors need to be taken into account, all of which are immediately obvious by looking at the card (at least if you know how to look).
1) Because the card is a 3, it is in the third sephirah on the Tree of Life (known as Binah).
2) Because the card is of the suit of Disks, it is in the Kabbalistic world of Assiah (associated with the element of Earth)
3) The planetary correspondence of the 3 of Disks is Mars.
4) The Zodiacal correspondence of the 3 of Disks is Capricorn (Capricorn is the Cardinal Earth sign)
So to summarize these points you could say the card represents Binah (on the Tree of Life) of Disks/Assiah/Earth, and Mars in Capricorn.
Note: For each suit, the 2s, 3s, and 4s correspond to the Cardinal Zodiac sign for the element of the suit, the 5s, 6s, and 7s correspond to the Fixed Zodiac sign for the element of the suit, and the 8s, 9s, and 10s correspond to the Mutable Zodiac sign for the element of the suit. Wands correspond to fire, Cups to water, Swords to Air, and Disks to Earth.
It should also be noted that, on the "Three of Disks" from the Thoth deck, the image does evoke the idea of forces coming together to work on a project, and also reinforces the idea by adding the alchemical glyphs for Salt, Sulfur, and Mercury on each of the disks.
For all the “small cards”, the meaning of the card is defined by its position on the Tree of Life, its suit (which defines both its element and which of the four Kabbalistic worlds it belongs to), its planetary association, and its zodiacal association. If you don’t have much practical knowledge of Kabbalah or astrology, this may not immediately seem all that helpful, but by understanding the energies of each card (which be achieved simply by looking at the card and being mindful of the feelings it evokes in you), you can also begin to gain an understanding of the Kabbalistic and astrological energies that shape the card.
In case you are wondering, the planetary correspondences for each of the small cards is not arbitrary. For example, in the case of the 3 of Disks, the card corresponds to the second Decan of Capricorn (i.e. second 10 degree section of the 30 degrees of the Zodiac wheel that correspond to the sign of Capricorn), while the 2 of Disks corresponds to the first Decan of Capricorn and the 4 of Disks corresponds to the third Decan of Capricorn. It just so happens that Mars rules the second Decan of Capricorn. Some useful diagrams that will help clarify the connection between Tarot and astrology can be found here and here. (Note: I can't display these images here due to copyright issues).
Although there is a simple formula that defines the meanings of the small cards, the artwork still plays a major role in communicating the energies of the cards to the reader. The small cards in the Thoth deck are graphically packed with supporting symbolism to communicate the meaning, and even the color themes of the small cards have Kabbalistic and astrological correspondences.
The Kabbalah Tree of Life is not only fundamental to understanding the small cards, but also the rest of the deck (the Major Arcana and the Court cards). Each of the 22 cards of the Major Arcana corresponds to one of the 22 “paths” between the 10 Sephirot of the Tree of life. The Court cards are also connected to the Tree of Life, but explaining exactly how goes beyond the scope of this blog post. An informative diagram showing the connection between Tarot (specifically the Thoth deck) and the Tree of Life can be found here.
The meanings of the cards in both the Waite deck and the Thoth deck are derived from astrology and Kabbalah. The major difference is that the Waite deck conceals the astrological and Kabbalistic forces that define the meaning of the cards, while the Thoth deck makes these correspondences explicit. As a result, while either deck can be used to hone a person’s intuitive skills, the Thoth deck will also serve as a book of initiation into the Western esoteric tradition.
In my opinion, without an understanding of how the meanings of cards in the Waite deck are derived, it has little more utility as a spiritual tool than the many Oracle decks in circulation. Oracle decks, unlike Tarot, can vary in the number of cards they have, and are generally not built around a highly structured system the way Tarot decks are. While any deck of cards, even playing cards, can be used for the purpose of divination, the way the Tarot is built around a system that integrates the classical elements, Kabbalah and the Tree of Life, and astrology into a coherent system makes it possible to understand Tarot as a complete map of reality broken down into 78 interrelated pieces (see the quote by Crowley in Part 1 of this series). But because the Kabbalistic and astrological correspondences are concealed in the Waite deck, it loses much of its power for those who are not already aware of the correct correspondences. Being able to use cards for divination is a good thing, but understanding the system upon with Tarot is built offers great opportunity for spiritual development. The Thoth deck encourages, even demands, that the reader become familiar with this system, while the Waite deck encourages people to read the cards without being aware of this system.
Beyond the astrological and Kabbalistic correspondences already discussed, the Thoth deck also teaches other aspects of Crowley’s spiritual system. Within the court cards lie the secrets of sexual alchemy and Crowley’s doctrine of the Holy Guardian Angel (DuQuette, 2017, p. 70-78). The Thoth deck uses an arrangement of the court cards that is more similar to that of the Golden Dawn’s reference deck compared to the Waite deck. The arrangement of the court cards in both the Thoth deck and the Golden Dawn’s reference deck are conducive to illustrating the doctrine of the “Holy Guardian Angel” and sexual alchemy, while the court card system in the Waite deck, is far less useful for illustrating this point (unfortunately, there is not space in this series of blog posts to discuss this point in detail).
One of the most striking differences between the Thoth deck and either the Waite deck or the Golden Dawn reference deck is the replacement of the “Judgment” card with the card titled “The Aeon” in the Thoth deck. A centerpiece to Crowley’s spiritual philosophy is the concept that we are now in a new Aeon (the “Aeon of Horus”) in which “Every man and every woman is a star”. Like the “Judgment” cards in both the Golden Dawn’s reference deck in the Waite deck, “The Aeon” corresponds to the Hebrew letter Shin and is the elemental trump of Fire (also doing double duty for the element of Spirit) (DuQuette, 2017, p. 150). Instead of using images based on Christian mythology (as are used in “Judgment” cards of older decks), the image used in “The Aeon” cards is based on a modern interpretation of Egyptian mythology.
I would briefly like to discuss the depth of the Court cards in the Thoth deck. The Waite deck presents the Court cards in a way which makes it confusing to even try to apply the system for the Court cards that is used in the Thoth deck (as well as the Golden Dawn reference deck). There is not room in this post to fully discuss the system of the Court cards or their significance in sexual alchemy and the doctrine of the "Holy Guardian Angle". In the discussion below, it should be noted that the Thoth deck uses "Knights" (rather than the "Kings" used in the Golden Dawn reference deck) largely because Knights are more evocative of the element of fire than are Kings.
In the Thoth deck, for each suit there is a Knight, Queen, Prince, and Princess. The Knights correspond to the Kabbalistic world of Atziluth and the fiery part of the element represented by its suit. For example, the "Knight of Disks" corresponds to the fiery part of the element of Earth (if this doesn't make sense, consider that Fire is associated with will and drive, Water is associated with emotions, Air is associated with the intellect and communications, and Earth is associated with the material world, money, and the body). The Queens of each suit correspond to the Kabbalistic world of Berieh and the watery part of the element represented by its suit. The Princes correspond to the Kabbalistic world of Yezirah and the Air in the element of it's suit. The Princesses correspond to the Kabbalistic world of Asiyah and the earthy part of the element it represents.
Examples:
Queen of Cups: Water of Water
Prince of Wands: Air of Fire
Princess of Cups: Earth of Water
Knight of Disks: Fire of Earth
So, using this logic, the Knight of Disks could represent a person who applies their energies and passions toward practical, material goals. I cannot go through all the court cards individually in this post.
Additionally, there are astrological correspondences to the court cards. Before I begin to explain this, I would like to note that the four Princesses behave differently from the other court cards. The Princesses are considered the "throne" of the Ace of their suit. The Ace represents the potential of the suit (and thus the element and Kabbalistic world), but without any manifestation. The Princesses represent the full manifestation of their suit (and thus the full manifestation of their element and Kabbalistic world). The Princesses also do not rule over specific decans, but each Princess still corresponds to 90 degrees of the Zodiacal wheel. The Princess of Disks corresponds to Aries, Taurus, and Gemini. The Princess of Wands corresponds to Cancer, Leo, and Virgo. The Princess of Cups corresponds to Libra, Scorpio, and Sagittarius.
The Queens are (with a nuance that applies also to the Knights and Princes) rule over the cardinal Zodiac signs, the Princes rule over the fixed Zodiac signs, and the Knights rule over the mutable Zodiac signs. The nuance is that each of these Court cards (Knights, Queens, and Princes, but not the princesses) only rules over the first two decans of its sign, and also takes on the last decan of the previous sign. For example, my birthday is July 21, generally considered the last day of Cancer (even though the dates change from year to year), so the Court card that corresponds to my Sun sign is the Prince of Wands, because the Prince of Wands primarily rules Leo (the fixed Fire sign), but only the first two decans of Leo, and also rules the third decan of Cancer, because Cancer is the sign immediately before Leo. To make this system more clear you can click here for a diagram of how this works (again, I can't display the image here due to copyright concerns).
The Waite deck as a whole relies heavily on symbolism related to Christianity, while the Thoth deck uses much less Christian symbolism, and instead draws from a number of religious and spiritual traditions, especially ancient Egyptian mythology (with The Aeon being one of the most striking examples). When Crowley does use “Christian symbolism”, it is often completely recontextualized to have a completely different meaning (for example, the depiction of the “Whore of Babylon” riding “The Great Beast 666” in the “Lust” card has nothing to do with the Christian apocalypse, and instead represents an alchemical process, and the idea of achieving spiritual attainment through passionate engagement with the desires and pleasures of one’s “animal self” or “lower self”. Having been raised in a Christian household and ultimately being traumatized by the dogmas of that religion (see my blog post Traumatized from Being Raised Christian), using a deck that relies much less heavily on Christian mythology is far more comfortable for me to use.
The explicit and highly visible connection between the cards and both astrology and Kabbalah, the deep spiritual symbolism embedded throughout the deck, the empowering spiritual/philosophical system which is encoded in the deck, along with the breathtaking beauty of the artwork all conspire to make Crowley’s and Harris’ Thoth deck my favorite Tarot deck. For anyone who has only ever used the Waite deck or one of the many decks based on the Waite deck, I would highly recommend checking out the Thoth deck as a means of understanding the mystical system upon which Tarot is built, and as a tool for highly detailed divination.
Despite this recommendation, learning the Thoth deck can be a little bit daunting before you learn the system (even if you have other previous Tarot experience). It is not difficult to learn to do readings with the Thoth deck, but there are enough esoteric secrets and hidden symbolism in the deck to inspire a lifetime of study. While you will likely be able to learn to use the Thoth deck for the purpose of divination without consulting a book, in order to understand the depth of the secrets contained in this deck you will need to consult some reference material, even if you have already have some experience with Tarot and some knowledge of the Western mystery tradition. Furthermore, understanding the underlying symbolism, structure, and spiritual philosophy of the deck will help you more effectively use the deck not only as a divination tool, but also as a tool for magickal operations.
The most obvious reference for learning the Thoth deck is Aleister Crowley’s The Book of Thoth: Egyptian Tarot (1944). While this is obviously the most authoritative source on the Thoth Deck, it is not necessarily the most accessible book. Lon Milo DuQuette’s book Understanding Aleister Crowley’s Thoth Tarot: New Edition (2017)is an excellent book which will get the reader up to speed so he/she will be ready to begin to tackle Crowley’s book. In Part 3 of this series of blog posts, the focus will shift from the Thoth deck itself to a review of DuQuette’s book, and to a lesser degree a discussion of Crowley’s book.
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.