Hi all,
This is my first post, and I should start by saying that I'm new to Tarot, and to the Thoth deck. After deciding that I wanted to learn about the Tarot for personal unfoldment I went shopping, and the Thoth deck picked me - I knew nothing about it's history, or about Crowley really, but the deck was my only serious choice after seeing the artwork. After buying the deck and starting to research both it and Crowley I was surprised to find that I had accidently chosen one of the most complex decks available, rich in symbolism and meaning.
Here's where things got interesting. Last night I wanted to really meditate on a card and study as much of the symbolism on the card as possible. I didn't have a magnifying glass, and wanted to really get a good look at the card, so I did the next best thing to a magnifying glass - I have a digital SLR camera with a macro-focus lens, so I took a picture of the card which allowed me to bring it into the computer at a very large size and with every detail easily viewable. I took maybe 8 or 10 pictures, shooting about 4 cards in the process.
When I brought the pictures into the computer, about five of the shots were blurry (it took me a few tries to get things set up right for the best possible shot of the card). The first card I shot was "The Fool" card. I sent the best shot of that card into Photoshop so I could zoom in and out and really see the detail. (The detail was amazing, and for anyone who is curious, this is an excellent way to really see all card detail!) That's when I noticed.
I looked up at the filename for the card. The auto-generated filename for the card (I still have a hard time getting my mind around this) was Image_0666.jpg. I sat there, absolutely stunned. The probabilities around this happening by chance are so incredibly small that it boggles the mind. This was Crowley's number. When I saw it I just froze. It also made me smile, thinking that this was Crowley's way of "winking" at me or something. It's not just that the filename had been randomly assigned, but also that out of the 10 pictures I had taken, that particular one was the first really clear shot, the first to really reveal it's detail and be in focus.
I have to say, I was more than a little overwhelmed by this - again, the probabilities against that particular photo being the 666th image taken/cataloged in my photo software, let alone the fact that it was the first clear shot of the card, plus the fact that 666 was Crowley's moniker - taken together I don't see how it can be much of anything other than his influence in my undertaking. Pure coincidence doesn't begin to satisfy as an answer.
So, with that story I want to say hello to all, and say I'm glad to have found the forum and look forward to learning. I have to say I'm almost overwhelmed already by what I think are some really powerful cards, especially based on my experience last night.
Bill V