using the thoth vs. knowing it
smw
sorry, I have no idea... I just looked it up on Amazon and skimmed the first few pages. Looks like quite an interesting dynamic though, apparently written by him and his co author.
Astraea
Beyond the Celtic Cross is very good as a broad introduction to some of the tools, approaches and skills used in the Golden Dawn and Crowley lexicon (elemental dignities, card-counting, directionality), particularly the Opening of the Key Spread. The book is a lengthy analysis of a spread cast by Catherine Chapman, Hughes-Barlow's coauthor and student at the time; it utilizes the RWS deck, as that is the one Chapman used when she posed her original question.
Hughes-Barlow's enunciation and the volume levels on his videos make them difficult to follow at times, but they are crammed with information that can't fit into his books - I recommend returning to them often, even though his method is sometimes idiosyncratic and he can be dogmatic. He really knows this material.
(Edited to add: The spread used in the book is the Celtic Cross, again because that was the spread originally cast by Chapman; Hughes-Barlow opens it up by bringing to it the techniques used by the Golden Dawn and Crowley in reading by the Opening of the Key method - hence the book's title, Beyond the Celtic Cross.)
nicky
Maybe and really so what - if they are happy then I guess the meal was a success. However, the fact that you are asking indicates you want more than chop suey now - and good for you.
Good luck : ) My advice is dont get all caught up in learning EVERYTHING (PS-nobody does) and ENJOY
nicky
Astraea
For anyone who wishes to learn more about the Opening of the Key Spread, in addition to Hughes-Barlow's videos I recommend Marcus Katz' multipart series on his YouTube channel - this link goes to Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlAAy1xtOgc
And I second Samweiss' recommendation of Polyphonic Tarot's YouTube channel (see link earlier in this thread).
And I second Samweiss' recommendation of Polyphonic Tarot's YouTube channel (see link earlier in this thread).
fractalgranny
yeah, i guess i could go to marcus katz, had forgotten about him, thanks. polyphonic i find even more babbly than hughes-barlow. agree that the latter is hard to understand but he really seems to know what he's talking about. funny how he gets all huffy about duquette's ideas on divination
Abrac
I believe it really all depends on you. All of the "secrets" of Hermetic occultism can be boiled down to one thing, correspondences. If you enjoy mentally meandering through all the trails and endless sidetracks of correspondences, then you might be missing something. But if you expect it lead somewhere I think you might be disappointed. The whole adventure is in the correspondences. Not knocking it, just saying.
So it just depends on what's your pleasure. The Thoth can be read as intuitively as any other deck and may have some surprises in store.
So it just depends on what's your pleasure. The Thoth can be read as intuitively as any other deck and may have some surprises in store.
Barleywine
The Thoth can be read as intuitively as any other deck and may have some surprises in store.
That's certainly how I've always used it: intuitively at first and then with judicious forays into the range of correspondences only as necessary for amplification (I usually go in the order of decreasing ease-of-use: elemental, numerological, astrological and then qabalistic (in the "practical" not "traditional" sense since the "hosts of angels" and such don't add much to a practical interpretation IMO).
Abrac
The Book of the Law, 1:57 says:
"All these old letters of my Book are aright; but Tzaddi is not the Star. This also is secret: my prophet shall reveal it to the wise."
Crowley, in his new comment to the Book of the Law, says the following:
"Tzaddi is the letter of The Emperor, the Trump IV, and He is the Star, the Trump XVII. Aquarius and Aries are therefore counterchanged, revolving on the pivot of Pisces, just as, in the Trumps VIII and XI, Leo and Libra do about Virgo. This last revelation makes our Tarot attributions sublimely, perfectly, flawlessly symmetrical.
The fact of its so doing is a most convincing proof of the superhuman Wisdom of the author of this Book to those who have laboured for years, in vain, to elucidate the problems of the Tarot."
He puts forward the idea that it's the correct ordering and correct attributions of the Tarot trumps that provides a "most convincing proof of the superhuman Wisdom of the author of this Book." So it's easy to see from this that correspondences play a very major role in occultism. They have almost a sacred quality.
"All these old letters of my Book are aright; but Tzaddi is not the Star. This also is secret: my prophet shall reveal it to the wise."
Crowley, in his new comment to the Book of the Law, says the following:
"Tzaddi is the letter of The Emperor, the Trump IV, and He is the Star, the Trump XVII. Aquarius and Aries are therefore counterchanged, revolving on the pivot of Pisces, just as, in the Trumps VIII and XI, Leo and Libra do about Virgo. This last revelation makes our Tarot attributions sublimely, perfectly, flawlessly symmetrical.
The fact of its so doing is a most convincing proof of the superhuman Wisdom of the author of this Book to those who have laboured for years, in vain, to elucidate the problems of the Tarot."
He puts forward the idea that it's the correct ordering and correct attributions of the Tarot trumps that provides a "most convincing proof of the superhuman Wisdom of the author of this Book." So it's easy to see from this that correspondences play a very major role in occultism. They have almost a sacred quality.
fractalgranny
thank you, that's helpful. i'll make that a starting point (suspecting strongly that in no time, i'll have to make a decision whether to follow the call of the "endless sidetracks" you mentioned earlier
)