Babalon Jones
When that other recent thread popped up about a new "ultimate" Thoth book, I was excited to have new material to read, until I went and looked at it using Amazon's Look Inside feature. I knew pretty quickly that it wasn't for me and that I probably would not like it or get much of value out of it.
But on the spur of the moment that day, I decided to splurge on another book that was in my "save for later" list for quite some time, maybe a couple of years, and I am glad I did.
It is Phyllis Seckler's "The Thoth Tarot, Astrology, & Other Selected Writings" which is rather new having come out in 2010 published by the College of Thelema.
Now this is more like it! I have only just started reading it methodically but have browsed through all of it, and am enjoying it.
It starts with a biographical sketch of Seckler (Soror Meral) and then has four chapters. The first two are the real meat of the book. The first is on the Thoth trumps and psychology, but also brings in qabalah, alchemy, and magical symbolism. Next is about the Thoth tarot and astrology, which brings in addition to the Zodiacal trumps the court cards and decanic minors. The astrological descriptions of those with the Sun in each decan are quite good, as are the descriptions of those ruled by each court card.
The third chapter consists of letters to and from her and related OTO others, mostly Karl Germer, Jane Wolfe and some from Crowley. The last chapter is an interview the editors (her former students) did with her, which was her last major interview before her death in 2004 at 86.
While it is not light reading and is probably best for those with some familiarity with the topics, that is what I like about it and it is very readable. While it isn't a beginner's book I think it is accessible enough to be of value to anyone.
All in all so far I highly recommend. I only hesitated so long to buy it as it was a bit pricey. But what I didn't know until getting it is that it is an edition of only 777 copies. I got number 711. So that explains the higher cost I guess, and it is a hardcover. If it is in your wishlist too, I would say get it while you can.
But on the spur of the moment that day, I decided to splurge on another book that was in my "save for later" list for quite some time, maybe a couple of years, and I am glad I did.
It is Phyllis Seckler's "The Thoth Tarot, Astrology, & Other Selected Writings" which is rather new having come out in 2010 published by the College of Thelema.
Now this is more like it! I have only just started reading it methodically but have browsed through all of it, and am enjoying it.
It starts with a biographical sketch of Seckler (Soror Meral) and then has four chapters. The first two are the real meat of the book. The first is on the Thoth trumps and psychology, but also brings in qabalah, alchemy, and magical symbolism. Next is about the Thoth tarot and astrology, which brings in addition to the Zodiacal trumps the court cards and decanic minors. The astrological descriptions of those with the Sun in each decan are quite good, as are the descriptions of those ruled by each court card.
The third chapter consists of letters to and from her and related OTO others, mostly Karl Germer, Jane Wolfe and some from Crowley. The last chapter is an interview the editors (her former students) did with her, which was her last major interview before her death in 2004 at 86.
While it is not light reading and is probably best for those with some familiarity with the topics, that is what I like about it and it is very readable. While it isn't a beginner's book I think it is accessible enough to be of value to anyone.
All in all so far I highly recommend. I only hesitated so long to buy it as it was a bit pricey. But what I didn't know until getting it is that it is an edition of only 777 copies. I got number 711. So that explains the higher cost I guess, and it is a hardcover. If it is in your wishlist too, I would say get it while you can.