Azathoth Tarot

Dusk Till Dawn

Oh, Wow. Had to have it.
 

Eeviee

I'm not one for mono-chrome decks... But let me tell you, the symbolism and detail are MORE than sufficient! In fact, colours may DETRACT from this deck!
 

ZKEI

Thoth?? & Card Stock

a_gnostic said:
The deck is quite interesting: it seems to combine elements of the Thoth (some but not all attributions, card titles, etc.) with a lot of RWS-inspired imagery. I'm not really experienced enough (in general or with this deck in particular) to characterize the deck, but it does seem intriguing at first! I am looking forward to being able to get the companion book, early next year, I hope.
Click to expand...


Thanks for this, a_gnostic.

I'm wondering about the cardstock and coating; how good they are? do they complement with the whole deck?


Also, it seems to me that cards shown on the website are illustrated using the RWS structure. Only card titles and attributes (e.g. astrological symbols, hebrew alphabet) follow the Thoth deck. So, I'm wondering how much Thoth is really illustrated in this deck.

For example, in the Sun and Moon Tarot, minor decks are fully illustrated, but the whole deck still seems to be the Thoth-based or Thoth-inspired deck, IMO.

:)
 

toj

I already got my shipping notification. Now that is fast.
 

Serapis

Hi,

Nemo's Locker:
May I ask how long it took you to complete and if you could give any details/feelings/background about your experience whilst doing so that would be great?

I really like what I've seen of the deck thus far. Very arresting. This may be the dark-themed deck I've been looking for. The twisted yet-familiar symbolism, intricacy, detail and colour scheme seem fantastic. Can't wait to hold in my hand and see more of the cards. Impulse ordered!

This site is horrible. 7th deck ordered this week. =(

Jon
 

a_gnostic

ZKEI said:
...I'm wondering about the cardstock and coating; how good they are? do they complement with the whole deck?
Click to expand...
The cardstock seems medium-thin but not flimsy. The entire deck is slightly higher (i.e. stack the cards and measure the height of the deck, aggregating all the card widths) than my purple-box Thoth deck. The finish is satin, not too slippery, just about right IMHO.

Also, it seems to me that cards shown on the website are illustrated using the RWS structure. Only card titles and attributes (e.g. astrological symbols, hebrew alphabet) follow the Thoth deck. So, I'm wondering how much Thoth is really illustrated in this deck.

For example, in the Sun and Moon Tarot, minor decks are fully illustrated, but the whole deck still seems to be the Thoth-based or Thoth-inspired deck, IMO...
Click to expand...

This is kind of a strange hybrid deck. I happen to have a spreadsheet comparing the terminology used on something like 12 decks, so I went ahead and added a column for this one. Here's how I would characterize it.

  • Trump card titles (and order) are those of the RWS (except for The Magus):
    • 0 The Fool
    • I The Magus
    • II High Priestess
    • III The Empress
    • IV The Emperor
    • V The Hierophant
    • VI The Lovers
    • VII The Chariot
    • VIII Strength
    • X Wheel of Fortune
    • XI Justice
    • XIV Temperance
    • The Last Judgement
    • The World
  • Suits are the same as RWS (Wands, Cups, Swords, Pentacles)
  • Courts are a hybrid (King, Queen, Prince, Princess)
  • Aces are straightforward (Ace of Wands, etc.)
  • Pips are precisely titled after Thoth: Dominion, Virtue, etc.

For the most part, the attributions of Hebrew letters and astrological symbols on the Azathoth's Trumps are the same as those used in the Thoth, but there are a few exceptions. All of the minors on the Azathoth have printed Hebrew letters and astrological symbols (I think they're all astrological). I have not compared these attributions to those used in the Golden Dawn.

As for the scenes, on both the trumps and minors, most all of the scenes appear to be very much like or strongly arranged after those on the RWS.

I suspect that a more careful analysis would confirm that this is basically an RWS ordered and scened deck with Thoth/Golden Dawn attributions. Unless there turn out to be some wacky "substitutions", I kind of like this idea… we'll see how it pans out.

ETA: cards are 3-1/2" by 5". They seem a bit wide to me, but I expect to get used to that. It's a good aspect ratio for the elaborate scenes on the cards!
 

toj

Thank you a_gnostic for the information about the deck. Looking forward to getting it.
 

Nemo's Locker

Thanks for the comments!

Let me try to answer a few of the questions above. This deck took nine months of very long 12-hour days to draw. The work is pen and ink on Bristol board. I’m completely self-taught and seem to suffer from a touch of horror-vacui. Some of the work was meticulously planned (usually the underlying geometry), but much came out in a completely automatic manner. As per A_agnostic’s brilliant deconstruction above, the deck is based the evolution of the Tarot (as I see it), originally through Papus, then as touched by the Golden Dawn: Mathers, Waite, and Crowley, et. al. For some of the trumps I incorporated symbolism from some very old 16th – 17th century cards, as seemed appropriate, as well as some Neolithic art on one card in particular (I’ll let you guess which one).
The traditional symbolism of the Tarot is, for me, the most potent, so I had no desire to break from tradition with my deck. The name ‘The Book of Thoth’ is an old name for the Tarot popular during the Egyptian Revival of early 1900’s. It is also of course the title of Crowley’s book on the Tarot. Therefore it seems natural enough in a Lovecraftian Universe that the Tarot should be called The Book of Azathoth.

Again, thanks to all of you for your comments, and more so for your orders! I hope you all enjoy the deck.
 
Haindl with cream borders (Knaur Esoterik) Vintage vs New Versions-