Anthony Louis "Tarot Beyond the Basics"

rwcarter

In chapter 7, p 233, titled "The Confusion Caused by the Golden Dawn" attempts to explain this a little better. It is interesting to note how he says, "Waite saw his Knights as men over 40" but the deck doesn't seem to look that way. As far as hierachy, in the golden dawn, the steed trumps the chariot (throne?) If you take a look at the Hermetic Tarot you will see the Prince on a chariot titled King (older man) and the Lord on the steed is titled Knight (younger man). Now how should I interpret that in a reading? (now I am going off topic here)

Anyway, I found this book at the library and am enjoying it very much because it is like the title says, "beyond the basics".
Despite what I saw as a typo, I am enjoying the chapter on numerology as it's causing a number of other things to fall into place and finally make sense. I haven't gotten to chapter 7 yet. (I'm reading the book out of order.) Thanks for pointing out his explanation magicjack.

Rodney
 

Le Fanu

Just read the first chapter. On the Celtic Cross. Was hoping for something advanced but it's really just a sample reading, card by card, position by position, of someone called Jane. Ok, there are direct quotes from A.E Waite on what the posititions actally are, something which many people may not know because so few people read Waite anymore (so I suppose that's quite an innovation) but overall, I was expecting something more incisive.

I think I'll get more from the Astrology chapters seeing as I know absolutely nothing about astrology so even just the 12 zodiac signs is already advanced for me.
 

Cocobird55

The astrology part is very useful. The website I'm doing readings on added everyone's sign to their profile, so I needed a quick refresher.
 

rwcarter

I'm still slowly slugging my way through this book and reading the chapters out of order when I have time. I just finished the Astrology 101 for Tarot Readers chapter and have a couple of major quibbles with it even though I did learn some stuff. When he explained the readings he explained them as if he were talking to other Astrologers and not to tarot people who probably didn't understand how he got the interpretations that he did.

My more major quibble is the following partial sentence from page 72:
In his 1911 text The Pictorial Key to the Tarot, Waite used the sequence of the four seasons....
In 1911, the book was known as The Key to the Tarot. It wasn't known as the Pictorial Key until pictures were added in with the text, and that was many years after 1911. Getting basic facts like that wrong undermines his credibility in everything else he says throughout the book.

And one example does not prove his statement
Not only did Pixie have in mind the symbolism of the four seasons but she also took into account the nature of the zodiac sign and decan associated each pip when she painted her cards.
 

rwcarter

My more major quibble is the following partial sentence from page 72:In 1911, the book was known as The Key to the Tarot. It wasn't known as the Pictorial Key until pictures were added in with the text, and that was many years after 1911. Getting basic facts like that wrong undermines his credibility in everything else he says throughout the book.
I am majorly wrong about this one. :| :| :| :| :|
 

Nemia

I'm currently reading this book. Just started with it. It's nice to compare Louis' more traditional way of reading the CC with Marcus Katz' method. Let's see how the rest of the chapters go.
 

Barleywine

I'm currently reading this book. Just started with it. It's nice to compare Louis' more traditional way of reading the CC with Marcus Katz' method. Let's see how the rest of the chapters go.

I found it interesting that his approach to reading the CC is almost identical to the one I learned from Eden Gray's model back in 1972. He even came to the same conclusion I did independently ten years ago that the "crown" position makes the most sense as "the present" since it completes the clockwise rotation of the timeline in a perfectly logical way. I did pick up a couple of useful new hints, but by-and-large it was a confirmation rather than a revelation for me. Since Eden Gray was one of the few who spurned Waite's "Sign of the Cross" arrangement, I'm really wondering if Louis drew from the same well.

ETA: Before anyone brings it up, Louis sees the "cross" as existing in the first two cards of the spread, "Covering" (obsolete name if you don't use a significator) and "Crossing," kind of like a stationary hub around which events turn. Works for me, since those two cards are statically "situational" rather than moving through time. But it could also be called the "Wheel and Stick" spread like the old child's game of rolling a hoop. I like that analogy because it implies that you can direct the course of things by applying the "stick."
 

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Zephyros

My more major quibble is the following partial sentence from page 72:In 1911, the book was known as The Key to the Tarot. It wasn't known as the Pictorial Key until pictures were added in with the text, and that was many years after 1911. Getting basic facts like that wrong undermines his credibility in everything else he says throughout the book.

That's actually the one quibble I have with the USG edition of the book that came with the Centennial. It's all good, except it isn't pictorial. I guess Louis as well as USG thought that since people know the book by its more popular name, there was no harm is using it. There isn't any harm, but it's still a quibble (love that word :))

ETA: I just saw your second post about your being wrong, but there was an edition called "The Key to the Tarot," wasn't there?
 

rwcarter

That's actually the one quibble I have with the USG edition of the book that came with the Centennial. It's all good, except it isn't pictorial. I guess Louis as well as USG thought that since people know the book by its more popular name, there was no harm is using it. There isn't any harm, but it's still a quibble (love that word :))

ETA: I just saw your second post about your being wrong, but there was an edition called "The Key to the Tarot," wasn't there?
The book that came with the original decks in 1909/1910 was The Key to the Tarot. I originally thought the Pictorial Key came out in the 20s. Unfortunately I don't have time right now to figure out when the Pictorial Key first appeared.
 

Teheuti

The book that came with the original decks in 1909/1910 was The Key to the Tarot. I originally thought the Pictorial Key came out in the 20s. Unfortunately I don't have time right now to figure out when the Pictorial Key first appeared.
1911.