Why is the Thoth deck so popular?

Thoughtful

Jim Morrison of The Doors had a few pithy words that describe the experience of connecting with the Thoth:

"The gate is straight
Deep and wide
Break on through to the other side"



The "straight" part may not resonate with you, as it's hardly "milk for babes,"

l may yet break through to the other side.
Hmm though you see me still at mothers breast and not yet ready to wean l can take that :)
 

smw

Jim Morrison of The Doors had a few pithy words that describe the experience of connecting with the Thoth:

"The gate is straight
Deep and wide
Break on through to the other side"

The "straight" part may not resonate with you, as it's hardly "milk for babes," but I had a decent grounding in qabalistic principles and literature when I first encountered the Thoth, so it was like "meat for strong men" to me.

Meat for strong men? Oh my :joke: Is that with or without LSD sauce...
 

Barleywine

Meat for strong men? Oh my :joke: Is that with or without LSD sauce...

Haha, I shudder to think what we would have if Crowley had seasoned his "meat" with that. (Of course, I was referring to the BoT and not the Doors' lyrics as "meat;" Morrison had a different way with "meat.")
 

Richard

I guess The Doors must have stopped the thread. Most ATers may be too young to know about them and how they openly expressed the angst that many of us felt at the time.
 

Thoughtful

No Richard l think we have our heads buried in the Thoth Tarot and book at present :joke:
We occasionally surface to ask our questions and get enlightenment from the stately elders of the Thoth. Being an elder myself and far from stately in knowledge l need to keep my head down and read, learn and practice.
 

MakoMoonPool

I personally like the imagery of Thoth, because the christian symbolism is downplayed compared to RW and eastern ideas is encouraged (me being a newager with a PanenDeism view that's a big plus).
 

nicky

The Thoth is like having a box of wisdom in your hands - mythology, kabbalah, astrology, geometry, etc etc - once you read the book a few zillion times you could use this as a deserted island deck and have all the stories you could ever need.
 

foolMoon

Haha, I shudder to think what we would have if Crowley had seasoned his "meat" with that. (Of course, I was referring to the BoT and not the Doors' lyrics as "meat;" Morrison had a different way with "meat.")

Come to think of it, in a way Morrison's performances used to remind me of some form of magickal rituals. If I come across their vids again, I will closely look, to see if I can detect similarity to LBRP.
 

Barleywine

Come to think of it, in a way Morrison's performances used to remind me of some form of magickal rituals. If I come across their vids again, I will closely look, to see if I can detect similarity to LBRP.

Indeed, they were certainly magical, as long as Morrison wasn't too loaded; when he was, he was sloppy. But, as mystical as it sounded, I'm not entirely sure how metaphorical "Ride the snake to the lake" really was; maybe it was simply about a 7-mile road trip to go for a swim ;). Morrison fancied himself a poet, but he seemed to be channeling something larger (and darker) than himself. Unlike Jimmy Page and Ozzy Osbourn, there were no overt Crowley, Thoth or tarot references that I can recall. As most here know, Page owned Boleskine House, formerly owned by Crowley, from 1970 to 1992, but only spent six weeks there during all that time. He admits to "reading a lot of Crowley," but I never saw anything mentioned about the Thoth tarot. On the other hand, I suspect the illustration of The (RWS) Hermit on the fourth album cover came from Page, since Plant always seemed more like a Tolkien/faerie kind of guy. I'm sure it helped lure in the rock crowd to tarot (when they were finally done puzzling over what Stairway to Heaven meant).
 

foolMoon

Indeed, they were certainly magical, as long as Morrison wasn't too loaded; when he was, he was sloppy. But, as mystical as it sounded, I'm not entirely sure how metaphorical "Ride the snake to the lake" really was; maybe it was simply about a 7-mile road trip to go for a swim ;). Morrison fancied himself a poet, but he seemed to be channeling something larger (and darker) than himself. Unlike Jimmy Page and Ozzy Osbourn, there were no overt Crowley, Thoth or tarot references that I can recall. As most here know, Page owned Boleskine House, formerly owned by Crowley, from 1970 to 1992, but only spent six weeks there during all that time. He admits to "reading a lot of Crowley," but I never saw anything mentioned about the Thoth tarot. On the other hand, I suspect the illustration of The (RWS) Hermit on the fourth album cover came from Page, since Plant always seemed more like a Tolkien/faerie kind of guy. I'm sure it helped lure in the rock crowd to tarot (when they were finally done puzzling over what Stairway to Heaven meant).


I used to listen more of Led Zepps in my younger days, as they were my favorite. Has not Boleskin been burnt down at some point in the past? I am not sure, but feel that's what I read from somewhere.

From recent appearance on media, they all seem getting old fast. RP's vocals didn't sound as sharp and energetic, and JP's guitar playing was not as powerful as in the 70s.

Stairway to heaven reminds, now come to think of it, Tree Of Life, and I am sure associations of all these music legends, AC, somewhat mysterious figure lady F. and Book of Thoth ... etc all closely or remotely contribute to the popularity of Thoth tarot.