Thoughts on Thoth Companion books

rwcarter

Yesterday I received The Thoth Companion by Michael Osiris Snuffin that I had pre-ordered from Amazon. I haven't begun studying or using the Thoth yet, although I've had my oldest copy of the Thoth for a decade or more. I'm wondering if anyone else has had a chance to look through this book and what they think of it.

I've been accumulating Thoth books for the day I'm ready to dive in:

Tarot - Mirror of the Soul by Ziegler
Keywords to the Crowley Tarot by Hanzhaf and Theler
Understanding Aleister Crowley's Thoth Tarot by DuQuette
Tarot Handbook by Arrien
Tarot as Your Companion by Banzhaf and Hemmerlein
The Book of Thoth by Crowley

I'm sure there are others in my collection, including books that are only illustrated with the Thoth deck, but those immediately come to mind.

I know "best" and "good" are subjective/personal labels, so instead I'll ask the following questions:

Which book(s) do you think a Thoth-beginner should start with and why?

Which book(s) do you think a Thoth-beginner with a strong RWS background should start with and why? (I would guess Tarot as Your Companion - at least that's what I was hoping when I bought it.)

Which book(s) would you suggest holding off on until one has a firmer grasp on the Thoth and why?

Thanks,
Rodney
 

Dean

rwcarter said:
Tarot - Mirror of the Soul by Ziegler
Keywords to the Crowley Tarot by Hanzhaf and Theler
Understanding Aleister Crowley's Thoth Tarot by DuQuette
Tarot Handbook by Arrien
Tarot as Your Companion by Banzhaf and Hemmerlein
The Book of Thoth by Crowley

I'm sure there are others in my collection, including books that are only illustrated with the Thoth deck, but those immediately come to mind.


Which book(s) do you think a Thoth-beginner should start with and why?

Thanks,
Rodney
Click to expand...

Well i have had my Thoth deck for about 9 yrs and first started off by useing the Book of Thoth, but realised that i needed alot of back ground experiance with Cabbala which i didn't have at the time. It's a long book to get through that left me abit confused at times, but i know most people here found it to be the right book to start with the Thoth.

I read most of the books you have listed above and i think the most books that helped me begin was Tarot - Mirror of the Soul by Ziegler and then with
Keywords to the Crowley Tarot by Hanzhaf and Theler, but found that these books had there own explanations to the card meanings which were abit different from the BOT.
 

Grigori

I'd recommend starting with Duquette, and then the BOT, befoer any of the others. Duquette gives a good introduction to the Thoth tarot, and is great for a beginner. You can then follow that will Crowley's more challenging read, and between the two you will be lead to study further in areas of astrology, qabalah etc.. The advantage of starting this way is that you are learning the cards as Crowley intended them.

You can then start on Banzaf, Arrien etc. being aware that they are presenting their own ideas, and that its not the original intent of the BOT.
 

rwcarter

Thanks Dean and Similia! Different answers, as I expected, but you explained why you gave the answers you did and that helps me as much if not more than the answers themselves.

Rodney
 

ZenMusic

1st get a large version of the deck and a magnifying glass, ((or the modern option of using a good large image computer scan))

also need the Golden Dawn's "Book T" (Tarot) - Waite's/Crowley's original source, is in public domain, you can download it online from many sites

The Book of Thoth by Crowley
A++++ essential :: but a difficult place to start, but very rewarding (i've read it at least 4 times)

Understanding Aleister Crowley's Thoth Tarot by DuQuette
B+:: will give some opening into Crowley's book, a good start; but way too many side comments (if you took out the humor and white space, it would be 1/2 the page count).. the best chapter is on the rosy cross (really excellent)
definately worth the read

The Thoth Companion by Michael Osiris Snuffin
A- ... a very good introduction to the symbols of the Thoth, it could easily be expanded to 2-3 times it's length to cover more

Tarot as Your Companion by Banzhaf and Hemmerlein
A - very good (a good compliment to the Sunffin)

Keywords to the Crowley Tarot by Hanzhaf and Theler
A - I have used this (it has lots of white space) to collect my own research .. until it was completely filled and I was forced to create my own notebooks


Tarot - Mirror of the Soul by Ziegler
D+/C- - not much there

Tarot Handbook by Arrien
F--- absolutely terrible.. this will mislead you, worse than a waste of time..


---others

An Introduction to the Golden Dawn Tarot by Robert Wang
(on the Book T)

The Golden Dawn (Regardie) includes the "Book T" , the essential source book for esoteric tarot


Crowley - 777 (or better, the new Complete Magician's Tables by Stephen Skinner )

The Qabalistic Tarot: A Textbook of Mystical Philosophy - Robert Wang
A+ (needs revision, you'll catch a few errors)

--
you'll find most of this forum's comments on the Thoth are quotes from these books

(oh, if you're new to tarot:: Banzhaf's Tarot as Your Companion: A Practical Guide to the Rider-Waite and Crowley Thoth Tarot Decks .. is the simplist way to learn to read tarot, with simple 4 card readings)

I have spent countless very enjoyable hours over the last 20 years (many with a magnifying glass) finding the details , symbols of the Thoth Deck
 

tabi

I don't really "study" Thoth or Crowley in general but for someone just starting out. Read: Understanding Aliester Crowley's Thoth Tarot by DuQuette, first.

Why? Simply because it is in plain english and doesn't run off on some weird strange tangent of thought. You want to know the ins and outs without getting tangled in whys and what fors just yet. It is a basic overview that makes a great reference guide. Especially with all of it's hand-dandy charts. (yes I know true Crowley's fans are throwing things at me but really it works the best)

Second, Book of Thoth by the great man himself.

Why? Because you want a deeper reflection of the basic book above. I would NOT suggest reading this book back to front to anyone. You have a card that you're looking at and you're not sure why or how it applies to what you're asking. Grab this book and read deeper in Crowley's thoughts. While it may be brilliant it simply a bitch to read.

I would also hunt up LittleBaron/LittleBudda he has several very good threads on Crowley's Thoth with books suggestions.

My two cents worth,
tabi
 

rwcarter

ZenMusic said:
1st get a large version of the deck and a magnifying glass, ((or the modern option of using a good large image computer scan))
Click to expand...
I have the large Thoth and a scanner!

ZenMusic said:
also need the Golden Dawn's "Book T" (Tarot)
The Book of Thoth by Crowley
Understanding Aleister Crowley's Thoth Tarot
The Thoth Companion
Tarot as Your Companion
Keywords to the Crowley Tarot
Tarot - Mirror of the Soul
Tarot Handbook

---others
An Introduction to the Golden Dawn Tarot
The Golden Dawn (Regardie)
Crowley - 777
The Qabalistic Tarot: A Textbook of Mystical Philosophy
Click to expand...
Believe it or not, I have all the books you mentioned above. I just have all the Crowley and Golden Dawn books on a different bookshelf (and in a different room) than the 5 shelves of tarot books!

ZenMusic said:
I have spent countless very enjoyable hours over the last 20 years (many with a magnifying glass) finding the details , symbols of the Thoth Deck
Click to expand...
Thanks for your reviews, ZenMusic!

Rodney
 

rwcarter

tabi said:
I would also hunt up LittleBaron/LittleBudda he has several very good threads on Crowley's Thoth with books suggestions.

My two cents worth,
tabi
Click to expand...
tabi,

Thanks for the pointer to those threads and for giving me your two cents!
Rodney
 

Abrac

I agree with ZenMusic as far as DuQuette goes. His book does have some useful information but it could be better. He tries too hard to be witty and charming if you ask me, and completely skips over things that really should be addressed.

Personally, I like reading the Crowley bios. I think I have learned more from them than anything else. It helps to put things into context and gives a framework for all of the complicated information that can seem like a jumble of nonsense otherwise.
 
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