[Barleywine]

Originally Posted by foolMoon

I think Crowley is more connecting Thoth Tarot to Greek Myths, Hinduism, Yoga and Buddihsm rather than Christianity in his Book of Thoth and all of his other writings too, hence the reason one has to establish own connecting system between Tree of Life and Thoth Deck, by studying Qabbalah and Tree of Life from other various sources, if one believes they are truly the system for them. I was more into connecting Tarot with Astrology, but now am trying to learn Qabbalah for the process.

Crowley makes a great deal of use of the Tree of Life in his treatment of the Minor Arcana and their relation to the sephiroth, what I call the "energy flow" model derived from the "descent of Spirit into Matter" (Ace through Ten).

[foolMoon]

Originally Posted by Barleywine

Crowley makes a great deal of use of the Tree of Life in his treatment of the Minor Arcana and their relation to the sephiroth, what I call the "energy flow" model derived from the "descent of Spirit into Matter" (Ace through Ten).

His treatment of the minor cards in BoT is very minor both in quantity and content , and seem half-hearted manner.

[Barleywine]

Originally Posted by foolMoon

His treatment of the minor cards in BoT is very minor both in quantity and content , and seem half-hearted manner.

I wasn't talking about his thoroughness (I agree with you there), just that he made frequent use of the sephirotic model to elaborate on numerical correspondences.

[foolMoon]

Originally Posted by Barleywine

I wasn't talking about his thoroughness (I agree with you there), just that he made frequent use of the sephirotic model to elaborate on numerical correspondences.

I see your point as well. He certainly makes a few comments on each minor cards relevant to the Sephiras, but I used to feel it is just way too short and small amount of writings compared to his treatment of the Trumps, so that it seemed like somewhat superficial attitude to these cards and ToL.

[pacificwaters]

Originally Posted by Barleywine

Crowley makes a great deal of use of the Tree of Life in his treatment of the Minor Arcana and their relation to the sephiroth, what I call the "energy flow" model derived from the "descent of Spirit into Matter" (Ace through Ten).

As I started reading more with the Thoth I did observe this. I therefore brushed up on my basics of astrology. Also refer a lot to DuQuette's masterpiece during readings. Also started with the 36 Faces book recently with a means to knowing the Minors better, coz I have observed that astrological details creep up silently and knowing them can make a lot of difference when reading with Thoth.

And well, references to Tree of Life are never ending. And hence the need for a book that co-related them!!

[pacificwaters]

Originally Posted by foolMoon

Great stuff

So far from what I read, I notice that Qabbalah is Judaic and Christian origin, and Tree of Life has been "received" from the God "Elohim" for mapping out minds and the God, so it is originated from the Old Testament, the Pentatoich books. It is further commented in later books like Sefer Yetzirah and Bahir and Zohar. Although it is very Judaic and Christian origin, I think it it also relates to Buddihsm and Hinduism too. How - I am not sure now, and to find out about it.

So if one is not religious, and atheist, then using Tree of Life and Tarot deck in conjunction would be meaningless.

I think Crowley is more connecting Thoth Tarot to the Egyptian and Greek Myths, Hinduism, Yoga and Buddihsm rather than Christianity in his Book of Thoth and all of his other writings too, hence the reason one has to establish own connecting system between Tree of Life and Thoth Deck, by studying Qabbalah and Tree of Life from other various sources, if one believes they are truly the system for them. I was more into connecting Tarot with Astrology, but now am trying to learn Qabbalah for the process.

Snuffin's book is excellent in that it concentrates on Thoth deck symbolsim whilst giving astrological and cabalistic connection information, but also provides mundane meanings of each card even with reverse card meanings - very versatile, practical, clearly written book without narcissistic ramblings.

Interesting in the fact, that I too have been trying to connect Thoth and astrology and now am shifting to understanding the sephiroths.

I dont know how much I will be able to progress, drawing my own interpretations for many things with Thoth. I do stumble with the basic nuances and the terms relating to Qabbalah once too often. I guess that happens when you are from a different faith, the very way terms of Vedic astrology would be easy for me to align too as against those for someone from a different faith.

Fingers crossed !

[Barleywine]

Originally Posted by foolMoon

I see your point as well. He certainly makes a few comments on each minor cards relevant to the Sephiras, but I used to feel it is just way too short and small amount of writings compared to his treatment of the Trumps, so that it seemed like somewhat superficial attitude to these cards and ToL.

As I see the, the numerical, astrological and alchemical correspondences comprise the main value he added to the interpretive canon for the Thoth minor cards (which structurally were mostly - 31 out of 40 - based on the TdM model). Although he mentioned divination as the most practical way to "live with the cards" on a daily basis, I'm not sure he had much more use for it in the larger picture than Waite did, although Crowley wasn't as openly contemptuous of it as Waite was.

ETA: So I don't have to go dig it up again if asked about it, here's my earlier post on the remarkable correlation between the Thoth and TdM structural arrangements. With the exception of the 10 of Wands, all of the Tens appear to have a ToL built into the image.

http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread...ighlight=Thoth

[bradford]

This section in my book will walk you through the Ten Sephiroth of the Tree as developed by the Golden Dawn and Crowley, but the symbolism is presented with reference to interpreting the ten numbers of the 40 Pip cards and not the 22 paths, pathworking, or the Trumps.
http://www.hermetica.info/Tarot.htm#11

[Spiffo]

I'd concur with all the books mentioned above, and add that in my learning I've yet to find that one book that encapsulates the ideas of the Tree succinctly. I'd suggest rather than one book look for a variety of sources; there are plenty of blogs and websites that have good outlines of the Tree and Kabbalah in general.

There is also a new podcast called Fortune's Wheelhouse (by M. M. Meleen and Susie Chang) which is covering one card per episode (starting with the Major Arcana). They are unpacking the symbolism and discussing Kabbalah, and the Tree, and Astrology, plus lots more. They are doing a great job so far and it may be that hearing people talk about it, and relating it directly to the tarot card may be useful for you.

The good thing is they are discussing each card with reference to both the RWS and the Thoth, so all bases are covered.

FYI, Meleen is the creator of the Rosetta Tarot and the (utterly brilliant) Tabula Mundi, and Chang is about to release a major book for Llewellyn on Tarot Correspondences.

[Zephyros]

Originally Posted by foolMoon

His treatment of the minor cards in BoT is very minor both in quantity and content , and seem half-hearted manner.

Probably because by the time you get to that point he expects you to have a grasp of the tools at your disposal. One thing one cannot accuse the Book of Thoth of is spoonfeeding you everything. Having read the chapters about the Trumps, you are already familiar with the Crowley symbolic language, or have enough presence of mind to go further than what he discusses.

In any case, one does not have to devote a lifetime to studying all form of Qabalah in order to have a basic grasp of the Thoth, it's actually quite simple, if approached from the correct point of view. bradford's book is excellent, and there are also sources at the top of the Kabbalah forum right here. Concentrating on the Golden Dawn variant is very useful not only for the Thoth but for all modern decks in general.

I haven't seen this mentioned, but an excellent textbook is Lon Milo DuQuette's Chicken Qabalah. It isn't Tarot-specific, but I don't think any Tarot-specific book is all that good when you're studying the Kabbalistic "language." The student must be able to make the connections themselves.