Journaling the Thoth

MakoMoonPool

Aside affirmations, are there any "non-traditional" journaling exercises for the Thoth?


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Nemia

I think just like for every other deck. I did Mary K. Greer's exercises with my Thoth (Tarot for Yourself, GREAT book), and I learned a lot from Nina Lee Braden and her wonderful work with tarot for self reflection.

I don't "do" Thelema so I don't take note of the Thelemic process... but for me, the artistic aspects are very important. I look at shapes, symbols and colours, and since my deck is trimmed, I also notice how the cards fit together (the Fool and Temperance for example fit nicely).

In my journal, I write down everything that I learn about a card in a reading.

Banzhaf adds cultural associations like places, music, myths and literature; that's nice, too, and for me, that works better than ready-made affirmations. I don'[t know how his book is called in English; in German, it's Der Crowley-Tarot.

I made my own Tree of Life poster where I write down anything that I understand - I find that Kabbalah insight hits me sometimes in the middle of the night. I also made a simple Tree of Life from colourful glass drops, stuck them on magnets and arranged them on a metal door next to my bed, so I can look at it before I fall asleep. The Tree of Life really helps with understanding the minor arcana - there's a magical combination of astrological, elemental and kabbalistic associations that makes up the card meanings.

I used to write my ideas down and then go and compare with literature. Was a good exercise, should do it again!

Another thing I do regularly with my Thoth is sort the cards according to different criteria. For example, all cards with a connection to Venus or Saturn. Or all cards with a certain basic colour. Or all cards with birds.

The Thoth is so complex and wonderful to work with - there is really no other deck that you can study endlessly like that, IMO.

ETA: I often take pictures of such "topic layouts" and store them in my Evernote files.
 

Zephyros

Well said Nemia, I agree with everything you said. I was also intrigued by some of the methods you suggested, I must try them out myself sometime.

It is also important to keep in mind that you don't have to know everything from the start. What I mean is that I often feel people are put off by what they feel is an impossible learning curve and the absolute necessity of being experts in everything before they even look at a card. But that really isn't the way of it. Some basic knowledge really is necessary to get you up and running but the Thoth is a great learning tool for exactly those subjects that work as its structure. When I started my study of the deck I did take a few months to familiarize myself with the basics of Qabalah but I was far from being an expert. However, after studying the deck I know a lot more now than I did then and become more adept in using it.

All you really need is a basic understanding of the mechanics of the Tree of Life plus a few definitions and you're ready to roll. However you do that, after a few cards you find yourself using the same symbolic tools over and over. Everything in the deck is connected to everything else, and keeping just that in mind opens it up dramatically. As per Nemia's example, all the Saturn cards have some connection, all the fives, etc.

In a way, people create their own Thoth. For me the deck is beautiful Kabbalistic music, while Michael (with whom I butt heads on this occasionally) is far more astrologically inclined. Neither of us is wrong, merely different fingers pointing at the moon.
 

MakoMoonPool

Banzhaf adds cultural associations like places, music, myths and literature; that's nice, too, and for me, that works better than ready-made affirmations. I don'[t know how his book is called in English; in German, it's Der Crowley-Tarot.


It's called "The Crowley Tarot Handbook" in English (I think I'm getting it soon in the mail)
 

Barleywine

I've tried journaling off and on over the years but found that it didn't add enough value to my understanding and use of the cards to be worth the time and effort expended (although I do have a binder of accumulated "cheat-sheet" material from on-line sources that I keep handy). But I also have a fairly encyclopaedic memory (have to put those lapsed Mensa credentials to some good use now that I'm retired ;)) and a decent reference library; if I can't remember an exact correspondence I can almost alway remember where to go find it. In practice, though, decades of "unscripted" use (I hesitate to use the term "intuitive" too loosely with the symbolism-heavy Thoth) backstopped by a solid base of stored knowledge has become such a well-worn path that it's more like an intimate conversation than an exercise in data-extraction.
 

Zephyros

This is a really great idea, and I will try this myself.
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It really does sound like a good idea. An excellent deck to do this with, although it is a Thoth type deck and not the original, is via Tabtla Mundi if you have it. Its cards are specifically created with this in mind.
 

Michael Sternbach

Well said Nemia, I agree with everything you said. I was also intrigued by some of the methods you suggested, I must try them out myself sometime.

It is also important to keep in mind that you don't have to know everything from the start. What I mean is that I often feel people are put off by what they feel is an impossible learning curve and the absolute necessity of being experts in everything before they even look at a card. But that really isn't the way of it. Some basic knowledge really is necessary to get you up and running but the Thoth is a great learning tool for exactly those subjects that work as its structure. When I started my study of the deck I did take a few months to familiarize myself with the basics of Qabalah but I was far from being an expert. However, after studying the deck I know a lot more now than I did then and become more adept in using it.

All you really need is a basic understanding of the mechanics of the Tree of Life plus a few definitions and you're ready to roll. However you do that, after a few cards you find yourself using the same symbolic tools over and over. Everything in the deck is connected to everything else, and keeping just that in mind opens it up dramatically. As per Nemia's example, all the Saturn cards have some connection, all the fives, etc.

In a way, people create their own Thoth. For me the deck is beautiful Kabbalistic music, while Michael (with whom I butt heads on this occasionally) is far more astrologically inclined. Neither of us is wrong, merely different fingers pointing at the moon.

I thought that head butts were against the forum rules. :D BTW, I don't mind the Kabbalistic approach to Tarot - actually I find it quite interesting. Not least because there are so many open questions there... I might well start a thread on this topic soon. ;)
 

Zephyros

No head butts, :) it was merely an example of how, even when two people more or less go by "the rules," there can such disparate viewpoints. People talk about the "traditional" method of using the deck when no two traditionalists are ever the same. And that's a good thing, it makes the deck all the more wonderful, that there are so many ways to approach Crowley, his deck and his work. In the past you yourself have challenged me to rethink many of my accepted views of the deck even though our opinions may differ radically.

So really, I think the best thing to do about learning the Thoth is just to start, and the rest will follow. It has a weird way of taking you places you never expected or never knew you wanted to visit.
 

Michael Sternbach

No head butts, :) it was merely an example of how, even when two people more or less go by "the rules," there can such disparate viewpoints. People talk about the "traditional" method of using the deck when no two traditionalists are ever the same. And that's a good thing, it makes the deck all the more wonderful, that there are so many ways to approach Crowley, his deck and his work. In the past you yourself have challenged me to rethink many of my accepted views of the deck even though our opinions may differ radically.

So really, I think the best thing to do about learning the Thoth is just to start, and the rest will follow. It has a weird way of taking you places you never expected or never knew you wanted to visit.

Reading a post like this one, I always find myself looking for the non-existent 'like' button. :D