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Thoth Journal: Virtues I, Justice and Fortitude

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The so-called cardinal virtues of Justice, Fortitude (Strength), Temperance, and Prudence are all (well, maybe all) represented in the Tarot deck. Only three are explicitly given as cards, though. Between this post and the next, we’ll look at what’s visible, and what may be invisible.

We go from cool and cerebral to seriously hot and lusty in the Thoth. Crowley used the pre-Golden Dawn order for these two cards, so Adjustment (Justice) is number 8 and Lust (Strength) is number 11.

Justice (Adjustment)

justice, known as adjustment in thoth tarot

I got this definite sense of burden with the Adjustment card. Our lady Justice is perched on her toes, and those large scales are suspended from her headdress. She seems comfortably balanced with that phallic sword between her thighs (well, maybe the card’s not as cerebral as we thought!). The sense of perfect balance and the power of the feminine at the same time is palpable. She alone decides, but not without passion. Large and in charge, she is.

According to Lon Milo Duquette (Understanding Aleister Crowley’s Thoth Tarot), there was a lot of debate on this one between Crowley (writer and mystical curmudgeon) and Lady Frieda Harris (the artist). He won on keeping it simple. She won on balancing on toes. The lady is supposed to represent Ma’at, the Egyptian goddess of justice, and I do get that Egyptian feel. Not sure there’s a way to escape Crowley’s sensuality in his cards, even in this blue/green cerebral sort of setting.

Fortitude (Lust)

strength card, called lust in thoth tarot

Lust is the ultimate example of Crowley’s worship of the power of the feminine in a way that’s kind of disturbing and apocalyptic in this card. Here’s a nude lady astride a multi-headed beast, orange and red all around, leaning back to accept the serpent’s desire (he’s staring at her vulva). She holds what looks like a red womb in one hand with rays coming out of it. The beast seems to trample traditional piety depicted by praying hands and what looks like a sad nun’s face. At first it looked like Lust might just be a slave to her passions, but with her hand firmly on the tether of the beast, she is definitely in charge even as she’s open to everything.

Balancing (oooh, reference to the previous card!) acceptance with direction seems to be the message. We have desires, can we direct them in a way that serves us at all levels? According to Duquette, this card is quite disturbing to a lot of people (mostly Western culture, I should think) since this lady is the archetypal whore of Babylon. But Crowley’s idea is that she is like the whore because she accepts all desires and transforms them in the grail/womb she holds in her right hand. Powerful stuff, as always with this deck. Challenging, and yet it all works together to form a singular vision from human archetypes found all over the planet.

And Crowley’s not the only one who uses the Strength card to depict taking control of one’s passions—the Druid Craft Tarot does also, along with other decks, I’m sure.

Patterns . . .

So, both cards speak to balance and the power of the feminine (illustrated in more traditional decks by a woman gently controlling a lion), which is kind of interesting since these two cards can be used in the 8th or 11th positions in the deck.

I love patterns; patterns are cool . . .

In the next post, you’ll get an opportunity to pick your candidate for the elusive virtue of Prudence.

Thoth Journal: Princesses and Potentials

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Taking a look at the Thoth Princesses (translate to Pages for RWS-style decks, or Knaves for the Marseille). Aleister Crowley and his artist partner, Lady Frieda Harris, have built a rich set of symbolism over the traditional archetypes in the Tarot, and the Princesses are a very special part of that symbolism. The inimitable Alison Cross, expert on all things court card, once posed some questions to help those of us in a little tutorial of hers to parse the significance of the Thoth princesses. Here are my answers.

Does he/she stand for beginnings?


Princesses. All young, each one very powerful-looking for her seeming age. Sweeping lines. Two in movement (Wands and Cups), two still, one seemingly in study (Disks), the other seemingly in defense against a threat (Swords). Not seeing obvious beginning symbols . . . checking DuQuette (Understanding Aleister Crowley’s Thoth Tarot) . . . ah, here it is. The Princesses have a special relationship with the Aces. Crowley assigns each Princess and Ace to a quadrant of the Zodiac and a geographical region. It’s quite a web he weaves for the entire court.

Tentative steps in an untried direction?


Well, they’re young and sexy, I’ll give ‘em that (maybe not so much the Princess of Cups, but she’s still pretty cool). Untried directions, yep. The two movers (Wands and Cups) are headed off in new directions quite dramatically, as is the Princess of Swords to deal with whatever she’s swinging her sword at (something abstract of course). The Princess of Disks is the only one not moving, but light is shining on her from below, and she seems almost to be summoning something from the Earth.

Traditionally, they are also messengers – is that what you want them to be here?


Each seems to be conjuring something or presenting something to or leaving something for the viewer. A bright multi-petaled disk, an arc of light or a stone pedestal, a tiger or sun wand, and a sea turtle. Actually, the Princess of Wands may just be pointing you to the flaming Yellow Brick Road to Oz.

How do Pages relate to their suit?



Clouds, dark and billowy and shafts of light for Swords. The green of her body and clothing is not standard for the suit, but is likely dictated by the complex esoteric color scheme explained in the beginning of the book. She’s right out there ready to fight.
A semi-abstract forest of brown trunks, what looks like a large fur cloak, and green roots going down into the light from the Earth flank the Princess of Disks. She definitely looks well fed (or pregnant—my, my!?) and studious.

And the Wands thing is quite typical, all fire and red/orange/yellow, dragging a tiger behind her.
The Princess of Cups floats in an abstract blue and yellow sea with a fish, and the sea turtle (her skin is even green).

Are there common features to the beginnings of the Major Arcana, the beginnings of the Minor Arcana and the beginnings of the Court Arcana?

Commonalities between the Fool and the Princesses: A tiger and flames (in the Wands), the diamond crystal in the Princess of Disk’s staff, the reptile (turtle) in the Cups (vs. the crocodile in the Fool), the green clothing on the Princess of Swords.

And as previously mentioned, the Princesses are all wedded by astrology and elemental relationships (they are as a group in with the element of Earth, even though each also represents the element of their suit) to the Aces. The Aces are also the ground of being in the world, dense with matter.

Not your daily draw kind of deck, the Thoth, like I’ve said before. Each Princess carries a version of the Ace’s object with them, be it the disk, the torch, the cup or the sword, in similar style and color.

What’s Your Take?

Lots to look at without even cracking the book. And then, when you do, the Thoth Tarot gives you layer upon layer of symbolic meaning. Almost overwhelming, really, but also very, very fascinating. All hail the Princesses and all hail the power of potential!

I do recommend trying out these questions on the appropriate initial characters in the Court cards of your favorite deck. See what patterns develop. Let me know in the comments what you find out!

The Mary-el Tarot—An Encounter with the Deep

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knight-swords-mary-el
© 2012 Schiffer Books

Nope, not a review, this one. I think the only thing you can do with the Mary-el Tarot  from Schiffer Publishing is encounter it and then walk away with your mind blown (also your heart, your senses, your sensuality).

I saw the launch of this deck several years ago…and was afraid. At first, the art work struck me as wounded, chaotic, downright weird in the good old-fashioned occult sense of the word. I was so visually and viscerally overwhelmed that I couldn’t digest the symbolism, the patterns that followed the Tarot archetypes. Besides, it was described as a Thoth-based deck, which meant all that business of complex layers of Kabbalah, Hebrew letters, Egyptian deities (I did already know about those), deep psychology, probably astrology. Just too much stuff!

3-wands-mary-el
© 2012 Schiffer Books

So, I put the deck on my Amazon wish list and procrastinated. Bought other, simpler decks instead. Very nice ones, but simpler.

Then I won the TABI (Tarot Assoc. of the British Isles) Free Reader raffle again this past month. Yay! It comes with a lovely coupon code to indulge one’s Tarot love at Amazon.com. So, this time I ordered it (along with the Celtic Lenormand—more on that in another post).

OK. Deep breath. Holding my nose…here I go!

So, I got sensible and actually went through the cards one by one while reading the book. Wait, first I read the introduction, and then I realized what a beautiful work of philosophy and art this deck is. Some decks are stronger in story than imagery, whereas others are stronger in art than story. Marie White has covered both at depths I have never encountered in a tarot deck (although Aleister Crowley waxes more complex in the Thoth deck, Marie is easier to understand).

13-death-mary-el
© 2012 Schiffer Books

I consider myself pretty knowledgeable in both deep psychology and mythology, but I learned so much more just reading the intro to this deck. The breadth of knowledge and connections made among cultural traditions is breathtaking (check out Morta the Crone at left—great agent for the Death event).

“Landscapes of the Abyss” indeed. And in Kabbalah, the Abyss is above the Earthly plane. After reading Marie’s take, I think I’m even beginning to follow the intricate patterns of the Hebrew alphabet and the Tree of Life. O miracle of miracles!

19-sun-mary-el
© 2012 Schiffer Books

I’ll do a full take on the Major Arcana for this deck next week after May Day (when I get to do a blog hop post on “icky” tarot cards). Suffice to say for now that the symbolism works wonderfully with the archetypal symbols in The Fool’s journey, with lots of fascinating tidbits from Marie’s text to support them.

 

 

Poetry of the Gods—High Priestess

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high priestess in thothBig challenge I’ve been procrastinating on for Alison Cross’s Tarot study group lesson she titled “storytelling.” She wanted us to make up a story (beginning, middle, end) for cards we’d pulled over several days’ time. That was several weeks ago. Oh, I’ve kept up with other more recent lessons as I continued to put this one off.

At first, the challenge was, “I don’t write stories.” And I don’t. Not in prose, anyway. I’m far too lazy, in a way, to lay out a story with plot and character development over even a page or two. Great at nonfiction reporting, but making up a story out of my head? Nope. So I procrastinated.

Then I thought, well, I do tell stories, don’t I? I write poems. Haven’t written any new ones in over a year, though. Muse has gone missing. Well here’s a good poetry prompt, don’t you think? Then it took awhile to get into the poetry mindset again, but the muse has returned from her vacay along the shores of Ireland and has agreed to participate.

So, this is the first of my poem-stories to fulfill the lesson, and also contribute to my Tarot companion book. Nothing like capturing two birds with one pen. My first draw for this lesson just happened to be the High Priestess/Popess. I thought of going all historical with the Marseille Tarot version of this, but what came out was more like the Thoth version of this lady, and so the picture fits.

Before the Veil

Incense and smoke wind
through a torchlit labyrinth.

She strokes the shadows,
traces marble cracks

where darkness oozes
black onto her icy feet.

The other side of visions;
the other side of stars

she bows low before it,
a bright white veil waving.

Behind it, an altar looms
but no blood nourishes

these gods, only a great book.
Bound she is to its secrets,

alone she stretches hands,
raises dark gray eyes.

She murmurs sybillas
through scarlet lips.

Her curved skin shivers
along its length, shifting.

Behind the veil,
beyond the stars,

She flies into darkness
to bear a message back.

Look upon her pale form,
gaze into those smoky eyes,

and fall yourself into the deep.
Time for consciousness to sleep.

And spirit to awake.

Thoth Journal, Virtues II: Temperance and…Prudence?

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high priestess in thoth

Thoth is back! Back in September during my Tarot study group where I was taking the challenge to understand the Thoth Tarot, I wrote about the first two of the four virtues in the Adjustment/Justice and Lust/Fortitude cards. You can review that post here.

In my study group, we were asked to relate the High Priestess and Temperance to the cardinal virtues (Temperance, Prudence, Justice, Fortitude). The Tarot explicitly addresses Justice, Fortitude (Strength card), (see previous post) and Temperance (in the Thoth, it’s called Art–as in alchemical art), but Prudence is not actually visible as a specific card. So, could it be hidden in the High Priestess?

In the Thoth, which is the deck I used in this study, the High Priestess and Temperance/Art have lots in common, actually. It’s amazing how when I look at the cards, I see certain things, and then I read Duquette’s analysis (Understanding Aleister Crowley’s Thoth Tarot) and find I’ve missed all sorts of symbolic details. Not sure how the High Priestess goes with Prudence, though.

In the Thoth, Temperance is called Art, and the High Priestess just Priestess. Temperance and the Priestess are linked through the Qabalistic symbolism amongst other things. There’s a strong link in terms of the use of symbols for Artemis/Diana, the virgin goddess. Art has abstract bows and and an arrow as well as multiple breasts (these are in a statue of Diana somewhere), and the Priestess represents the virgin goddess Isis and also has a bow and arrows in her lap.

In Art, the alchemical theme in Thoth and some other decks is paramount, with a transformation based on the union of opposites in the Lovers card earlier. The hermaphroditic person has two heads from the Lovers and is mixing fire and water (difficult feat to say the least), and has transformed the essence of the lion and eagle into each other (they are now different colors than they were in the Lovers card). Fire and water hang out in friendly fashion at the bottom of the card. A miracle of mixture has occurred!

The High Priestess guards the gateway to her sensual and spiritual secrets governed by the

art, better known as temperance in thoth

moon with a huge veil running across the card. With the help of her Hebrew letter symbol, Gimel, the Camel, she will carry you across the abyss of your mundane self to access the secrets of the soul.

Links to the other two virtue cards, Adjustment/Justice and Lust/Fortitude: Justice I can see because of the emphasis on balance in Temperance, and even in the Priestess as we couple the inner with the outer, so to speak. Lust is, of course, a vice and not a virtue in the usual interpretation, so Crowley has turned it on its head in a way. But it is about the fortitude to accept one’s entire self, both light and shadow, but probably hold the tether of the beast with the light of the high moon of the Priestess.

In a reading, these two, Priestess and Art, would call deeply to the inner self’s psychological/spiritual journey and maybe not so much to the events of the mundane world. One may be called to meditate (possibly by the light of the moon), integrate one’s shadow self (self-forgiveness) in order to become whole. And then, we presume, life in the outer world will improve.

Now, let me know what card from the Major Arcana is your candidate for the virtue of prudence. Comments are open!

Personal Year with the Thoth

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Thoth FoolOne of the most interesting lessons in my Facebook Tarot study group was the personal year exercise. A little numerology added to the card-choosing process. We were asked to figure our number for this year by adding the numbers for our month and day of birth with the current year, 2012. Mine came out to 10, which translated to three cards (because you use all the digits): The Fool (0), The Magus/Magician (1), and the Wheel of Fortune (10). I drew the following conclusions:

The Fool

This Fool is more like a counterpart to the World, the alpha and the omega. All the elements of the spirit journey surround and suffuse him; only the planets and stars of the outer universe are in the bag, everything symbolic swirls around him (butterfly/soul, cadeucus/healing, dove/Holy Spirit, Tiger and Crocodile/Challenge, Rose and Lilies (love), Flames and Crystals. He hangs suspended, like the figure in the World, rather than on solid ground about to step off into the abyss. And the sun shines through his base/sexual chakra. Sex is creation in the world. He has the Hanged Man’s expression of calm joy on his face. Well, is it the beginning , or the end, or more likely a new spiral in the circle (as indicated by the spiral rings on the card)? I think the Fool is a reminder that there really is no beginning or end, only the infinite spiral, and you can take it like an escalator, up or down, or even sideways. All the tools are at hand for whichever journey you choose to take. Follow the yellow brick road.

 

 

Magus Thoth

The Magus

Enjoying his power to manipulate the universe, this one. Got his winged boots on, Hermes incarnate, with all his spells and tools readily accessible, although a little creature below him is approaching, for good or ill, I know not. The Ape of Thoth makes his way to disrupt the Magus’s alchemical experiments and take him down a notch. With great power comes great responsibility. Don’t get too caught up in Ego, or your wings and your spell/solution may fail you.

 

 

Fortune

The Sphinx, Anubis and Typhon (Magus, Empress, Emperor) all hanging out on the Wheel of Fortune with Stars above and lightning radiating downward, jets of gas pushing out and turning the Wheel, which is the wheel of universal change. Change is the fabric of the universe. Get used to it. Being in the center in side your mind can be helpful in dealing with the changes running the outside of the moving wheel.Fortune Thoth

This year encompasses the whole of the universe in its potential (0 Fool) and manifested (1 Magus) states and in the wheel (Wheel of Fortune 10) of constant change. I seem to be about to be the creator or witness to the birth of an entirely new universe (within or without?). Duquette’s interpretation of the Thoth versions of these cards reminds me of the precepts of Taoism. The Fool, in that system, represents the Tao itself, that which is behind/beyond the manifestation of our universe as we know it, the whatever was not that was before the Big Bang, as it were, the nothing from which all somethings arise. And of course the Magus/Magician is the Te, the Will to create as it happens. And within that creation spins the Wheel of constant change, the dance of opposites (good luck/bad luck). On a more practical note, this year seems to be the one where my card deck based on the cosmology of the physical universe will be manifested, should I so choose. And it looks like I should…:)

Mysteries of the Thoth

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So, there I was, happily practicing daily readings with my Original RWS and other related decks, solidifying some of my own interpretations and getting to know the traditional ones, when–suddenly!–I was called to meet the Thoth. Just a little synchronicity of joining a Tarot study group over on Facebook that was going to go through some daily lessons to get familiar with a deck. I figured I’d use one of my RWS-based decks. I was supposed to pick up a journal to record my observations in and went over to Etsy.com (a craft and vintage entrepreneurial community) to see what folks had made, and sure enough, the only journal with a Tarot theme that had enough pages had a Thoth collage on it. So, there I was, synchronized to jump into Thoth-world.

Ace of Cups ThothWasn’t feeling real ready, but I do love a symbolism challenge, so I decided to go for it. The Thoth deck was created in the 1930s from a collaboration between Aleister Crowley and Lady Frieda Harris. He, the philosophy, she the artwork. The early 20th-century Art Deco and abstract expressionist influences are quite transparent. The symbolism less so, layered, and complex. I won’t go into the whole thing with Crowley yet, but suffice to say he was a controversial figure who at one point belonged to the same Golden Dawn esoteric mystery society as A. E. Waite of the RWS deck. But he did his own research on Tarot origins and came up with his own visions for the Thoth deck (Thoth is the Ibis-headed Egyptian god of magic and the judgment of the dead). The evidence for a real connection between Egypt and the Tarot is sadly lacking, but it was a popular notion at the time Crowley was doing his research, and in any case, Crowley also felt that the symbolism he used reflected universal human desires, fears, and thoughts about life, the universe, and everything.

The trouble with the Thoth is that it requires some serious dedication to learn. And that’s also a good thing. I am using Lon Milo DuQuette’s highly recommended book, Understanding Aleister Crowley’s Thoth Tarot to support my learning. So, the next series of blog posts will be mostly about my developing partnership with the Thoth, but I will digress occasionally to other systems.

Start 17 Thoth


I’ll close now with my initial post to the group after pulling six cards for an “interview” with the deck:

“I am using the Thoth, by Crowley and Harris. I know the basics of the RWS perspective pretty well; it seems to be time to take on the Thoth’s multi-aspect view of things (astrology, tree of life/kabbalah/myth). Besides, in my interview with the deck before I started, it said it would kick my butt (5 of swords), so, the gauntlet has been thrown, as it were. Not that I want to have a negative relationship with the Thoth, mind you, but I think I’m meant to respect the intellectual and spiritual challenge of understanding it. So, whenever I get discouraged or want to give up, I shall remember this challenge and flow on to mastery!”

So we hope (the bit about mastery). As if we could ever truly master a symbolic system, I suppose. I’m looking forward to the challenge and have learned quite a bit so far in the first week of checking out the deck. If you’d like a fun and informative take on the weird and different way Crowley and Harris portrayed the Court cards in this deck, check out Alison Cross’s latest post at her blog, This Game of Thrones.Knight of Disks Thoth

© 2013 – 2020 Joanne Sprott