Tarot Deck Review # 11 - The Thoth Tarot

Known as the Thoth, the Crowley or the Crowley-Harris tarot variously, this deck is one of the tarot standards. Although taken from the Golden Dawn tradition just like the RWS, the Thoth has a much different "feel".

Created over several years as a collaboration between Crowley - once the most hated (and feared) man in England, and "Lady" Frida Harris, these cards are both more complex and more simple than the RWS deck because of the nature of the symbolism used.

The Thoth is a much more elemental deck, and although the symbolism comes from a number of spiritual traditions, the Christian elements are minor. Instead, Crowley drew from India, Native America, and Asian traditions. Alchemy was another strong influence, as well as the Kabbala. Crowley was an interesting character, with some knowledge of modern physics and other physical sciences. In my opinion the Thoth is the Golden Dawn Era deck most influenced by science.

This deck comes in many sizes, the large green-tinted deck, several standard sized decks, mini decks, and giant decks. The pips are not fully illustrated, although they do give hits as to the meaning, both by coloration as well as small details.

Many readers and tarotist report "bad vibes" from this deck - my guess is from Crowley's reputation more than the cards themselves. After reading several biographies about him, I found him fascinating. Unpleasant, and not someone I would have wanted to associate with, but definitely extremely intelligent. Looking at him from a modern perspective, I would guess that he suffered from some kind of mental illness. That doesn't mean he wasn't brilliant.

While I don't agree with most of his theories, I gained quite a few interesting perspectives on the psychological and scientific aspects of tarot when I studied this deck in depth.

I would recommend this deck to a dedicated beginner, or more advanced reader. A beginner would be greatly helped if they had some previous knowledge of other kinds of magical, or mythical, studies.

Reading with the Thoth I find it easy to miss subtleties. Sometimes the cards seem nearly impenetrable, at other times very direct. I don't give my decks personalities generally. They are, after all, ink and paper, but I find myself thinking that this deck tends to be somewhat overly dramatic on daily readings. It also seems to have a somewhat sly sense of humor, if one were to give it human characteristics. Which I don't. Really.

This is a must-have deck.

This deck could be a good deck for a beginner.

This deck is in print.