THE SECRETS OF THE THOTH TAROT

VOL I: A MAGICAL ATLAS OF THE UNIVERSE

THELEMA, THE AEONS & THE MAJORS

Marcus Katz

Forge Press: Keswick, 2018.

Copyright © 2018 by Marcus Katz

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, contact the author c/o P.A.

Forge Press

Website: www.marcuskatz.com

Email: pa@celestialcanopy.com

Permissions

Although I have received, over several years, courteous replies from the O.T.O., owners of the Thoth Tarot copyright, I have been unable to receive permission to use the Thoth Tarot images in this work.

It is impractical to use a clone version of the deck, given the detail I have provided in the text for specific symbols within every individual card. I trust readers will have their own Thoth Tarot deck to hand as they reference this book or use any of the innumerable images of the deck online.

I have also provided a mailing list for distribution of supporting images and graphics for the book.

DEDICATION

To Daleth.

And as ever, and above all, this book is spiritually dedicated to

Antistita Astri Argentei

The Priestess of the Silver Star

She whose light leads the way to the Arcanum Arcanorum , the Secret of Secrets

Vos Vos Vos Vos Vos

V.V.V.V.V.

Discover the Western Esoteric Initiatory System®

www.westernesotericism.com

Acknowledgements

I am indebted to first readers of the manuscript for this book, Soror C.L. and Soror R., and to the following who kindly provided invaluable response to an early chapter draft:

Camille Chan

David Gemmell

Evalyne Hall (www.evalynesgardengate.com )

Jade Moore (www.neter.co.uk )

John J Oliver (www.johnjoliver.com )

Katie Thompson

Miranda Parke (runicashes.weebly.com )

Paula Malone

Sarah Perks

Scott Kellogg (www.scottkellogg.com )

Steph Engert (www.starlight-dragon-press.eu )

Troy MacKellar

A note on Abbreviations

Throughout this book and the following two volumes, I have referenced a large collection of books written by Crowley. In order to simplify repeated references, I have abbreviated selected titles, such as BOT for Book of Thoth. The corresponding title and edition can be found in the bibliography.

FREE THOTH TAROT MATERIALS

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The Tarot is an Atlas of, and Guide Book to, the Universe. It has been my daily study since Feb. '99, and my researches have cost me several thousand pounds.

I have long determined to construct a pack embodying all the new knowledge gained from Anthropology, Comparative Religion, & so forth.

Lady Harris offered to execute the cards from my designs. It was agreed that I should have a 2/3 share in the venture.

From my rough sketches & descriptions, under my continual inspection, subject to my constant correction - I made her do some cards over again 5, 6 even 8 times in one case - she made the set now on show at the Berkeley Galleries. (There is one exception: the card numbered I was not shown to, or authorized by, me. I suspect a trick in this.)

She has damaged the property by offering it for sale at cost price, thus alienating the libraries & booksellers, and reducing my 2/3 interest to nil.

I value the copyright at something like £20000. (A crude, vilely drawn & coloured, ignorant, inferior pack, published in 1902 or thereabouts, has sold over 1000 copies every year since then at 15/- a copy. I am quite sure that these admirable cards, with my book on the subject, which was to go with them in an ornamental box, would bring in far more annual receipts. I have a large following in U.S.A.–they send me £50 a month or more - which is growing rapidly. [1]

Extract of letter from Aleister Crowley to his solicitor, Isidore Kerman, July 9, 1942.

Introduction

I invoke thee, I A O, that thou wilt send H R U, the great Angel that is set over the operations of this Secret Wisdom, to lay his hand invisibly upon these consecrated cards of art, that thereby we may obtain true knowledge of hidden things, to the glory of thine ineffable Name.  Amen. [2]

The Thoth Tarot is a complex deck designed by a complex man and illustrated in a complex style by a complex woman over a period of five years during which raged a second world war. It illustrates a complex philosophy, a unique political and psychological perspective, a new religion, wide-ranging mysticism and decades of magical practice. It was created towards the end of the complex life lived during a complex time and written about by the author, Aleister Crowley, in a complex manner.

The Thoth Tarot is a complex tarot.

In this book, I aim to distil that complexity in the clearest way possible from a study of the deck and its use over thirty-five years. I have also drawn upon my own experience where it parallels Crowley’s life and magick, such as travelling in Egypt or performing the Sacred Magick of Abramelin the Mage.

Where applicable, I have used personal studies of Crowley’s original manuscripts, diaries and journals held in archives around the world. These reveal a wealth of additional sources through unpublished writings such as the Invocation of Hoor (1904) and unmentioned side-notes or annotation. Together, these materials place his life and work into a fuller context.

There are already several significant biographies of Crowley, which I will reference and suggest in order of personal preference. There are several academic works on his place in society and his politics, which I will also reference. I do not present in this book a fully detailed account of his life, in favour of these existing biographies, but rather highlight aspects of his life and work which are most significant to his Tarot.

I feel it is important to attempt a basic understanding of Crowley’s Thelemic philosophy, and apply this whilst interpreting the deck, rather than remove him from the very deck he designed. To that end, we will look at Thelema, the Aeons, and ancient Egyptian myth as we unpack the deck. We may also find ourselves in the upper echelons of eschatology and mathematics, as much as we delve into the depths of sexual magick and kabbalah. Strap yourselves in!

You are about to discover that the secrets of the Thoth Tarot are the secrets of a complex and powerful magick - a magick that can be used on your table in every reading - and one that can change the way you see and act in the world.

We will first take a brief look at the tarot itself and Crowley’s thoughts on the deck and divination in general.

Frater V.

Winter Solstice 2016 – Summer Solstice 2018.

Contents

The Tarot

Aleister Crowley

Crowley on Tarot

Crowley on Divination

Magick and Correspondences

Kabbalah

The Aeons

Alchemy

Sex Magick

Astrology

The I-Ching

The Golden Dawn

The Book of the Law

The Stele of Revealing

The Holy Guardian Angel

The Abyss

Lady Harris

Projective Geometry

The Creation of the Thoth Tarot

The Names of the Cards

Justice and Strength

Tzaddi is Not the Star

The Sixth Thelemite

The Pronunciation of Thoth

The Name of Thoth

The Hierology of the Thoth Deck

The Thoth Deck as Egyptian Tarot

The Houses of the Gods

The Presences in the Majors

The Presences in the Court Cards and Minors

The Nature of the Gods

The Vision and the Voice

The Paris Working

The Major Arcana

0: The Fool

I: The Magus [Magician]

II: The Priestess [High Priestess, Popess]

III: The Empress

IV. The Emperor

V: The Hierophant

VI. The Lovers

VII: The Chariot

VIII. Adjustment (Justice)

IX. The Hermit

X. Fortune (The Wheel)

XI: Lust (Strength)

XII: The Hanged Man

XIII: Death

XIV: Art [Temperance]

XV: The Devil

XVI: The Tower (War)

XVII: The Star

XVIII: The Moon

XIX: The Sun

XX: The Aeon [Last Judgement]

XXI: The Universe

Patterns in the Thoth Tarot

Creation Cards

THE BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

AMBROSII MAGI HORTUS ROSARUM

The Wake World

LIBER XXX AERUM vel Saeculi sub figvra CCCCXVIII

The Book of Lies

Magick in Theory and Practice (Book 4, Part III)

LIBER CCXXXI

Thoth Tarot Spreads

Thoth 3-Card Spread (Majors Only)

Thoth 15-Card Tarot Spread

The Sleeping Beauty Method

Conclusion

APPENDICES

APPENDIX A

APPENDIX B

APPENDIX C

APPENDIX D

Bibliography

BONUS CONTENT

The Tarot

The Thoth Tarot is one of several thousands of tarot decks. The tarot is a set of seventy-eight cards structured in forty cards numbered Ace to Ten in four Suits; Pentacles (Coins, Discs), Swords, Cups and Wands (Staves); sixteen cards arranged in four Ranks in each Suit; Page, Knight, Queen and King and twenty-two Major Arcana. The cards arose in this pattern, named tarrochi and later tarot , in Italy during the mid-15th Century and in the 18th Century became conflated with ancient Egyptian mysteries, occultism and fortune-telling.

By the turn of the 19th Century the deck was being used within the Western Esoteric Initiatory System and following the publication of the Waite-Smith Tarot in 1909, enjoyed a brief renaissance before fading again - until a revival during the mid-1960’s.

At the start of the 21st century, once again the tarot became prominent, through social media and increasingly accessible means of funding and publishing decks. [3]

The history of tarot can be studied in more detail through the bibliography at the end of this present work. Our interest in this book is to explore the specific tarot deck conceived between 1938 – 1943 by the notorious occultist, author, painter, mountain-climber, chef and poet, Aleister Crowley (1875 – 1947), which was co-designed and painted by Lady (Frieda) Harris (1877 – 1962).

We will briefly introduce the lives of both and in following sections, we will look at a few aspects of Crowley’s thinking about tarot, divination and magick.

Aleister Crowley

Aleister Crowley was born in Leamington Spa in 1875 to wealthy parents who were part of the Plymouth Brethren movement. He was educated at the University of Cambridge and went on to become a mountain climber, poet, novelist, publisher, artist, amateur chef and chess player. He also invented several sports games, variations of card games, and submitted a proposed golf course to St. Andrews in Scotland. He was sexually promiscuous with both sexes and earnt himself – likely also gave to himself - the title of ‘wickedest man in the world’.

He ran an ill-fated commune in Sicily before being expelled, became the manager for a group of dancing girls, and travelled almost globally. Along the way, he became one of the most influential occultists of his time, a prophet of a new age, and an icon for the counter-culture movement. He also designed a tarot deck.

He died in 1947 (aged 72) of chronic bronchitis in a relatively well-appointed boarding house with his wife and son present, and where he regularly received visitors from friends and admirers. His later works included a collection of letters originally entitled ‘Aleister Explains Everything’ and published as Magick Without Tears , and his tarot deck, summarizing a lifetime of esoteric experience.

In this present work, I do not intend to provide a detailed biography, in favor of recommendations for those already published, however, we will briefly touch on several points of his outlook which might assist our appreciation and understanding of his tarot deck.

Crowley would have first learnt tarot in the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, into which he was initiated in 1898. [4] He rapidly assimilated the entire corpus of teachings within the Order, and within a few years was demonstrating a remarkable utilization of tarot in presenting his own personal cosmology, integrating religious and mythic thought from a variety of cultures.

Whilst Crowley did not often consult tarot, preferring the I-Ching for daily divinations, he appears to have had a European-style tarot deck or playing card deck at several times for the performance of readings. We will cover these in the following two books of this present trilogy.

He saw a form of ‘scientific illuminism’ in his work – “the aim of religion, the method of science”. It is arguable whether Thelema itself is a system, a new tradition, a religion or a philosophy.

Crowley certainly saw his system as something more than a religion:

A religion then, is a more or less coherent and consistent set of beliefs, with precepts and prohibitions therefrom deducible. [5]

To sum up, our system is a religion just so far as a religion means an enthusiastic putting-together of a series of doctrines, no one of which must in any way clash with Science or Magick. [6]

Crowley was also scathing of mysticism, warning that the scientific approach was necessary in avoiding a loss of the critical faculty:

Mysticism forms one of the studies of the curriculum but it is subject to rigid intellectual criticism and its students are warned against the danger of emotionalism and are frequently corrected on the subject.

In this he was similar to Paul Brunton (1898 – 1981) whose Hidden Teachings Beyond Yoga (1941) argues a similar case against the “one-sidedness of their [mystics] outlook and the incompleteness of their experience” due to their “sheer shrivelled complacency, the hidden superiority-complex and the holier-than-thou attitude which they had unjustifiably adopted toward the rest of the world and also out of the premature assumption of total knowledge of truth when what they had attained was only partial knowledge”. [7]

In fact, Crowley took a scientific stance towards his teaching. He stated that:

It is my job to help such people [who come to study] to solve their own complex equations by scientific study of the elements of their characters and environment, and the relation between them.

And it was in pursuit of this stated cause that he developed his own brand of magick:

I have separated the essence of these doctrines from their dogmatic, racial and climatic accidents, applied a strictly scientific method of analysis and synthesis and harmonised the whole into a perfectly elastic yet perfectly rigid method.

Further, the full development of these [doctrines] envisages a fundamental reconstruction of society whose essence is the acceptance of the law of Thelema as the canon of ethics. [8]

We will come to see how the tarot illustrated this method and implies the reconstruction of society through the law of Thelema.

Crowley on Tarot

Crowley first learnt tarot in 1898 when he joined the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. He came to define the tarot as “a pictorial representation of the Forces of Nature as conceived by the ancients according to a conventional symbolism”. [9] However, he not only saw a tradition to the tarot but also had a revisionist attitude and a specific drive to create a new form of tarot deck. In this he followed fellow esotericist A. E. Waite, who had intended to offer a “rectified” tarot in his preliminary design of the tarot co-designed and drawn by Pamela Colman Smith in 1909.

He had certainly toyed with the idea of creating a tarot deck at least once prior to the creation of the Thoth Tarot in 1938-1943.  He painted a small series of oil studies for tarot some seventeen years earlier in 1921, during his time in Cefalu, Sicily. This apparently commenced after receiving a dream or vision of the Hermit card. The Hierophant, Moon and Sun survive from this series, and show a crude and forceful design with strong, vibrant colours. [10]

The ‘Hierophant’ features a phallic headdress and “666” on the robe of the main figure. The Stele of Revealing is shown in the upper-right corner of the image, indicating Crowley already saw the tarot as a vehicle to illustrate the law of Thelema. The ‘Moon’ card develops the usual symbolism of that card, featuring elaborate buildings instead of towers. It also adds the Anubis figures and the Khepra beetle to replace the crayfish, again showing that Crowley associated the ancient Egyptian deities with the deck. [11] The Sun is a likely self-portrait, showing Crowley as the vehicle of light for the New Aeon. He also sketched designs for Frieda Harris, many of which survive, as well as her several drafts. [12]

Crowley wrote that his endeavour in modifying the designs of the deck were “to preserve those essential features of the Tarot which are independent of the periodic changes of Aeon, while bringing up to date those dogmatic and artistic features of the Tarot which have become unintelligible”. [13]

His aim was to identify and preserve the esoteric teaching within the tarot – and to illustrate it anew with a modern sensibility; a sensibility he described as being a “new Aeon” or age. He believed he had a peculiar and unique insight into this new age of mankind, and that his philosophy of Thelema – a Greek word meaning “will” – was the statement of this Aeon.

He also saw the tarot as a magical device, writing in later life to a student:

Obviously, the Tarot itself as a whole is an universal Pantacle – forgive the pleonasm! Each card, especially is this true of the Trumps, is a talisman; and the whole may also be considered as the Lamen of Mercury. [14]

The totem card of the Thoth deck is not the Magician, nor the Fool, nor even the Devil; it is rather the lowly Princess of Disks, the final card, the last of the Court Cards and the earthy part of earth. In this lowest manifestation of everything, Crowley finds redemption and the fruit of his philosophy of Thelema. He may as well have been talking about the Thoth deck itself when he speaks of this card; we can imagine too, that like the Princess of Disks, the Thoth Tarot “bears within her body the secret of the future”. The deck contains “attributes which will be pure in themselves, and not necessarily [be] connected with any other attributes which in the normal way one regards as symbolic”. Most of all, both the Princess and the deck itself will share a “general reputation … of bewildering inconsistency”. [15]

We will look further at what Crowley meant by Aeons and Thelema before we look at the Major Arcana which uniquely illustrate these concepts.

Crowley on Divination

As with fellow occultist and tarot deck designer A. E. Waite (1857 – 1942), Crowley held contradictory attitudes to divination throughout his life. He would state that fortune-telling was a debasement of the esoteric teaching held within the tarot yet used tarot and other forms of divination such as the I-Ching, Astrology and Geomancy as a regular method of guidance. We will examine many of the divinations and fortune-telling carried out by Crowley in the second book of this present series.

He also felt that there was an intrinsic danger in divination. He writes in the Book of Thoth :

It is quite impossible to obtain satisfactory results from this [the Opening of the Key Spread] or any other system of divination unless the Art is perfectly required. It is the most sensitive, difficult and perilous branch of Magick. [16]

He goes on to refer the reader to Chapter XVII in Magick as indicating the “necessary conditions” for divination. [17] He even warns of “formidable and irremediable disasters” which will “infallibly destroy” those who neglect his warnings on the subject. [18]

It is in section IV of Chapter XVIII of Magick that we locate his writing on divination, fittingly corresponding to the Moon (card XVIII) and the chapter dealing with Clairvoyance and the Body of Light. In Section IV Crowley explains that divination is an important branch of magick but would require an entirely separate treatise. Be that as it may, he does offer very specific information, of the art and its dangers.

Firstly, he states that “transcendental information” is essential to the wisdom of any act of magick, and that the gaining of such information from “superior intelligences” through clairvoyance and ritual requires elaborate preparation and years of experience. He goes on to write that “it is therefore useful to possess an art by which one can obtain at a moment’s notice any information that might be necessary. This art is divination”. [19]

Secondly, he states that there is a particular state of consciousness that is required for a successful divination, and a particular attitude in responding to the oracle. His warning is that any bias on the side of the reader will “deflect the needle from the pole of truth”. [20] The correct state is precisely balanced between transcending the issue altogether yet focusing on it purely for its own sake. This difficult state is essential but requires a brutal self-honesty and experience; in fact, Crowley suggests that “in order to divine without error, one ought to be a Master of the Temple”. [21] This is an exalted grade of initiation, whose conditions we will examine in the Chariot card, and carries with it the state of having overcome the illusion of duality.

The tarot was often on Crowley’s mind as containing erudite secrets. In 1925, concluding his writing of his autobiography, he bemoaned ‘so much to do, so little done’ and particularly mentioned the Tarot:

The true significance of the Atus of Tahuti, or Tarot Trumps, also awaits full understanding. I have satisfied myself that these twenty-two cards compose a complete system of hieroglyphs representing the total energies of the universe. In the case of some cards, I have succeeded in restoring the original form and giving a complete account of their meaning. Others, however, I understand imperfectly, and of some few I have at present obtained no more than a general idea. [22]

It would be another twenty years that he would find time and opportunity to write his fuller understanding of the Tarot trumps as a complete atlas of the universe.

This is not to say that Crowley would not use tarot for everyday divination – he recounts a tale in his autobiography when “in Shanghai I brought off a very remarkable test of the value of the Tarot in divination”. [23] This was in 1901, within three years of his initiation into the Golden Dawn. He recounts that a German postmaster was visiting the woman with whom he was staying and was upset by the loss of a package of money. Crowley offered to investigate the matter with the cards – likely a European deck or even a deck of playing cards – and accurately described two people who were likely suspects.

His description of the two is certainly a description of two Court cards; the Senior Clerk being “a steady-going conscientious man, saving a fixed sum out of his salary, devoted to his work, free from vices and in no financial embarrassment”; the Junior being “a careless youth, mixed up with women and known to be gambling heavily on the races”. [24] It is the Junior who is then identified by the cards as the one responsible for the disappearance of the packet.

The story concludes with the cards apparently saying that there was no theft, and that no-one would be held responsible. Crowley cannot understand this but states that the cards insist on this matter. Of course, it later transpires that there was an honest mistake and the cards were accurate in both identifying the culprit and the outcome.

We will return to Crowley’s section on divination in Magick , in more detail, in the second book of this series, as it contains much of philosophical and practical advice in the performance of successful divination. The reader is advised to commence reading it now - ahead of the next book - as it is essential and useful material to the advanced practitioner. [25]

For now, to understand how Crowley saw the process of divination, we will introduce the concept of magical correspondences.

Magick and Correspondences

One of the central concepts of the Western Esoteric Initiatory System (WEIS) is that of correspondence ; the notion that there is a specific correlation between objects (and concepts) other than a physical connection. Crowley deals with this fundamental notion in detail, but it is hidden at the back of the Book of Thoth as an introduction to Appendix B. [26]

He states that “The Holy Qabalah is a system of classifying the Beings, By-comings, Thoughts, Monads, Atoms, Waves, Packets of Energy, Ideas, or whatever one chooses to call them; of memorising, discussing and manipulating the Relations between them”. [27] He then gives several examples of correspondence, demonstrating their essential relationship to number.

These correspondences are often built from observation of a likeness in attributes or existing connection; the planet Mars appears red, red is the colour of blood, blood is seen in wounds from war or upon the skin in anger and from these types of link we understand that Mars corresponds to War, Red, and Blood. Further, Mars corresponds to Geburah on the Tree of Life, which means ‘severity’ and is also termed Pachad , meaning ‘fear’. This is the fifth Sephirah on the Tree, so Mars also corresponds to the number five and the Pentagram, etc.

In occultism, these correspondences are related to sympathetic magic, and the doctrine of signatures, so act as a reference table for magical practice. If we were to invoke Mars, we might decorate our temple with five red candles, ring an iron bell five times, use a drum, and burn an incense of sulphur or cinnamon, etc. according to a table of correspondences.

These tables are the structure on which the Thoth Tarot is constructed and were developed through the Order of the Golden Dawn (founded in 1888) from earlier tables such as those found in Three Books of Occult Philosophy (1531) by Agrippa and The Magus (1801) by Francis Barrett. There are many alternate systems of correspondence, such as those found in tables of Angels or Vices and Virtues related to days of the week, etc. Crowley worked on these tables early in his magical life and created his own dictionary entitled 777 , which an essential reference for the Thoth Tarot.

In addition to providing a structure for magical thinking and practice, there is a profound purpose for the student of the WEIS in learning these correspondences. Crowley states that whilst it is “confusing at first”, the principle must be “thoroughly assimilated”. [28]

The reason is this:

“This habit of thought leads to an understanding of the Unity of Nature (with its proper and spiritual exaltation) which could hardly be attained in any other way; it produces an internal harmony which ends in an acceptance of Life and of Nature”. [29]

That is to say, by learning the correspondences and considering them through constant practice, we are slowly and naturally led to an internal state where there exists a constant recognition of unity in all things - even as they are different.

Therefore, we learn that the Moon is exalted in Taurus which is an earthy sign of the Bull whose nature is bovine and gentle and who is ruled by Venus, etc. After a long time, we begin to realise, as Crowley suggests, that we can “only reach the comprehension of one of these Symbols by making a composite picture of it, one composed of all the others in varying proportion”. [30]

It is not long in this practice that we might see all things as symbols, all things in correspondence, and all things as one. Crowley concludes his section on correspondences by advising that the correspondences and the Tree of Life are thoroughly learnt before detailed study of the deck:

This diagram should be studied so deeply and so constantly that it becomes automatic for the mind to accept it as the basis of all thinking on the subject of The Tarot … [31]

And it is not only for oneself that this work of illumination and ecstasy is accomplished, it is to assist the whole of mankind, according to Crowley:

It is most necessary for the Student to go round and round this Wheel of symbolism until the figures melt imperceptibly the one into the other in an intoxicating dance of ecstasy; not until he has attained that is he able to partake of the Sacrament, and accomplish for himself – and for all men! – the Great Work. [32]

From this understanding of correspondences, we will now introduce Kabbalah as the illustration of structure upon which the correspondences are organised for the student of the WEIS.

Kabbalah

In this section I will briefly introduce Kabbalah as a context for the Thoth Tarot, however, as with Alchemy and Astrology, it is a subject that requires much further reading for a thorough appreciation. [33] The reader is directed to a recommended reading list available through the Arch of Bou-Saada mailing list and we will also return to the subject in the second volume of this present series on the Minors.

The original impulse of Kabbalah emerged from a first century school of Jewish mysticism termed Merkabah , meaning ‘chariot’. These mystics utilised secret methods of spiritual ascent in order to attain mystical experience. [34] These experiences can be recognised as those common to any modern adept following the western esoteric initiatory system, for example; "the world changed into purity around me, and my heart felt as if I had entered a new world". [35]

The teachings of the Merkabah mystics became part of the Heikhalot school, whose name means ‘palace’, referring to the spiritual planes which were ascended by the mystic. The description of these journeys seems to bear similarities to the journey of the soul into the Underworld depicted in the ancient Egyptian Book of Coming Forth by Day , with magical words or appropriate names of the gods to be spoken before each door is passed and entrance is granted to each palace.

Three classical texts formulate the basic structure of traditional Kabbalah:

The Sefer-ha-Zohar ; Book of Splendour - First printed 1558-60 and 1559-60

The Sefer Yetzirah ; Book of Formation - First printed in Mantua 1562

The Sefer-ha-Bahir ; Book of Light - First printed in Amsterdam 1651

The collective writings that became the Holy Zohar are now widely acknowledged to be the work of Moses de León, dating from 1280. These dense and complex writings, written in Aramaic, emerged in Spain and rapidly become a foundation stone of Kabbalistic study.

Many of the later Kabbalistic schools are formed from material drawn from these titles, finding in them interpretation and meanings revealing the work of God and Creation. The school formed at Safed in the sixteenth century produced many of the leading thinkers of Kabbalah, particularly Rabbi Isaac Luria, called the Ari (1534-1572), and Rabbi Moshe Cordevero, the Ramak (1522-1570). The former is responsible for much of the current structure and cosmology of Kabbalah, as the Lurianic school of thought provided answers to many of the more complex issues of Kabbalistic thought, particularly relating to the ‘breaking of the vessels’.

The next major historical development of Kabbalah came with the formation of the Hasidic Movement in the mid 1700's, based around the Rabbi Israel, more commonly known as the Baal Shem Tov (1698-1760), which means ‘master of the word’, a high mark of respect in Kabbalism.

Having briefly examined the development of Kabbalah within the Judaic mystical tradition, we now attempt to sketch some of the significant points at which it passed through to the occult tradition, particularly in Europe, and then to the modern Magician, in this case, Aleister Crowley.

The Kabbalah and its teachings passed across into the magical philosophy primarily by transition through medieval Christian thinkers who saw in Kabbalah a model and validation for their own tradition. From the late fifteenth century Jewish converts to Christianity brought Kabbalistic views to the attention of other theologians. A Platonic Academy in Florence, founded by Giovanni Mirandola (1463-94) furthered research and discussion of Kabbalah amongst the philosophers of the time. The later publication of the Shaarey Orah , ‘Gates of Light’ in Latin (1516) brought further interest in the teachings of the Bahir and the fundamental plan of the Tree of Life.

The prime source for the precursors of the occult revival were without question Athanasius Kircher (1602-80), a German Jesuit whose Oedipus Aegyptiacus (1652) detailed Kabbalah amongst its study of Egyptian mysteries and hieroglyphics, and Cornelius Agrippa's De Occulta Philosophia (1533).

Other works, such as those from alchemists including Khunrath, Fludd and Vaughan indicated that the Kabbalah had become the convenient meta-map for early hermetic thinkers. Christian mystics began to utilise its structure for an explanation of their revelations, the most notable being Jacob Boeheme (1575-1624). However, the most notable event in terms of our line of examination is the publication of Christian Knorr Von Rosenroth's (1636-89) Kabbala Denudata in Latin in 1677 and 1684, which provided translations from the Zohar and extracts from the works of Issac Luria.

It was this work which, when translated into English by MacGregor Mathers (1854-1918) in 1887 as The Kabbalah Unveiled , alongside already existing translations of the Sepher Yetzirah , provided the Kabbalistic backbone of the Golden Dawn Society, from which issued many of the more recent occult Kabbalists, such as Dion Fortune (1891-1946), who summarised the Sephiroth in her Mystical Qabalah (1935) and Aleister Crowley (1898-1947).

The Catholic mystic and Golden Dawn member, A. E. Waite also produced many works examining the secret tradition of Kabbalah although Gershom Scholem says, of all of these occultists, that they relied more on their imagination rather than their knowledge of Kabbalah, which he saw as “infinitesimal". [36]

Another stream stemming from Rosenroth's work came through Eliphas Levi (1810-75), who became familiar with Cabalistic Martinism through Hoene Wronski (1778-1853) and had read both Boehme and Rosenroth amongst others. He also became a student of tarot through the writings of Court de Gebelin (1725-84), who ascribed to the tarot an ancient Egyptian origin. From de Gébelin and Rosenroth, Levi synthesised a scheme of attribution of the tarot cards to the twenty-two paths of the Tree of Life, a significant development in that it provided a synthetic model of processes to be later modified and used by the Golden Dawn as mapping the initiation system of psychological, occult, and spiritual development. Levi wrote, "Qabalah ... might be called the mathematics of human thought". [37] Crowley continued Levi's work in the Book of Thoth , published originally in the Equinox III.5, 1944.

However, the first connection of tarot and Kabbalah came through a piece of writing in Antoine Court de Gébelin’s Le Monde Primitif , which was published in 1781. A contributing author to these volumes of analysis of the ancient world, the Comte de Mellett, about who comparatively little is known, wrote that there was a connection between the 22 Major cards of the tarot to the 22 Hebrew letters. [38] It is this idea, published only a little over two hundred years ago, that gave rise to the connection between Kabbalah – the Jewish system of mysticism – and tarot cards.

However, the correspondences between the two systems were uncertain and changeable, as the structure of the tarot – notably the ordering of the Major Arcana cards, was not agreed upon by these early authors, including Etteilla (1738 – 1791), who arguably became the world’s first tarot teacher. [39]

Whilst authors such as Etteilla took the ideas in de Gébelin and produced new works on tarot cards for cartomancy (fortune-telling) other authors took a wider scope and connected the cards to not only ancient Egypt (as originally popularized in de Gébelin) but to Kabbalah. Again, this is only within the last two centuries, and no earlier.

In Europe, the rise of a wave of esotericism took these ideas and wove them into the expanding awareness of Kabbalah, to create a synthesis of thought that has been called by one leading scholar of traditional Kabbalah, a “supreme charlatanism”. [40]

This “charlatanism” however, led to a productive wave of writing and consideration of the universe. It was French occultist Eliphas Levi (1810 – 1875) who can be seen first to use the Kabbalah as a universal map of esoteric thought, modelling not only the chapters of his books on the structure of the Hebrew letters – and hence Kabbalah and through correspondence, tarot – but also much of his writing. There are sections in his works of text and poetry that deliberately and explicitly follow the sequence of Hebrew letters and their correspondences to both tarot and Kabbalah. [41]

This usage inspired the founding members of the Golden Dawn in 1888, and in parallel, Crowley and A. E. Waite, who both immersed themselves in the symbolic synthesis of tarot and Kabbalah as a map of the initiatory system and designed it into their decks – and hence every deck that has modelled itself on their designs.

We must first look to the work of Comte de Mellet in Le Monde Primitif to appreciate the earliest roots of the correspondence of tarot and Kabbalah. In the text below we reference the original volume of Le Monde Primitif which can be viewed at Gallica (Bibliothèque nationale de France), both the two existing English translations and a French typescript. [42]

The main proposal of the work was that the twenty-two Major Arcana of the tarot cards were letters, or tableaux , which together could be arranged to form sentences and language, as it was seen that the hieroglyphs were similar; pictures instead of letters. There was a mere footnote that “the Hebrew language has 22 letters” whilst the main text focused on the alleged Egyptian connection.

Already though, the twenty-two Arcana were seen as a progressive narrative, in this early instance as a grand story of the Ages – a theme that would later be reflected in the work of both Levi and Crowley. [43]

In brief, the Major Arcana tell the story of the three Ages of Gold, Silver and Bronze (or Iron), in three series of seven cards:

Gold : The Universe (World) gives birth to mankind (Judgement) and then are created the Sun (Sun), Moon (Moon), Stars and fish (Star, corresponding to Aquarius). There is a fall from heaven (Tower) and the Devil (Devil) comes to end the Golden Age.

Silver : We are led by an Angel (Temperance) who teaches us to live and try and avoid death (Death) and accident (Hanged Man) now we are no longer in the Golden Age. We are assisted in this by our strength to cultivate ourselves and resist our own wildness (Strength). In coming to realise we now live in an inconstant and changing world (Wheel) we seek (Hermit) Justice (Justice).

Bronze/Iron : In the wars that follow (Chariot) we are caught between vice and virtue, no longer led by reason (Lovers). We raise religions and rules (Hierophant) and set Kings (Emperor) and Queens (Empress) upon the earth. This leads the people to pride, idolatry [High Priestess as Junon and the Peacock] and deception (Magician).

This leads to the eventual madness of our race, which is seen as the Fool card, where the tiger biting his legs is viewed as “remorse” trying to delay our inevitable march towards folly and crimes.

Levi’s model of the Ages, itself drawing from the eschatology of Joachim of Fiore, influenced Crowley’s development of the Aeons, filtered through the ancient Egyptian mythology of the Golden Dawn. This notion of Aeons is illustrated profusely throughout the Thoth Tarot.

The Aeons

Crowley described Aeons as a series of long periods of human history characterized in a particular manner according to the nature of ancient Egyptian deities. These Aeons, according to Crowley, last approximately two thousand years, and began with the Aeon of Isis, the goddess of nature, followed by the Aeon of Osiris – the ‘dying god’. Crowley saw his reception in 1904 of the Book of the Law as heralding the commencement of a new Aeon - the Aeon of Horus, god of vengeance and war; ten years prior to the start of World War I. He alludes also to a future Aeon, that of Maat, goddess of truth.

Further to Crowley, others have come to develop this concept of the Aeons, building an entire model of history and futurism describing the evolution of human consciousness.

Aeon Name (Deity) | Aeon Title (Characteristics)
Bes | Nameless (Primitive)
Isis | The Goddess (Agriculture, Tribal)
Osiris | The Dying God (Industry, Science, Religion) [44]
Horus | The Child (Psychology, the Self, Individualism)
Maat | Global/Cosmic Consciousness
Harpocrates | Transcendent, Wordless [45]

The word Aeon means ‘age’, ‘forever’ or ‘for eternity’. It is a Latin transliteration from the koine Greek word ὁ αἰών (aion). It was used to describe periods of time, but also in Gnostic writings the Aeons were spiritual entities and planes of being, with their own characteristics such as ‘power’ and ‘charity’.

Crowley’s parents, as we know, were Plymouth Brethren. This movement from Protestant Christianity was strongly founded in the belief of dispensations ; divided times of history defined by the relationship between god and mankind. It is no surprise then, that Crowley came to incorporate dispensationalism in his own view of the universe.

Crowley was not the first esotericist to divide the ages in such a way – he was building on another stream of Christian theology, influenced by Eliphas Lévi (1810-1875). Lévi used the Joachite teaching of three ages corresponding to the Father, Son and Holy Ghost: the Age of the Nettle (Law), Rose (Gospel) and Lily (Spirit); Father, Son and Holy Ghost. These ages, in turn, were based upon the teachings of Joachim of Fiorre (1135-1202). 

Joachim gave detail of these ages and timeframes for their influence:

The Age of the Father, corresponding to the Old Testament, characterised by obedience of mankind to the Rules of God.

The Age of the Son, between the advent of Christ and 1260, represented by the New Testament, when Man became the son of God.

The Age of the Holy Spirit, impending (in 1260), when mankind was to come in direct contact with God, reaching the total freedom preached by the Christian message. The Kingdom of the Holy Spirit, a new dispensation of universal love, would proceed from the Gospel of Christ, but transcend the letter of it. In this new Age the ecclesiastical organisation would be replaced and the Order of the Just would rule the Church.

These Aeons are not only external passages of time – they are also seen as inner transitions of consciousness. In the development of thinking within the ‘Ma’at Current’, particularly during the 1980’s-1990’s, the Aeons were seen as simultaneously occurring and their qualities accessible in awareness through ritual and meditation. The practitioner was encouraged to open a ‘dual current’ of both individualism and collectivism, for example, through rituals of an almost science-fiction nature. [46]

This idea is already present in Christian eschatology and dispensationalism. In a commentary on Fiore’s works, the Islamist scholar Henri Corbin ( 1903-1978) remarks:

The three Ages of which Joachim de Flore speaks [of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit] are not successive periods of historical time ... (and Berdiaev observes this in a profound remark ...) ... the three Ages represent unities of existential time, interior time ... The succession of these Ages plays itself out in the interior of souls, in the mystery of each soul ... In historical time in fact these Ages coexist. [47]

Hidden in the back of the Book of Thoth is an important reference to the Aeons as applying to psychology. [48] Crowley notes that the formula of the “dying god” has “a sort of shadowy validity in psychology”. [49] He gives the case that with every task of any importance:

One begins very pleasantly, the period of Isis; the task becomes tedious and baffling, one begins to despair, the period of Apophis; then suddenly the subject is mastered and one comes to a triumphant conclusion, the period of Osiris. [50]

It is likely no coincidence that whilst the Golden Dawn held no outright teaching in this regard, the Last Judgement card – one of the first illustrations to be seen by Crowley during his formative initiations – uniquely illustrates Osiris, Isis and Horus as arising from the tombs upon the design. It is also the tarot card that Crowley then came to name - some forty years later - the Aeon.

The concept of the Aeons is found throughout the Thoth Tarot, as we will examine in each individual card. The nature of each Aeon, the characteristics of the deities and the role of the tarot as illustrating both the New Aeon and the proof of Crowley as its prophet is to be found on many pages of the Book of the Thoth .

In his commentaries on the Book of the Law , Crowley provided more detail of the Aeons:

The hierarchy of the Egyptians gives us this genealogy: Isis, Osiris, Horus.

Now the “pagan” period is that of Isis; a pastoral, natural period of simple magic. Next with Buddha, Christ, and others there came in the Equinox of Osiris; when sorrow and death are the principal objects of man's thought, and his magical formula is that of sacrifice.

Now, with Mohammed perhaps as its forerunner, comes in the Equinox of Horus, the young child who rises strong and conquering (with his twin Harpocrates) to avenge Osiris and bring on the age of strength and splendor. His formula is not yet fully understood.

Following will arise the Equinox of Maat, the Goddess of Justice. It may be a hundred or ten thousand years from now; for the computation of time is not here as there. [51]

The influence of the Golden Dawn can still be seen in his reference to the “Equinox” of each deity; the Order taught that the magical currents changed at each Equinox, and the Hierophant of the temple was sometimes changed for another person at this time.

Crowley’s thinking on the ‘dying god’ was drawn from works such as The Golden Bough by Sir George Frazer, and his sense of the ‘pastoral’ Aeon of Isis was consistent with other thinkers including Johann J. Bachofen (1815 – 1887) who saw the developmental stages of humanity progressing through matriarchal to patriarchal phases. [52]

Can these ideas which are built into the Thoth Tarot apply to an everyday reading? When we read the Thoth Tarot, for ourselves or for another, we are presenting various aspects of these ‘Aeons’ playing out in the situation which is subject to our divination. Are we a ‘dying god’, sacrificing ourselves for an obsolete reason? Are we being true to our own star or merging with the collective? Are we being more like our father or our mother? Are we allowing a situation to burn out its own fire and fury? Do we need to let go of an utterly outworn belief or tradition? The Thoth is perhaps so brutal on the individual because it is so vast in scope.

In addition to structure of Kabbalah and the pattern of the Aeons being built into the deck, Crowley utilised a range of other esoteric teachings in his design, notably alchemy – with a specific association to sex magick - and astrology. We will turn our attention to these subjects in so much as they appear in the deck. The reader is directed to a recommended reading list available through the Arch of Bou-Saada mailing list which will guide further study.

Alchemy

The Thoth Tarot deck contains several alchemical allegories, which Crowley makes most explicit in the Temperance card, re-named Art. This ‘art’ is both alchemical and sexual, and we will introduce both concepts in this present book to provide context for their use in the Thoth Tarot. It is beyond the scope of this book to cover alchemy and sexual magick in detail, however further reading is provided in the bibliography and appendices. [53]

Crowley saw Alchemy as the ‘father of science’ and practised by ‘the men of old time’. [54] However, he also utilised the symbolism of alchemy to describe sexual magick.

The introduction of Alchemy to the western tradition can be precisely dated to 11th February 1144, when Robert of Chester’s “Book of the Composition of Alchemy” was published. This book was part of a new current of free-thinkers, bringing Islamic thought to the West, such as Adelard of Bath. As such, alchemy was already proving significant in cross-fertilising philosophies between east and west. Alchemy was also a publishing endeavour; “more books on alchemy were published in England between 1650 and 1680 than before or afterwards,” leading to alchemy’s significance as a ‘public face’ of esoteric workers, although the reality would differ from the stereotype. [55]

Many such authors were Monks, such as George Ripley, an Augustine Canon. Western alchemy was often intertwined with Christian thought, comparing Christian doctrine to chemical processes. This began in the 14th century with Petrus Bonus [56] and continued throughout the 15th -17th centuries in the development of theosophical alchemy. It was only in the Victorian resurgence of alchemical idealism that a wider ‘spiritual’ gloss was applied to alchemy as a whole; pre-18th century alchemists were wedded to Christian doctrine far more intimately than the ‘occult’ phase of interpretation discovers.

Furthermore, Hanegraaf, quoting Coudert on Alchemy, connects the practice to Naturphilosophie and esotericism, but questions whether ‘spiritual’ alchemy existed prior to the Renaissance [57] .

Roger Bacon, writing in the thirteenth century, defined two forms of alchemy, the theoretical and the practical, both dealing in generation of products from the elements, but the latter more specifically which ‘teaches how to make … many other things better and more plentifully than they are made by nature’ [58] .

Although there are many levels of alchemical work - Stanton J. Linden talks of pluralistic “alchemies” rather than the singular “alchemy” [59] and its practitioners are considered as “legion” [60] ; from those “Masters of Fire” and “Divine Smiths” [61] to the “Elect Sons of the Art” [62] - we will focus here primarily on the “Divine Halchymie” [63] and its esoteric concerns. That is to say, alchemy discussed as having a correspondence with the state of the practitioner for its operation.

Alchemy has been variously treated as a “pretend science”, discussed in common with such mass delusions as the Mississippi Scheme or Dutch Tulipomania [64] or a “flight from reason” in James Webb’s titling, although he admits that:

It is possible to imagine a moralising philosopher starting the whole business of speculative alchemy by finding in the laborious process of refining, combining and perfecting metal ore, an apt illustration of the way in which the soul must be purified, polished, and itself perfected to attain salvation. [65]

In an academic context, Faivre denotes three characteristics of the pansophic alchemy, particularly in the 17th century: 1) an interest in mythology as an allegorical system; 2) a partiality for elaborate illustrations; 3) the publication of encyclopaedic works and compendia. [66] It is these very elements that introduce the complexity of alchemical literature, using allegory and iconography in text and illustration to depict unknown processes in nature.

Current academic discourse remains developmental. In introducing the subject in the monumental and contemporary Dictionary of Gnosis and Western Esotericism , Lawrence M. Principe includes in his list of four “increasingly rejected” features, “the concept of alchemy as an essentially or primarily spiritual, psychic, or self-transformative endeavour” and talks of the “inherently unlikely character of this notion” - that is, Jung’s view of alchemy being an ‘irruption of the unconscious’ which is ‘projected’ onto the contents of the flasks. [67]

However, such alchemists as Paracelsus “mainly regarded alchemy as important for the curing of disease and the prolongation of life” [68] rather than an entirely external discipline. Although Paracelsus indeed calls alchemy an art, with Vulcan its artist - denoting a more practical aspect - he also states that alchemy means;

… to carry to its end something that has not yet been completed. [69]

In this, alchemy is contextualised as having a cosmological and psychological application, in addition to the physical and medicinal formulation of the science.

Crowley also saw sexual symbolism within the alchemical process, and had a complex theology built from sexual practice and teachings. We will now consider how Crowley utilised sex magick and its prevalence in the symbolism of the Thoth Tarot.

Sex Magick

The use of sex for magical work and mystical communion can be found in many traditions. It can be both a physical and an abstract practice in addition to sexual symbolism being utilised to describe mystical states. Crowley appears to have first used sexual magick in 1904, with his then-pregnant wife, Rose Kelly (1874 – 1932), on their honeymoon; the same voyage where he would write the Book of the Law . Whilst much of the content of his original 1904 notebook remains unpublished, in that notebook is an explicit reference to a sex act being considered as a magical practice for invocation.

In 1910, Crowley was introduced and admitted into a magical Order known as the O.T.O., (Order of Oriental Templars) a European group founded between 1895 – 1906. This group had been founded by Karl Kellner and Theodor Reuss as an offshoot of Freemasonry. Over the following decade, it was heavily re-purposed by Crowley and its rituals re-populated with Thelemic doctrine, terminology and sexual magick. It would be the same synthesis and re-purposing that he would later come to apply to the tarot.

The symbolism of sex is an illustration of the divine union; it is the union of oneself with oneself, oneself with another; oneself with others; oneself with the Angel; and ultimately, oneself with everything and nothing. It is not simply the act of sex; however, it does recognise that the sexual act of creation is the most physical and possibly profound human experience.

In the Thoth Tarot, this mundane and magical act is illustrated in main by the symbolism of an alchemical marriage. As such, it draws from the Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz , which we met in our introduction section on alchemy. We see this symbolism most in Atu XIV (Art), Atu VI (Lovers) and XV (Devil). There are several references in other cards, such as the obviously phallic design of Atu I (Magus). Further, Atu IX (Hermit) and XI (Lust) carry specific connotations to Thelemic sexual magick. Atu XVI (Tower) contains an explicit illustration of sexual practice, although the reference to anal sex is only alluded in the accompanying text.

These references can be utilised in a reading or for contemplation and magical practice. They can also be passed over by the reader if they do not add a significant layer to their readings. Crowley buried sexual symbolism throughout the deck, so it exists on its own level, like the floor of a building which one can pass through on an elevator. It needs to be there between floors 68 and 70, but our main business of the day may be on floor 70.

So, why did Crowley ‘hide’ such symbolism in a deck which he intended to be public? As we have seen, he wanted the deck to illustrate a comprehensive set of teachings, and this would include sexual magick. However, such teaching cannot be easily communicated without spoilers for the actual experience, leading to a bind. [70] In the Waite-Smith Tarot, A. E. Waite was also less forthcoming in his expression of the mystical symbolism in the deck, which he nonetheless incorporated, leading to a similar bind – very frustrating to the reader. [71]

As a specific example, looking at Atu XIV (Art), Crowley writes “there is a particular interpretation of this card which is only to be understood by Initiates of the Ninth Degree of the O.T.O; for it contains a practical magical formula of such importance as to make it impossible to communicate openly”. [72]

The interpretation of Atu XIV as a ‘secret of the Ninth Degree’ is a sexual act involving both menstrual blood and semen. These two elements are symbolised by the red lion and the white eagle, and their counter-change in the figure which is both male and female. The symbolism of the “white gluten” and the “burning blood” is carried through a process by which “the fire burns up the water; the water extinguishes the fire”. [73] Crowley states that “it is impossible to explain these terms to any but advanced students of alchemy”, by which he meant those initiated into the secrets of sexual magick expressed in terms of alchemical symbolism. [74]

The symbolism itself carries enough significance for interpretation in divination; the card of Art can be read as union or “a combination of forces” and a mingling of opposites, without the recourse of explicit sexual reference. [75] However, the symbolism is now plain to see – in the interpretation of Atu XIV we read the instruction of this secret very clearly; “Dissolve the Pearl in the Wine-cup; drink, and make manifest the Virtue of that Pearl”. [76]

Astrology

Another major system utilised within the Thoth Tarot is astrology. This is included within the correspondences of the Major Arcana and built into the designs of the Minor Arcana and themes of the Court Cards. We will reference the astrological correspondences in each specific Major Arcana in this first book, and fully explore astrology in the Thoth Tarot in the second book to follow on the Minor Arcana.

Crowley learnt the basics of astrology, which he then developed along his own routes, as with all his esoteric teaching, from the Golden Dawn. We will briefly look at the nature of the Order and then turn our attention to Crowley’s mystical experience and revelation in 1904, when he set about destroying the Order and following his own journey as a prophet of a New Aeon; a new age illustrated in the Thoth Tarot.

The I-Ching

Crowley began studies of the I-Ching divination system sometime around 1906, likely following his Walk Across China , which lasted between 1905 – 1906. He was to use this oracle far more extensively than the Tarot, and eventually designed his own ‘counters’ by which to cast the oracle. [77] He generally used a set of sticks to create the hexagrams and rendered his own translation of the classic text for interpretation. We will explore his system of correspondences between the I-Ching, Tarot and the Kabbalah in the following volume on the Minor Arcana.

The Golden Dawn

Crowley was initiated into the Order of the Golden Dawn in 1898. [78] The influence of the Order is woven through the Thoth Tarot, despite Crowley having vowed to destroy the group in 1904 following his reception of the Book of the Law , which we will cover in the next section. The Order provided Crowley teachings in Kabbalah, Alchemy, Ritual, and most importantly for our present book, Tarot. It was the Golden Dawn Book T , a set of materials on Tarot, that gave Crowley his grounding in divination. It was here he learnt the correspondences of the cards to Kabbalah and Astrology, which would later be represented in the Thoth Tarot.

Crowley was also quick to utilise the original teachings of the Order in his own philosophy and map of the universe. In his unpublished 1904 notebook is a piece of writing which makes a correspondence – through Astrology - between the Minor Arcana and biblical, ancient Egyptian and Arthurian myth, to create a unique cosmology. It was here that the seeds of the Thoth Tarot were planted, some thirty-four years later.

He was also to make amendments to the Golden Dawn system of correspondence, the cause of much confusion to later students. He reverted the numbering of the Strength and Justice card to their earlier places of VIII and XI whilst also swapping the positions of the Star card and Emperor on the Tree of Life, based on a line in the Book of the Law . We will look at these differences in separate sections following in this book.

In the previously unpublished original papers of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, founded in 1888, is a series of typescript documents which list tarot descriptions and conclude with a note by one of its three founders, S. L. Macgregor Mathers. It is possible these descriptions are the foundation of Waite’s knowledge of tarot both for the Waite-Smith Tarot and the Waite-Trinick Tarot.

20. [Shin] JUDGMENT: Angel crowned with Sun. Surrounded by Rainbow in which leap Seraphim. Trumpet - influence of Spirit descending from Binah banner [Sketch of Banner with Cross]

Pluto emerging from Volcanic rock. ISIS Full face NEPTHYS profile coming from Water. HORUS rises from Cubic Tomb in [Sketch of arms in 2=9 sign]

Centre 7 [Yods] descend in rays of light from rainbow [Sketch of 7 Yods in arc]

“Spirit of Primal Fire” [79]

It is during his intense immersion into this fervid blend of symbolism, end-of-times prophesy, tarot illustration, and masonic ritual that Crowley took a honeymoon with his first wife, Rose Kelly, and in Egypt, 1904, performed a ritual whose ensuing revelatory response would change his life and much later be illustrated by the Thoth Tarot.

The Book of the Law

In Cairo, 1904, Crowley produced a piece of writing – the Book of the Law - which he came to view - upon converting to the religion of Thelema espoused in that same document some sixteen years later after its reception – as embodying nothing less than “the authentic word … the truth about nature at this time and on this planet”. [80]

Here is how we picture the scene of this working:

Noon. 20th March 1904: Cairo, Egypt.

We stand in the corner of a room, presently unseen, watching a young man who is invoking the ancient Egyptian god of Horus. He is stood with his back to us, holding a sword and speaking his invocation out of a window, against which is a small writing desk. We can see sheets of blank paper, and a small vellum notebook, filled with scrawling notes and diagrams. The air is dense with incense smoke – Kyphi, rich with frankincense and myrrh, yet almost ethereal with lemongrass and wine. It is the world’s oldest known recipe for incense, carved in the walls of the most ancient temples. The man is aged twenty-nine and wearing a white robe, sewn in gold, and a turban. His name is Aleister Crowley.

As his words cascade out into the blazing hot air of Cairo he begins to shift his whole state of awareness. He has been promised success already by his god, Horus, on Friday, who spoke through his wife. The fact that this is their honeymoon has long escaped him; his wife, Rose, has been channelling the gods and he now means to attain Samadhi , a state of ultimate union and bliss.

He has abased himself, made confessions of his sins of ignorance and pointed his whole mind to transcend time and space. He has already started experimenting with sexual magick, but now it is just him, his words and ritual, and a broken string of pearls on the desk.

His words finish, words not spoken in this way for twenty-seven centuries, and he waits. He sits down and takes up his pen.

Then a voice appears to come from the corner of the room, behind his shoulder. It begins dictating to Crowley, who dutifully and rapidly writes all that he hears. [81]

To Thelemites , magicians and those who have been impressed with his development of the Tarot through the work and art of Frieda Harris (1877-1962) this text is of central significance in understanding the work, writings, art, life and magick of Aleister Crowley, as man and magician. It is also understood that the work itself has much to offer the reader as a philosophical proposal. Israel Regardie (1907-1985) spoke of it capturing the zeitgeist , “expressing the intrinsic nature of our time as no one else has done to date.” [82]

This document was originally titled by Crowley Liber L vel Legis , the “Book L, or [Book of the] Law”. Whilst the document itself can be easily read within an hour, its content is overwhelming, and comprehension does not come so easily. It proves for most a heady mix of alternate styles, diatribe, provocative prose, and religious (and anti-religious) fervor. It is also interlaced in the language of magic, requiring a background knowledge that many would find simply too abstruse, archaic or nonsensical.

Crowley’s own attitude to this work alternated between dismissal and profound respect. He viewed it originally as a piece of “highly interesting [example of] automatic writing” [83] and apparently mislaid it until 1909.

Yet later he came to see it as an altogether more profound experience. In his autobiography he deems that the reception of the Book of the Law was the event for which his prior life had prepared him, and by which his subsequent life was determined. [84] He wrote that “this Book proves: there is a Person thinking and acting in a praeterhuman manner, either without a body of flesh, or with the power of communicating telepathically with men and inscrutably directing their actions”. [85]

The 1904 notebook in which Crowley recorded his thoughts, the ritual itself, and later jottings, is entitled The Book of Hoor and is part of the Yorke Collection held within the Warburg Institute in London. [86] It remains unpublished in full, but extracts have been published, originally by Crowley in his own journal The Equinox , and in now out-of-print sources such as the reprint of Crowley’s further commentary, The Equinox of the Gods .

Within the notebook is a 4-page piece on Tarot which whilst Crowley referred to it as “a long and futile Tarot divination”, [87] however, it is far from merely a divination.

A ritual was revealed to Crowley by Rose – his new wife - in “skeleton”, i.e. framework, on March 18th , 1904. This was a Friday, and the ritual took place on the day after, Saturday, or Die Saturn. On the preceding Wednesday, March 16th , Crowley had recorded an “intuition” that ritual should be carried out “day and night for a week”. The revelation by Rose included that success was promised Saturday or Sunday, and Samadhi would be obtained – a Sanskrit word used in Hinduism, Buddhism and schools of Yoga to indicate a high-level non-dualistic state of consciousness.

Crowley refers to the ritual instructions and likely the section of his confessing his lack of attention to the deities as “having been written at white heat and left unrevised, save perhaps for one glance. There are mistakes in grammar and spelling unique in all MSS. of Fra. P. [his magical name as a Neophyte of the Golden Dawn] the use of capitals is irregular and the punctuation almost wanting”. [88]

In the presently unpublished tarot section, which Crowley had described as such “a long and futile Tarot divination” it is the case that it is hardly a divination but rather an extended prose piece based on the Minor Arcana of the Tarot and their correspondence – through the Astrological Decans – to a personal cosmology. This cosmology draws on biblical and ancient Egyptian concepts, Kabbalah, and the Graal, itself a conflation of Christian and Celtic traditions through the Romances. We will cover this in more detail in the second book of this present trilogy.

The Book of the Law also contains explicit references to the tarot; such as “I am the Empress and the Hierophant. Thus eleven, as my bride is eleven”. [89] There are several cryptic verses also analysed by Crowley in terms of tarot and numerology; “… my number is nine by the fools; but with the just I am eight …” [90] This sees the god Horus as not the Hermit (9) but as Justice (8), not as the solitary son but as the avenger of his father.

The notebook, and the subsequent publishing of the Book of the Law also draw upon a key item in the museum visited by Rose and Crowley ahead of this ritual, the Stele of Revealing.

The Stele of Revealing

The Stele of Revealing is a small wooden funeral monument which was being held in the Boulaq Museum in Cairo at the time Crowley saw it in 1904.

Over five hundred memorial tablets such as the one "adopted" by Aleister Crowley in March 1904 are presently possessed by the Cairo National Museum. When Crowley visited it, it was still known as the Boulak Musuem. The majority of the Stele on display are from the Middle Kingdom, from the Necropolis and Temple walls at Abydos (Abtu). At that time, Dynasties XI to XIII, Abydos and its god, Osiris, had attained great sanctity.

Indeed, such was its status that Stelae were often set up there for people living elsewhere in other districts. These were made from rough heiratic notes by local craftsmen, and thus some of the texts and designs were copies of copies and therefore extremely corrupted from the originals. Most of these memorial tablets bore an offering formula, which was usually a variation or extension of the following condensed quote;

"Ho! Ye living ones upon earth that shall pass by this stone, who love life and hate death; ye priests of all ranks [often enumerated in detail here] : Ye shall pass on your offices to your children if ye shall say : 'an offering which the king gives and [?] Osiris, leader of the westerners which come forth at the voice, of loaves, beer, oxen, birds, clothing, incense, ointment and a sweet breeze from the north - every good and pure thing which heaven gives, earth creates and the Nile brings and on which a god lives, for the Ka of [name of deceased here], right of speech."

Since the museum has moved from Boulak to its current location in the centre of Cairo, exhibit 666, as Crowley knew it, has been re-labelled Stele 9422 in section 22. It is described as:

Gournah, Stele a double face du pzetze de Mintou, Ankh-f-n-Khonsou. XXVIth Dyn. (Bois).

Although Crowley describes it in his Confessions as "quite obscure and undistinguished," the Stele is one of the most striking in the museum, being one of the few painted onto wood and it remains in excellent condition. A similar stele nearby shows a Priestess instead of a Priest - perhaps it waits for a Scarlet Woman to claim it for her own. If that is the case, its old number was 429, the new number being 9936.

We will meet the Stele in several cards, particularly the Aeon, as well as recognising its influence on the Book of the Law. It also inspires Crowley’s conception of tarot as an illustration not only of ancient Egyptian deities, but specifically the deities that are figured on the Stele.

Having looked at Crowley’s life and work in brief, we will next overview the two main stages in the Western Esoteric Initiatory System – the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel and the Crossing of the Abyss. These two revolutions in consciousness are underwritten throughout the whole of Crowley’s work and the Thoth Tarot.

We will then explore the life and work of Frieda Harris, to whom Crowley turned as the artist – and arguably, co-designer – of the Thoth Tarot.

The Holy Guardian Angel

There are two major transition phases in the mystical journey which can both be mapped onto the Tree of Life. They are the crossing of the Veil of Paroketh, culminating in the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel, and the crossing of the Abyss, culminating in the entry to the City of the Pyramids.

Crowley wrote that “the two crises—the Angel and the Abyss—are necessary features in every [magical] career”. [91]  Both are brought about by taking a magical oath allied with the performance of an intense series of life-changing actions. The oath is not simply stating something, and the actions are not simply doing something; they are deliberately willed dissolutions of identity conducted with controlled aggression above all other priorities over a sustained period in a state of irrevocable resolve.

I deal with both experiences in separate titles to this present book, however it is important to provide a brief overview here for context regarding the deepest purpose of the Thoth Tarot – as an illustration of this initiatory journey. [92]

The attainment of the knowledge and conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel is the main focus of all magical work:

It should never be forgotten for a single moment that the central and essential work of the Magician is the attainment of the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel. Once he has achieved this he must of course be left entirely in the hands of that Angel, who can be invariably and inevitably relied upon to lead him to the further great step—crossing of the Abyss and the attainment of the grade of Master of the Temple. [93]

This experience results from the performance of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage, a six-month (or longer) ritual of preparation and increasingly reductive focus. At the culmination of the ritual, should it be successful, the experiential universe is turned inside-out in the awareness of the Adept.

An analogy would be to imagine that our common experience of life is that ‘we’ are on the inside of ‘ourself’, and the world is ‘outside’. We imagine that other people share this experience but can only see them as ‘outside’ ourselves. We also sense, like being inside a balloon, that we project the world onto a sort of screen (the Veil in Kabbalistic terms) and maybe it has some form of reality underneath it, but that feels it belongs to ourselves – inside. We are a solid dot floating around the inside space of the balloon. In spiritual moments or the darkest hours, we might be more aware that there is some sort of space ‘outside’ the balloon, on the ‘other side’ of what we perceive as the world around us – but this usually does not come into our commonplace life.

In the arrival of the Angel, at the end of specific activities to unpack oneself out of the natural perception, not only is a hole punctured in the balloon, but the solid dot is undone. The Angel is a real thing – a presence that is immediately available when particular attachments have been removed and the ‘noise’ generated by dissonance to the real situation has suddenly dropped.

Identity shifts to the outside skin of the balloon, in effect, turning everything inside-out from the prior sense. The ‘self’ – oneself – becomes the screen upon which everything outside the balloon is being projected upon. The inside of the balloon – what was previously accepted as ‘reality’ – now feels more like something artificially constructed by the separation made by the skin of the balloon.

It no longer matters what arises within the construct, as the only thing that matters is removing the remaining balloon skin of separation – which is now the whole self but sensed to be arising from an incongruity of identity and perception like the one already exhausted. Therefore the ‘crises’ of the Angel and the Abyss are critical and share commonality.

The knowledge of this is when we are recognising the new inside-out as more real and the conversation with it is accepting the outside projection upon our self and through that into the inside. Like any mystical experience, it is more straight-forward to experience than talk about.

The knowledge and conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel corresponds to Tiphareth on the Tree of Life, so all the cards corresponding to the paths connected to Tiphareth have significant interpretation in this regard. The Angel is specially mentioned by Crowley in the Priestess card, that being an illustration of the “thought (or intelligible radiance) of that Angel”. [94]

High Priestess: The connection between spiritual and human consciousness expressed through the self as Knowledge (Da’ath) of the Angel.

Star: The relationship between thought and consciousness as modified through the awareness of the Angel resulting in focus upon individual and unified will.

Lovers: Intuition arising between connected understanding beyond thought in the love of the Angel for its home.

Hermit: The mercy of release in the solitary nature of existence revealed by the Angel.

Adjustment: The truth of thought in recognition of its own paradox, made obsolete by the presence of the Angel.

Devil: The ecstasy of existence between the self and the universe, realised by the Angel.

Art: The synthesis of experience in the ongoing radical Conversation with the Angel.

Death: The awakening to existence made possible by the death of illusion through the call of the Angel.

Note that the Knowledge of the Angel is mapped by the middle pillar connection illustrated by the Priestess, and the Conversation of the Angel by the middle pillar path of Art. This knowledge and conversation is manifest in the Universe, mapped by the lower middle pillar path to Malkuth.

As with all the layers of the Thoth Tarot, it is not necessary to appreciate every level in every reading, however, a wider knowledge and context can sometimes inform interpretations to offer profound insight.

The Abyss

The second major spiritual transition is that of the crossing of the Abyss, becoming a “Babe of the Abyss”, and being “cast from the Abyss”. As a profound and mystical experience, it is inevitably couched in symbolism and metaphor. Crowley refers to Choronzon , the Dweller in the Abyss, the City of Pyramids, the Night of Pan, and many other constructs to express this stage of mystical progress.

We meet the Abyss in the High Priestess card which also illustrates the Holy Guardian Angel, and where Crowley quotes a section from his Book of Lies :

This desert is the Abyss wherein is the Universe.

The Stars are but thistles in that waste.

Yet this desert is but one spot accurséd in a world of bliss. Now and again Travellers cross the desert; they come from the Great Sea, and to the Great Sea they go.

And as they go they spill water; one day they will irrigate the desert, till it flower. [95]

Crowley also refers us to his vision of the 10th Aethyr which was recorded in The Vision and the Voice . This Aethyr, called ‘ZAX’, is ascribed to the presence of Choronzon, the “Devil of the Aethyr” and was deemed by Crowley to be the most difficult to scry, being “accursed”.

The description of this segment of the magical working includes precautions taken by Crowley and Neuburg to avoid possession and the escape of Choronzon beyond the magical circle. It also details the risk of obsession and madness during the initiatory journey, particularly in the latter stages:

The malice of Choronzon is not the malice of a being; it is the quality of malice, because he that boasteth himself “I am I”, hath in truth no self, and these are they that are fallen under my power, the slaves of the Blind One that boasted himself to be the Enlightened One. [96]

The only way across the Abyss is through concentration and silence:

For Choronzon feareth of all things concentration and silence: he therefore who would command him should will in silence: thus is he brought to obey. [97]

Whilst abstruse, these two critical transitions in the spiritual life are written throughout the Thoth Tarot. When we read in the verse for the Tower, “Break down the fortress of thine individual Self”, it is in specific context to this initiatory journey. [98] When we read that the Empress is “below the Abyss”, and thus has a different creative power than the Fool and the Magician, it is because she is Nature once manifest and in division, not a higher divine unity. [99]

We will now turn to the artist who was to bring these concepts and designs to life, whilst also contributing her own intelligence and insight to the whole deck – Lady (Frieda) Harris.

Lady Harris

The relationship between Frieda Harris (1877 – 1962) and Aleister Crowley was of a close, constant and magical respect. Harris was not only the artist executant of the Thoth Tarot but also a co-designer, promoter and caretaker of its legacy. She, with Louis Wilkinson, was the executor Crowley’s will, and upon her own death bequeathed the original paintings for the deck to Gerald Yorke, whose collection of Crowley material – including the original paintings - was then passed to the Warburg Institute on his death, where it resides to the present day.

Whilst the relationship was strained, particularly when Crowley felt he might lose control of the deck and penned a ‘third party’ letter to state his part in the creation of the deck, it continued to his death. Harris saw Crowley earlier on the day he died, and her legacy was recognised by Crowley who wrote that he was “absolutely devoted” to her. [100]

Harris was born in 1877, the daughter of surgeon John Astley Bloxam, and she married Liberal M.P. Percy Harris in 1901. He was created a Baronet in 1932, allowing Harris to title herself Lady Harris, although she preferred, if at all, Lady Frieda Harris, despite the forename not being part of the accepted nomenclature. As she had in 1929 called herself “Jesus Chutney” for an exhibition, it is no surprise that she was not particularly adherent to social convention. [101]

In 1926, Harris wrote (and illustrated with four plates) a short book on Winchelsea, entitled Winchelsea: A Legend , which is of considerable note, as this was where Pamela Colman Smith had stayed during the creation of her own illustrations for the Waite-Smith Tarot in 1909. The images in the book could almost be landscapes of the Waite-Smith Tarot as drawn by Frieda Harris in the pastoral style of Pamela Colman Smith. [102]

Harris also wrote poetry; her work was collected in a book entitled Bump! Into Heaven . [103] She was initiated into the O.T.O. by Crowley on May 11th , 1938, according to Crowley. [104] She was 61 when she commenced the tarot work that same year.

Her work with Crowley was mainly conducted in Chipping Campden, in the Cotswolds, at a residence called “Rolling Stone Orchard”. Her living conditions there and Crowley’s visits are detailed in an article by Richard Kaczynski, ‘Cartomancy in the Cotswolds: Lady Frieda Harris and Aleister Crowley at Chipping Campden’ in the Chipping Campden History Society Journal . [105]

She was to sketch Crowley fondly and sadly at least twice; her last sketch of him in December 1947 is simply titled, “AC dying”. [106]

Harris herself died in Srinagar, India, in 1962, where she had moved to live in a houseboat and study Hinduism. In this there is a reminiscence of the life of Florence Farr, actress and alumni of the Golden Dawn, who, aged 52 in 1912, had moved to Ceylon to resume her work as a teacher.

Her correspondence with Crowley demonstrates a keen interest and knowledge of esoteric work pursued with an enquiring mind. She was fully aware of the magical process of her art, noting later that if a publisher, in this case Llewellyn Publications, were to attempt to reproduce the deck from black and white images, it would be inferior:

It is almost certain to be a travesty as Mrs. Barker is most unlikely to notice in each case or to draw correctly the sigils concealed in the designs, while she will not have the knowledge to combine the four traditional colour scales in their right proportions and balance. The result in either case will be to destroy the magical properties of my Pack. [107]

We see here that Harris had certainly concealed sigils in the deck, and from sketches still surviving from Crowley we know that the deck was constructed not only on geometrical proportions but magical templates such as the Tree of Life and symbols of alchemy, astrology and the elements. This was common practice in the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and the designs of Eliphas Levi, both of which inspired Crowley in this manner.

A sigil is a magical symbol or sign which acts as a seal or signature of an energy, particularly an angelic or demonic presence. In contemporary magick, sigils are created as a bespoke method for specific purposes. In the context of the Thoth Tarot, the sigils were likely to be those of the corresponding spirits, constructed on magical squares, themselves built from Hebrew letters. As sigils are constructed in this way on straight Euclidian geometry, to place them upon projective geometry is a powerful act of magick and perhaps accounts for the ‘drawing in’ nature of the cards when gazed upon for some time.

We will now look at projective geometry, the method by which Harris created the cards.

Projective Geometry

The Thoth Tarot is uniquely created using the principles of projective geometry rather than Euclidian geometry. The latter is the standard geometry of distance and angles, whereas projective geometry is formed of projections and perspective. In this regard, the Thoth tarot became a unique expression of the abstract principles proposed by Crowley, in the same manner the Waite-Smith Tarot was uniquely expressed through Shakespearian theatre design by Pamela Colman Smith from the abstract principles of A. E. Waite.

Harris learnt projective geometry from Olive Mary Whicher (1910-2006) who was a prominent member of the Anthroposophical Society created by Rudolph Steiner (1861 – 1925). Whicher worked with George Adams (1894 – 1963), himself a mathematician and translator, whose esoteric concept of “counter-space” was founded in projective geometry. [108]

Harris also pursued her interest in geometry for herself; she wrote to Crowley in around 1940 that “If I can I want to take the short course of geometry 3 weeks in Dec. under Raufman at Minehead. It will clarify some of my geometrical conceptions. He has sent me very good notes on the cone”. [109]

The reference to the cone is from the work of the founder of projective geometry, the ancient Greek mathematician, Pappus of Alexandria (c. 290 – c.350 A.D.) His work was later picked up by French mathematician, Girard Desargues (1591 – 1661), who further developed a theorem describing the relationship of triangles within projective geometry.

Whilst it is beyond this present work to deal with the complexities of projective geometry, we can compare the similarities of Steiner’s vision expressed through Whicher’s work, Projective Geometry: Creative Polarities in Space and Time (1971) with the Thelemic concepts of the Book of Thoth . [110]

Steiner had written, “It was through synthetic geometry mainly that I brought myself to the point of consciousness concerning the process of clairvoyance. Naturally, this does not mean that someone who has studied projective geometry is clairvoyant, but that through it one can become clear about the process of spiritual perception … He who approaches mathematics in the right spirit will find that it can be regarded as a model, a pattern, of the way in which supersensible perception may be achieved.” [111]

Whicher also taught that by using projective geometry, we might transcend our linear and dualistic thinking – a task that perhaps is built into the Thoth Tarot:

“In this way, an abstract thought is approached through artistic feeling and we are led beyond the bounds of the materialistic and spatial towards a truer understanding of the thought.” [112]

Another follower of Crowley was to later develop projective geometry as an esoteric device, the occultist Cecil Frederick Russell (1897–1987). Russell had met Crowley in 1918 and he stayed at the ‘Abbey’ in Cefalu between 1920 – 1921. He came to see projective geometry as a study of esotericism which was safer than sexual magick, which he had originally taught. [113]

The Creation of the Thoth Tarot

Originally the idea was to dash off a pack of cards from (a) the elaborate “Equinox” descriptions (b) mediaeval packs, as The Equinox did not describe the 22 Trumps. We thought that a day apiece would be enough for the 40 small cards; two days apiece for the 16 court cards and 11 weeks for the 22 Trumps. This was thought to be an outside estimate – say 6 months in all, allowing for holidays & interruptions. [114]

It was not until there was an eventual falling out between Crowley and Harris that we read his vehement vindications for the creation of the Thoth Tarot. Whilst they certainly argued over the finances and recognition for the deck, Crowley was adamant that “I will not allow the cards to be issued so that they can be used only for gambling or fortune-telling”. [115]

In preparation for some possible legal case about his opposition to Harris showing her work at the Royal Society of Painters in Water Colours, in London, 4th August 1942, Crowley composed a fictious letter to himself from the “Society of Hidden Masters”. Under their name, he states that he had …

…agreed to devote your whole knowledge to the work of designing an entirely original pack of cards, incorporating the results of your 39 years of constant study of the subject with your profound – if at times unacceptably unorthodox – knowledge of comparative religion, mathematical physics, philosophy and Magick. Also that you should compose a Treatise explaining the subject in full. It appears from a notice in the Exhibition that there is a proposal to publish the cards as a pack without this book. To do so would limit their use to fortune-telling, a form of fraud against which you have constantly set your face your whole life long.

Crowley gave two motives for his work to create a tarot deck, also in the fictious letter to himself from the “Society of Hidden Masters”:

1. That it should serve as a Magical Atlas of and Guide to the Universe, for this “New Aeon of Horus”, that is, for the next 2,000 years.

2. That its undeniable beauty and majesty should be an intelligible vindication of the whole of your [my] life's work …

Crowley was drawing on a huge range of influences and experiences in the design of the deck. He stated that he was working to illustrate the doctrines of “Payne Knight, Hargrave Jennings, Arthur Eddington, J.G. Frazer, Bertrand Russell, J.W.N. Sullivan, Eliphaz Levi” and others, whilst also drawing upon his experiences described in “The Vision and the Voice” and “The Paris Working”. These latter two series of visionary experiences are quoted at some length in the Book of Thoth and their further study is essential for any reader seeking the spiritual sources of the deck.

His work with Harris was documented through their correspondence, providing us an unparalleled glimpse into their partnership – unlike that of Waite and Smith, of which we have no known record other than a few lines in a letter and in Waite’s own autobiography, Shadows of Light and Thought .

Crowley describes the working arrangement thus, in his writing to himself under the guise of the Secret Masters:

For the next four years approximately, Lady Harris prepared water-colours of the cards. She did this from your [Crowley’s] rough sketches and descriptions under your continual direction, subject to your constant and repeated corrections. In some cases you made her redraw and re-paint a card which you found unsatisfactory as many as five or six times. [116]

Their letters are available online and reveal references to everyday domestic life for the both, and certainly a lot of financial concern. They also show how strong Harris was in rebutting Crowley’s more elaborate requests for cash beyond the “stipend” about which they later argued.

Here is an extract from one undated letter, written by Harris, apparently in response to a financial scheme proposed by Crowley:

This is not my affair, but please do not try to get me to help. You prevent me from doing what I would like to do &, that is work on the Tarot Book with you, as I absolutely refuse to be entangled by your efforts to boost an absurdity. What a pity. I fear even now the work will be unfruitful. The House of God appears to me as vortex not a mouth, or is it yours which can't be filled by mortal effort try as you may. [117]

It is of interest that Harris is already using the tarot symbolism to model her experience and express it to Crowley.

Her work was meticulous on the cards and they both worked on revisions of many cards. Harris was using books by Crowley such as 777 and Magick – again, unlike Pamela Colman Smith who we believe may have only been working on one set of “Book T” notes given to her by A. E. Waite.

Harris writes one night:

I think I had better have some new notes on Justice. There are the Dove, Raven, Lamed, Sword, balances, anything extra, headdress of Isis?

She goes on to say in another fragment:

I say, what about the Fool's colours - Air won't do. You are [?partly right] with your vacuum. I have marked out in my colour scheme - Bright Pale Yellow Sky Blue Blue Emerald green, Emerald flecked gold but surely I can use the purple dark blue, pale blue green, yellow, orange, red of the rainbow.

At the top of the chart are 10 colour sequences which we don't seem to have used much. We did combine them in the 1st plain card of wands & then what with the governing planet & zodiacal sign we stopped. Anyhow I can't paint brilliance, white brilliance, can you?

This last comment demonstrates much of her acerbic wit which can be found scattered throughout the letters; she was almost certainly the perfect foil for Crowley.

In a practical sense, they were working under war-time conditions. At one point, Harris remarks to Crowley that if anything should happen, the drawings of the deck were being kept in a dug-out in her orchard. [118] This was written from her house, Rolling Stone Orchard, during the worst two days of bombing raids on London and whilst Chipping Campden was a distance away in the Cotswolds, the threat would have been constant.

For Crowley, one of the challenges was “the great difficulty of this whole work is to make a completely harmonious pack”, in terms of both symbolism and style. [119] It was also incumbent on him to make several significant changes to the deck in order to illustrate the doctrine of Thelema, the progression of the Aeons, and in proof of the ‘supernatural’ source of his insights.

The Names of the Cards

Crowley noted that he had changed the names of several cards, particularly in the Minor Arcana but notably in the Majors, to assure that the “doctrine of the New Aeon is clearly manifest as the spiritual-magical basis of the whole work”. [120]

You have made the final correction to the attributions–Trumps IV and XVII, according to the Book of the Law given to you in Cairo April 8, 9, and 10 1904. You have used “The Stele of Revealing” (see “The Book of the Law” Chap. I 49, III 19) to replace “The Last Judgment” (Trump XX) to affirm the supersession of the Aeon of Osiris the Dying God by that of Horus the Crowned and Conquering Child.

The name-changes are discussed in detail under the title of each card and are here listed:

Common Title ​ ​ Thoth Title

I: The Magician​ ​ I: The Magus

II: The High Priestess​ ​ II: The Priestess

VIII: Strength​ ​ XI: Lust

X: Wheel of Fortune​ ​ X: Fortune

XI: Justice​ ​ VIII: Adjustment

XIV: Temperance​ ​ XIV: Art

XX: Judgement​ ​ XX: The Aeon

XXI: The World​ ​ XXI: The Universe

These reflect ideas which were nascent in Crowley’s cosmological correspondences to the tarot as early as 1904. They arose as he fitted Christian, Alchemical, and ancient Egyptian elements together into the deck. He further modified the Major Arcana in two significant ways – the sequence of Justice and Strength, and the placement of the Star and the Emperor on the Tree of Life through swapping their correspondences to the Hebrew alphabet.

Justice and Strength

The original sequence of most earlier decks placed Justice in the eighth place of the Major Arcana and Strength (or ‘Force’) at the eleventh place. The European decks used by the founding members of the Golden Dawn were numbered in this same sequence. [121] However, the position and numbering of these two cards were swapped in the Golden Dawn. The original Golden Dawn manuscripts show that S.L. Macgegor-Mathers was transposing these two cards when placing them on the Tree of Life to put Strength as 8 and Justice as 11.

A Book T manuscript by Golden Dawn member Emily Drummond, typing up Mathers notes, denotes “11 (8) Strength” in the eighth place of the sequence, and “8 (11) Justice” in the eleventh place. There are other papers where the two numbers are carefully crossed out and swapped for each other. This confusion likely arose because the cards being used were European cards – the Golden Dawn card designs were never published as a deck for the members.

In fact, the switch was already present in the original ‘cipher manuscript’ on which the Golden Dawn was built – a document most probably created by Kenneth McKenzie, a prominent Freemason. He was known to have visited Eliphas Levi and likely drew inspiration for his tarot work from the French esotericist. [122]

The explanation given was that they were ‘cognate symbols’. Further, the reasoning is given as fitting astrological correspondence; Libra signifies the Summer Solstice, but Strength corresponds to Leo, in turn connected with the Solstice. In the order of the zodiac then applied to the Trumps via the Tree of Life, this would swap the earlier sequence of these two cards.

The connection is also justified in the cipher manuscript by correspondence to ancient Egyptian deities; for Strength, featuring a lion, the Lion goddess “Ma” corresponds to Horus and thence to the Summer Solstice. [123]

Despite these abstruse correspondences, the switch was accepted throughout the system of correspondences and to the Tree of Life. It was continued in the Waite-Smith deck, which then became the world’s most popular deck and template for the majority of future decks. [124] Most TdM (Tarot de Marseille) decks and several European decks maintain the original sequence of 8 = Justice and 11 = Strength, whilst most contemporary decks use 8 = Strength and 11 = Justice.

Crowley decided to revert to the original placement of 8 = Justice and 11 = Strength but he also added a twist – in fact, a double loop. We will look at the other swap he made and then show how the two swaps come together in an elegant solution to this technical tangle.

Tzaddi is Not the Star

Also I don't feel you have made it clear about Tzaddi – The Emperor. Can't you have a diagram? I have been reading your book to Ann Christie in the evenings & altho [sic] she is very interested she could not understand your book and I am not sure I did in the end. It will be a point about which there will be the most argument. Is there any reason for the 2 loops except secrecy? Surely! & if not why not undo the loop & is the Emperor to be numbered 17 or IV or 4 or 17 ditto Star also Strength XI and Justice VIII. I expect I have still got it all wrong but if I have, you must be clearer because I am only just below sub-normal intelligence. A bientot. [125]

In the text of the Book of the Law , received in 1904, and which we have previously introduced as the most significant presentation and structure of Crowley’s philosophy for his whole lifetime, is this line:

All these old letters of my Book are aright, but [tzaddi ] is not the Star. [126]

Crowley’s 1904 notebook (currently unpublished in full) reveals that he was certainly thinking more specifically of Thoth at the time of his invocations for the Book of the Law rather than Horus or the other two deities which correspond to the three chapters of the book. Hence, when he writes here “of my Book”, he is referring not to a book by Nuit, who is the speaker here, but by Thoth – the ‘book of Thoth’, or the Tarot.

The ‘old letters’ refer to the Hebrew letters and their system of correspondence which Crowley had learnt in the Golden Dawn. Further, his notebook also reveals that in receiving the Book of the Law , his new discoveries and early practice of sexual magick, he felt that it was now his mission to destroy the Order. One might argue that his later actions certainly contributed to the decline of the Order, which was already riven by personal agendas interfering with the teaching work. [127]

With all of that, he then struggled to make sense of this riddle – if Tzaddi was not the letter corresponding to the Star card, which one was? It would also mean that the other card would have to now correspond to Tzaddi .

In 1910, Crowley was still referencing Tzaddi as the Star. In the Equinox, Vol. I. no. 3 [128] , he writes “The next path the Aspirant must travel is that of [resh ] – the Sun; the next that of [qoph ] – the Moon; the next that of [tzaddi ] – the Star. This path brings him to the fire of Netzach”.

But he came to consider the riddle and devise an elegant solution. It was a solution that he felt justified the “praeternatural” source of the Book of the Law . He thought that it was so neat and impossible to have worked out logically, that it fulfilled his view of the Book of the Law as a divinely inspired or prophetic piece of writing. Whether it matters in a reading whether Tzaddi corresponds to the Emperor or whether Justice is renamed Adjustment and numbered 8 is secondary to their significance in Crowley’s view of his inspired writings.

The solution, then, was to swap the correspondence of Tzaddi from the Star to the Emperor. This took the letter Heh , corresponding to the Emperor, to the Star, and gave Tzaddi to the Emperor. Other than the texts justifying this swap, Crowley barely remarks on any particular interpretation of the newly appointed letters. He notes that for the Emperor, Tzaddi fits because it is a letter from which derives words like “Caeser, Tsar, Sirdar, Senate, Senior, Signor, Senor, Seigneur” but this seems a rather weak basis of correspondence, even by esoteric standards. [129]

He does not make any mention in the Star card text about the letter Heh , other than to say it has been “explained elsewhere”. [130] We might say that the word Heh means ‘window’ and the stars are windows of light in the night sky. It has the value of five, so in that sense can represent the pentagram and five-pointed stars.

The most important thing is to consider - and this is where Harris saw some clue to the confusion – that if we take the loop of the zodiac and twist both ends like tying a knot at either end of a long balloon, about Pisces at one end and Virgo the other, we make both swaps. The swap of the Emperor and the Star as partially suggested by the Book of the Law , and the swap of Strength and Adjustment [Justice] as reverted to the earlier deck sequence. [131]

This was such an elegant balance of symbolism, built into the fabric of correspondences, that Crowley was convinced it was “the most convincing evidence possible that the Book of the Law is a genuine message from the Secret Chiefs”. [132] However, given the errors and confusion between illustrations and references in the Book of Thoth , it is no surprise that mere mortals such as ourselves and Frieda Harris remained in some confusion. [133]

Now that we have an overall background in the life and work of Crowley and Harris, described their esoteric thinking and approaches, we will look at Thelema itself and then introduce the cast of ancient Egyptian deities to be found in the deck. We can then begin our exploration of the Major Arcana.

The Sixth Thelemite

In this section we will look at Thelema, the philosophy – some may call it religion – developed by Crowley and which suffuses the entire Thoth Tarot. Thelema is the Greek word meaning ‘will’ and represented to Crowley a key part of his philosophy and world-view.

I will briefly sketch out the context of Thelema through history, which may surprise those readers who have only associated the concept with the notorious Crowley, rather than Thelema being a general philosophy of life open to all.

We will see that Crowley is actually the sixth of many notable Thelemites in history, and hence why I refer to his presentation of Thelema to be Thelema v.6.

No doubt, Crowley was a Thelemite of some magnitude, and the most recent in popular memory. If we first consider Thelema as a way of life which itself engages life, and not seeks to escape it with distraction, then Crowley certainly engaged life.

At the age of 23, Crowley had already defined himself. He stated that he was a “Magus, poet, mountaineer, explorer, big game hunter, chess master, cook.” Later in life he updated his personal resumé to include; “poet, novelist and artist”. He also - in an application to design a series of golf courses for St. Andrews (which was turned down) - described his various gaming exploits including his golf handicap of +3, building a golf course on his own estate, and playing chess since the age of 4, to the standard where he could play “3 games simultaneously blindfold”.

When cards came into his gaming, not only had he invented a game called ‘Thelema’ like 5-a-side football, but also three new forms of ‘Patience’ and a new form of ‘Baccarat’.

He was certainly able to put his mind to many pursuits, and did so with vigour, as his whole life-story attests. My favourite of many stories is that he left a troupe of dancing girls stranded in Russia when he himself flitted off to some other country – China, perhaps, or back to Europe. I would not have wished to have often been in his irregular and wild company.

However, his taking up of the doctrine of Thelema, a Greek word meaning “Will”, comes through an interesting lineage – perhaps one that evolved (or devolved) over time, depending on your point of view. By the time he came to design his tarot deck, towards the latter end of his life, he saw it as an opportunity to fully illustrate his teachings, particularly Thelema, sexual magick, alchemy, astrology and the passing of the great “Aeons” of human history and evolution.

It is important that we appreciate how this simple word “Will”, infuses the deck so much, and how by understanding it as a core concept we can practically use the Thoth deck to provide extremely powerful and proactive readings for ourselves and others.

The origin of the doctrine of Thelema is attributed to an ancient Christian philosopher, Augustine of Hippo (354 – 430), which may also be surprising to some readers. In his Homilies , he wrote this:

The deeds of men are only discerned by the root of charity. For many things may be done that have a good appearance, and yet proceed not from the root of charity. For thorns also have flowers: some actions truly seem rough, seem savage; howbeit they are done for discipline at the bidding of charity.

Once for all, then, a short precept is given thee: Love, and do what thou wilt : whether thou hold thy peace, through love hold thy peace; whether thou cry out, through love cry out; whether thou correct, through love correct; whether thou spare, through love do thou spare: let the root of love be within, of this root can nothing spring but what is good.”

(Homily VII, paragraph 8)

This philosophy teaches that so long as we find ourselves in the love of the divine, no wrong doing can follow as a result in our actions. Therefore, it is of paramount importance we attain to this grace, to avoid sin and wrongdoing.

Crowley re-casts this doctrine in reverse by stating his fundamental doctrine of Thelema; “Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law”.

Augustine also points out that discipline can be in the service of charity, which Crowley later re-phrases as his second fundamental doctrine, “Love is the law, love under will”.

However, although Crowley was no doubt aware of Augustine, his prime influence for the development of Thelema was François Rabelais (1494 – 1553). This author, scholar and monk – who is now seen as a Christian Humanist - wrote several satirical books, critiquing the society of the time, the most well-known being Gargantua and Pantagruel (c. 1532 – c. 1564).

One section of the book describes the Abbey of Thélème, a place where the inhabitants live a life of freedom from social conformity and religious doctrine thus: 

All their life was spent not in laws, statutes, or rules, but according to their own free will and pleasure. They rose out of their beds when they thought good; they did eat, drink, labour, sleep, when they had a mind to it and were disposed for it. None did awake them, none did offer to constrain them to eat, drink, nor to do any other thing; for so had Gargantua established it. In all their rule and strictest tie of their order there was but this one clause to be observed,

Do What Thou Wilt;

because men that are free, well-born, well-bred, and conversant in honest companies, have naturally an instinct and spur that prompteth them unto virtuous actions, and withdraws them from vice, which is called honour. Those same men, when by base subjection and constraint they are brought under and kept down, turn aside from that noble disposition by which they formerly were inclined to virtue, to shake off and break that bond of servitude wherein they are so tyrannously enslaved; for it is agreeable with the nature of man to long after things forbidden and to desire what is denied us.

Rabelais, François. Gargantua and Pantagruel

It is this lifestyle, philosophy and sense of elegant freedom which Crowley sought to emulate and promote in his own life. Although, it might be argued that the philosophy was hard to manifest without some form of finance - such as the abbey he created at Cefalu in Sicily.

The Thelemic doctrine of “Do What Thou Wilt” was taken directly from Rabelais (and Augustine) by Crowley – however, others had also adopted it as a lens through which to view the world.

Whilst little-known, Walter Besant (brother-in-law of Annie Besant, a prominent author and theosophist) wrote a book styled on Thelema, The Abbey of Thelema as did Charles Robert Ashbee, whose book The Building of Thelema is a unique socialist tract promoting the virtues of a Thelemic lifestyle to the working man. Ashbee was a fascinating character – he was influenced in his life by a fellow homosexual, the poet Edward Carpenter (who might also be considered Thelemic), was possibly a member of The Order of Chaeronea , a group exploring homosexuality at the time it was illegal. He was also influential in the Arts and Crafts movement.

Our list of Thelemites is then:

v1. Augustine of Hippo (354 – 430), Homilies .

v2. François Rabelais (1494 – 1553)

v3. Sir Francis Dashwood (1708 – 1781) – who could be argued to have lived a Thelemic lifestyle even if he did not use the term.

v4. Walter Besant (1836 – 1901); The Monks of Thelema (1878)

v5. Charles Robert Ashbee (1863 – 1942) The Building of Thelema (1910)

v6. Aleister Crowley (1875-1947) The Book of the Law (1904)

I would like to pick out a few points from Ashbee’s work that help us understand the general concept of Thelema outside of Crowley whilst also supporting Crowley’s utilisation of it in the Thoth tarot.

In Ashbee’s book, the story is of travellers on a train who intend to visit the city, Thelema. In an almost-Harry-Potter-like train journey, they discuss the nature of this city and its fabled inhabitants. It is a socialist utopia, and various characters offer their insights, such as the London Cockney and the American, as well as a religious character and a homespun philosopher. Here is one such piece of dialogue where a character is interrupted by the rather direct American:

“the peculiar virtue of Thelema consists in that it is inhabited and its destinies guided by all the great thinkers, poets, philosophers of all time”.

“What an almighty mess they must be in! Who finances the show?”

“Why, the thinking machine!” said the Penny Philosopher. [134]

Whilst musing on “the thinking machine” which encloses the city in its “iron net”, let us consider what Crowley later wrote about his own Order of Thelema:

The Order of Thelemites is not a mystical, magical or occult order in the ordinary sense of these words. Its purpose is to enable its members to succeed in life. [The sublime principle is] to instruct the individual by allegory and symbol in the profound mysteries of birth, life, and death, and thereby to assist him discover the true nature of his purpose in life. [135]

This is in accord with the revelation of the “perfect machine” in Ashbee’s book, which turns out to be the mind of man, not a machine. The perfect machine that runs Thelema is:

Man – Man with his mind fixed upon the vital things; not upon the things of the moment, the foolish, the unimportant things, the things that merely sell. For the purpose of life is not how to get through it, but how to live it, how to unfold it, how to discover in it what it reveals, how to find out by instinct what is the finer spiritual purpose the senses convey. [136]

In fact, Ashbee’s book, for all its peculiar philosophy and views on race, socialism, etc., examines the application of Thelema to society in much depth. The “journey” to Thelema as a place is seen as slow and wearisome, and the city is constantly being constructed. It is of course, a metaphor for our life. We must shirk off our old luggage to make speed there, and doubt will assail us at all times.

One character muses on the conflict of the central thesis, “love and do as thy wilt”, in considering how it is appears a contradiction, much like the balancing of the Christian teaching of “love and the pity that comes of love,” and the Pagan teaching of “temperance and the beauty that comes of temperance”. It is both that must be understood – and both that must be practised, to enter that city. Further, the whole concept of work is questioned repeatedly in Ashbee’s treatise on Thelema; the first duty of its citizens is “the duty of finding out what [one’s] duties in life were”. Those who have “comfortable” duties (and jobs and roles in society) and speak convincingly of them are not to be trusted, for they have been compensated for their conformity, not for their joy. The gospel of Thelema is one of discovering the “Kingdom of Heaven” within, not without, and “pleasure realising its duties, that is joy, and joy is the thing to aim at, not pleasure” (p. 112).

We are reminded of Crowley’s note in his Confessions that “The joy of life consists in the exercise of one's energies, continual growth, constant change, the enjoyment of every new experience.”

When we come to consider the Thoth tarot, we must consider it a realisation of the doctrine of Thelema; an ethos that proclaims the individual will, and its discovery as the central duty (and freedom) of every human being. Every card is a facet of this doctrine of absolute personal freedom and shows the challenges and consequences of such a demanding and rigorous approach to life. It is a teaching that suggests a society of individualism.

In a private letter, Crowley wrote:

I have separated the essence of these doctrines from their dogmatic, racial and climatic accidents, applied a strictly scientific method of analysis and synthesis and harmonised the whole into a perfectly elastic yet perfectly rigid method. Further, the full development of these [doctrines] envisages a fundamental reconstruction of society whose essence is the acceptance of the law of Thelema as the canon of ethics.

June 1st, 1924.

Let us leave this first part of an introduction to Thelema by joining the company of Socrates, Jesus of Nazareth, and other luminaries, in the Orchard of Thelema, teaching together at the conclusion of Ashbee’s book. Rabelais himself storms into the celebration and joyfully toasts, holding up a great cup with “the amethyst of temperance glittering at its crown, and the sunshine dancing upon its silver tracery”, the following toast;

“The Building of Thelema; may it never be finished; and here’s to all newcomers!” [137]

Having looked at Thelema, we now require a briefing on the ancient Egyptian deities that will be discovered throughout the Major Arcana, two visionary workings that provide an early glimpse into Crowley’s thinking on tarot symbolism, and then we are ready to start an exploration of the twenty-two Arcana in sequence. First, though, we must look at the most common question about the Thoth Tarot – how do you pronounce Thoth?

The Pronunciation of Thoth

“This is how it goes, (from) its beginning to its end, like that found in writing”.

From a text referring to Thoth , used in an example within Middle Egyptian: An introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs (James P. Allen, 2000). [138]

The most common question about the Thoth Tarot is not “what is the Naples arrangement?” but rather “how do you say ‘Thoth’”? Unfortunately, there is no single answer to the question, however, we do have some suggestions towards a likely standard pronunciation.

Firstly, there is no known accurate or authentic pronunciation of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs. [139] We have no recordings, commentary or guides to the spoken language of ancient Egypt. It was only starting in 1820, comparatively recently, that Jean-François Champollion (1790 – 1832), started the first translations of the hieroglyphs in written form.

We cannot even take much of a clue from modern pronunciation in the region. If we consider the variants of modern English, for example, compared with the likely pronunciation of West Saxon Old English used in the epic poem Beowulf – and then go back another three thousand years – we can see the scale of the probable differences.

Secondly, when Crowley was first in Egypt in 1904, or later writing the Book of Thoth , the study of the hieroglyphs and all related understanding of the ancient Egyptian culture was in its infancy. Although Crowley also used local experts and did not entirely rely on Wallis Budge’s work – which is now seen as extremely dated and, in some places, obsolete – many of the names, words and phrases he used are no longer in usage amongst scholars, having been replaced by later forms.

With that in mind, we can look at the ‘most current and standard’ pronunciations, so we are at least in much of the best company. It is unfortunate also that we do not have any record of Crowley’s pronunciation of this specific word.

The Name of Thoth

The god depicted most often with an Ibis head was identified by several variant hieroglyphs. These symbols are transliterated individually into the form, ḏḥwtj which would be pronounced jay-hoo-oo-t-ee , or more commonly “Tehuti”. It is suggested that the symbols themselves come from the oldest word for ‘Ibis’. So, the name represented by those symbols simply means “He who is like an Ibis”.

The name ‘Thoth’ is from the Greek form of this same word – and ‘Thot’ or ‘Thout’ depending on the Greek letters used in the translation. The most common spelling, and that adopted by Crowley is:

Θωθ

This gives us T(hard)-O-Th(soft), so the ‘best’ pronunciation of this version would indeed be akin to ‘Toff’. Which is very difficult for those of us who spent many years without having to say it to anyone, and calling it inside our own heads, ‘Photh’.

So, ‘Toff’ or ‘Photh’ are fairly close to the Greek rendering of the Hieroglyphs. There is one rare mention of ancient Egyptian pronunciation that might also go back in time to offer a variation. In the Corpus Hermeticum , there is a single sentence which suggests that "the very quality of the speech and the (sound) of Egyptian words have in themselves the energy of the objects they speak of”. [140] We can hear this in ‘pasht’ for the purring of a cat. If we listen to the call of a Nile Ibis, we might imagine that the name had a two-syllable harder pronunciation as ‘Tuh-off’.

Or perhaps in future we might simply refer to the deck as the Crowley-Harris Tarot, the “Tahooti Tarot” or maybe avoid the issue altogether and settle on the Tarot of the Ibis .

It was not only Thoth that inspired the Tarot deck and was invoked into the cards, but many other deities. We will now overview the gods and goddesses we are about to meet in the Temple of the Thoth Tarot.

The Hierology of the Thoth Deck

Ancient Egypt had a plethora of deities. The culture had gods for childbirth and gods for death, goddesses for scorpions and goddesses for bandages, they had gods of the sky and of the land, and gods and goddesses for every individual at every stage of their present life and the lives before and afterwards. At every wall you would meet the gods, around each and every pillar there was a goddess, until there was only the sky and the desert and the deeps of the Nile which were not so adorned, and even these teemed with the unseen presence of the gods.

The world was magical and mystical, and religion was no different to life and breath. It is therefore perhaps no wonder that esotericists hark back to this period for inspiration in response to our gradually disenchanted world. [141]

In this section we will look at a selection of the Egyptian gods and goddesses that permeate Aleister Crowley & Frieda Harris’s Thoth deck, explore a few of Crowley’s appropriations of these deities within this own world-view. We will return to a specific usage of the deities and the ancient Egyptian religious system in book three of this present series when we present a unique and novel Tarosophy method of working with Tarot, a gated spread . This particular gated spread, the Entering the Temple of Thoth is themed on the ancient Egyptian temple structure and is for use specifically with the Thoth deck. [142]

The Thoth Deck as Egyptian Tarot

Crowley - for once - sets out his intent very clearly, in the very title of his work. The Thoth deck is entitled “The Book of Thoth”, and subtitled “Egyptian Tarot”. We need seek no further for evidence of Crowley’s immersion in ancient Egyptian lore and his intent to revivify this lore within Tarot, which was then so gracefully executed with magical understanding and prowess by Frieda Harris.

The deck is suffused – a word particularly appropriate given Harris’s lighting work and projective geometry invoking them into the cards - with ancient Egyptian gods and goddesses. They are both evident in their immediate presence on the cards or implied in the hierology – the sacred structure – of the deck itself. Although Crowley mutated the concepts of the gods to his own world-view, particularly in his appropriation of certain of them as his tutelary deities, or guardians under whose aegis he performed his Great Work, we would do well to study their attributes to further appreciate the cards in our divinations.

In practice, we might also consider that using the Thoth deck is like having a portable ancient Egyptian temple. We enter the deck and connect with the deities therein. Albeit this is a specialised Thelemic temple – Crowley was not an Equal Rights Occultist in his usage of the gods, we will encounter most of the powerful energies of the ancient Egyptian pantheon in our readings of the cards.

The Houses of the Gods

We will first look at some of the main deities we encounter in the Thoth deck, catalogued in order from their appearance in the accompanying text written by Crowley, the Book of Thoth . It is fitting our first deity is of course none other than Thoth himself, in the very title of the work. As the Egyptian god of the creative act and of writing, a true magician-priests god, he is of course the most suitable to take this position. His nature, as the voice of the very Word of creation, and its recorder in eternity, gives us an immediate indication of the nature of this deck.

It is a deck of the writing of the world itself, in all its times, places and peoples. The patterns that swirl within it, and are projected through it, take us into the very nature of creation considered from a highly technical perspective. This is a deck of dense and interwoven symbolism, drawn from the very blood of the primal word itself. It is truly Thoth’s deck.

The Presences in the Majors

It is even more fitting and interesting that the very next deity we meet is Ma’at, the goddess of Truth, or ‘straightness’, who is sometimes seen as a counterpart to Thoth. She is introduced on page 25 of the introduction, along with many other ideas from Crowley’s cosmology - the Stele of Revealing, Aeons, and Hieroglyphs – all stemming from Crowley’s key mystical experience, the reception of the Book of the Law in Cairo, 1904.

Ma’at is equated by Crowley in the text to Themis, the Greek goddess of Justice, whom we will meet later, in the card of Adjustment, one of the renamed cards in the deck.

At the outset of the book, we are thus introduced to these two deities; Thoth and Ma’at, the creative word and the truth, the scribe and the measure. This pairing becomes the two pillars between which the cards vibrate. They were the deities at either end of the solar Barque or boat which carried the Sun-god across the heavens. There is also a mystery here of the Aeons, but it is beyond the scope of this present article.

Still within the introduction, we again meet Thoth, this time also called Tahuti , on page 34 and the footnote to page 35. Thoth is also chosen to preside over the deck as a symbol of “concentration” and “the meditative spirit”. [143]

Finally, in the introduction we are introduced to a very significant figure in Crowley’s own cosmological schema constructed from the ancient Egyptian pantheon; Nuit, sometimes Nu , Nut or Nuith , the goddess depicted as the arching night sky with the stars upon her body. It is not surprising that Crowley mentions this goddess when touching upon the Star card, but of course, as with many other things in the Book, there is a deeper matter at hand.

Crowley switched the correspondences of the Hebrew letters between two cards; the Star and the Emperor. This was based on a line in his Book of the Law , “Tzaddi is not the star”. There is no scope to further explore this matter here, but suffice it to say, the goddess Nuit is an overarching concept in the Thelemic schema and of great import to the cards of the Book of Thoth .

Moving out of the introduction and into the main text, part two on the Atu or Majors, we begin to see the diversity of Crowley’s appropriation of Egyptian Gods and Goddesses and his incorporation of them into his own cosmology. The additional deities we meet between Atu 0 (Fool) and Atu V (Hierophant) are:

Mat (Maut)

Sebek

Hoor-pa-Kraat

Horus

Set

Osiris

Isis

Nephthys

These eight above and the prior three (Thoth, Ma’at and Nuit) are the bulk of the deities in the deck and book, so worth using as a basic checklist for research before returning to the text – see also below for a comprehensive research list grouped into families. The additional deities, Egyptian forms and variations from Atu VI (Lovers) to Atu XXI (Universe) are:

Sphinx

Hermanubis

Khepra

Heru-Ra-Ha

Hadit

Ra-Hoor-Khuit

Hrumachis

In these we see a perennial problem with approaching ancient Egyptian deities, which is that they are syncretic and variant; not only are some deities a combination of other deities, but they change their form, function and name according to their role and even the time of day or night. Thus, Horus has a form as the hawk-headed god, but also as the child, Har-pa-Khered, which the Greeks knew as Harpokrates. Horus could also be combined with the Sun-god, Ra, in the form of Re-Harakhty.

This is somewhat bewildering and made more confusing by variant modern spellings. The sun-god also has different names for his form at different times of the day, i.e. Kheph-Ra is “Ra at midnight”.

The Presences in the Court Cards and Minors

In the remaining chapters of the Book of Thoth , the Court cards are treated with reference to their zodiacal and elemental qualities, and relationship to the I-Ching, and the Minor cards are treated likewise. There is barely any further mention of the Egyptian mythos in these cards, in comparison to a slew of Kabbalistic and Zodiacal references. Crowley was very glad to have written about the Majors, but perhaps less enthusiastic about the Court cards and Minors.

The Presences in the first Appendix

For completion, there are three other deities we need to catalogue, which have a more fleeting presence in the visions included by Crowley as an appendix to the Majors. These are:

Phtah

Seb

AMOUN

This first appendix, confusingly in the middle of the Book of Thoth after the Majors (there are two further appendices A & B at the end, after the Minors) is a small collection of “certain essays” germane to the Major Arcana. These six essays are mainly visionary experiences, resulting in writings on Silence (Fool), De Merurio (Magus/Magician), R.O.T.A. – The Wheel (Fortune/Wheel), Babalon (Lust/Strength), The Arrow (Art/Temperance) and the Virgin Universe (Universe).

Approaching the Gods

Having catalogued the twelve deities mainly used by Crowley (and ignoring for more advanced consideration in perhaps another publication the combination/variant forms) we can then group these into families. These are related deities whose functions, myths, stories or relationships are somehow connected.

Thoth & Ma’at

Nuit

Osiris , Isis & Nephthys and Horus & Set

Maut & Sebek

Khepra & Anubis

We can now use our reading list (given in the bibliography) to research the nature of these deities and gain deeper insight into Crowley’s reasoning behind their incorporation on specific cards. I would also recommend a thorough reading of Crowley’s Book of the Law to encounter the three key deities, Nuit, Hadit and Horus in the raw – as Crowley himself encountered them in this seminal visionary experience. It is these three that Crowley truly appropriated – and, arguably, mutated - as an intrinsic part of his Thelemic cosmology.

I here offer a brief account of the attributes and nature of each of these deities.

The Nature of the Gods

Thoth & Ma’at

We have already met Thoth as the god of Scribes, and Ma’at as the goddess of truth, justice and cosmic order. Ma’at also represented the concept of judgement. She carried out the weighing of the heart against the feather of truth. She is thus an order to which even the gods themselves must adhere. Her representation was usually a woman crowned with the Ostrich feather.

Nuit

Nuit, Nuith or Nut, represents the stellar firmament, possibly the Milky Way. Hers is the body through which the Sun and Stars travel. She is the great mother and the firmament, and the body in which the deceased would be reborn, as was the sun each day. Her figure was often painted on the ceiling of tombs and chapels or on the under-face of coffin lids, so that the worshipper or the deceased achieved union with her.

Her role in the Book of the Law and in the Book of Thoth is ubiquitous. She is seen by Crowley on the High Priestess card as the “menstruum of manifestation” and the “possibility of Form”. She is ultimately the “Naught beyond Bliss” into whom the initiate finally unites and is wholly undone and remade as All.

Osiris & Isis and Horus & Set

Osiris is the most universal of the ancient Egyptian gods and the main god of death and rebirth. His story is one of betrayal by Set(h) and dismemberment – only to be reconstituted and brought back to life by Isis, his wife. Horus is their vengeful son.

He is thus the dying and reborn King – a myth that Crowley connected to the Aeon of Osiris, stating that the previous 2,000 years had been the time of the dying and reborn gods. Crowley saw the events of the early twentieth century, in agreement with the doctrines of his Book of the Law , as heralding a new Aeon of Horus. This scenario is primarily depicted in the card which Crowley renamed as The Aeon (rather than the Last Judgement) and which may be taken more than any other card as part of the “series of illustrations to the Book of the Law ” (p. 116, BoT ).

Despite this complex cosmological schema, we can apply this card simply in a reading; it is always useful to refer to Crowley’s own poetic summaries of the Majors (pp. 253-260) to arrive at divinatory meanings. Here we read for this card:

XX

Be every Act an Act of Love and Worship

Be every Act the Fiat of a God

Be every Act a Source of Radiant Glory.

Final decision in respect of the past, new current in respect of the future; always represents the taking of a definite step.

Notice the three-fold nature of both the poem and the divinatory meaning? We should always notice this with Crowley – most of his work is structured on precise Kabbalistic or numerological models. Here we can quickly see that the three-fold nature of the wording references the three deities on the card itself; Nuit, Hadit and Horus (as Heru-ra-ha and Ra-Hoor-Khuit). The three lines of the poem correspond to these three deities and therefore also incidentally provide a summary of the three chapters of the Book of the Law :

Nuit​ ​ Love & Worship​ ​ Chapter 1

Hadit​ ​ Fiat [Word/Command] of a God​ ​ Chapter 2

Ra-Hoor-Khuit​ ​ Radiant Glory​ ​ Chapter 3

The three parts of the divinatory meaning also refer to the three deities as aspects of Time (it is after all the Aeon card). In gnostic texts and earlier, the Aeons were not just phases of time, but divine forms in themselves. Here we see Nuit as the past, Hadit as the new current of the future, and Horus as the taking of a definite step. This latter relates to the Golden Dawn practice of taking a step forward in the sign of the “enterer” and a step backwards in the sign of silence, Harpokrates.

There are other three-fold divisions on the card itself; the three tongues of the Hebrew letter Shin; the three foetal babes of possibility awaiting a definite decision to be made; the three points of the triangle of Fire which corresponds also to the card. So, in a reading we can point out to the Querent (dependent on the position and dignity of the card, etc. of course):

“There’s three aspects of this decision – this figure here [pointing to the arching Nuit] represents the overarching past, everything that has led you to here. Of course, this is what has been important to you. But this is a card of decision – of judgement – both the action-orientated Hawk closing in for the kill [pointing to the seated Horus as Ra-hoor-Khuit] and the child knowing when to keep silent [pointing to the standing Horus as Hoor-pa-Kraat]. But all this comes from the central Will that you have [point to Hadit, the Winged Globe] and what grows from it like an egg [point to egg-shape within Nuit, coming from Hadit] and manifests itself in the world. Every decision is final – it is time to take a definite step with these aspects in mind…a new age awaits you.”

Nephthys

Nephthys was a funerary goddess who was sister to Isis. Her name means “mistress of the Mansion” and she was the daughter of Geb and Nut. Sometimes she was the wife of Seth as Isis was the wife of Osiris. She was foremost seen as a guardian of the dead and companion to her sister. [144]

Crowley refers to Nephthys when discussing the Empress card. [145] He is making the point that the higher cards on the Tree of Life, i.e. the Emperor and Empress in this case, are aspects of perfection. The Empress, he suggests, embodies not only the initial perfection of Nature, which he corresponds to Isis, but the final perfection of Art (Nephthys).

As an aside, he goes on to suggest this pertains particularly to VI (Lovers) and XIV (Art). We might compare those two cards as manifestations of the Emperor and Empress; both are highly alchemical in imagery and feature paired figures in various states. We could perhaps even be forgiven for sensing the presence of Isis and Nephthys in the two white female figures (statues, maybe) at the top of the Lovers card and as the dual figure then combined in the Art card.

Maut & Sebek

We will return to these two deities in a short while, looking at the Wheel card. Maut, or Mut was a goddess originally represented by a Vulture and later a Lion, whilst Sebek was a Crocodile deity.

Khepra & Anubis

Khepra (sometimes transliterated Khepri) is the Sun at midnight but was also a primeval god. He is represented by the Scarab beetle and depicted on the Moon card, albeit somewhat differently to a standard hieroglyph or representation of a beetle. Nonetheless, it carries the Sun at midnight, and the card is suffused with menstrual symbolism.

Anubis is the jackal-headed guardian and guide in the underworld, so a suitable God of the thresholds depicted in this card. On the Tree of Life, the “mental echo” of this card is directly opposite the “definite step” of the Aeon card. One can either go around in circles and cycles, fearing the future and watching the Moon go around (merely rearrangement, not change – Crowley’s definition of Witchcraft as differing from Magick) or one can take definite action, make change and embrace the Aeon.

We will now look at a few more examples of how the nature of these deities plays an active role within the Thoth deck itself.

The Writhing of the Fool

I will refer first to one example, looking at two specific deities referenced in the text for the Fool Atu. Within the sixteen pages – more so I think than any other card - dealing with the Fool, Crowley references seven ancient Egyptian gods & goddesses. The card was obviously troublesome - he himself rejected several drafts of the card, and Harris said “I shall struggle with the Fool. He does writhe about”. [146] It is impressive we have a card at all for this most enigmatic figure, never mind one which includes such a varied cast of energies.

Here I will also try and demonstrate how these meanings – some of which would have been known by Crowley, some of which we suppose were appropriate after the event – can be utilised in an actual reading of the card.

Crowley defines the Fool with the wonderfully evocative phrase, the “Gold of Air”. In this alchemical metaphor, startling in its simplicity and depth, we gain a measure of the Fool – both simple, like the three words “Gold of Air” and profound in that same simplicity, for gold is the alchemical purity and aim of the entire magnum opus or Great Work, and Air is a symbol of the Ruach , or Spirit. Thus, the Fool is considered here as nothing less than the simple spiritual truth.

However, in the manifold writhing of the symbolism on the card itself, we see some of the challenges for an initiate to gain that simple truth. Crowley remarks that the understanding of the bivalence of symbols is the mark of such an initiate – we must aim then to see in each symbol on this card both its meaning and its counter-meaning, for on this card of most, all things cancel out to Zero.

This is a good way of putting this card in a reading; “It really doesn’t matter. You are free. Whatever you do will cancel itself out in the end. So, choose what gives you joy”. It is perhaps an interesting thing to be teaching the mystical doctrine of 0=2 to the lady who has only come to you to find out if her son is going to pass his exams.

In this same context, we will look at the deities Mat (which is Maut, not Ma’at) and Sebek. These are represented on the card by the Vulture and the Crocodile. The crocodile appears to have a rose as an eye. The Vulture can be taken to be a symbol of the female principle, and a devourer, as is the Crocodile. The yawning mouth of the crocodile symbolises the Abyss – perhaps here the cliff over which the Fool is eternally poised. [147] Both Crocodile and Vulture were painted on the edges and underside of the ceiling blocks of temples to guard the way to the sanctuary.

So Maut and Sebek here are being utilised as both sacred and profane symbols – they are both the eaters of the dead and the guardians of the hidden temple. The Fool card then is both the exit and the entrance, and neither – as Philip K. Dick wrote as a title for one of his many Gnostic Science-Fiction stories, ‘The Exit Door Leads In’.

In a reading these two elements may prompt the reader to say “What is being destroyed needs to be lost to cross the threshold into the next phase of your life. Your decisions are irreverent, the drop into the abyss is already being enacted – you can writhe but the crocodile and the vulture are already waiting for you. The Fool is your new beginning. Deal with it”. The Fool should be the most terrifying and liberating card of the whole deck , and here in the Thoth deck it is.

Interestingly, the counterpart of the Vulture as female is more commonly the Beetle as the male principle. If we turn to our Thoth deck and find the Scarab Beetle on the Moon card, then superimpose the Fool (as female) and the Moon (here, male) we might like to see Crowley and Harris’s bivalence of symbols in action.

Having researched these deities, we can look at many further ways of interpreting their presence on a card. I will draw our research together by now looking at the Fortune card which features a revolving medley of three entities.

The Ancient Egyptian Crocodile-thingy & the Monkey

It is on the Fortune card (Wheel) that we encounter these creatures, along with a Sphinx of obviously ancient Egyptian heritage. Crowley, in his vision given in the first/middle appendix, says:

Now I see the figures on the wheel, which have been interpreted as the sworded Sphinx, Hermanubis and Typhon. But that is wrong … at the top seems to be the Lamb and the Flag, such as one sees on some Christian medals, and one of the lower things is a wolf, and the other a raven.

Crowley makes a correspondence of these three to the alchemical elements of Salt (the Lamb), Mercury (the Wolf) and Sulphur (the Raven) which is somewhat intriguing but impossible to pursue in the space we have available!

On the card then, we have the Sphinx, which Crowley subdivides into the four elements, corresponding to the magical virtues of “to Know, to Will, to Dare and to Keep Silence” (and the fifth, Crowley suggests in a footnote, “to Go”). We also have the composite God of Hermanubis, the Ape, and the strange figure of Typhon, who appears to be some form of crocodile with the tail of a snake.

The important thing about these three figures is that they are composite – perhaps even manifesting from one creature to another. This is the main message of the Fortune card – Life in constant motion. Change. A revolution of Form.

From a Kabbalistic point of view, using the Golden Dawn system of correspondences between the Tree of Life and the Tarot, and in this case the same system Crowley was also using, the Fortune card corresponds to the path between Chesed and Netzach on the Tree. These are often translated as “Mercy” and “Victory” but there are deeper meanings; Chesed is a “loving kindness” and means ‘good will’, ‘grace’ favour’. It implies that ‘good luck’ or ‘fortune’ is given by Grace and Favour, not by chance. Netzach also carries meanings such as ‘perpetuity’ and ‘eternity’. The card thus illustrates Fortune and the revolution of these three entities as the Grace of creation throughout Eternity – an idea Crowley taps into with the design of the card.

Similarly, from a Kabbalistic perspective, the card corresponds to a path which crosses the Veil on the pillar of Force. It is thus a creative card which meditates upon the process of the creation of Time itself. This is useful background in a reading of the card, for we should describe to the client how important the concept of time is within their life when this card comes up. It also challenges us as a reader to understand our own model of Time; for example, researching “granular time” in Quantum Physics. [148]

Crowley goes on to discuss the images of the card with reference to the three “Gunas” of the “Hindu system”:

Sattvas – calm, intelligence, lucidity, balance

Rajas – energy, excitement, fire, brilliance, restlessness

Tamas – darkness, inertia, sloth, ignorance, death

By correspondence these are:

Sattvas​ ​ Sulphur​ Sphinx​ ​ Raven ​ ​ IV Emporer

Rajas​ ​ Mercury​ Hermanubis​ Wolf ​ ​ II High Priestess

Tamas​ ​ Salt​ ​ Typhon​ Lamb ​ ​ III Empress

Crowley (or the transcriber or the printer or the editor) confuses the issue of the three alchemical correspondences in the Book of Thoth and I offer above my own version based on Crowley’s sketches and notes, although DuQuette’s version can be used with alchemical Mercury (not the planet) corresponding to Atu I: The Magus. Given the shape of these three alchemical components is taken by the figures of the three cards, I think it is the High Priestess who is in the form of the alchemical symbol for Mercury.

But what does it all mean?

But what does all this mean for a reading? How can we use these strange Gods when all the client wants to know is “when will Dwayne come back to me”? Well, we must devolve these lofty concepts down to practical considerations. In doing so, we raise the client’s life into the mythic realm and then draw deeper learning and lessons before applying this back to everyday life. As the Golden Dawn suggested, one should always appeal to the highest name of God one knows.

Here’s how we can do this with the Fortune card. Suppose we had it in the “future” position of a spread which had asked about the success of a new project. We are given the presence of three ancient god-forms (using the term loosely for the three forms); the Sphinx, the Hermanubis and Typhon.

As we have seen already, the Fortune card embodies the constant change of the Universe, in all its forms – but particularly in these three – growing, balancing and dying; or going up; staying; and coming down. We can talk to the client of their project as about to undergo a period of constant change, and in three ways at the same time.

These are all part of the inevitable development of the project. They will see the Sphinx in the context of the riddles they must resolve to keep “on top of things”. They will encounter Typhon in the constant failings of the project - Crowley likens this card also to Atu XVI (The Tower) in its capacity to completely bring a perfection at the same time as a total destruction, in a moment of unity or insight. They will also benefit from their meeting of Hermanubis, both messenger and guide, one who teaches and brings insight from the motions of the other two forces.

We can provide this model, so they will be able to derive the best of the changes ahead, rather than be simply strapped to the rim of the Wheel as it revolves. If they see the interplay of these three forces, they will achieve the unity at the axle of the Wheel, and more likely success.

The more we come to learn and appreciate the nature of these ancient Egyptian entities on the cards, the more precise will be our understanding of the lessons of the card within a reading. Eventually, even the very Gods themselves may speak to us from the deck.

Drawing a Veil before the Temple

In this section, I hope to have provided some starting-points to understand the complex usage of ancient Egyptian deities and concepts within the Thoth deck. I hope to have extracted and presented more plainly the deities themselves as a catalogue for your own research. The booklist provided at the end of this book may also be useful as a starting-point.

We will now highlight two magical workings by Crowley which can be considered the first drafts or concepts of the Thoth Tarot, and then detail each of the Major Arcana.

The Vision and the Voice

Several pieces of text and footnotes scattered throughout the Book of Thoth reference “The Paris Working” and “The Vision and the Voice”. These two magical workings are also quoted at great length in the Appendices occurring in the middle of the published book and in shorter segments within a few of the Major Arcana.

We will return to these workings in more detail in the third book of this present trilogy however we will now introduce them for context in the Major Arcana. These two series of magical workings were amongst Crowley’s first fully developed experiments with sex magick and both involved Victor Benjamin Neuburg (1883 – 1940) with whom Crowley was involved at the time.

The Vision and the Voice was an intense series of inner journeys into the thirty Enochian “Aethyrs”, first taking place in Mexico in 1900 and concluded in Algeria in 1909.

The Paris Working took place in that city over January and February of 1914, and commenced on New Years Eve on 31st December 1913 with an invocation of Thoth:

At 11:40 therefore did I duly open the Temple, invoking also Thoth by the Egyptian formulae. [149]

The accounts of these workings are dense with symbolism and doctrine, much of which formed Crowley’s concept of Thelema in addition to the Book of the Law . They also provide much of the early symbolism and relationship of symbols for the tarot. The Vision and the Voice deals with the crossing of the Abyss, which is the final stage of the dissolution of the self into an ongoing experience of unified reality.

We will refer to relevant sections throughout the examination of the Major Arcana in particular, seeing how the visions often included tarot images re-cast in Crowley’s own mind. An interesting section of one of the first visions (of the 24th Aethyr) also analyses the word TARO as Tres Annos Regimen Oraculi and other variations. [150]

The Paris Working

This working was conducted as a series of twenty-four “rituals” over a period of seven weeks. These were sexual acts of various nature between the two men and are recorded with Latin verse in honour of the gods, such as for Mercury, “Jungitur en vati vates; rex inclyte rhabdou …” meaning, “jointly, the bard in the bard, O famous King of the Wand”. [151] As either entered a trance-like state, the other would ask questions of the visionary experiences and receive further instructions for the working. The aim was in part to invoke Jupiter, for financial health and success, in addition to other benefits.

The record of the working is a fascinating blend of everyday minutiae, surreal happenings, a bizarre cast of characters both real and deific, and the real-time development of sexual magick rituals in theory and practice. We also see several indications of Crowley’s blending of cosmologies in the visions, which re-appear in the Book of Thoth , for example the connection of the Magician through correspondence to Mercury and to Christ.

We will now explore the Major Arcana in sequence.

The Major Arcana

The complexity of the Major Arcana is a testament to the lifetime of experience and philosophy drawn into the cards by Crowley and Harris. In this section we will provide an overall guide to each card and look at the most important symbols in terms of their meaning and where possible their application to a divinatory reading.

A selected quote will introduce each card, followed by key correspondences such as to the Hebrew alphabet and the Tree of Life. We then take a brief description of the card as if we were seeing it for the first time with little background knowledge. This allows us to contrast the immediate appearance of the card with the following depth and complexity of the symbolism.

We will look at specific colours in a card where highly significant but will cover colour symbolism in more detail in the following volume on the Minor Arcana, referring back also to the Major Arcana. As the colour symbolism requires a larger section and particularly applies to the Minors, it is clearer to place it in the next book:

At the top of the chart are 10 colour sequences which we don't seem to have used much. We did combine them in the 1st plain card of wands & then what with the governing planet & zodiacal sign we stopped. [152]

We will look at the card as a whole, picking out and re-organising Crowley’s writings on the symbolism, drawing together disparate references, and placing it in context of Thelema and the esoteric initiatory system. Again, where practical, we provide ways of using this context within an everyday reading.

At the end of this book we will look at a fifteen-card spread method and an innovative Tarosophy method called “Sleeping Beauty” for practice. The further two books of the trilogy will provide additional and unique ways of using the Thoth Tarot in readings.

We then take the most significant symbols in the card in isolation, providing additional references and interpretations as close to Crowley’s likely intent as possible. We draw upon several important works which influence the design of the deck; particularly the Book of the Law and The Vision and the Voice . I present the individual symbols in order of theme and flow, rather than alphabetically or by prominence or importance. Where beneficial, I describe some symbols in pairs or sets, where Crowley has stressed the importance of their relationship.

Several minor symbols may have been excluded from the text where they complicate the card or where they might be considered vague or of little importance. A number are included in the free mailings to accompany this first volume – see the introduction for the registration link.

Several cards will have more or less text in their individual explanation; the Lovers card contains the most overlapping and important symbols with other cards, so is treated at more length. The Chariot card is described using a comparative to the Waite-Smith Tarot, so is a little longer as an example of comparison. The Hanged Man card is the shortest description, due in part to its simplicity of design, but also because Crowley treats it as a powerful symbol of an unwanted past. It is profound in its symbolism of standing for something in life which does not warrant attention.

Finally, I provide keywords, a keyphrase and a further summary of how we might interpret the card in a practical and everyday reading. I have drawn upon my own experiences using the deck over thirty years, in a variety of readings for many different audiences. I have also stuck to Crowley’s conception, which may vary from other readings; the Empress, for example, to Crowley, is more connected to ‘love’ than the Lovers card, which is interpreted as ‘analysis’.

You are encouraged to use Crowley’s interpretations to shake up the way you might usually read the cards – particularly when using the Thoth Tarot. The reader is also encouraged to make their own notes and journal of readings in order to develop or replace these interpretations.

The ‘In a Reading’ section is a brief summary of the overall symbolism in order to present a clear overview of the card. There are many more interpretations and applications of the card in an everyday reading given against the individual symbols on the card.

The reader is recommended to refer to each card and then return to the original text in the Book of Thoth , then re-read the introductory section of this present book, and then look at the card again. You may then wish to read the full sections of The Vision and the Voice and refer to the Book of the Law , before repeating this study cycle.

You can also deepen your appreciation of the deck by reading a biography of Crowley, particularly Richard Kaczynski’s Perdurabo , and Crowley’s own autobiography, The Confessions of Aleister Crowley . Then skip ahead to Crowley’s final sustained piece of writing, published as Magick without Tears but originally intended to be titled Aleister Explains Everything .

As you unlock the deck you might then go onto to read other relevant works including Magick , The Holy Books , ‘Wake World’ (in Konx Om Pax ) and explore the world of esotericism and Thelema from which these illustrations arise.

This present book is intended to re-cast the writing of the Book of Thoth and provide an ongoing reference guide in accompaniment to it.

0: The Fool

Salvation, whatever salvation may mean, is not to be obtained on any reasonable terms. Reason is an impasse, reason is damnation; only madness, divine madness, offers an issue. [153]

Correspondences: Aleph (Ox), Air.

Image : A Green Man – a bacchanalian fool - stands akimbo within three loops. A crocodile is at his feet and a tiger clings to his leg. A bag of coins is in the background, and three white roses are arranged between his legs. Multiple forms are caught in the loops; a vulture, a butterfly, a dove and a wand.

The Fool of the Thoth Tarot takes us on a madcap journey into the most mysterious of places - the very point of creation itself. He bursts into the Universe from Nothing, symbolising innocence turned into virility, light into matter, unity into division. It is enough to drive one mad, so the Fool captures these contradictions and journeys into their midst. Crowley and Harris have taken the highest concepts of mysticism and the limits of logic and science into a fabulous blend of myth and lore. In this card we see the most wide-ranging of Crowley’s essays in the Book of Thoth , covering Kabbalah, Buddhism, politics, psychology, philosophy, biology, and divination.

Crowley says “the study of these cards [the tarot] has for its most important aim the training of the mind to think clearly and coherently in this exalted manner”. [154] By this he means a transcendence of the intellectual reasoning, limited by duality, and its sublimation into an appreciation of the universe through “intuitive apprehension”. [155] Even as we look at the symbols of this card, we must be aware of their opposite and see the card as both symbolising everything - and nothing at all.

The whole picture of the Fool is described by Crowley, after an appropriately rambling essay in the Book of Thoth , as “a glyph of the creative light”. He sees the Fool as the intervention between the Veil of Negative Existence and “divided light”. So, the head of the Fool is crowned with the “phallic cone” of creation, the white light of Kether, the Crown and the point from which the godhead withdraws from itself to make space for existence. The Fool is silent, as was Harpo Marx – one of the original versions of this card depicted that comedian, which was immediately rejected by Crowley.

The card also contains many overlaps of myth and symbolism, which is appropriate for the nature of this innumerable, iridescent, figure. [156] Crowley describes the figure as:

The Green Man, the April Fool, the Holy Ghost.

Dalua, the Great Fool of the Celts.

Percivale, the Rich Fisherman.

Hoor-Pa-Kraat, the God of Silence.

Zeus Arrhenothelus.

Dionysus Zagreus/Bacchus Diphues.

Baphomet.

He also saw the figure as a form of Pan but noted that this symbolism was more fully developed in Atu XV, the Devil, connected also by the relationship of the corresponding Hebrew letters; Aleph for the Fool and Ayin for the Devil. [157]

SYMBOLS

The Three Loops

The three spiral loops around the Fool, binding the symbols and upon which the Dove, the Vulture, the Crocodile and other symbols reside, are an image of the Ain Soph Aur . This is the “limitless light” of Kabbalistic doctrine which pre-exists (yet does not exist) prior to existence itself. It is the necessary inconceivable state from which conception creates the universe. It is madness to think of it, and folly to attain it in consciousness. It shows the infinite possibilities that exist prior to any decision – even the decision to create the universe.

The Crocodile

The devouring crocodile Sebek (or Mako ) symbolises initiation, hence the rose in the eye. The rose here is the symbol of the opening of self-awareness through destruction by recognition of opposites and duality. Crowley takes a couple of pages of the Book of Thoth in explaining this symbol, such is its importance and general rule to the whole of tarot. We have introduced this idea in the earlier section on ancient Egyptian deities and will expand on it – the idea of bivalence .

The crocodile, like the vulture, is a symbol of devouring and they were both assumed some magical power due to the uncertainty about their reproduction in ancient Egypt. They are thus both destroyers and creators – in some secret or immediate fashion. As such, the crocodile is the ideal symbol of initiation, whether it be of a person or the entire cosmos.

The creature also serves as an example of bivalency, each symbol having two sides. Crowley states that the simplest test of initiation is that the initiate comes to understand every symbol as containing its opposite. If one insists that a symbol means just one thing, and one thing only, he sees this as “spiritual incapacity”. [158]

We might go further and suggest that if we learn to see this in symbolism and the universe in specific instances, we might one day apply it to ourselves. We might recognise that if we exist, then conversely there is a state of non-existence. If we are inside, then there is an outside. If there is illusion, there is reality. And that all of these are not just one thing, but everything. And if there is everything. There is nothing – the three loops in which all things are free and under which the crocodile sleeps. [159]

The Tiger

Crowley does not extend the symbolism of the tiger other than to note it is attacking the Fool and it is connected with Bacchus. It is a form of the cat or dog depicted in earlier cards, attacking the vagabond fool and tearing his trousers – sometimes exposing his buttock. Bacchus/Dionysus was sometimes depicted in a chariot, being drawn by tigers, symbolising the wildness of his nature. As such, whether the tiger is “fawning” upon the fool or “attacking” him, it represents the wild nature of the image. [160]

Green and Gold

The bright green and gold symbolism of the Fool illustrate the creative alchemy of Nature and Light in the dance of manifestation. It is the highest and lowest of the cards, because it is unnumbered – or numbered zero. This is a card of creation - and even, salvation. [161]

The Flaming Pine Cone

The “flaming pine cone” in the left hand of the Fool represents the “vegetable growth” in creation. He describes the Fool as “bursting unexpectedly upon the world”. This is the essence of the card too; a creative burst of brilliance, the shattering of nothing into something; new life, growth, surprise, the unexpected and the pure innocence or folly of a breath of spring air. The Fool is the “gold of air”, the spirit made manifest in loops into the world.

The Bag of Coins

The bag of the Fool contains coins of the zodiac and planets; the elements of creation. It symbolises the manifestation of spirit and alludes to two great myths. The first, that of a deity materialising as a “shower of gold” to procreate with a mortal, and the second, the myth of a rich king disguised as a beggar. Crowley sees these as traditional forms of the “single doctrine” of the Fool. This doctrine is that of creation itself - nothing becoming something - the unseen becoming revealed.

The Sun

The Sun is shown in the centre of the Fool as a summary and focus of the diverse and madcap symbolism of the card; it is the point of radiance in our microcosm. It represents the light bursting forth in the darkness, the explosion of matter, and the dawning of a new day of creation. The gold of the sun is shown on the Fool’s boots, in contrast with the green clothing which symbolises nature; he walks in the light even as he passes in the everyday world.

The Vine Leaf

The vine leaf carries the symbolism of madness, folly, ecstasy and creation. The card is an illustration of Bacchus as it is an illustration of Hoor-Pa-Kraat, the god of silence. Crowley writes this in his verses; “Pure folly is the key to initiation. Silence breaks forth into rapture”. He returns to this allusion in his Hymn to Pan, where the “tongue breaks forth into a weird and monstrous speech”. The sudden outpouring of creation is unrestrained, wild and chaotic - for nothing is yet formed until formation itself is created.

Key Phrase: Pure Folly is the Key to Initiation. [162]

Keywords: Surprise, sudden, uncontrolled energy, original thought, rising above opposites and dilemmas.

In a Reading

At heart, the Fool card indicates original thought, surprise, the unexpected and strange. It is a card that suggests we do something - anything – in a different way to whatever we have done before - no matter what. “Know naught!” the Fool exclaims, “Wander alone, and sing!” In a reading, this card says we must think higher, transcend our boundaries and take a leap into the unknown of ourselves, no matter how foolish we may feel.

It is also a card that suggests getting out of a paradox, dilemma or intractable situation by rising above it – seeing it from outside of itself. You may be looking to turn the tables, but you are still at the table, when perhaps you need to leave the room.

I: The Magus [Magician]

The ideas connected with this symbol are so complex and so multifarious that it seems better to attach to this general description certain documents which bear upon different aspects of this card. The whole will then form an adequate basis for the full interpretation of this card through study, meditation, and use. [163]

Correspondences: Beth (house), Mercury.

Image : A mercurial figure stands upon the tip of a phallic shape, from which also emerge elemental symbols such as a pentacle and sword. A monkey arises in the lower right of the card, and a winged banner design above the figure features a descending dove.

The Magus commences our sequence proper as the Word, the Will and the Phallus. This illustration is as clear as we see to the supremely sexualised symbolism of the deck; the mercurial figure balances on the tip of a phallic design, his elemental tools ejaculated out as much as the light which bursts from the bulbous wings in which he stands. It is the act by which “the worlds were created”. [164]

Crowley describes Mercury, the Magician, or “Juggler” as he is titled in the book (if not upon the card), as “continuous creation”. [165] The act of sexual creation leads to birth, which leads to life and continuous creation. Mercury is the electric charge, the transmission of activity from one life to another even as it is from one generation to another and one world to the next.

He cautions that because the Magician corresponds to a path on the Tree of Life above Binah, “understanding”, he cannot be understood; “These ideas are so subtle and so tenuous, on these exalted planes of thought, that definition is impossible”. [166] Much like the Fool, the Magician is thought itself – above even knowledge, the false Sephirah of Da’ath. It is thought not yet formed into structure or pattern; the unexpected, the unsettling, the trickster, the unconscious Will that suddenly bursts forth at an inappropriate time.

The Magician in the Thoth deck is less about “success” than “cunning”, less about “skill” than “deceit”. It is an entirely unsettling and creative card to receive in a reading, ignoring and turning over any established thinking or situation. It is a card of change.

At a spiritual level, the card says we must work to be “Omnipotent, Omniscient, Omnipresent and Eternal”, [167] again referring to the four Worlds or four elements which are the Tools of the Magician.

Wand:​ ​ Omnipotent​ ​ Ability to create or do anything

Cup:​ ​ Omniscient​ ​ Knowledge and Understanding of all things across all time

Sword:​ ​ Omnipresent​ ​ Present in all things at all time

Pentacle:​ Eternal​ ​ Timeless and without limits

SYMBOLS

The symbolism of the Magus card is “designed principally upon the Graeco-Egyptian tradition” but Frieda Harris had several designs for the Magus. [168] She wrote:

I'm worried about Mercury. I can only see him as I've drawn him not so tricksey as you seem to know him. However I'll try. [169]

She also complained that he was “fussing dreadfully” and that ideally, at that point, she would like to start the whole deck again, now she was “faintly beginning to understand what you [Crowley] are driving at”. [170]

Her work progressed under blackout blinds at Morton House in Chiswick. She was enthused by Crowley’s writings on the tarot;

Thank you so much for your Tarot writings. They are so good & so dynamic that I got quite elated as I read them & found myself in a whirl, in fact I had to put them away. In particular I find the general character of the cards…most illuminating. I do congratulate you. The Great Work is indeed in progress. I do wish I had fire & air & water & earth to draw with. [171]

Their work was entirely collaborative. She was concerned about the Magus figure from the beginning, as she found her feet. She wrote about her concern about his “heavy arms” even though he was a “powerful god” and noted to Crowley that “Surely the Ape should move, not the Eternal Figure. What do you think?” [172]

It is this correspondence which differentiates the deck from the earlier Waite-Smith project, which Waite himself dismissed as a “delightful experiment” and Crowley savaged on several occasions. [173] There is no doubt that Harris thought Crowley’s vision was “truly grand”. [174]

Ape of Thoth

It is the Ape of Thoth which is the principle symbol of this card, as intuited by Harris. The Ape is symbolic of the tendency of language – even thought itself – to deceive – as a simulation of reality. The symbol itself is a symbol of illusion and the falsehood of any image, even those in our own minds. As Crowley concludes, any static image will fail to illustrate the perpetuated motion of the universe, which is the core concept of this card.

In a reading, the Ape symbolises the monkey-mind a-chatter, the internal dialogue, the musings and wanderings of the idle mind. It takes itself seriously but should not expect anyone else to do the same. In the Mnemonics for this card, Crowley writes that “the Word of Wisdom weaves a web of lies…” [175]

Mercury

Mercury is the “fluidic basis of all transmission of activity”, and as such represents thought, semen, change, perception, reason, chance, and the Word. Crowley uses the term ‘pantomorphous’ to describe the changeability of not only this card, but every card in the deck seen through the mercurial gaze. This is a call-back to a far earlier 1909 use of the word in his magical diaries, also associated with the Magician, and is a good illustration of how much of his earlier life and work became illustrated in the deck:

I am so absolutely become as a pantomorphous Iynx that all things look alike to me … I am overwhelmed by the multitude of my own magical Images. I have become the great magician – Mayan, the Maker of Illusion … [176]

Crowley may have been aware of the works of theologian Michael Servetus, who was burnt at the stake for heresy in 1553. Servetus saw the Logos (divine Word) as “the pantomorphous cosmos”, where Christ held within himself the forms of all living beings. Thus, “the single exemplar of man contained all things just as all things are in Christ”. [177]

Caduceus (wand)

Crowley encountered the symbolism of the Caduceus in his visions during the Paris Working , and includes that vision in the appendix of the Book of Thoth . He describes the Caduceus as “Life itself”, and breaks down the symbolism into two components:

Winged Sun (Phallus) – joy of life on all planes of existence.

Twin Serpents – resume the sexual symbolism of the Eagle and Lion, also active/passive, Horus/Osiris and other dualities. [178]

He concludes that it is a symbol which unites the microcosm and the macrocosm, and the act (sexual) which accomplishes this unity.

Descending Dove

The dove placed in the winged banner design at the top of this card symbolises the holy spirit, or Ruach in Kabbalah, which was often illustrated as such in the baptism of Jesus. Crowley explicitly defines the Magus as Christ; “In brief, he is the Son, the manifestation in act of the idea of the Father”. [179]

He explores this identification in the Appendix with extracts from the Paris Working ; Christ and Mercury he connects as mediators, healers, connections with the underworld, and “one half of the Fish symbol is also common to Christ and Mercury”. [180]

This is the Magus as the first form of the thought emerging from the Fool, emanating and transmitting, but still not yet quite manifest.

Winged Egg

The Winged Egg is not mentioned by Crowley in the text, however we will encounter its symbolism in several following cards as the Orphic Egg. It is the precursor here of the cosmic egg from which all light and manifestation will emerge. It thus represents the earliest stages of creation. I feel it has a slightly cartoonish feeling compared to other symbols, and this may be to convey a sense of Mercury’s humour:

The sense of humour of this god is very strong. He is not sentimental about his principal function; he regards the Universe as an excellent practical joke. [181]

Book & Quill

These two symbols refer us to Thoth as the scribe of the gods, but also to a sublime quote in the appendix for the Magus, quoting in turn, Liber Aleph :

He [Thoth] shewed how by the Mind it was possible to direct the Operations of the Will. By Criticism and by recorded Memory Man avoideth Error, and the repetition of Error. [182]

Crowley returns to this source in his main text for the card, to demonstrate that “manifestation implies illusion” and that speech and writing can introduce ambiguity and falsehood. [183]

In a reading we can refer to these two symbols as showing the importance of learning from our mistakes, by thinking about them, and by reporting them correctly to ourselves. The mind, like Mercury, can be a trickster – particularly as it does not take anything seriously.

Phoenix/Ibis Wand

The wand depicted on the Magus card is likely a Phoenix Wand, although Crowley does not appear to specifically name it. It bears similarity to the wands depicted on the Prince of Wands and the Five of Wands, clearly identified in the text as a Phoenix Wand. This is the wand belonging to the Second Adept in the Adeptus Minor ritual of the Golden Dawn, where it represents Geburah and the fiery energies of creation. This can be compared to the winged egg, which it fertilises in the act of creation.

Elemental Weapons

The four elemental tools of the magician used within the Golden Dawn are here present, and referenced by Crowley from his book on Magick:

With the Wand createth He.

With the Cup preserveth He.

With the Dagger destroyeth He.

With the Coin redeemeth He. [184]

This suggests in a reading that the Querent or ourselves has recourse to all possible actions, should we speak our own word.

The censer replaces the wand for fire, as a wand is counterposed to the winged egg. We thus have the four elements drawn on the card in the four worlds; the pentacle and sword in Assiah, the world of action; the Censer and Grail in Yetzirah, the world of formation; the Phoenix wand and the Winged Egg in Briah, the world of creation; and the Stele/Arrow and Scroll/Book in Atziluth, the world of emanation.

Key Phrase: Do What Thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. [185]

Keywords : Will, Trickery, Manipulation, Deceit, Unconscious, Unexpected, Messages, Communication.

In a Reading

Crowley indicates the advice of this card through a correspondence to the four elemental weapons; he says, “Create freely; absorb joyously; divide intently; consolidate completely”. [186]

Wand:​ ​ Create​ ​ Be Free

Cup:​ ​ Absorb​ ​ Be Joyful

Sword:​ ​ Divide​ ​ Have Intent

Pentacle:​ Consolidate​ Be Complete

There is also a sense that by aiming to experience freedom, we necessarily create; that when we are joyful, we absorb naturally; when we will some intent, it is inevitable that we divide our attention; and that in the seeking of completion, we must consolidate all that is present.

He further suggests that by looking at what we do – and have done – our “Way”, we find all that we need to reverse engineer our “True Will”, and that itself is the meaning of our “True Will”. We are what we do, so we should connect to our present moment and actions when the Magician appears and conduct a severe reality check. Are we who we say?

This cannot be intellectualised; the Magician resists thought, and it may indicate that we – or our client – are overthinking the matter. As Mercury too, the card can signify communication, messages, deceit, lying, and the general potential for untruthfulness in anything other than the manifest action of a situation or behaviour of a person or group.

II: The Priestess [High Priestess, Popess]

Pure, exalted and gracious influence enters the matter. Hence, change, alternation, increase and decrease, fluctuation. There is, however, a liability to be led away by enthusiasm; one may become “moon-struck” unless careful balance is maintained. [187]

Correspondences: Gimel (camel), Moon.

Image : A naked female figure, crowned with lunar symbols, sits on a chair with a bow upon her knees. She holds her arms apart, casting a veil of interwoven lines before her. At the foot of the card are crystals and plants in the centre of which is a small camel.

In a deck stacked with brilliant images, that of the High Priestess is of yet another order of sublimity. It is testament to the genius of Crowley’s design and Harris’s art in its representation of the highest levels of mystical experience.

The design is both simple and complex; obvious and enigmatic; stark yet opulent. The use of projective geometric is applied to great effect – the natural curve of her arms creates eddies, swirls in space-time, from which gentle arcs then cascade a mirrored net of glass-like shards, a matrix of sharp edges which stretches into infinity.

It is a card which portrays a mathematical and philosophical truth; even a curve is made up of straight edges, and nothing is ever as it seems.

To Crowley (and indeed, to A. E. Waite) this card is most significant in context of its correspondence on the Tree of Life to the path between Tiphareth and Kether. In mystical terms, these two Sephiroth on the Tree relate to the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel, and the final realisation of Unity in the Universe. [188] The path between them, to Crowley, represents the thought – or the “intelligible radiance” – of the Angel. [189]

She is the “Priestess of the Silver Star”, that “star” being the True Will (Tiphareth), and the Angel is the presence of light when the true Will is realised in its natural home – in unification with the divine (Kether). The net she casts is the light made manifest in our own realisation of the world, through perception, experience and memory – all the things we think we are and are not at all.

As such, she is described by Crowley as “virginal”, representing the influence of that which is beyond all perception (hence, in a lower sense, ‘intuition’) into manifestation. When it is seen as a creative act, coming down the Tree of Life, it is the means of manifestation – the way in which light is formed into matter. When it is seen as an act of initiation, heading up the Tree of Life, it is the attainment of that influence – an identification with the thought of the Angel, a stepping back from the self into the Abyss.

I was taught that this card is one of the significant ‘change’ cards in the tarot; in this card, it is an illustration of ‘transcendent change’. It is a change that is happening, but we cannot really sense what it is changing, its purpose or eventual outcome. The appearance of the card in a reading – as we will see - is a confirmation that there is more going on than meets the eye.

SYMBOLS

The Camel

The image of the camel derives from the correspondence of the High Priestess to the Hebrew letter Gimel , meaning “camel”. Crowley sees the card as illustrating the link between the archetypal and formative worlds; the worlds of Atziluth, Briah and Yetzirah on the Tree of Life. The camel crosses the “abyss” that separates the universe experienced as a continuous and unbounded emanation, without duality, and the universe experienced as a bounded structure.

On the Abyss, Crowley quotes from his own writings, the Book of Lies (falsely so-called) , published in 1911 or 1912, depending on whether Crowley was lying in the imprint date of the book. This book is called the official publication for ‘Babes of the Abyss’, the grade approaching the top of the Tree of Life. It deals with the nature of thought, mystical experience and ritual alike, in a wandering but semi-structured collection of 93 brief one-page chapters.

Crowley quotes the 42nd chapter of that book, entitled “DUST DEVILS”. The quote in the Book of Thoth does not include any commentary but is offered to “assist the student” through meditation. However, he did offer some commentary in the Book of Lies, saying that the section dealt with the formation of the ego, and its transcendence by the “Masters of the Temple”, the grade corresponding to Binah on the Tree of Life.

Thus, the card is an illustration of the transcendence of self and the crossing of the Abyss. It also illustrates the formation of the separated self and ego, from the endless “dust devils” of thought and identity that are not things in themselves but transient experiences. The ego is formed by one such sustained eddy, alike that depicted on the card:

“In this free-flowing, centerless material arises an eddy; a spiral close-coiled upon itself”. [190]

The commentary also identifies the Priestess as the ‘Lady of Initiation”, and, in a sense, the “Holy Guardian Angel”.

The Pillars (Pylons)

The pylons on this card replace the traditional pillars of previous images and connect the card to the notion of initiation. The Priestess sits upon the middle pillar as a perfect balance between the pillars of severity and mercy; sometimes in a reading we might say that before we find this middle path, we might have to go to one extreme or the other until at last we return to the central way.

The Crown

The Crown of the Priestess is a direct reference to her position on the Tree of Life, “issuing downwards from the Crown”, but also as the “path which leads upwards”. [191] It is thus the symbol of the “highest Initiation”. [192] The Crown is Kether, and in a ‘spiritual’ reading of the card would show that the querent – or oneself – is connected to the very highest source in a particular matter. That is to say, no matter the situation being presented to the deck, the appearance of this card shows it is truly meant to be from the very highest level.

The crown takes the form of the headdress of Isis, the most universal of goddesses. In this form, it is rather a merged symbol from that of Hathor – the more maternal goddess. The horns of the cow are holding the sun, rather than the moon. This might be considered as the ‘white sun’ of Kether, the pure point of divine light, held in the arms of Binah and Chockmah on the Tree of Life.

Crowley also writes that the card “makes a direct connection between the Father in his highest aspect, and the Son in his most perfect manifestation”, i.e. Kether and Tiphareth. [193] In this regard, there may be a literal reading possible for this card in a family or psychological context.

The Bow

This is the “bow of Artemis” and is described by Crowley as a musical instrument, in that Artemis is a huntress who hunts by enchantment. This recalls his poem, ‘The Altar of Artemis’, in an early collection of his poetry, The Soul of Osiris , published in 1911:

But horned and huntress from the skies,

She bends her lips upon the breeze,

And pure and perfect in her eyes,

Burn magical virginity's

Sweet intermittent sorceries.

The music of Artemis is her “sweet word” being carried throughout all Nature. In the image, we can see how Harris has set up a resonance pattern; the sound of the universe is being reflected upon itself, making a matrix or net of light. We use this in a reading as a symbol of interconnection – when we listen to our intuition, we listen to everything.

The Net

We again see the symbolism of this card pre-shadowed in Crowley’s earlier work. Also found in his poem, ‘The Altar of Artemis’ we see the concept of the net of light:

Strange gods and goddesses, that shed

Monstrous desires of secret things

Upon their worshippers, from wings

One lucent web of light …

In the first few cards of the Major Arcana, we are seeing very abstract concepts in correspondence with their high position on the Tree of Life. This is evident in the Waite-Smith Tarot, but even more so in the Thoth Tarot. In a reading, we can look at the overall pattern of Major Arcana as a timing device – the higher up the Tree, the longer the situation will take to manifest, generally. If you have several Major Arcana that are lower on the Tree, i.e. later numbers in the sequence, say XV (Devil), XVIII (Moon) and XXI (Universe), the situation is already manifesting and fixing itself, without much opportunity to change it.

The net is the matrix, the universe as a reverberation of a simple rule being applied an almost infinite number of times.

Plants and Crystals

As she corresponds to the path between Kether and Tiphareth, the Priestess card is the “link between the archetypal and formative worlds”, the worlds of Atziluth, Briah, and Yetzirah on the Tree of Life. She connects the unseen and hidden world from which the patterns of existence arise and then upon which we project the archetypes – or they project us.

The “whorls, crystals, seeds, pods …” we see at the bottom of the card, then, depict “nascent forms” of life, pre-born structures that are becoming manifest. [194] They are the illustration of deep structure giving rise to patterns in perceptual reality. [195]

In this symbolism the Priestess can be read as a half-formed feeling of an idea – something almost literally at the back of our mind or the tip of our tongue. She is “possibility in its second stage without any beginning or consummation”. [196] It is not a particularly useful card to receive in a reading as it is entirely ephemeral; we must look to other cards or positions to understand if the idea can come to anything or has any real impact in everyday life – or at least, an impact about which we can do something.

Key Phrase: Pure, exalted and gracious influence enters the matter. [197]

Keywords: Change, seeking an alternative, grace, higher thought and connection, spirituality.

In a Reading

The appearance of the High Priestess indicates something vague and unreachable, a mystery or a secret. At the same time, it suggests that there is something higher at work, a cosmic reason and re-alignment in a subtle fashion. As with every card, it is dependent – but perhaps more so, in terms of actual observable events – on other cards, the position in a spread, and in context of the question and the oracular moment. It can indicate that it is ourselves who must remain enigmatic and unreachable, or that someone else is maintaining a secret. Whatever is on the edge of our minds, on the tip of our tongue, an as-yet-unspoken or unthought thought, is presenting itself with this card.

III: The Empress

It is impossible to summarize the meanings of the symbol of the Woman, for this very reason, that she continually recurs in infinitely varied form. [198]

Correspondences : Daleth (door), Venus.

Image : In side profile is a regal female figure wearing vestments. She holds a Lotus and her belt is that of the zodiac. A shield rests at her feet, emblazoned with two eagles. A pelican feeding its young is also at her feet.

In the first part of his description of the Empress, we see Crowley utilising his own correspondences from 777 but in turn these originate from the teachings of the Golden Dawn.

Without the Golden Dawn, there would be no Thoth deck, nor arguably a Waite-Smith Tarot. Without their grand synthesis of esoteric lore, medieval grimoires, the newly arising ancient Egyptian discoveries, alchemy, astrology, Eastern teachings being brought into Europe, and every other scrap of philosophy, psychology and insight into the human condition, both Crowley and Waite would have been without the necessary materials to fashion into their work and tarot. [199]

Crowley notes that the correspondence to Venus provides an illustration of the universality of the Empress – the sign of Venus, when drawn upon the Tree of Life, is the only zodiacal sign to cover all the Sephiroth.

As the card also corresponds to the path between Chockmah and Binah on the Tree of Life, it unites the ‘father’ and ‘mother’ above the Abyss, representing the endless creation of existence passing from unity to duality and then to infinite variety. For this reason, Crowley quotes her description as “Many-throned, many minded, many wiled, daughter of Zeus”. This Homeric-like quote refers to all the forms in which the feminine principle may manifest, be considered, and its influence in the world.

Her “general manifestation” illustrated in the card, combines the highest principles of the feminine aspect and the lowest material qualities – the sacred and the profane, the spiritual and the material. It aims to be a comprehensive illustration of the notion of everything, she is literally the ‘salt of the earth’ and she is ascribed to that alchemical element.

There survive several sheets of Crowley’s original sketches for the designs of the deck, and for the Empress, we clearly see his intention to model the figures in the cards upon symbolic patterns. The Empress was drawn by Harris upon the symbol of alchemical salt – a circle which is bisected by a horizontal line. Harris has drawn the curve of the arms of the Empress to create the circle, and her zodiacal belt is the bisecting line across the circle.

Whilst we may suspect that Waite intended similar, such as the shape of the Temperance card resembling the symbol for Sagittarius, it is only with Crowley that we have direct evidence of such design. Both were clearly influenced by the Golden Dawn initiatory rituals which traced such symbols on the temple floor in the position of the officers, movement of the candidate, etc.

SYMBOLS

Lotus of Isis

The Lotus represents the feminine power, and “a living form of the Holy Grail”. [200] As a plant, it is rooted in the earth and water, and opens itself to the Sun. It symbolises not only life, but in its opening and closing during the day, rebirth and regeneration. As a symbol in a reading, it can be pointed out as a powerful indication that a difficult situation, whilst growing in deep mud, can ultimately bring about openness and light.

Girdle

The girdle of Aphrodite was called the ‘cestus’ and although it is unclear whether it was a waist-belt or a breast-band, it represents love, desire and ‘sweet flattery’.

... she loosed from her bosom the curiously embroidered girdle into which all her charms had been wrought ... [201]

It was described in the Iliad as ‘embroidered’ and Crowley has designed it with the signs of the Zodiac. In a reading, one might refer to this as the passing of time (a year) in matters of love.

Crown

The crown of the Empress is designed as a stylised headdress of Hathor, the ancient Egyptian goddess of motherhood, joy and beauty – associated with the cow in a maternal role. The name ‘Hathor’ literally means ‘mansion of Horus’, so the Empress can be seen as the mother of Horus, an important deity who appears throughout the Arcana.

She bears in the centre of the crown a cross upon a sphere, making the reversed symbol of Venus. We have previously seen that this card relates to Venus as a symbol of wholeness and love. It also resembles the orb held by the Emperor, linking the two cards.

The physical placement of the Arcana on the Tree of Life is also important in appreciating their different functions and energies. The Empress is placed on the Tree on a horizontal path, between Chockmah and Binah – Wisdom and Understanding – so has a sense of harmonious serenity, whereas the Emperor is on a downwards diagonal path, flashing energy into the universe.

Sparrow and the Dove

Crowley’s original sketch for the Empress simply has “dove” and “sparrow” written at the top of either pillar.

As Aphrodite or Venus, the sacred birds of the Goddess include the sparrow, dove and swan. Aphrodite was borne in a chariot drawn by doves, the birds of love. In Sappho’s Ode to Aphrodite , the goddess is drawn by sparrows. In fact, the word ‘dove’ comes from the ancient Greek, peristerá , meaning ‘bird of Ishtar’.

Crowley refers the reader to the poetry of Catullus and Martial as the “nub” of this symbolism. As often with Crowley, he is placing sexual symbolism one step away from us, as both Roman poets used the dove and sparrow as metaphors for the penis, some poems including a comparison of the sizes of the two birds, belonging each to either poet.

The “flamelike uprights”, then, represent the male energy both dark and light, against which the Empress is set.

Bees, Dominos and Spirals

Crowley writes “On her robe are bees; also dominos, surrounded by continuous spiral lines; the signification is everywhere similar”. [202] This is a reference to the previous paragraph, where we are advised to seek our answers in Catullus and Martial, as we saw in the previous pair of symbols. This is a good example of the difficulties laid by Crowley in appreciating the Thoth Tarot through his Book of Thoth ; we are often referred backwards to another riddle which we may not be confident that we have entirely resolved.

However, once we have a few keys, we can unlock the entire treatise as a puzzle-box, through many layers of meaning and hyper-textual links both internally within the writing and externally to a large and diverse range of references.

Here, though, we have a further secret within a secret; Crowley’s original sketch does not mention dominos, although it specifies all the other symbols. His off-hand remark suggests he did not have a specific symbolism in mind for them – so it is more likely that Harris painted them on the Empress.

There is no specific symbolism involved with dominos, but there is something special about the name, and the word – it is similar to the Latin, dominus , meaning ‘master’ but also in the feminine, domina . In old English law, this was the title given to a lady who held a barony in their own right. We know that Harris had become a “Lady” through marriage and was ambivalent about the title, so perhaps in the Empress she depicts herself as a lady with a domain in her own right.

One might also interpret them as showing duality, particularly counter-changed, although they are not coloured in a dual manner on the card.

Fleurs-de-lys and Fishes

There are many cases throughout the Major Arcana of counter-changed symbolism. This is one of the innovations of the deck compared with the Waite-Smith Tarot, which did not deploy this mechanism as systematically as Crowley. It makes the Thoth Tarot a much more dynamic deck – one gets good readings for energetic situations, where events are moving rapidly. The deck is more like the I-Ching in this regard (Crowley’s more favoured divinatory tool) in modelling transition and change, particularly between apparent opposites poles.

In the case of the Empress, the Fleurs-de-lys are also seen on the Emperor, as is the counter-changed double eagle. On the Empress the flowers are symbolic of nature, royalty, and the divine feminine – on the Emperor they take on a converse interpretation.

The fishes are not drawn by Crowley on his original sketch nor does he again mention any specific interpretation for their presence on the card. They may have been added by Harris to show the watery nature of the card, as a Christian symbol, or as part of the Pelican motif.

Pelican Feeding its Young

Traditionally, the Pelican is seen as a symbol of self-sacrifice, most specifically the sacrifice of Christ. This is due to the misconception that the Pelican wounded its own breast to feed its blood to her young. Crowley’s draft design for the card shows that he intended the Pelican to bear a Red Rose, consolidating that symbolism. In the end, it appears that Harris maintained a simpler symbolism, perhaps colouring the Pelican a rosy red tint.

Crowley states that the full symbolism of the pelican is only available to “Fifth Degree” initiates of the O.T.O., the Ordo Templi Orientis. The fifth Degree of that Order is entitled the “Knight of the Pelican” and corresponds to the 18th Degree in Freemasonry. [203] In Freemasonry, both the Pelican and the Eagle are cogent symbols; “the Pelican feeding her young is an emblem of the large and bountiful beneficence of Nature, of the Redeemer of fallen man, and of that humanity and charity that ought to distinguish a Knight of this Degree”. [204]

White Eagle

“The Eagle is to us the symbol of Liberty, the Compasses of Equality, the Pelican of Humanity, and our order of Fraternity” [205]

Archway

The door at the back of this card is somewhat hidden by the general design, but obvious when you see it. The Empress almost sits inside the upper part of an oval, or egg, which in itself is an archway. As ever, we might suspect Crowley of a schoolboy-level sexual pun in his final remarks – and final word - upon this card, when considering this archway as a “Gate of Heaven”:

… because of the beauty of the symbol, because of its omniform presentation, the student who is dazzled by any given manifestation may be led astray. In no other card is it so necessary to disregard the parts, to concentrate upon the whole. [206]

Key Phrase: Love and let love. [207]

Keywords: Unity, love, the whole picture, completion, pleasure.

In a Reading

The Empress, in the Thoth Tarot, is symbolic of love – almost more so than the actual Lovers card. It is one of several cards – if not all the Majors – that has a unique meaning in the Thoth Tarot when compared to other decks. If we try and apply ‘standard’ meanings to the deck, we lose the power of the deck, the wholeness of its cosmology, and the opportunity to re-wire our own perspectives in a new way. The Empress is the highest meaning of love, of unity and of the pleasure that comes from everything being complete and together.

If the reading is financial, it is about ‘going all in’ or ‘pulling everything out’, whichever way, it is total and whole. It will depend on the position, question and relationship to other cards in a spread or method. Similarly, with regard to emotional questions, it is a card of love in totality or not at all.

IV. The Emperor

His authority is derived from Chockmah, the creative Wisdom, the Word, and is extended upon Tiphareth, the organized man. [208]

Correspondences: Tzaddi (fish-hook), Aries, Sulphur.

Image : A male figure sits upon a throne, bearing a crown, globe and ram-headed wand. At his feet are a shield emblazoned with two eagles and a lamb with a flag and halo. Two rams arise out of the background in a shaft of light.

The Emperor is one of the three cards in the deck most strongly associated with alchemical symbolism. Crowley describes it as “one of the more important alchemical cards”. [209] The card corresponds to the alchemical element of Sulphur, whose symbol the Emperor creates by his arms, head and crossed legs.

Crowley sees Sulphur as the male energy of the universe, and, like Aries, to which this card also corresponds, it is the fiery aspect of creation and the swift, creative energy. It is thus the card of initiation – the commencement of all things, all processes, and all creation. Whilst the Empress provides form, the Emperor provides force, and are the dyad of all manifestation.

This card is also emblematic of Crowley’s views on government and politics in general. He places the symbolism of the ‘Lamb and Flag’ on the card to also represent his theory of government. The wild and untamed ram of the mountains is being subjugated as a lamb to the life of a “docile, gregarious and succulent beast”. [210] Crowley’s political views were that Thelema itself would become the dominant movement of the Aeon of Horus, and all government would come to follow the doctrine of Thelema. His erratic but forceful politics can be found discussed at length in Marco Pasi’s book, Aleister Crowley and the Temptation of Politics . Crowley could be loosely categorised as a “conservative radical” in the 1930’s, equally disenchanted by “ferocious fascism”, “cackling communism” and “vacillating” democracy. [211] His politics followed whichever force appeared to be likely to bring down the old Aeon which he saw as characterised by patriarchy, suppression and Christian morality.

The Emperor, though, is a swift and sudden power, not an enduring one. He is not the transcendental and timeless Fool nor is he the creative and channelling Magician. The Emperor is below the Abyss and hence is subject to time and entropy; his rule will always decline and disintegrate, only to be replaced by another spark from the embers, rekindling the fire. The card represents a radical and change-bringing force, but not an entirely stable energy; a literal flash in the pan.

SYMBOLS

Lamb and Flag

The symbolism of the lamb and flag draws on Christian symbolism deriving in part from Revelations, where the lion-like lamb is a common motif. It was taken up by religious artists and most often depicted as a lamb with a halo bearing a flag – as we see in the card.

This ‘lamb of god’ is a title of Christ, who in the Gospel of John [1:29] is called such and viewed as taking away the sin of the world through sacrifice. In Crowley’s unpublished 1904 notebook, several titles of the Minor Arcana are associated with the lamb through their correspondence to a decan of Aries, the ram. Crowley has there also – some thirty years prior to the Thoth Tarot – associated the lamb with the visions and apocalyptical theme of Revelations.

As we have seen, the symbol here represents the docility of a populace to the rule of government. We find an incredibly prescient observation and warning by Crowley regarding government, industry and the military in his Confessions , of which this quote is indicative and worth quoting in full, bearing in mind it was written no later than about 1929:

Such was one of the innumerable similar symptoms of the foul disease which is ravaging the United States, and has already destroyed almost every vestige of the political, religious and individual liberty which was the very essence of the original American idea. My spirit sank under the contemplation of the irremediable calamity which threatens to engulf the whole of humanity since it is now an accepted principle of business to endeavour to make tyranny international, to suppress all customs of historical interest, and indeed everything which lends variety or distraction to human society in the interest of making a market for standardized products. The moral excuse for these activities is miserably thin, for the element which it is most important to suppress is originality as such, even when the question concerns the very idea of craftsmanship in itself. The idea at the back of puritanism is the reduction of the mass of humanity to a degree of slavery which has never previously been so much as contemplated by the most malignant tyrants in history; for it aims at completing the helplessness of the workman by minimizing his capacity. He must no more be permitted to exercise the creative craftsmanship involved in making a pair of boots; he must be rendered unable to do more than repeat mechanically, year in, year out, one meaningless item in the manufacture, so that when the pinch comes it shall be impossible for anyone to have boots at all except through the complex industrial conspiracy of the trusts. This idea, consciously or subconsciously, lies underneath all attempts to extend “civilization”. The progress of this pestilence is only too visible all over the world. Standardized hotels and standardized merchandise have invaded the remotest districts, and these would be economically impossible unless supported by the forcible suppression of local competition. When, therefore, we find the newspapers indignant at Mohammedan morality, we may suspect the real trouble is that American hatters see no hope of disposing of their surplus stock, as long as the wicked Oriental sticks to his turban or tarbush. The exquisite, dignified and comfortable clothes of remote people, from Sicily to Japan, must give way to the vile shoddy products of foreign factories, and the motive is supplied by a worldwide campaign on behalf of social snobbery. The people are persuaded that they ought to try to look like a sporting duke or a bank president. Such plans obviously depend on the destruction of everything that makes for originality, self-respect, the love of beauty or the reverence for history.

It took me a long while before I could formulate consciously this idea, so protean are its disguises and so subtly sinister its stratagems. But I have always possessed the instinct, I have always reacted automatically against this principle whenever I found it. It should be obvious that “Do what thou wilt” cuts diametrically athwart this modern civilization to destroy the distinctions which constitute the sole hope of humanity to make real progress by the selection and variation which are the means of evolution. [212]

Bees

Crowley here uses the bees as a symbol of paternal power. In the sense of the previous quote, we might consider that they represent industry and government, organisation and labour, under the rule of the Emperor. It is an “impermanent activity” which if “it persists too long, it burns and destroys”. [213]

Fleur-de-Lys

The Fleur-de-Lys symbol is a stylised lily that has gathered to it a range of uses as a heraldic device “religious, political, dynastic, artistic, emblematic, and symbolic”. [214] Crowley states he is using it as a symbol of the paternal power of the card – as with the bees. It is of note that in both cases, the symbols also became symbols of a feminine nature; in particular, the Fleur-de-Lys as a symbol of the virgin Mary.

As a symbol of French royalty, the three flowers of the lily are said to represent faith, wisdom and chivalry – all ideal readings for the Emperor card.

Rams-Head Sceptre

The Sceptre with a Ram’s Head held in one hand shows the creative fire of the figure, whilst the Orb with the Maltese Cross shows the establishment of his rule in the world. As we have seen, the Bee and Fleur-de-Lys symbols repeat the paternal symbols in the card. These two symbols of the Ram and Orb more specifically represent royalty and kingship.

Shield of the Red Eagle

The two-headed Red Eagle on the Emperor’s shield is another alchemical symbol, which is the mate of the White Eagle of the Empress. Crowley says this denotes Gold and the Sun, but also the “red tincture” of the Alchemist. This is sexual symbolism as well as alchemical, and we will discuss it further on the Art (Temperance) card where the two Eagles come together.

A White Light and a Confusion

There is a strange confusion in this card regarding its correspondence to the Tree of Life. As we saw in the introduction sections of this present book, Crowley counter-changed the correspondences – and hence locations on the Tree – of the Star and the Emperor.

However, in the text for this card, matching the image of the card, he writes plainly:

It is finally to be observed that the white light which descends upon him [the Emperor] indicates the position of this card in the Tree of Life. His authority is derived from Chockmah, the creative Wisdom, the Word, and is exerted upon Tiphareth, the organized man. [215]

The illustration and text of the Emperor both place him clearly on the original Golden Dawn system of correspondences, and not Crowley’s revised scheme.

There is no specific indication in the letters written between Crowley and Harris about this confusion, other than there was indeed confusion about it on Harris’s part – as we saw in her 1939 letter regarding the necessity to make this point clearer with a diagram of the loop. So, it will remain a mystery as to how it got into the deck and Crowley did not mention it in his writing, which - although rushed - was still unlike him to confuse such a point of Thelemic doctrine.

The illustration still stands, though, as should the Emperor be actually switched with the Star, the light would still come down in exactly the same direction, albeit from Netzach to Yesod, not Chockmah to Tiphareth. If Crowley had not written that paragraph, we would assume the ray of light was correct to his revised correspondences.

To be bold – much like the Emperor himself – we might rewrite Crowley’s final paragraph on the Emperor to read something like:

It is finally to be observed that the white light which descends upon him [the Emperor] indicates the position of this card in the Tree of Life. His authority is derived from Netzach , Victory (in its most beneficent state), and is exerted through Yesod , the great crystallisation of energy. [216]

Key Phrase: Find thyself in every Star. Achieve thou every possibility. [217]

Keywords: Energy, ambition, originality, vigour.

In a Reading

The Emperor brings a fiery force to a reading and can be interpreted as a straightforward surge of energy. It is something that needs to be expressed, to burst out, to break through into the open. It is a card of individual power, of will, and uniqueness. There is no need to follow anyone or anything, even your own history, when this card appears.

V: The Hierophant

It is impossible at the present time to explain this card thoroughly, for only the course of events can show how this new current of initiation will work out. [218]

Correspondences: Vau (nail), Taurus.

Image : A bearded figure stands with a smaller female in front of him. A child in a pentagram is placed upon his chest. In the background are four elemental animals and a bull and elephant. He holds a wand with three linked circles and makes a sign of blessing.

In this card we again see the influence of the teachings of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and their impact on Crowley. In the procedures of the Order, upon the Equinoxes, there is a reset of the Hierophant, ritual Officers and password of entry. This is to represent the change of seasons and of movement of the light. The password was then in effect for six months until the next Equinox ceremony and it was time again to change over Officers – even the Hierophant.

This correspondence to the stations of the sun was built in at a deep level to the rituals of the Order. There is an unpublished paper hand-written and sketched by S.L. Macgregor Mathers which draws the cycle of the seasons in a circle around the figure of a ritual practitioner. The diagrams show that as the practitioner makes the signs of L, V and X with their arms, they encompass different areas of light and darkness in the circle.

In effect, it shows that the body movements of a simple ritual act are recapitulating the entire cycle of light and darkness to which we are all subject.

Crowley was incredibly influenced by this teaching; his own journal was called the Equinox , and the Book of the Law quickly draws upon the idea:

Abrogate are all rituals, all ordeals, all words and signs. Ra-Hoor-Khuit hath taken his seat in the East at the Equinox of the Gods [I:49]

It may even be that Crowley’s conceptualisation of the Aeons was first formulated from the diagram of the ‘Last Judgement’ tarot card in the Order, which reveals the figures to be Osiris, Isis and Horus, etc. [219] This gives an explicit ancient Egyptian pattern to the Plymouth Brethren teachings that were instilled in Crowley from an early age – particularly the core teaching of the end of days:

We await the coming of Christ, when He will judge both the living and dead, and rapture those who have been saved through His blood to be with Him eternally. [220]

It is so that Crowley writes “For the rhythm of the Hierophant is such that he moves only at intervals of 2,000 years”. [221] This is the passing of humanity and our entire belief structures through the precession of the Equinoxes and the change of Aeons. This card should be compared with the Aeon [Last Judgement] card in this regard.

There are three main figures in the card, replacing the usual representation of a Pope with two Acolytes; here we see the Hierophant, but before him is a woman holding a sword, and upon his chest, a pentagram enclosing the figure of a naked child. These represent the Hierophant as the “initiator” of the Aeon, the new cycle of belief; the Woman as Venus – and the “Scarlet Woman”; and the Child as Horus, the New Aeon.

To Crowley, this card is not the traditional meaning, such as the establishment of belief or the institution of religion. It is an utter change of belief – a full initiation or step-change of humanity from a system of fixed beliefs to one of detachment from belief.

The Most Essential Business of Magical Work

Crowley views the Hierophant as primarily a reference to the most important and essential business of all magical work – the “uniting of the microcosm and the macrocosm”. [222] As the card numbered five – the Pentagram – this indicates the spiritual nature of the human being. The task, according to Crowley, of every human being, is to unite themselves to the divine – symbolised by the number six and the Hexagram. This also corresponds to the Lovers card (number six) on which we also see this divine union, repeated in different guises throughout the Major Arcana.

SYMBOLS

The Hierophant

The Hierophant is a symbol of the sacred and a teacher. He makes the sign of papal benediction straight to the viewer of the card. [223] His bearded face reminds us of ancient Assyrian art, which his statue-like demeanour seems to reflect. Harris was somewhat reticent about painting faces in the deck, about which Crowley had a strong response.

She had written, “what I felt about the Deities of the Tarot – they have no individual forms & faces in my conception & vision of them. Those appendages are stuck on afterward to please you [Crowley], but are not part of the design as it presents itself - & I could easily take them out of all the pictures without spoiling them”. [224]

To which Crowley replied, “Your feeling about having no forms and faces is merely symptomatic of modern soul-sickness. It is lack of confidence in one's creative powers”. [225] He then went on to critique art and society, leading to the conclusion that “The whole world as I see it is at present lost in constipations of this kind”. [226]

Despite the blank face, Crowley suggests that the figure of the Hierophant is withholding some sort of secret; whilst he appears “benignant and smiling”, he writes, “it is hard to deny that in the expression of the initiator is something mysterious, even sinister”. [227]

He references the legend of Pasiphae in this regard, and all legends of “Bull gods”. [228] Pasiphae was the mythical Queen of Crete who was cursed by Poseidon to lust after – and copulate with - a bull, which he sent to her. Crowley is making a correspondence through the zodiacal sign of Taurus and perhaps implying that the New Aeon may bring about not only a new sexual innocence and openness, but also a new licentiousness. He does prelude this paragraph with explaining it is impossible to know yet how the “new current of initiation will work out”. [229]

The Woman with Sword

This figure is of the “Scarlet Woman” or “Babalon”, which Crowley describes as “Venus as she now is in this new aeon; no longer the mere vehicle of her male counterpart, but armed and militant”. [230] We should not confuse “militant” with simply ‘warlike’ but rather view it in correspondence with Mars, the counterpart of Venus, who is the ruler of the Sign of Taurus.

Crowley is suggesting that the feminine force in the Aeon of Horus will become its own individual force, free from comparison to the male force. Following the matriarchal Aeon of Isis and the patriarchal Aeon of Osiris, the Aeon of Horus will provide both genders an equalised identity.

The Moon and the element of Earth also have their correspondences in this figure, as we see her holding a lunar crescent in her left hand and her dress is designed to show roots sinking into the bottom of the card.

When a card has a large number of symbols or figures, we can read specific symbols if our eye is drawn to them over the others on the card. We might, in this case, interpret the figures on the Hierophant as representing the necessity to attend to a male/female balance in oneself, or in a relationship, depending on the question or situation.

The Child

In the centre of the Hierophant figure is a pentagram which encloses a child “glad with wanton innocence”. [231] This is an illustration of Horus, the lord of the new Aeon. He is born from the old Aeon of Osiris represented by the Hierophant, the priest of a “dying god”. To Crowley this represents the change of human awareness from institutionalised and patriarchal religions based on the ‘formula’ of a sacrificial deity, to a new belief based on individualism and non-attachment to fixed belief structures. The pentagram symbolises the human spirit in relationship to the four elements (pictured in the corners of the card) and the microcosm – the world of manifestation.

As an alternative or complementary reading to the previous symbol of the woman, this indicates a requirement to be an individual, to find and follow ones true will. It also indicates – again, in opposition to usual meanings of the card as ‘authority’ and expertise – the advice to follow one’s own direction in a matter.

The Snake and Dove

It is easy to miss the symbols of the snake and dove which are set about the head of the Hierophant. They also appear on the Tower card, also called “War” by Crowley. We can compare this card with the Tower card and with the Aeon [Last Judgment] card. As a triad, they represent the change of Aeon and - on a personal scale - the nature of initiation.

Crowley references the Book of the Law in terms of this symbolism:

“there are love and love. There is the dove, and there is the serpent”. [232]

However, like much of Crowley’s writings, this is a revision of a biblical source;

“Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.” (Matthew 10:16)

The dove symbolises spiritual love – perhaps, even the pacified repression of love – and the serpent symbolises physical love, particularly in regard to the Kundalini energy. One is descending, one is ascending – and yet both have the potential to be transformed into the other.

The Nails

There are nine nails, representing the letter “Vau” to which this card corresponds, above the head of the Hierophant. The number of the Moon is nine, and the Moon is ‘exalted’ in Taurus. We might read these as the beliefs which keep us attached to the cross of the world.

The Bull and Elephant

The bull and the elephant, corresponding to Taurus, are arrayed behind the main figure of the Hierophant. They represent the brute-like power of perseverance and nature. They also represent earth and manifestation, in which our beliefs are enacted and have consequence. In a reading they can symbolise stubbornness to release a cherished belief or act of faith.

The Four Figures

The Kerubs represent the four elements and are seen by Crowley here as the “guardians of every shrine”. [233] As the card in general teaches the mystery of unification of the Microcosm and Macrocosm, the Hierophant is the interface between the two worlds. As he unites these inner and outer worlds, merging the pentagram and the hexagram – perception and awareness – this takes place in the manifest world of the four elements. Not only is he the hiero-phantos , the ‘revealer of the sacred’, but his Work is to become the sacred, which is revealed.

The Wand

The tradition Christian triple-cross crozier has been replaced here by a “peculiar” Wand, bearing three interlocked circles. [234] These represent the Aeons of Isis, Osiris and Horus. Whilst it may not be too obvious in the printed card, they are meant to be marked with three different colours; scarlet for Horus, green for Isis and pale yellow for Osiris. These are three aspects of dark indigo, corresponding to Saturn, who rules time – and hence, the passage of the Aeons.

If this symbol is prominent in a reading, we might suggest that there are family issues that are bound together – either in the present, or from the past of the client or ourselves. The ‘formula’ of each Aeon is interlocked, according to Crowley.

The Aeons each have their “formula”, or magical word, and that of the Aeon of Horus is ‘Abrahadabra’, which to Crowley encoded the uniting of the microcosm and macrocosm, and the Great Work completed. It is in this card we see the Adept as Hierophant, crossing the Abyss between Chesed and to Chockmah.

Key Phrase: The principle business, the essential of all magical work; the uniting of the microcosm and the macrocosm.

Keywords: Teaching, patience, endurance, work, long-term planning, heart.

In a Reading

We can see this card in two ways; the mundane and the spiritual. In a mundane sense, it carries more of the correspondence to Taurus. It can be read as hard work, support from others, and patience in a bullish and predictable manner. However, in a spiritual way, we can read this card as a liberation of the self from belief and expectation – a rebellion against the status quo. It has two faces; revolution or religion, depending on the nature of the question, the position of the card in a spread and its relationship to other cards in a reading.

VI. The Lovers

This card and its twin, XIV, Art, are the most obscure and difficult of the Atu. [235]

Image : A king and queen stand below a robed figure whose hands are making blessing above them. A cupid figure aims a bow above them, placed between two female statuettes. At the base of the card are two naked children, a red lion and white eagle, and a snake coiled about an egg.

Correspondences: Zayin (sword), Gemini.

The main image of this card is an illustration of the alchemical work, the Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz . [236] It is also a variation on a vision of the card which Crowley received some thirty years previously in 1900 and 1909 in The Vision and the Voice .

As we progress through the Majors, we note that Crowley seems to suggest that each card has a particular challenge to understanding, is obscure in some specific manner, or otherwise intelligible. Yet it is in the nature of these complexities that he demonstrates the meaning of the card. In the Lovers, for example, he suggests that the meanings of the card “form a divergent series” and thus can only make sense through “repeated marriages, identification, and some form of hermaphroditism”. [237]

Crowley alternatively terms the card ‘the brothers’ or ‘the twins’. He is suggesting that because the card is about ‘the double’ then understanding can only come through synthesis of two identical things, even if they appear different; and this is true in the mystical sense. Our apparent separation from the universe, our sense of ‘otherness’ (‘me in here, everything else out there’) is in fact a duplicity – and should a state of unity be achieved, we would realise that we had simply recognised that ‘self’ and ‘universe’ were one and the same all along – twins, now married.

This card then is a classic example of Crowley illustrating profound mysticism through the images of sexuality and alchemy, presented in the lens of esoteric correspondence. It is also one of the longer descriptions of the Major Arcana to be found in the Book of Thoth .

We begin with Crowley’s “vital triads”, one of the short additions included at the very back of the Book of Thoth , presenting the Majors in eight particularly-titled groups. The Lovers is termed “The Twins Emerging” and is placed in the triad called “The Children Horus and Hoor-Pa-Kraat”. [238]

We now need to understand what Crowley might mean by those names in the case of the Lovers. In the Law is For All , a commentary by Crowley on the Book of the Law he has this to say:

“Hoor-Paar-Kraat, or Harpocrates, the ‘Babe in the Egg of Blue’, is not merely the God of Silence in a conventional sense. He represents the Higher Self, the Holy Guardian Angel”. [239]

He further goes on to describe Horus, Ra-Hoor-Khuit as:

“the active twin form to Harpocrates”. [240]

He further explains the relationship between these twins:

“The concealed child becomes the conquering child, the armed Horus avenging his father Osiris. So also our own Silent Self, helpless and witless, hidden within us, will spring forth, and if we have craft to loose him to the light, spring lustily forward with his cry of battle, the word of our True Will”. [241]

These “twins”, then, are two parts of ourselves, according to Crowley, and in the Lovers card we see them in relationship to each other.

Having established this context, we can now return to Crowley’s description of the card and see if that makes any more sense:

“Atu VI refers to Gemini, ruled by Mercury. It means the Twins”. [242]

The card corresponds to Gemini, the twins, and Crowley has chosen two ancient Egyptian deities to represent these twins, which we now understand to symbolise two parts of ourselves; a secret part and an outgoing part.

Reading on, we might try and pull out a few quotes about these parts, but we cannot - Crowley starts to talk about “Cain and Abel”, veils it in mystery, and then moves on to Alchemy, and whilst he makes some very direct comments, he does not talk again about these ancient Egyptian twins.

As ever with Crowley, we must leave that line of enquiry and move back to the next statements in the Book of Thoth , on alchemy, as we have nowhere else to go. We should gather together and concentrate on direct statements:

“The subject of this card is Analysis, followed by Synthesis”. [243]

“This card is consequently one of the most fundamental cards in the Tarot”. [244]

“The key is that the card represents the Creation of the World”. [245]

“This is a mystery of the sixth key of the Tarot, which ought not to be called the Lovers, but The Brothers”. [246]

This last statement might put us back on our line of enquiry; Crowley is suggesting that the Lovers should have an alternative title. Yet he did not insist on this change of title in the card proper, as he did, for example, renaming ‘Strength’ to ‘Lust’ or ‘Temperance’ to ‘Art’. It may have been because he felt this was not actually the most important aspect of the card. [247]

If we now explore the concept of “the brothers”, Crowley explains that the story of Cain and Abel is related to the mystery of “external religion” and “initiation”. [248] He previously explored this connection in his vision of the second Aethyr within the Vision and the Voice . [249] He appears to be in favour of initiation rather than religion – no surprise there. He then changes track as he veers into psychology and mystical philosophy, when continuing “It is very significant that almost every sentence in this passage appears to reverse the meaning of the previous one”. [250] This continues the idea that we must view every symbol or interpretation as immediately containing its own contradiction – all are part of one whole.

He concludes his next few paragraphs with the summary:

“the formulation of any idea creates its contradictory at almost exactly the same moment”. [251]

So, we have twins, brothers, religion, initiation, and the concept that every thought creates its opposite – and the mystery of creation. It is no wonder this is a dense card, and that is even without comparing it to Art, card XIV, which Crowley says is essential to understanding this one.

We will look at the alchemical symbols and correspondences in the accompanying illustration for this lesson, and it is recommended that you do that now, and then return to the text, which will make more sense. At this stage, we go back to looking at the image and breaking it down to see if we can get further into our study.

Now that we have looked again at the alchemical symbols of the card image and picked out what Crowley wrote specifically about each of them, we can return to the twins. This is usually the method of approaching the Thoth Tarot, going backwards and forwards between the accompanying text and the image, researching further in Crowley’s other writings, and then the sources, and then contemporary writing on each of the subjects, then using the card in practical readings, and returning round that cycle for many years. The study of Tarot is the study of everything!

Having looked at all those alchemical symbols, and read Crowley’s text on each, we may be getting a repeated theme; the splitting of unity into duality; and a marriage returning two apparent things back into one thing. This analysis and synthesis is the heart of the card; the union of two separate things to create a third, and at the same time, the essential union of the universe. We see this in the Art card from the ‘synthesis’ side of the equation.

The card shows profoundly how every thought and part of us implies an opposite, to which we are ultimately united. So, the “twins” are the result of every perception; we have an inner self which is hidden to us, and an outer projection, active in the world. We seek union in others to fill the missing twin in ourselves, and every thought is ultimately contradicted in an opposite point of view.

The marriage of the Queen and King (representing the male and female), the fight of the two Brothers and the active and passive forms of the Twin-God Horus are all variations on this mystical and philosophical enquiry; how is it that we are separate when in fact everything is united?

In conclusion, we also see in this card Crowley’s most succinct statement on the purpose of Tarot. He states:

“The first question asked by science is: ‘Of what are things composed?’ This having been answered, the next question is: ‘How should we recombine them to our greater advantage?’ This resumes the whole policy of the Tarot”. [252]

The understanding of how the universe works, and the ability to recombine those elements to our creative and evolutionary advantage, is the purpose of Tarot.

SYMBOLS

I have presented the symbols of this card in pairs or small groups as the card is necessarily about analysis and synthesis; the breaking down of things (including symbols) into separate parts and then putting them back together again in a new format. We can read the card overall as the requirement to follow the process of analysis and synthesis in any situation – what needs to be taken down into little steps, and how will it eventually come to a big picture?

The Hooded Figure

The figure blessing the twins is a form of the Hermit, Atu IX. Crowley describes him also as Mercury, corresponding to the Magus, Atu I. He stands in the Sign of the Enterer, a ritual gesture used in the Golden Dawn to project a force into the temple. It also signifies initiation and a willingness to enter into the light when choosing to step out of the darkness. Under this gesture the figure is providing benediction and consecration to the alchemical process.

The Scroll

The Scroll represents the Word of Mercury, the creator, who in himself is shrouded, “as if to signify that the ultimate reason of things lies in a realm beyond manifestation and intellect”. [253] It is the essence of reality and the message of it; that all things are connected in one continuous loop of time. In such a loop, as indicated throughout this card, we can only break things down or put them together; there is no other act other than this marriage.

Eve, Lilith and Cupid

Crowley was keen to see this deck as not only a radical break from the past but also as a valid continuation of the tradition of tarot. He incorporates the three figures of Eve, Lilith and Cupid at the top of the card; two as statuettes and one as a personage of Cupid, in traditional style; blindfold, winged and firing an arrow.

The nature of Lilith is complex and beyond the scope of this present book, but Crowley would have seen her as the temptress and in some regard as equivalent of Babalon. [254] Even Harris was not quite satisfied she understand her; “Your explanation of Lilith is not enough. She is a piebald wench & not to be trusted” she wrote to Crowley. [255]

We will return to Babalon in the Lust card. Lilith, as the first wife of Adam, she is the archetypal ‘other woman’, and similar in representation to earlier forms of the Lovers card, in which a young man is seen between two women. Crowley has both recognised and relegated this earlier symbolism by placing the figures as ancient statues in favour of the alchemical royalty and teaching of unification of opposites in the main body of the illustration.

Crowley was a little confounded with Cupid in context of the correspondences of the card, particularly Gemini, the Twins, and the position of the card on the Tree of Life between Binah and Tiphareth. In the Golden Dawn, the Lovers card had also been previously and radically re-designed to show the rescue of Andromeda from the Kraken by Perseus, symbolising the “impact of inspiration on intuition”. [256]

Crowley then notes that “Roman gods usually represent a more material aspect of the Greek gods from which they are derived”, so equates Cupid with Eros, in turn then seeing Eros as fathered by Mercury. In this context he develops the symbolism to explain that the figure of Cupid is the “intellectual aspect of the influence of Binah [understanding] upon Tiphareth [awareness]”. [257] This can lead to the inspiration which Crowley sees as operating on the “prophet” in the card, and which derives from the description of the card as inspiration from the Golden Dawn. He terms this card “The Children of the Voice, the Oracle of the Mighty Gods” acknowledging in part that this is a Golden Dawn title, obliquely writing that it is such “in one tradition”. [258]

The Arrow

Upon the quiver of Cupid is inscribed the word “Thelema”, the central doctrine of the deck. This cuts through the previous symbolism by firing an arrow which Crowley terms a “quanta [smallest piece] of Will”. [259] This illustrates that the universal formula of analysis and synthesis - magical work - continues through the development of symbolism across time.

In a reading we might consider suggesting that we find this “quanta”, this most specific point of Will, to cut through the situation, which may be bound in an otherwise endless loop of breakdown and reconstruction.

The symbol of Cupid and the arrow also illustrates the doctrine of “Love under Will”, although here it is Love that appears to be directing Will. Crowley writes that this arrow is “the spiritual intelligence necessary in alchemical operations, rather than the mere hunger to perform them”, by which he is referring to the state of awareness required to have sex become an act of sexual magick. [260]

The Orphic Egg

In this smaller symbol of the card we again find a wealth of references and teachings linked and concealed. Crowley states that this is “a complete glyph of the equilibrium necessary to begin the Great Work”. [261] Yet he also teases a riddle; “Perfect is the plan to produce life, but the nature of this life is concealed”. [262] This references a teaching within sexual magick which suggests that the energy of sexual union can be given a specific energy for a manifest purpose. The ‘egg’ which is the combination of male and female energy (or physical substances) is without form until a directed Will energises it in a chosen manner.

As an example, one might perform a sexual ritual dedicated to Mars, dealing with anger or power, and surround oneself with martial (rather than marital!) symbolism, music and colours. Whilst focusing on a sigil of Mars or other focal point, the sexual act would provide the template for this martial energy, in itself then directed to a practical aim.

Crowley explores this aspect of sexual magick in his fictional novel Moonchild , written in 1917. In that book, a magical ritual is intended to bring about a child who will be ‘formed’ with all the influences of the Moon:

But like the mediaeval magicians we were speaking of, with their Homunculus, the Greeks attached the greatest possible importance to the condition of the mother during gestation. She was encouraged to look only on beautiful statues, to read only beautiful books …. "This is all very good, but it falls short of Brother Cyril's latest lunacy. As I understand him, he wishes indeed to proceed normally in a physical sense, but to prepare the way by making the heredity, and environment as attractive as possible to one special type of soul, and then -- to go soul-fishing in the Fourth Dimension!” [263]

This thinking is further expounded by a character in the novel:

But other magicians sought to make this Homunculus in a way closer to nature. In all these cases they had held that environment could be modified at will by the application of telesmata or sympathetic figures. For example, a nine-pointed star would attract the influence which they called Luna – not meaning the actual moon, but an idea similar to the poets' ideas of her. By surrounding an object with such stars, with similarly-disposed herbs, perfumes, metals, talismans, and so on, and by carefully keeping off all other influences by parallel methods, they hoped to invest the original object so treated with the Lunar qualities, and no others. (I am giving the briefest outline of an immense subject.) [264]

So, the Orphic egg represents this spiritual essence which is yet unformed, not until it receives the arrow of Will from Love. It is grey, an equal mix of black and white, and the result of the three upper Sephiroth on the Tree of Life bringing about manifest life. The Serpent about the Egg is the mercurial seed, coloured purple for Mercury (in the Queen scale) and with wings of crimson, Binah (in the King scale). The use of these two scales of colour demonstrates the harmonious nature of the symbol between the worlds of Atziluth (emanation) and Briah (creation).

We will meet the Orphic Egg again in the Hermit card. The next pair of symbols – the Lion and Eagle - also appear in another card – Art. The Lovers functions as a nexus for these key symbols; the serpent, egg, lion and eagle, which illustrate all creation.

The Red Lion and White Eagle

We will meet these symbols later in the Art [Temperance] card and they form part of a set of sexual symbols including the serpent and the egg. It must be recalled that symbolism works on several levels – the literal to the metaphorical. These symbols are only in part about the physical fluids and bodily parts of the sexual act, because the physical act itself is a symbol of all creativity.

In ritual activity, for example, it is recognised that a chalice is not only a symbol of the element of water, which has many physical manifestations, but also of Binah, an abstract principle in Kabbalah. It is also symbolic of the feminine, which can be seen in many ways. It is also a cup from which we might drink wine or water.

The Lion and Eagle, in that context, symbolise the female and male components of sex. The redness of the lion indicates blood and the whiteness of the eagle, semen. In The Vision and the Voice , which Crowley quotes at length again for the Lovers card, we read:

The shedding of blood is necessary, for God did not hear the children of Eve until blood was shed. And that is external religion; but Cain spoke not with God, nor had the mark of initiation upon his brow, so that he was shunned of all men, until he had shed blood. And this blood was the blood of his brother. This is a mystery of the sixth key of the Tarot, which ought not to be called The Lovers, but The Brothers. [265]

Crowley goes on to quote from The Vision and the Voice , which contains a detailed description of “the correct drawing of the tarot card” of the Lovers, written in 1900 and 1909, some thirty years prior to his eventual work on the Thoth Tarot deck. In this description of the card “stands Cain; in his right hand is the Hammer of Thor with which he hath slain his brother, and it is all wet with blood.” [266]

This sexual symbolism is discussed further in the Art card, but here Crowley uses it to demonstrate that “the contradictory of any proposition is implicit in itself”. [267] Every intellectual idea contains a potential contradiction. This is the mystery of opposites which is illustrated by the card; each symbol is transposed – even Will is illustrated as being under Love, the opposite of its stated relationship in Thelema.

This card may show love, but it also shows how projection can be present in a relationship.

The Sacred Lance and the Holy Grail

The crossing over of symbolism continues in the use of these two Grail Romance symbols, central to the sexual symbolism of the Gnostic Mass written by Crowley - and further carried into Wicca as the symbolic Great Rite.

Whilst they bear these sacred symbols, they are supported by a black and white child, counterposed; the white child holds roses and the grail, the black child holds a club and the lance. Whilst Crowley does not mention it specifically, we can see that the club is a reference back to the myth of Cain and Abel. So, one child holds two feminine symbols, the other child bears male symbolism. They are both twins of a kind, holding twinned items, repeatedly expressing the notion of unity and duality through apparent opposites or twins.

The marriage implied by the card, these figures, paired and counterpointed symbols, and the Gnostic Mass itself, is of creation itself – a return to unity from diversity, unification from a state of separation. The card is fully a “glyph of duality”. [268]

Whilst this card and its twin, the card of Art, may be the most “obscure and difficult” of the Arcana, they are unlocked by simply recognising they illustrate what we would now term the ‘fractal’ qualities of nature itself. In this manner, the card is an illustration of the boundless love of Nuit, the star-goddess to whom the first chapter of the Book of the Law is dedicated. It is an emblem of the mystical unification of the separate self (and its counter-part, the external universe) with the all, and as a result, the nothing:

For I am divided for love's sake, for the chance of union.

This is the creation of the world, that the pain of division is as nothing, and the joy of dissolution all. [269]

The Arch of Swords

Whilst in the background, the arch of swords does assist us in a summary of the Lovers card. As Crowley says about much of the card, “the attribution is the essence of simplicity”. [270] The Hebrew letter corresponding with the card is Zain (or Zayin), meaning, simply “Sword”. There is little direct relationship between the concepts of love and war other than them being their opposite, so in that sense, it fits the duality signified by the card. It further symbolises the sword as analysis, the “engine of division”. [271]

The royal marriage, the twins of Gemini, Cain and Abel, Lance and Grail, Snake and Egg, the swords, alchemy, love and will, are all beautifully and elegantly rendered in one illustration to show that the world is a continuous process of composition and recombination.

Key Phrase: Rest in simplicity; listen to the Silence. [272]

Keywords: Inspiration, Intuition, Openness, Simplicity, Silence, Inner Knowing.

In a Reading

The Lovers brings the idea of analysis and synthesis to a situation. It must be broken apart and divided before it can be brought back together. There are many parts in the situation that need separating and looking at before they can be properly made whole again, whether it be a business or a relationship – or even oneself.

VII: The Chariot

One must be an Exempt Adept, and have become ready to pass on, before one can see the symbols even from the lower plane. Only a Master of the Temple can fully understand them. [273]

Correspondences: Cheth (fence), Cancer.

Image : An armoured figure sits between wheels and pillars supporting a canopy. He holds a circular disk which appears to be spinning. At his feet are four statuette-like creatures. The figure has a crab upon his helmet and stars on his upper body.

In the appendix of the Book of Thoth , in a section on “General characters of the Trumps as they appear in Use”, Crowley gives an often-overlooked series of verses for each of the Major Arcana. He also provides a series of keywords and phrases for each card. Those given for the Chariot contain something very interesting – buried in the keywords is the specific phrase “authority under authority”. This appears to be a re-statement of A. E. Waite’s own phrase for the card, where he states “captivity captive”

If so, cannot be a coincidence and shows that Crowley paid at least some attention to Waite’s work on tarot, despite deploring and disparaging it in his reviews. In Crowley's context, authority under authority relates to his Thelemic dictum, "love is the law, love under will", which places the two Sphinxes on the Chariot as serving the adept.

We will trace the evolution of this card from Levi to Waite and to Crowley.

Waite on the Chariot

“This hieroglyph, which we give here the exact figure, is perhaps the most beautiful and the most complete of all those that make up in the clavicle of the Tarot”.

- Eliphas Levi on the Chariot Card.

In this section we will look at the Chariot card as depicted and described by A. E. Waite (1857 – 1942) in Pictorial Key to the Tarot , published in 1909 to accompany the tarot deck initiated by Waite and co-designed and illustrated by Pamela Colman Smith (1878 - 1951). We will particularly look at the card as symbolising the position of the 'mind' in the mystical journey, as envisaged by Waite.

This card, as several other of the Major Arcana, was inspired by original designs by Eliphas Levi (1810 – 1875), whose depictions also influenced the work of Aleister Crowley (1875 - 1947) in his own tarot deck, the Book of Thoth , first published in 1969.

Levi saw this card as depicting the Chariot of Hermes, the god associated with the mind. He pictured it drawn by two sphinxes, representing “love” and “power” (will). He wrote that these provide an “enigma to the neophyte” to resolve – a riddle to which we will return when we look in this article at Crowley’s depiction of the card.

In Pictorial Key to the Tarot , Waite states clearly that this card “above all, represents the triumph of the mind” (PKT, p. 96). He goes on to say that the victorious hero illustrated in the card has conquered four planes; the mind, science, progress and “certain trials of initiation”. These represent the four worlds of the Kabbalah, the trials being later described as to be understood “physically or rationally”, corresponding to the world of Assiah, or action. Thus, progress belongs to the world of formation, science to the world of creation, and the mind to the world of emanation.

Waite also draws on biblical references in describing his design; the “princely figure” bears the Urim and Thummim upon his shoulders. These are elements of the breastplate worn by the High Priest and were said to be used for divination – for knowing the will of God. The origin of the words themselves is uncertain, but they may mean “lights” and “perfection”. Levi saw them as “revelation” and “truth”.

He goes further in other works, to explain how the way of divine union is symbolised by chivalry and by the sacrament of knighthood, which we can presume is illustrated within this card. He says that whilst some knights (in the “life of spiritual valiance”) die in warfare, and some reach retirement and return to live in “castles or palaces, as barons or princes of old”, some few attain the “outer courts and precincts of the holy city”. We see this holy city illustrated in the background of the card, developing the card beyond Levi’s design.

As an aside, there is more evidence in this card of Waite’s rush and uncertainty with the final designs by Colman-Smith; he refers to the figure holding a sword, but no sword is present. It seems somehow unfinished, this particular design. Notice also the lack of a clear border from which the figure emerges from the chariot. We have sometimes postulated that Waite originally asked Pamela to re-draw Levi’s few illustrations of tarot majors, as a direct copy, such as the Wheel and the Devil, before realising that they would in fact be able to produce a new deck of their own design. When we ponder on this scenario, we think that the Chariot was the first card to be drawn by Pamela. As ever, it is a story that we will never know, but would be fascinating to have a record of the actual design process.

Waite continues to allude, in his obtuse way, to biblical lore when he says of this card that “he has led captivity captive”. It could be that he simply thought – or it didn’t matter to him – that his readership would instantly recognise this quote. He is referencing Ephesians [4:8]:

“Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men”.

One commentary on this verse suggests that it is a direct allusion to the manner in which conquerors returned to their home city:

“As great conquerors, when they rode in their triumphal chariots, used to be attended with the most illustrious of their captives led in chains, and were wont to scatter their largesses and bounty among the soldiers and other spectators of their triumphs, so Christ, when he ascended into heaven, as a triumphant conqueror, led captivity captive" [Matthew Henry Commentary]

To some it is a reference to the liberation of souls from an earthly bondage to a divine ‘captivity’. The “gifts” given to men upon this ascension of Christ are seen to be the manner in which different apostles might preach the gospel; sometimes it is seen as the gift of the holy spirit to the Church following the rising of Christ.

The “triumph” is a literal chariot which was paraded through the streets in Italy during victories and celebrations. It was sometimes cubic in construction, as depicted by Levi and then taken up by both Waite and Crowley. It has been suggested that the “trumps” of Tarot mirror the procession of the virtues which were paraded in these festivals, where one virtue “triumphed” another in a hierarchical series – it is from where we get the word “trump”. To those familiar in childhood with the “Top Trumps” card game, it may seem curious that this was originally based on a teaching of an ascent of increasingly virtuous behaviour. 

To Waite, the gift of the Charioteer is clearly the gift of “mind” in its capacity to contemplate the divine, through philosophy, through science, through advancement of self-insight and culture (“progress”) and through the “trials of initiation” which are likely those which test the cognitive mind rather than the intuition.

Waite sees the mind – or consciousness – as an important, but not complete, stage of mystical development. He writes elsewhere that self-awareness, the searching, is “how the process begins in consciousness”, yet it is only the beginning. Above it are more abstract states such as love and grace – ultimately, the life of the seer is the only ground for judgement; “It is sanctity alone which is qualified to sign, seal, endorse and deliver the evidence”.

The mind can only get us so far, such as by writing or studying mystical literature for contemplation. Waite admits, again in his convoluted manner, that “there are, unquestionably, some high intellectual modes which make no especial levy upon sanctity per se , and they also are to be judged on their special warrants”.

There is also a cross-reference of the “captivity captive” verse to Proverbs [30:4]:

“Who has ascended into heaven and descended? Who has gathered the wind in His fists? Who has wrapped the waters in His garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His name or His son's name? Surely you know!”

Here we see that the Christ figure has attained the ability to move between the upper and lower world, whilst mastering the four elements. It refers to the correspondence of the Chariot between Binah and Geburah as raising oneself from limitation and the disciplines of the mind towards a deeper understanding. It is of relevance that one biblical commentator suggests that this ascension bears witness as a proof that “the light shineth in the darkness, but the darkness comprehendeth it not”, one of the pivotal statements given to the candidate in the Golden Dawn Neophyte initiation ritual.

Waite then critiques the card – and hence, the mind itself – by noting the Sphinx which appears on Levi’s original drawing of the card – again, taken up by himself when he directed Colman-Smith in her drawing of the image. He says that the Charioteer has “answered the Sphinx”, but because he has mastered the riddle of that creature, the riddle must be of the Mystery of Nature, not that of Grace. This is a curious statement, and like much of Waite, bears a little investigation.

If we read further in his terse description of the card, he concludes by writing that “if he [the Charioteer] came to the pillars of that Temple between which the High Priestess is seated, he could not open the scroll called Tora , nor if she questioned him could he answer.” He goes on to finish, “He is not hereditary royalty and he is not priesthood”.

In effect, Waite is pointing out the limitation of the rational mind to comprehend the mysteries. As Bacon's aphorism has it; "Animus ad amplitudinem mysteriorum pro modulo suo dilatetur, non mysteria ad angustias animi constringantur" (Let the mind, so far as possible, be expanded to the greatness of the mysteries, not the mysteries contracted to the compass of the mind).

The High Priestess, to Waite representing the deeper and more experiential connection to the divine, that of the Shekinah , an awareness of the physical presence of God in all things, is not open to the Mind, no matter what triumphs might be gained by the mental process. There remains a higher source, that which must be gifted by grace, for the whole soul to be elevated.

Waite brings home this point when he says that the conquests of the Charioteer are in the manifest world, not within himself – the mind is entirely other-directed, it applies itself to other things, and cannot apply itself to itself, for in doing so, as Waite suggests “the liberation which he effects may leave himself to the bondage of the logical understanding”, which is an interpretation of the “captive leading captive” verse. It is the mind getting tangled in itself – the philosopher asking circular questions such as “If I know that anything can be untrue, does that knowing itself become untrue?”

This bondage of “logical understanding” is taken directly from the location of the Chariot on the Tree of Life, as being between the Sephiroth of Binah, ‘understanding’ and Geburah, ‘judgement’. However, as we have seen, Waite was not entirely critical of the reasoning mind. He devotes a section of Steps to the Crown to “substitutes of the true knowledge”, saying this:

“Reason is the guide of the instructed man; it does not content him entirely, and it does not entirely suffice for him; but at least it consoles and sustains him”.

[4:II]

In the end, it is the world of mind that reflects upon that of nature, and with thought below and grace above; it is an endless world without boundaries through which the Chariot carries us;

The world of mind is wider than the world of matter, as it is indeed older. In the unsounded depths of its oceans lies the past of all the universes; on its heights are stars that we never see in the common daylight of consciousness. What fields for exploration – what vistas of great adventure!

[Part 2. I.B.XXVII]

Returning to the original riddle proposed by Eliphas Levi, that of the two sphinxes, we might consider this as presenting the Neophyte in the Mysteries with an enigma of relationship; how does the mind relate to the world - and itself? How do we recognise its limits and is it possible to escape such limits? How does the mind relate to intuition and love?

Perhaps we might also seek the answer from Waite in a simple symbolic key within the Tarot Majors, for there is another card on which the Sphinx appears. This is the Wheel of Fortune card, where the Sphinx is said to represent "equilibrium" (PKT, p. 108). If we take this card as the answer to the Chariot, we read that it is "the perpetual motion of a fluidic universe and [for] the flux of human life". (PKT, p. 108).

Waite notes that the design contains the divine name IHVH, to show that Providence is interwoven into the fabric of existence. He then clarifies, "this is the Divine intention within, and the similar intention without is exemplified by the four Living Creatures" (PKT, pp. 108-111).

Waite is explicit that the Sphinx is not on a plinth above the Wheel but rather on the Wheel itself. It may seem like a trivial point, but Waite is seeking to elevate the symbolism; the Sphinx is able to sit still, despite the Wheel turning. It is this paradox - "stability amidst movement" that is illustrated by the design, which would be lost if the Sphinx was resting on a separate plinth or table.

And it is possibly this idea which answers the enigma posed by the Sphinxes in the Chariot - the very nature of Time, which is of course the theme of the famous 'riddle of the Sphinx'.

How does the mind move, from a solid state? It moves in time - and everything arises in time; both the sphinxes of will and love emerge and change in time, where the only constant is the awareness in which such notions arise.

SYMBOLS

The Holy Graal (Grail)

The symbol of the Graal carries much significance for Crowley in terms of sexual magick and the mystical experience; it is both a symbol for the feminine and the dissolution of the self. In Magick, he devotes the whole of Chapter 7 (corresponding to the Chariot) to the discussion of the Graal and the formula of Abrahadabra, which we will look at later in this section.

He terms the formula of Abrahadabra, in connection with the Graal, the formula of renunciation; in a very specific context. The act of renunciation is an act of surrender – here, it is the first and last act of the individual; the surrender to the loss of self in the sexual act, and the surrender of the self in the Abyss of mystical progression.

This is the opposite, Crowley asserts, to the act of renouncing anything for some personal gain, which he terms an act of black magick. [274] So, the male gives life to the female, who bears it, as the spirit enters the grail and gives life. Likewise, the blood of the saints is wholly given to that grail, which is the sole sacrifice of every element of individual awareness to the divine. In the Abyss, no single element must remain, otherwise the whole force of the psyche will aggregate to it and again bind it to the attachments of the world in an overwhelming assault. This devastation of the soul creates a “Black Brother”, whose ego process becomes embedded deep inside a shell of spirituality.

The Charioteer is an empty suit of armour, for he has made this complete sacrifice – in a reading, we can utilise this profound symbolism to suggest the nature of sacrifice and renunciation, even in the most mundane of situations. In effect, every situation, conflict or challenge, is a call to sacrifice our attachment to the illusion of the individual self.

Abrahadabra

As Crowley says, “on this word alone a complete volume could, and should, be written”. [275] Unfortunately, despite Harris making a last-minute amendment to the illustration in 1941, there is still a mistake in the spelling on the final card. Harris had written “the alteration of Abracadabra (Charioteer) & the Taurus Disk card are complete” but this was during the worst bombing period of the blitz, and no doubt she - and the whole country - had other things of concern than the spelling of a magical formula.

The word Abrahadabra is an example of a “barbarous word”, an apparently meaningless word or one malformed from a recognisable word. In its original form of Abracadabra, it appeared in the 3rd century as a protection against disease when inscribed on an amulet. The word was often spelt repetitively in a triangle, removing letters in each line. Similar words could be found in medieval grimoires – magical books – and were familiar to Crowley. He wrote that their use was to bring about the dissolution of the ego; “the long strings of formidable words which roar and moan through so many conjurations have a real effect in exalting the consciousness of the magician to the proper pitch”. [276]

Having re-spelt the word for purposes of numerology – gematria – Crowley saw it as the “formula of the Aeon” (‘Thelema’ is the Word of the Aeon) and the “cypher of the Great Work”. [277] It has the numeration by Gematria of 418, which is the sum of the numbers of the letters of Cheth, itself the Hebrew letter which corresponds to the Chariot.

Cheth is spelt CYTh, being Cheth itself (8) + Yod (10) + Tau (400), totalling 418, which Crowley saw as the “most important of the key-numbers of Liber AL”. [278]

Crowley refers us to the Equinox of the Gods , where he provided a table of numerations for the Book of the Law . [279] Several of these have the same sum; RPSTOVAL, AIWAS, PARZIVAL, and HERU RA HA. The first word is part of a strange cipher which appears towards the end of the second section of Liber Al:

“4 6 3 8 A B K 2 4 A L G M O R 3 Y X 24 89 R P S T O V A L. What meaneth this, o prophet? Thou knowest not; nor shalt thou know ever. There cometh one to follow thee: he shall expound it”. [280]

The second word is the name given to the entity which Crowley saw as dictating the Book of the Law to him in Cairo. The third word is the name of one of the Grail Knights, and the fourth, the composite form of Horus, as a child. [281]

Crowley also hints at many other magical words and formula in his writings; he points out that every proper name of a god, such as ABRAXAS, XNOUBIS or MEITHRAS gives the formula to invoke that deity. [282] He even hints of a magical word of great power whose “analysis contains all Truth, human and divine”. Unfortunately, this is only made aware to “members of the IV O.T.O.”. [283] This is likely the word JAH-BUL-ON, of uncertain origin but in one case suggested to be the conflation of Jeovah, Baal and Osiris, three gods of different religions - heretically seen as one god. [284]

To the Master of the Temple who has crossed the Abyss, all gods are one, all religions are one, and all individuals are one – in a sense. [285]

The symbolism of the child, the proof of mysticism, the formula of magic and the great work complete – the uniting of the microcosm and macrocosm, are all bound together for Crowley in the gematria of this word. The Charioteer is thus the illustration of all these things; he is Parzival, the pure fool, the empty child, the composite and the unity; all subsumed in the grail of understanding and sacrifice.

The Canopy

The Canopy represents the night of Binah, the state which follows the dissolution of the soul into utter unity. It is a vast and silent heaven, an awareness only interrupted by the formula of Abrahadabra, the last word of the completed Great Work. It is another illustration of Nuit, the endless existence in which all bodies are created and returned. In a reading, it can signify a protection that is above the situation, beyond it, and must be understood to rise above it.

Armour and Stars

The Charioteer wears amber armour, which colour corresponds to the sign and the path, but also carries much deeper symbolism. Amber is seen as the ‘perspiration of the sun’ and was sometimes taken to be the tears or blood of various heroes. Whether Crowley was aware of this additional symbolism there is no indication in his writing, but it is a perfect fit for the Chariot. As amber sometimes contained fossilised life, it was also connected with fertility, as is the Grail. So, we may read the amber colour of the armour as protective, sustaining, and, in a sense, the saying that we are “strong in the broken places”.

The ten stars on the armour correspond to the ten sephiroth in Assiah, the world of action. This is the lowest world of matter and is seen by Crowley as an “inheritance” from the boundless world of Binah, in Atziluth, the world of emanation. [286] It suggests that all activity is part of an endless emanation. Crowley later mentions that the Charioteer is “throned in the chariot rather than conducting it” because it illustrates the system of progression is perfectly balanced, and so does not need any direction. [287] Here, Crowley is alluding to the state of the Master of the Temple above the Abyss, who has released attachment and individuality, so there is no ‘control’ because there are no longer any ‘two things’ to control or be controlled.

We might suggest in a reading that the situation will only be made worse by any intervention or attempt at control. We can use all the obscure and profound statements in the Book of Thoth as part of our most mundane and everyday readings, because it tells us ultimately that everything is always connected. Like the Charioteer, our only function is “to bear the Holy Grail”. [288]

Crest of the Crab

The crest atop the helmet of the Charioteer is that of a crab, signifying Cancer, to which the card corresponds in the zodiac. The crab moves sideways, so is a fitting symbol for the chariot, which moves everywhere – not just in one direction. As with all the specific symbols on a card and in a deck, we can point to this in a reading as part of our interpretation. We can talk about going sideways to avoid a risk or an unknown, rather than meeting it straight on or retreating from it.

The Wheels

In the wheels we see several layers of symbolism, particularly biblical, sexual and Kabbalistic. The wheels are scarlet, symbolising blood in sexual symbolism and Geburah on the Tree of Life. These are the symbols of the movement that sets life in motion. They also revolve, connecting back to the Wheel tarot card itself, as we saw in the symbolism of Cancer. It is instructive to compare the Wheel and Chariot cards as a pair in contemplative work.

The wheels, whilst based on Levi’s original sketch of the card, are from the vision of the Book of Ezekial:

The appearance of the wheels and their work was like unto the colour of a beryl: and they four had one likeness: and their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel. [Ezekial 1:16]

The Animals

The animals are also from the Book of Ezekial:

As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man, and the face of a lion, on the right side: and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four also had the face of an eagle. [Ezekial 1:10]

They attest to the apocalyptic nature of the Thoth Tarot, which draws on biblical references cast through Crowley’s own earlier visionary work. In a reading we might consider these four animals as suggesting we bring stillness to the elements of a situation, hold our own counsel, and literally let the wheels spin.

The Four Pillars

The four pillars can be interpreted in a spread as indicative of support, protection and stability. Each of the four pillars represents a letter of the Tetragrammaton, the four-lettered name of God spelt Yod-Heh-Vau-Heh. Whilst having several interpretations – which we will see in the Adjustment card - Crowley sees them here as representing the Universe, as the four worlds of Kabbalah and the four elements, etc. They support – or perhaps, derive from – the Canopy of Binah. In a reading, these symbolise the support necessary to move on with ones will and we can ask the client where they might seek such support.

Key Phrase: The spiritual life is inferred; light in the darkness. [289]

Keywords: Triumph, victory, ruthlessness in an action or cause, obedience, following rules.

In a Reading

The Chariot is the card of victory and success, should you stick to your will. It may be important to empty yourself of the lust of result, engaging in the situation for its own sake. A card of the moment-to-moment appreciation of an ongoing relationship or project. When this card is in the outcome position of a reading it is highly significant – everything must be left exactly as it is whilst you hold on tight.

VIII. Adjustment (Justice)

She is wrapped in a cloak of mystery, the more mysterious because diaphanous; she is the sphinx without a secret, because she is purely a matter of calculation. In Eastern philosophy she is Karma. [290]

Correspondences: Lamed (ox-goad), Libra.

Image : A masked female figure holds a sword between a large set of scales, in which are the symbols of Alpha and Omega. She is placed within four geometrical shapes and sets of symmetrical spheres.

In the back of the Book of Thoth are two sections that often go unremarked and yet are incredibly rich with information on the Major cards in particular. These are “General Characters of the Trumps as they Appear in Use” in Appendix A and the “Vital Triads” in Appendix B. The latter is part of an appendix of correspondences mainly taken from 777 and lists key aspects of Crowley’s own correspondences and cosmology.

In the first appendix, we are also given a verse by Crowley on each of the Majors, so we will take this as his own summary of the essential quality of the card, particularly in reading. Here is the one for Justice – which as we have seen, Crowley renamed Adjustment, and placed in the sequence of Majors as 8, rather than 11:

Balance against each thought its exact opposite.

For the Marriage of these is the Annihilation of Illusion.

In this verse Crowley is commenting on the nature of thought, and what Lon Milo Duquette calls the “western zen of Thelema”. [291] Crowley paired Adjustment as the feminine counterpart (Crowley says strongly, “partner and fulfilment”) to the Fool. [292] The reason for this is partly that the Hebrew letters corresponding to the Fool and Adjustment are Aleph and Lamed, spelling AL. This is both the root of the word “God” and backwards, “LA” meaning “not”. So the letters, the meaning, and the two cards by virtue of correspondence, signify “everything” and “nothing” in constant combination; the very essence of existence.

The Adjustment card, who also equates to Ma’at, the ancient Egyptian goddess of truth and measure (who was even above the very gods themselves), is the perfect nature of everything considered in harmony, and the Fool is the nothingness that must be when everything is one. This is an entirely paradoxical, essential, and mystical doctrine.

It is also interesting with this image that we see how Frieda Harris’s “channelling” during the card design and execution, affected Crowley’s later textual descriptions of the cards. She described in her letters for this card; “She has, after all, insisted on being Beardsley …” and “Harlequin comes in & out of it so I must have to submit …” [293] This later appears in Crowley’s text for the Book of Thoth as he compares its relationship to the Fool.

On a more everyday level, Crowley offers key meanings for the card in terms of reading; “law suits or prosecutions”, of which he had several experiences prior to writing the Book of Thoth and during his life. He goes on to say it can also mean in social terms; “marriage or marriage agreements” and politically, “treaties”. [294]

In Appendix B, the section on “Vital Triads” he splits the Major Arcana into sets of three, assigned to his own cosmology. The Adjustment card falls in the triad equated to “the woman, justified”, and is symbolic of “the sexually joined”. It is in this group with the Chariot, “the grail, the chariot of life”, and Alchemy (Temperance), “The Pregnant Womb preserving life”. [295]

In practical readings, then, we can see this triad of cards as three stages of pregnancy; the Chariot is the protective but as yet empty womb; the Alchemy (Temperance) card is the preserving womb as the embryo develops (in the alchemical crucible) and the Adjustment (Justice) card is the sexual act that creates this new life. So when these cards show up in a reading they can indicate the progress of any creative act, whether it be an actual birth, or a new project, relationship, lifestyle, etc.

It is worth exploring the “vital triads” to see how Crowley saw the patterns of creation, energy and the myths of all life – they underpin at the most profound level any aspect of everyday life. In knowing the deepest patterns, we can work up to illuminate even the most apparently mundane of questions. If someone is asking about whether they should change their job, this is entirely connected to all their values, experience and sense of identity; their relationship to the entire universe. As it is said, “as above, so below”.

SYMBOLS

YHVH

Whilst not appearing specifically as a symbol upon the card, unless we count the strange symmetrical throne-like design behind the central figure, Crowley writes that this card is the “final adjustment in the formula of Tetragrammaton”. [296]

We met this formula in the Chariot card and we will return to it in the Moon card – and at length in our third volume on the Court cards. It is described by Crowley in Magick , and presented as a metaphor of father, mother, son and daughter; “In this complex family relationship is symbolised the whole course of the Universe”. [297]

It derives from the biblical narrative of King David, from where Crowley gets the specific term, “the eld of the All-Father”. [298] In the story of King David, the King “waxed eld” and a young virgin was brought to him in order to “make the lord our king warm” [Kings 1.1]. Crowley takes this story and makes a correspondence with the letters YHVH in a universal process of incarnation.

The letters stand for four family members as well as four stages in all creative processes. The first letter, Yod, is the Father, who creates all, when married to the Mother, the second letter Heh. They produce a Son, the letter Vau, and a daughter, the final letter Heh, which is the same as the Mother letter. There is a cyclic and incestuous process, where the son and daughter are twins, and the daughter is “set upon the throne of her mother” to restart the creative process. [299]

This is not an actual family relationship, but rather a simple model of all creative processes, and one suited for use in magick. It also works as a pattern for any four-fold system; the four elements, the four Court cards, the four Worlds in Kabbalah, etc. We see it in the process described by the Aeons, where each Aeon can be viewed as a stage reflected in even the smallest or apparently insignificant act of creation.

Adjustment, then, sits on the throne – she is Libra, the Venusian daughter ruled by Saturn, her father, returned to awaken the process through constant compensation. She is exacting and always seeking equilibrium without respect to anything other than truth. This is a card which really does mean “Karma”, come what may. [300]

The Mask

Justice is masked because she is working in silence and seeking to cancel everything out to return to the empty truth – symbolised by the Fool card. She shows “intimate secret satisfaction” in her rule, and to some extent, in a reading, we might counsel the client to be careful of what they wish. She is blind to desire or expectation, her only action is to resolve imbalance.

The Magic Sword

The Sword is perfectly balanced between the scales and the thighs of the goddess Ma’at. It carries the symbolism of the Magic Sword as being the Will of the Magician, similar to the Arrow. It is more specifically the “analytical facility”, to simplify existence down to its simplest structure. [301] It is constructed with two lunar guards and spheres creating a triangle, a perfect balance of change – symbolising a constant adjustment.

Crowley, in his description of the Magical Sword, suggests that the hilt is “of Venus”, and emphasizes that “Love is the motive of this ruthless analysis”. [302] We can be kind even if we are being critical – and sometimes that criticism is for kindness.

The Scales

The Scales balance the letters Alpha and Omega, the beginning and end, over which Ma’at rules as the eternal measure. Crowley describes these as the “Judex and Testes of Final Judgement”. [303] He extends the meaning of “testes” with a sexual allusion – writing that this is symbolic of a secret course of judgement, or perhaps transmission, whereby experience is “absorbed, transmuted and ultimately passed on” to further manifestation in the world. [304]

Whilst it is arguable that the word ‘testes’ meaning ‘witness’ is directly connected to the word ‘testicles’, it is unarguable that Crowley sees this as a sexual symbolism. The thinking is that semen ‘absorbs’ the nature of its surroundings and thus a specific invocation to a specific force will generate a manifestation in the semen of the practitioner. This is the converse to the operation described in Moonchild , where the baby is magically prepared by focusing the surroundings of the pregnant mother.

In our everyday reading of the card, we can suggest that the balance is presently held in a delicate position, and that our every thought, emotion and action will tip it, perhaps more than we would expect at the time. Crowley himself seems to predate the ‘butterfly effect’ when he writes, “From this Crown, so delicate that the most faintest breath of thought must stir it, depend, by chains of cause, the Scales …” [305]

Key Phrase: Every form of energy must be directed, must be applied with integrity, to the full satisfaction of its destiny. [306]

Keywords: Justice, adjustment, measure, agreement, temporary suspension of activity before action.

In a Reading

Justice is not justice in the Thoth Tarot, but Adjustment. We are asked to constantly measure ourselves against what we have set out to accomplish, who we think of as ourselves, and calibrate the reality to our perception. It is a card that also suggests equal partnership, balance, and harmony be established before action.

IX. The Hermit

And be the Light so bright that no man seeth thee. [307]

Correspondences: Yod (hand), Virgo.

Image : A bearded figure turns his back whilst holding a light in his left hand. He is looking towards a serpent coiled about an egg. At his feet is a three-headed dog and a semen-like symbol. The light from the solar disk in his hand makes diamond-shapes refracting across the scene. In the background are sheaves of wheat, bent towards the figure.

It is perhaps in the Hermit that we meet the absolute core of Crowley’s teachings through Kabbalah, Sexual Magick and the system of correspondence inherent in the Western Esoteric Initiatory System. We see in this card the re-appearance of the Orphic Egg, for example, which is utilised in the Lovers card.

He says of this card that “In this Trump is shewn the entire mystery of Life in its most secret workings”. [308]

There are two technical terms that Crowley uses in his description of the Hermit; conterminous and redintegration . As with much of Crowley’s writings, and Waite’s, a consideration of their use of particular or peculiar words is part of an appreciation of their pellucid prose. [309]

Redintegration comes from the Latin meaning ‘to renew’ or ‘restore’ and is defined as a restoration of a thing to a whole or complete state, from a part of it. It is used in psychology when applied to the process of a whole memory being triggered by a part of it, such as a particular scent or sound, for example, a taste of ginger in a busy shop which immediately reminds us of a whole day on a summer holiday in our childhood.

We also meet the term in Legge’s translation of the I-Ching, where it states:

23-26. Things cannot be done away for ever. When decadence and overthrow have completed their work at one end, redintegration commences at the other; and hence Po is followed by Fu. [310]

So, the word carries the concept of a seed which carries within it and springs forth a new tree, or the inevitability of the Yin culminating and becoming the Yang , and vice-versa.

SYMBOLS

Cerberus

The Hermit has “tamed” the “Hound of Hell” who is illustrated in the bottom right corner of the card. Crowley refers to Cerberus in Liber III vel Jugorum , a short manual for gaining control over one’s speech, actions and thoughts. This is found in Crowley’s magnum Opus, Magick , also called Book 4 or Liber ABA, first published in The Equinox Vol. VIII (1912-1913). He describes Cerberus as “the great Beast of Hell that is every one of these and all of these [three animals in Liber III], even as Athanasius hath foreshadowed. For this matter is not of Tiphereth without, but Tiphereth within”. [311]

Athanasius refers to Athanasius Kircher (1602-1680), who published an image of Cerberus in the frontispiece of his work on music, Musurgia Universalis (1650), showing the dog subdued at the feet of Orpheus. We know that Orpheus, like Persephone, to whom Crowley refers, descended into the underworld and returned, his lyre lulling Cerberus to sleep. However, he did not rescue his deceased wife, Eurydice, for he turned back to look into Hades as he approached the increasing lights of the gates out of the underworld.

Might we not see Orpheus now in the Hermit, his face strangely turned as the light dawns in his own hand, Cerberus awoken at his feet? He holds the Sun, the spirit descended into matter, on its return through the Abyss, Binah, the Great Mother “in whom he gestates”. [312]

The three animals in Liber III of which Cerberus is “every one of these and all of these” are the Unicorn, the Horse and the Ox; speech, action and thought. The piece describes how to gain control of these unruly elements of the self through various practices. However, these are the “Tiphareth without”; they are merely aspects of the manifestation of the self into the world; how we speak, what we say, how we act, what we do, even how we think and what we think. Cerberus is of “the Tiphareth within”, he is the three-headed dog who guards the Abyss across which our very Self cannot survive in isolation. On the other side of the Abyss is Binah, the Great Mother in whose colour the Hermit is robed. Also is Chockmah, the Father, and Kether, the Crown.

In Liber III, Crowley intimates that controlling these three aspects of the self are actually practice (or pre-shadowing) for this far later crossing of the Abyss; by the mastery of speech, “How else shalt thou master the Son, and answer the Magician at the right hand gateway of the Crown?”; by the mastery of action, “How else shalt thou master the Father, and answer the Fool at the Left Hand Gateway of the Crown?” and by the mastery of thought, “How else shalt thou master the Holy Spirit, and answer the High Priestess in the Middle Gateway of the Crown?”

These are the three paths in the triad – the three heads – above the Abyss; and the corresponding tarot cards of the Magician, Fool and High Priestess.

So, perhaps Crowley is telling us, in a succinct manner, that on the other side of the Abyss, these three aspects of ourselves are lost in their unification and the dissociation of the self. We cannot control our speech, action and thought as we have no “self” in which such control could take place – nor is there even the awareness of differentiation so that any one thing is separate from any other thing to ‘control’ it.

The Hermit can only then recognise how such habit binds him to the underworld and the poison of Cerberus. He must adore “in a certain sense”, the mystery of the Orphic egg and the snake of Mercury; and contemplate the ultimate dogma, that there “is a light which pervades all parts of the Universe equally…”

Crowley writes that we should compare the Hermit with the Ten of Disks; “the general doctrine is that the climax of the Descent into Matter is the signal for the redintegration by Spirit”. [313] This is the idea that the seed of spirit is created by the most material of things; that matter and spirit are in a constant relationship. In basic terms, the physical sperm and the egg create a human being who can conceive of spiritual matters. The human being is created from the universe which is spiritualised by our material presence, hence spirit is birthing matter as much as matter is creating spirit.

The Orphic Egg

The Hermit is described as contemplating the “orphic egg” which is “conterminous” with the Universe. Whilst this word derives from “having the same boundary” it more usually signifies that two things share the same meaning or context. Here, the “Orphic Egg” is seen as the Universe – and the Universe card, whilst the snake coiled about it is Mercury. Further, the snake is the “fluidic essence of Light” in the way that the Orphic egg was seen as the cosmic source of the universe giving birth to Phanes , the manifestor or revealer. Phanes also equates with Lucifer and is described in the Orphic hymns as;

Ineffable, hidden, brilliant scion, whose motion is whirring, you scattered the dark mist that lay before your eyes and, flapping your wings, you whirled about, and through this world you brought pure light.

This sexual symbolism is the most primal creative pattern; the seed and the egg, light and matter. The sign of Virgo, shown by the wheat in the background of the card, is the virginal reception of the seed, the fertile ground from which all springs forth.

Crowley indicates more mystery in the card by referencing the legend of Persephone; and here too is his clear statement that “In this Trump is shewn the entire mystery of Life in its most secret workings”. [314] It is contained in a line that is easy to read over and miss, as it goes on to introduce the idea of the Psychopompos, the guide of the soul. However, in the first part of the sentence, Crowley says this;

Concealed within Mercury is a light which pervades all parts of the Universe equally … [315]

With what we now understand about Mercury representing both the sperm and the light of creation, and the Orphic egg representing the universe, it is perhaps true that this sentence is the most secret working of life. Every bit of it is created as a piece of every other bit. We ourselves, in our awareness – our sense of a spiritual world – are conterminous with all of that of which we are aware. We are a redintegration of all that is in the memory of creation; yet in ourselves, individual and separate – “this is why the card is called the Hermit” writes Crowley of its correspondence to the sperm.

We might call this an early statement of the “holographic principle” somewhat ahead of its time.

Crowley concludes by summarising the point in a way also which demonstrates the doctrine. He uses the “three lines” symbol denoting ‘equivalence’ rather than ‘equals’ to note;

Yod ≡ Phallus ≡ Spermatozoon ≡ Hand ≡ Logos ≡ Virgin. [316]

He wryly concludes that there “is perfect Identity, not merely Equivalence, of the Extremes, the Manifestation and the Method”. [317] That is to say, the spiritual makeup of the universe from seed to cosmos (extremes), the way in which light and matter, spirit and flesh intersect (manifestation) and the sexual creative act itself (method) are all bound up together and reflect the same pattern – the unified pattern of light reflecting in matter endlessly upon itself.

Key Phrase: Be not moved by aught without or within; keep Silence in ways. [318]

Keywords: Seed, fertilisation, gestation, retirement, removal, inner light.

In a Reading

Crowley starts his verse for the Hermit, “Wander alone…” which accords with most readings of the card as solitary pursuits, going it alone, being lonely, or as Crowley also says, “retirement from participation in current events”. [319]

The card also indicates silence, keeping one’s mouth shut, not getting involved and remaining separate from business or relationship. This might allow “illumination from within”, so is also a card that suggests the answer cannot be found outside or through others, it must be given space and time to dawn within oneself.

Crowley does note that it can indicate the potential for “practical plans” derived from such introspection, so it is important to note that the card corresponds to the very fertile Virgo and can be encouraging to new plans that move us from one state to another, likely from the underworld to the brighter dawn – whose seed of light we already carry, if we can recognise it.

X. Fortune (The Wheel)

Kaph 20 Pe 80 = 100, Qoph, Pisces. The initials K Ph are those of [Kteis] and [Phallus]. [320]

Correspondences: Kaph (palm of hand), Jupiter.

Image : Against a swirling background and lightning bolts, a Wheel is suspended. Three figures adorn the Wheel; a Sphinx atop it, a monkey to the left and an ancient Egyptian deity with a snake-like form to the right.

Crowley has a terse comment on the divinatory meaning of this card, which he says although denotes a “change in fortune”, this change is most likely to be positive. [321] This is because, he says, that as most people have a consultation due to discontent or anxiety, any change is likely to be positive. This card is somewhat more negative if you are in a satisfactory situation and consulting the cards out of idle curiosity.

The couplet that Crowley provides for the philosophy of the card reads:

Follow thy Fortune, careless where it lead thee.

The axle moveth not: attain thou that. [322]

Crowley describes the card as signifying “the Universe in its aspect as a continual state of change”. [323] He then goes on to describe the three principle elements of this change, in terms of Hindu “Gunas”, alchemy and ancient Egyptian deities. The table below summarises these correspondences:

Sphinx​ ​ Sattvas​ ​ Calm, intelligence, lucidity, balance​ Sulpher

Anubis​ ​ Rajas​ ​ Energy, exitement, fire, brilliance​ Mercury

Typhon​ Tamas​ ​ Darkness, inertia, sloth, ignorance​ Salt

In a reading, one can point to these three creatures on the Wheel and note to the querent which stage they may be at in the cycle of change. As the Wheel has ten spokes, symbolising the ten Sephiroth of the Tree of Life, and hence all things, everything is part of the cycle.

However, on the lower rim of the wheel is a symbol of a clenched fist, symbolising the Hebrew letter Kaph , allocated to this card. Actually, it should rather be “palm of the hand”, the literal meaning of Kaph, and to which Crowley refers in the Book of Thoth – in its context of having ones fortune read. Perhaps we might see that in Harris depicting the clenched fist, one has taken control over one’s fortune, attained the centre of the Wheel, transforming fate into destiny.

The whole image of card ten, the X, is to be compared with the dance of the Universe in card twenty-one, XXI. There is also a comparison to the Magus, card one, I, to which the ten reduces (1 + 0 = 1). The Magus in the initiatory system corresponds to the Sephirah of Chockmah, which has transcended the Abyss, and time itself. This can be further illustrated on the Tree of Life as the Wheel is allocated to the path further down below Chockmah; between Chesed and Netzach, bringing the nature of “time” to the manifest Universe. Chesed in this context is the ever-flowing and expansive Sephirah of creative force (love) and Netzach the cyclic patterns of nature as it manifests. The Wheel turns in what Plato called “the moving likeness of eternity”, in every ripple, every season, every throw of a dice and every decision.

The overall design of the Wheel is an image derived from Crowley’s visionary experience of the 4th Aethyr during his Enochian workings, published as The Vision and the Voice . These astonishing visions – as we have seen - provide much of the bedrock of the Thoth tarot. Here is part of Crowley’s account of this scrying:

And now I perceive that all these things are but veils of the wheel, for they all gather themselves into a wheel that spins with incredible velocity. It hath many colours, but all are thrilled with white light, so that they are transparent and luminous. This one wheel is forty-nine wheels, set at different angles, so that they compose a sphere; each wheel has forty-nine spokes, and has forty-nine concentric tyres at equal distance from the centre. And wherever the rays from any two wheels meet, there is a blinding flash of glory. [324]

The vision goes on to describe the figures upon the Wheel, however, here, the Thoth Tarot does not bear full similarity to its corresponding vision – Crowley describes the Lamb and Flag (a Christian symbol) which does not appear in the final image of the Wheel. Although this symbol does appear on the Emperor card. The other two symbols missing on the Tarot image from the original vision are the Wolf and the Raven. We do however see the raven in another card – perched on a skull on Atu XIV, Art.

SYMBOLS

The Sphinx

As we have seen in the main text for this card, the Sphinx and other two creatures on the Wheel are symbolic of alchemical phases. The Sphinx is “exalted, temporarily” atop the Wheel, unlike the version in the Waite-Smith Tarot where Waite insists that the Sphinx is a constant atop the Wheel of change. In Crowley’s worldview, there was no such stability – everything was in transition.

The Sphinx is said to be composed of the four Kerubs who we met in Atu V, the Hierophant. As such, it further symbolises the so-called magical virtues; “to Know, to Will, to Dare, and to Keep Silence”. [325] We might counsel such to ourselves or a client if we seek to remain atop the Wheel of change.

Hermanubis

This mercurial figure is blended with the body of an ape, showing further transition and instability as it climbs upwards against the Wheel. It is symbolic of how we change when we deal with change – by our work, we are indeed changed.

Typhon

This destructive deity associated with storms is seen with some positive features by Crowley, who suggests that “The lightnings which destroy, also beget”. [326] This may be of little comfort to a client undergoing the downward edge of Fortune, but it is an important message within the card.

Key Phrase: Follow thy Fortune; careless where it lead thee. [327]

Keywords: Control of physical affairs, unity, revolution, change.

In a Reading

When receiving this card in a reading, we must evaluate the position in which it has fallen, for it is where we find our fortune. It is better in the future positions than the past, or in the resources position or outcome. It also counsels that we must find our own centre, during a revolution. When this card comes up, I usually advise the client not to extend themselves, to maintain their current position, and wait for the wheel to turn.

XI: Lust (Strength)

Behind the figures of the Beast and his Bride are ten luminous rayed circles; they are the Sephiroth latent and not yet in order, for every new Aeon demands a new system of classification of the Universe. [328]

Correspondences: Teth (serpent), Leo.

Image : A naked woman sits astride a beast with many heads. She reaches up to the sky and holds a chalice of blood. She appears to hold a rein with her left hand, the colour of blood. Snake-like symbols adorn the top of the scene and in the floor are faces and praying hands.

In this most provocative of images, Crowley replaced the traditional image of a woman holding a lion with a drunken Babalon astride the Great Beast of Revelations. The card is now termed Lust to indicate the “joy of strength exercised”. [329] This is based on the location of the card on the Tree of Life, as it corresponds to the path between Chesed, ‘loving kindness’ or ‘mercy’, and Geburah, ‘severity’. Thus, it illustrates the relationship between these two aspects of existence, whether it be at a mundane or mythic level.

Crowley states that this card is the “most powerful of the twelve Zodiacal cards” and “represents the most critical of all the operations of magick and of alchemy”. [330] It can be compared with Atu VI and Atu XIV in terms of the symbolism of sexual magick. Here, the woman is ‘astride’ the Beast; she is “more than a little drunk, and more than a little mad”, whilst the Beast is aflame with lust”. [331] It is not only lust but the action based on lust – a provocation to our client in a reading to actually get on the ride, not merely want to think about buying a ticket.

This union takes place below the Abyss but above the Veil on the Tree of Life; there are three horizontal paths on the Tree; corresponding to the Empress, Lust and Tower. At this level, the union is of the “primitive, creative order; it is completely independent of the criticism of reason”. [332] The Empress is pure love, Lust is pure lust, and the Tower is pure destruction – the very engines of the universe are bound together in this triad.

Crowley uses this card to illustrate not only the biblical revelations but his own – of the Aeons. In additional commentary on the Aeons, he further adds zodiacal correspondences:

Aeon of Isis: Pisces and Virgo

Aeon of Osiris: Aries and Libra

Aeon of Horus: Aquarius and Leo

In this set of correspondences, we can see that Crowley has made an equation of the New Aeon of Horus commencing in 1904 to that of the zodiacal Age of Aquarius, albeit with the additional fire and fury of Leo.

The central fable of the Aeon of Osiris, according to Crowley, is that of incarnation, which this card illustrates, and was also implied in the Hierophant card. It is sometimes difficult to know whether Crowley thought there would be a new physical incarnation of an avatar for the New Aeon, whether he felt himself as that incarnation, or whether it was an abstract concept where humanity as a whole was the incarnation of each current.

However it is, Lust “portrays the will of the Aeon”, which has devoured all that has been before it. We might use this card as an illustration in a reading for the tendency to regard change ahead “with intense horror and fear”, seeing every change as “catastrophic”. [333] In our own personal narrative – and in the lives of our clients - there are times when personal revelation can be seen as an apocalypse.

SYMBOLS

The Great Beast

The first of the biblical beasts in Revelations is described as “having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy” [Revelation 13:1]. It is this beast to whom Crowley identified as being an anti-Christian prophet. He said that this anti-Christian stance came from his “instinctive love of terrors” in the biblical stories to which he was subjected as a child. [334] He wrote that he “preferred the Dragon, the False Prophet, the Beast and the Scarlet Woman as being more exciting” [335] and suggested that this arose from a “congenital masochism”. [336]

This symbol is of a primal nature; it advises passion, sensation and rapture. There are no half-measures when it comes this card in a reading, for even the reins held by the Scarlet Woman symbolise the passion of her relationship with the Beast.

The Seven Heads

The heads of the Beast, as with many symbols in the Thoth Tarot (or, for example, the symbols of the ‘Seven of Cups’ in the Waite-Smith Tarot) can be unpacked in a reading to offer staged advice, points of decision, or different choices and perspectives. Crowley describes them in the Book of Thoth by quoting from his chapter ‘Waratah-Blossom’ in the Book of Lies :

The head of an Angel: the head of a Saint: the head of a Poet: the head of an Adulterous Woman: the head of a Man of Valour: the head of a Satyr: and the head of a Lion-Serpent. [337]

We can interpret these, as one example, of seven different questions to ask about a desire:

Angel: What aspects of the desire are leading to a deeper relationship to the universe? What is being communicated by the desire?

Saint: In what way are your values being met by the desire?

Poet: What is the role this desire plays in the narrative of your life-story? How will you describe it when you look back on it?

Adulterous Woman: What roles will be broken in the fulfilment of this desire, if any?

Man of Valour: What aspects of the desire require bravery to enact? Do you have the courage?

Satyr: What aspects of the desire feel wild and unfettered? What will break free and what might you find in the open places of your soul?

Lion-Serpent: What is the mystery at the heart of this desire?

There are other ways in which a reader might apply these symbols, such as depicting seven stages or aspects of a relationship, and this is a method that can be applied to any sets of multiple symbols of any card in any deck. [338]

The Saints

Crowley saw sex as a sacrament of which the Eucharist was the physical fluids of sex. There is also another level to this sacrament, in that the physical surrender to sexual desire can echo the mystics surrender to unity. The “bloodless images of the saints” have given not only their blood to the Grail, but their individuality has been absorbed in the unity of understanding – the literal title of Binah, above the Abyss. [339]

Ten Luminous Circles

The ten circles containing spoked wheels and arranged in an organic manner throughout the background of the card are the Sephiroth of the Tree of Life. However, they are not yet arranged in any fixed order. Crowley suggests that each Aeon requires new systems of thought and arrangements of relationships – another way in which we can apply this card in a reading.

A New Light

At the top of the card, arising out of the grail, is a light from which stream ten rays, terminating in spheres, from which issue ten serpents. These are the new creations – the seeds of a new Tree of Life - arising from any apocalypse; new thoughts and new ways of being. The sacrament of dissolution has been affected, the alchemy of internal ferment has been distilled, and a new strength is exercised in lust.

Key Phrase: Lust not only implies strength, but the joy of strength exercised. [340]

Keywords: Energy, action, sex, magick, drive, passion.

In a Reading

Lust is neither of Latin nor Greek derivation, but a hearty Germanic word brought into Old English, meaning ‘pleasure’ and ‘delight’. It’s connection with sin is something not lost on Crowley in the Thoth Tarot, and as a result, this card tells us to “take your fill and will of love as ye will, when, where and with whom ye will! But always unto me”. [341] In a general reading, it signifies the decision which will bring most delight, rather than the one which might appear to make sense.

XII: The Hanged Man

This card is beautiful in a strange, immemorial, moribund manner. [342]

Correspondences: Mem (water), Water.

Image : A naked figure hangs suspended from a reversed Ankh. He is crucified in three places and a snake is coiled beneath him. The background is composed of a glass-like or watery matrix of squares.

Crowley saw this card as being nothing more than a “cenotaph” to an old way – a religious way - of thinking. [343] Perhaps that is how best we can use this card in a Thoth Tarot reading – signifying someone stuck to an old way of viewing the world – one that is now upside down.

To Crowley, this card signified the outworn and obsolete religious ideas of “self-sacrifice” and “redemption”. [344] He saw these as belonging to the Aeon of Osiris, the ‘dying god’ religions of Osiris and Christ. The figure on the card is meant to be both Osiris and Christ. He did not believe that humanity needed these ideas any more, so the card is a memorial to the absent dead.

There is however a growth implicit in the card, coming from the water to which element it corresponds. It also has the green disks of Venus, symbolising love. The Ankh and the Snake are symbols of the creative force. There is a lot of potential driving up and out of this card – we would advise the querent that this card shows a creative flowering if – and only if – they can release their outworn beliefs - to which they still might cling.

The image of the card is comparatively simplistic to the other Major Arcana; the figures and symbols are clearly defined against a simple geometric backdrop. Crowley has attempted to make a simple design to teach a simple instruction; “Redemption is a bad word; it implies a debt”. [345] The card reverses the idea of sacrifice, sin, and suggests silence, mysticism, and quietude.

SYMBOLS

The Alchemy of the Hanged Figure

Crowley treats the “alien” alchemical import of this card in a separate section to the main text on the image. He refers us to Chapter XII of Magick , which deals with sacrifice – both personal and sexual. It is the chapter which details “the supreme mystery of practical Magick”, that of sexual magick. [346] At the moment of ejaculation, Crowley suggests, a focus is made upon a specific energy, which is then invoked into the fluid, for use in further practice. This is the ‘sacrifice’ of the Hanged Man, the energy given to any creative act by the focus of Will.

Water Symbolism

The overall correspondence of this card to water is again associated by Crowley with the sexual act; “The legend of Noah, the Ark and the Flood, is no more than a hieratic presentation of the facts of life”. [347] An alternative version of the Hanged Man in the Golden Dawn system, and in the second tarot images produced by A. E. Waite with J. B. Trinick, both illustrate the card as the Ark, with a ‘drowned giant’ or deity beneath the water. This symbolises the sacrifice of the divine in manifestation, through the myth of Osiris and the flooding of the Nile, as well as the story of the Ark.

The Unbounded Grill

Crowley describes the background as an “unbounded grill of small squares”. [348] These are representations of the Enochian squares or magical squares used by John Dee and Edward Kelly. These squares were taken into the Golden Dawn system in various rituals, including the Elemental Tablets, to which Crowley refers here in this card.

The Serpent in the Darkness

The snake coiled at the base of this card is being projected outwards from the elemental squares. It is a symbolism of the “sacrifice of ‘a male child of perfect innocence and high intelligence’” which is in itself a metaphor for masturbatory practice – quoted by Crowley from Magick , chapter XII. The potential for insemination is also alluded to by the phrase “Through his Work a child is begotten”. [349] The whole card is a condensed complex of symbolism illustrated in simplicity.

The Ankh

The Ankh is a symbol of life, and the figure is bound to it by a serpent, both a symbol of life and of semen. When magically prepared, this is to what Crowley refers to in his concluding remarks on the card as “the Stone of the Wise, the Medicine of Metals, and the Elixir of Life!” [350]

Key Phrase: Faith must be slain by certainty, and chastity by ecstasy. [351]

Keywords: Sacrifice, self-harm, unnecessary self-criticism, holding back.

In a Reading

The Hanged Man is a strange card in the Thoth Tarot, and almost stands alone from the other Arcana, as it should. It is a card that marks an outworn sacrifice, an old ghost of the past, an obsolete way of seeing things, and something that must be drowned to fertilise the earth for the future. It is a sad card of knowing that what was important is no longer important. There is life possible – but we must go on to meet Death itself to release the old.

XIII: Death

This [the Scorpion] represents putrefaction in its lowest form. The strain of the environment has become intolerable, and the attacked element willingly subjects itself to change. [352]

Correspondences: Nun (fish), Scorpio.

Image : A dark skeletal figure bears a scythe and an ancient Egyptian crown. A snake, fish and scorpion are about the base of the image and a geometrical net stretches to the upper right. Formless white figures swirl in the net.

Death is one of three cards attributed to the lower paths of the Tree of Life which enter into Tiphareth. We will come to look at the Devil on the opposite side of the Tree, and Art (Temperance) which also enters Tiphareth from below, completing this triad. We might consider how Death, the Devil and Art (especially as Alchemy) correspond with each other and form together into a functional system.

Crowley holds the Death card in high regard, saying “it is even a compendium of universal energy in its most secret form”. [353] He talks of Scorpio, corresponding to this card, with regard to Leo, as “one of the two most powerful in the Zodiac”. [354] The symbol of the Fish, representing the Hebrew letter “Nun”, another correspondence, is “paramount” to the overall theme of the card, as is the Serpent, the “main theme” of the card. [355]

Crowley weaves these correspondences together in depicting the “dance of death”, where the skeleton wields the scythe of Saturn (representing unchanging tradition) to create transformation in three levels; that of the Scorpion, the Snake and the Eagle. In doing so, he regards the card as the completion of Lust (Strength, XI), with the Hanged Man (XII) linking these two cards by illustrating the process of dissolution. Also, the Mem or waters corresponding to the Hanged Man are the waters in which the fish Nun swims – Death is “within” the Hanged Man, the sacrifice of the divine to create, bringing about change, and hence transformation.

In a reading, we can apply these three types of transformation (putrefaction) when the Death card appears, informing the client that they have three paths open to them in bringing change:

The Path of the Scorpion: Willingly surrendering to the “strain of the environment and subjecting yourself to whatever happens. [356] This is the lowest and simplest option.

The Path of the Snake: Making progress by give-and-take, a “rhythmical undulation”, taking the highs and the lows, but always moving forwards. [357]

The Path of the Eagle: Arising above the situation, transcending it, seeing the bigger picture. Allowing it to fall away with no attachment.

In each case, whichever they choose, the old is gone, it is only a matter of how they shed their skin.

It is of note that Crowley refers to this card as signifying putrefaction ; this is not the commonly understand nature of the word, but the alchemical one. Living systems are sometimes seen as having three components; body, spirit and soul – the formative structure, the information held, and the energy inherent in the system. When something is removed from its source (i.e. a fruit cut from a tree, or the Hanged Man, XII moving to Death, XIII), putrefaction commences, and the living element becomes two components – fixed and volatile. In the Death card, this is the Saturnian element and the Mercurial one, and in real life it is when we go through a significant life-change, and we feel torn apart or divided as the old fixed structure (identity, beliefs, behaviour) is replaced by the new state.

This is significantly different to the type of change indicated by the Tower card – which is more destructive - and it is important in a reading to understand what type of change is being signified by the appearance of either of these cards – which are different again to the changes symbolised by the Wheel, High Priestess or Moon.

Crowley advises, in his letters to a disciple in Magick Without Tears , “particularly useful against the fear of death is the punctual and vigorous performance of Liber Resh [a series of solar adorations performed daily]. Meditate on the sun in each station: his continuous and even way: the endless circle. That formula in the Tarot book is the most valuable”. [358] So, by facing our fears, tracing our history and contemplating the endless cycle of existence, we transform our relationship to death.

When this card appears, we have many levels by which we can deepen the querent’s appreciation of change occurring in their life, and bring about the transformation this card heralds.

SYMBOLS

The Crown of Osiris

Here the skeleton wears the crown of Osiris, in his form as the fertile god of the Nile, stirring up the silt of creation to make new forms, new birth, new being, all of which Harris so expertly weaves into a singular dance of existence.

The Skeleton and the Scythe

As symbols of Saturn, the scythe and the skeleton represent “the essential nature of existing things”. [359] The Skeleton is the elemental nature of the universe, the very fabric of matter, which remains unchanged beneath the transformations wrought by time – the scythe. In this dance, when the card appears in a reading, we might ask “what stays the same underneath all that is changing”?

The Bubbles

Although they appear like swirls caught in the net of the scythe, Crowley describes the patterns arising from the geometric lines as “bubbles”. [360] It is within these bubbles that new forms are being created and joining the dance of eternity.

The Fish

Crowley states that the symbolism of the fish, through correspondence of this card to the Hebrew letter Nun , meaning ‘fish’, is “paramount”. [361] Not only was Christ represented by a fish, but other deities connected with resurrection and reincarnation. Crowley connects the fish to Mercury, through its cold-bloodedness and swiftness, and thence to a sexual connotation. The ejaculation is both a form of sacrifice and contains the potential for new life – we can see this act is hidden in plain sight upon the card. It cannot be many decks that have got away for so long with an ejaculating skeleton.

The White Eagle

Another point of projected geometry on the card – other than the pelvis of the skeleton - is located in the upper-left corner, and is a stylised White Eagle, which we have seen is a further symbol of semen in the physical realm, and creative potential in terms of a general interpretation.

Key Phrase: The Universe is Change; every Change is the effect of an Act of Love; all Acts of Love contain Pure Joy. Die daily. [362]

Keywords: Transformation, change, one state turning into another, putrefaction, waste.

In a Reading

It is time to face facts, when the Death card appears. We do not need to simply surrender to inevitable change, but dance with it, embrace it, and recognise it as existence. The strain we might feel when faced with a situation is only where we are attached – the scythe of time has come to slice through those fixed ideas and comforts, to release us to an as-yet-unknown novelty.

XIV: Art [Temperance]

This explanation is highly technical; but this is necessary because the card represents an important scientific formula, which cannot be expressed in language suited to common comprehension. [363]

Correspondences: Samekh (prop), Sagittarius.

Image : A female figure composed of two mirrored halves is pouring water and lightning into a golden cauldron. A white lion and red eagle drop red and white drops into the pot, upon which is engraved a raven sitting on a skull. A Latin phrase circles the figure and webbed designs complete the background.

There are several combinations of cards given particular notice by Crowley, and we have seen that he strongly paired the Lovers card with this card, Art, which is his alternative title for the card usually known as Temperance.

He saw the Lovers as “analysis” and the Art card as the corresponding principle of “synthesis”. He returns to this connection several times in his piece on Art, placing it in the context of the alchemical process. The Art card represents “the mingling of the contradictory elements in a cauldron”. It is in this stage of the process that we satisfy our sense of incompleteness by recognising that every element can be assimilated with “its equal and opposite”. [364]

In the verse-form reading of the cards, Crowley writes:

Transmute all wholly into the image of thy Will,

Bringing each to its true token of perfection. [365]

The alchemical process of this card is explicit in the design and represents the “Consummation of the Royal Marriage which took place in Atu VI”. [366] The symbolism of the Lovers has been transmuted into blended or counter-posed forms; the Lion is now white, and the Eagle is red, the formerly binary black and white children are now a single androgyne figure. The “hidden content” of the Orphic Egg in Atu VI, the Lovers, is now in an advanced stage – just prior to the completion of the “Great Work”. [367]

As such, there is much sexual symbolism in the card, as we saw in the Lovers card. The “consummation” and “mingling” are of the sexual fluids in an act of sex magick; “It is impossible to explain these terms to any but advanced students of alchemy”, writes Crowley. [368] Further, “There is a particular interpretation of this card which is only to be understood by Initiates of the Ninth Degree of the O.T.O.; for it contains a practical magical formula of such importance as to make it impossible to communicate it openly”. [369]

The subject of sexual magick is beyond the scope of this present work, however since Crowley’s time, much has been written on the subject from an esoteric and spiritual perspective. Many of the techniques are Eastern, including Kareeza , working with the Kundalini , and Chi . However, there were earlier Western teachings, such as written by Ida Craddock (1857 – 1902), who was way ahead of her time by far – and mentioned by Crowley:

I am very far from agreeing with all that this most talented woman sets forth in her paper, but she certainly obtained initiated knowledge of extraordinary depth. She seems to have had access to certain most concealed sanctuaries... She has put down statements in plain English which are positively staggering. This book is of incalculable value to every student of occult matters. No Magick library is complete without it. [370]

In this card we see illustration of the sexual mingling of fluids to create the “hidden stone” or “Universal Medicine” that is made of the gold and silver, and red and white opposites; male and female. In terms of consciousness, this is the merging into the divine through the union of opposites – the recognition that the Art is One.

SYMBOLS

These symbols can be usefully compared with their equivalents in the Lovers card, Atu VI.

The Androgyne Figure

We have seen that this card is one of consummation, and the androgyne figure is the developed form of the separate black and white children on the Lovers card. They have come together to form one person, one state of consciousness that is blended. One head wears a crown of silver with a golden fillet, the other is opposite. This is the penultimate stage before true union is attained; there is unification, rather than union.

The Chalice and Lightning

The Lance held by one of the figures in the Lovers card has now become a burning torch dropping burning blood, and the Grail pours forth white gluten. Again, there is a synthesis; “The fire burns up the water; the water extinguishes the fire”. Whatever else is going on in a situation for which this card appears, everything else will cancel itself out. Despite the passion or conflict.

The Raven and the Skull

Upon the golden cauldron is engraved a Caput Mortuum , a death’s head skull upon which is perched a raven. This alchemical symbol symbolises the stage of Nigredo , the blackening of a substance through the process of transmutation. Crowley places it upon the cauldron as indicative that the process of creation includes death. In a reading, we might refer to this ‘hidden’ symbol as teaching us that life implies death, and from the apparent ‘waste’ of one situation emerges the next situation.

The Raven was also to appear as a symbol on Adjustment, Atu VIII, until the design was simplified, as Crowley complained to Harris that the “dove and raven look simply stuck on” to the card in an earlier draft of the image. [371] The cards of Art and Adjustment can be contrasted as different forms of equilibrium and balance.

The Rainbow

The magical formula of the rainbow is a Kabbalistic device developed by the Golden Dawn, based on the correspondences of the lowest three paths on the Tree of Life. These paths have the three letters Qoph, Shin and Tau attributed to them, which spells the word QShTh (Qesheth ) in Hebrew, meaning ‘bow’ or ‘rainbow’. As there is also an alchemical stage called Cauda Pavonis , the Peacocks Tail, they are to some extent synonymous.

The alchemical stage of ‘many-colours’ or ‘iridescence’ was one of the final stages before the ultimate goal of ‘reddening’ and then the production of the alchemical stone or gold. It occurred at around the same time as the nigredo , or blackening stage, as a brief burst of colour during the final purging of matter required for full spiritualisation.

In a similar way, the three paths at the base of the Tree of Life represent the final stages of creation, prior to manifestation – which is equal, ultimately – to spiritual reality. They represent a “formula” of creativity, initiation and insight, which can be illustrated by their corresponding letters and tarot cards; the Moon (Q), Last Judgement (Sh) and World (Th).

The rainbow arises from the process of transmutation and forms the collars of the androgyne figure, it signifies the blending of colours from black to white – from the spiritual to the material.

The White Lion and Red Eagle

The two alchemical emblems have here been counter-changed from their first appearance on the Lovers card, Atu VI. The Lion is now white, the Eagle now red. This symbolises the merging of the physical fluids of sex and partaking by both parties. This is “the stone of the philosophers, the Universal Medicine, [to be] a talisman of use in any event”. [372] What was separated in the Lovers is now unified again by Art.

VITRIOL

The phrase VITRIOL, which is written in flowing text about the “glory” at the top of the card, is an alchemical acronym said to stand for Visita Interiora Terrae Rectificando Invenies Occultum Lapidem , 'Visit the interior parts of the earth: by rectification thou shalt find the hidden stone'. [373]

It derives from the alchemical work, L’Azoth des Philosophes (1624) by ‘Basilius Valentinus’, a pseudonymous name attributed to several 17th century alchemical works, claiming to date from the 15th century.

Crowley sees the statement as recapitulating the magical formula already presented throughout the Book of Thoth , and Vitriol itself as a combining of the three alchemical substances; Sulphur, Mercury and Salt. These correspond to the Magus, Empress and Emperor, according to Crowley – in difference to his correspondences earlier in the Book of Thoth .

To the reader, the statement advises the client – or ourselves – to dig deep and find the answer by purifying all which is at odds to our True Will. In doing so, we will “fertilize and bring to manifested Life the Orphic Egg” of possibilities. [374]

The Arrow

We have seen the arrow in the Lovers card, where it represented – as it does here – the Will. Crowley says it has “supreme importance” in both cards. [375] As a symbol of the “directed will”, he includes in the Appendix of the Book of Thoth a section from The Vision and the Voice entitled ‘The Arrow’. [376]

In that piece of writing, we see the arrow as the means of initiation through the middle pillar of the Tree of Life, to the crown of the Tree and beyond into the Ain Soph Aur. Crowley received this vision in Tolga, Algeria, on December 13, 1909 over two hours, 8:15-10:10 p.m. This was during the workings of the Enochian Aethyrs and it is worth breaking down some of the detail to demonstrate how these visions pervade the illustrations of the Thoth Tarot.

Crowley said, “Thou canst not believe how marvelous is this vision of the Arrow”. We will take four sections of the vision and see how they underpin his writings in the Book of Thoth . [377]

First, we have a section in which the arrow is used in the symbolism we encountered in the Lovers card, illustrating the relationship between love and will through the image of Cupid:

Thou mayest draw to an head the bow of thy magical will; thou mayest loose the shaft and pierce her to the heart. I am Eros. Take then the bow and the quiver from my shoulders and slay me; for unless thou slay me, thou shalt not unveil the Mystery of the Aethyr.

In that section, Crowley determines that once he has fired the arrow of will to slay love, it actually pierces his own heart and opens the inner mysteries of the vision:

I see that the crown of the Arrow is the Father of all Light, and the shaft of the Arrow is the Father of all Life, and the barb of the Arrow is the Father of all Love. For that silver wedge is like a lotus flower, and the Eye within the Ateph Crown crieth: I watch. And the Shaft crieth: I work. And the Barb crieth: I wait. And the Voice of the Aethyr echoeth: It beams. It burns. It blooms. [378]

The arrow is there divided into three parts, three times over; it is light, life and love; watching, working and waiting; beaming, burning and blooming. These are the three upper Sephiroth in different perspectives above the Abyss. It is one unified Will, separated into three aspects. However, the vision continues to process the experience of divine unity:

And now there cometh a strange thought; this Arrow is the source of all motion; it is infinite motion, yet it moveth not, so that there is no motion. And therefore there is no matter. This Arrow is the glance of the Eye of Shiva. But because it moveth not, the universe is not destroyed. The universe is put forth and swallowed up in the quivering of the plumes of Maat, that are the plumes of the Arrow; but those plumes quiver not.

Here we see a reformulation of Platonic thought, where time is “the moving likeness of eternity”. As the process of rectification, purification and merging continue, all becomes as still as it is one; for when one is everything, there is nowhere to move.

I am reminded of the gnostic vision in which the mystic perceives all of reality to come to a sudden stop – the clouds in the sky, even, are “astonished”. [379]

The closing section of the vision was footnoted by Crowley as being the most important doctrine concerning the upper reaches of the Tree of Life, for all students of the Mysteries:

It is shown me that this heart is the heart that rejoiceth, and the serpent is the serpent of Death for herein all the symbols are interchangeable, for each one containeth in itself its own opposite. And this is the great Mystery of the Supernals that are beyond the Abyss. For below the Abyss, contradiction is division; but above the Abyss, contradiction is Unity. And there could be nothing true except by virtue of the contradiction that is contained in itself.

The card of Art is an illustration of the Work which precedes this state, where nothing can be truly formulated in isolation or individuation. A footnote by Crowley in The Vision and the Voice summarises this vision, He wondered if it meant:

In the Shrine seek not for God. For He is everywhere. But in such a place as this all possible meanings are equally true.

Key Phrase: Transmute all wholly into the Image of thy Will.

Keywords: Combination, working with others, alchemy, synthesis (but in process rather than completion, which is illustrated by the Universe card).

In a Reading

The card signifies a combination of forces, the result of planning and accuracy, and success particularly after “elaborate manoeuvres”. [380] We must be creative and artful, getting the most by blending everything that is at our hand. There is no need to add or subtract anything from the situation, when this card is present it speaks to making the most of what we already possess.

XV: The Devil

Even the horns of the goat are spiral, to represent the movement of the all-pervading energy. Zoroaster defines God as “having a spiral force”. Compare the more recent, if less profound, writings of Einstein. [381]

Correspondences: Ayin (eye), Capricorn.

Image : A Himalayan goat stood behind the Wand of the Chief Adept, atop two testicular roots of a phallic tree piercing the heavens. In the background are “exquisitely tenuous, and fantastic forms of madness” whilst within the transparent root-spheres are semi-formed white bodies. [382]

There is wonderful artistry in the depiction of correspondences in this card. The Devil card corresponds to Capricorn in the zodiac. The sign is ruled by Saturn in which Mars is exalted. Harris has painted the goat front-and-centre, with a Martian background and a golden phallus rising up into a ringed vault. I do wonder if she meant the rings to represent Uranus, mistakenly, although Crowley gives them as representing Nuith, the goddess. [383]

There are also two further sets of correspondence woven into the design and which add to our interpretation of the card. The first is based on the placement of cards on the Tree of Life.

Crowley notes that the Devil and Death cards are symmetrical on the Tree. They connect to Tiphareth, corresponding to consciousness and self-awareness. The Devil connects our self-awareness to bliss (Netzach) and Death connects it to thought (Hod). Between them, the Art card connects our awareness to the foundation (Yesod) which “formulates Existence”. [384] He sees this trinity as “a hieroglyph of the processes by which idea manifests as form”. [385] Of course, Yesod also corresponds to the genitals and the sexual instinct - Crowley is making a lower trinity of sex, intellect and emotion in these three cards.

The second set of correspondences is based upon the sacred name of God known as IAO. This is spelt in Hebrew as Aleph, Yod and Ayin. Through correspondence these letters relate to the tarot cards of the Fool, Hermit and Devil. Crowley sees this as a “threefold explanation of the male creative energy” and it is worth comparing the three cards as such. [386] The Fool is the pure male energy without form and free in potential, the Hermit is energy being transmitted and the Devil is that energy being made manifest. The appearance of these cards in a reading can indicate the stage of energy in a situation, or the necessary energy required to resolve or further a situation.

The Devil card is - at root - a card of Life. It is a card of creativity and the fundamental sexual act that creates all things – division and multiplication. It is ironic that this arises from coming together - attraction. The card is both high and low – the affairs of matter and the transcendence of all that is known.

To quote from the “Prologue of the Unborn”;

Into my loneliness comes –

The sound of a flute in dim groves that haunt the uttermost hills.

Even from the brave river they reach to the edge of the wilderness.

And I behold Pan.

The snows are eternal above, above -

And their perfume smokes upward into the nostrils of the stars.

But what have I to do with these?

To me only the distant flute, the abiding vision of Pan. [387]

This is the first part of a longer poetic sequence by Crowley, Liber Liberi vel Lapdis Lazuli , being the “birth words of a Master of the Temple”. This is a high grade in the Western Esoteric Initiatory System where the self is utterly destroyed, merged, transcended across the Abyss, the final separation between the mortal and the divine. Such a transcendence is hinted at by the ‘eye’ in the forehead of the goat, although this also – as everything on this card – carries a sexual allusion.

Over two decades ago, an excitable friend of mine came to what he imagined was a stunning realisation with regard to all of Crowley’s works. He approached my esoteric teacher of the time and announced, “It’s all a symbol of sex, isn’t it?!” My teacher sagely replied, “Ah, yes, that may be true, but what is sex a symbol of?” I think this sums up neatly the Devil card – we must face our own material nature, look straight through it, and see what is not only beyond it, but of what it is part.

When this card turns up in a reading, powerful urges may be at work, however we must look beyond them in order to mount those forces to higher planes. It is a card calling us to both embrace and release energy – make a climactic climb upwards to the pinnacles of experience.

In more mundane terms, it signifies attachment and its escape; Crowley quoted from the Book of the Law when referring to this aspect of the card, “thou hast no right but to do thy will. Do that, and no other shall say nay. For pure will, unassuaged of purpose, delivered from the lust of result, is every way perfect”. [388]

SYMBOLS

The Goat

Through the correspondence of Capricorn to this card, Crowley derives much of its interpretation and design. The goat is specifically Himalayan, “the highest and most secret mountains of the earth”. [389] The sign of Capricorn is “rough, harsh, dark, even blind” and takes no account of “reason, custom or foresight”. [390] However, the goat is also the Greek god Pan, and through this divine creativity represents the “finding of ecstasy in every phenomenon”. [391] The formula of the card is “the complete appreciation of all existing things”. [392]

In a reading, particularly for oneself, this card presents the world for what it is – a material world. [393] A world to be enjoyed and experienced, without pause (in this one card, at least) for consideration of consequence or custom.

The Wand of the Chief Adept

The wand of the Chief Adept is a Golden Dawn magical tool symbolising a particular balancing of forces upon the initiatory path. Crowley describes it as “crowned with the winged globe and the twin serpents of Horus and Osiris”. [394] He also – with unusual coyness – notes that the “creative energy” of the goat is “veiled” in the symbol; it is, in fact, placed as a symbolic and substitute penis.

The wand is called the 'Ur-Uatchti' wand which specifically refers to the winged globe borne up by twin serpents. These are not historically Horus and Osiris as Crowley as re-purposed them, but rather two goddesses:

Heru-Behut changed his form into that of the Winged Disk, [and took his place] above the bow of the Boat of Ra. And he made the goddess Nekhebit and the goddess Uatchit to be with him in the form of serpents. [395]

The Phallus

The golden phallic tree or column arising in the centre of the card depicts a connection between the earth and the heavens; Crowley indicates the sexual nature of this union when he also refers to the wand as a “shaft” sinking into the earth. Thus, the phallus and wand, the Tree and the goat, all represent the creative energy symbolised by sex, irrespective of “all limitations”. [396]

The Globes

The two testicular globes at the base of the card are transparent to “show the innumerable leapings of the sap”. [397] This is a direct reference to semen, but as we have written, sex and physicality is also symbolic in itself – one of the great teachings of the Devil card. The symbol here shows all the possibilities beneath the skin of appearance; wild spiritual potential before it is made manifest by decision and physical action.

Interestingly, as with the spirals drawn on the Moon card and the reference in the Star card, Crowley makes mention again here the quote from Zoroaster, “God as ‘having a spiral force’”. [398] We have seen that this notion and design appears in these illustrations of the deck, many years prior to the discovery that DNA is a double helix – a very resonant reality for this card.

Key Phrase: Thou hast no right but to do thy will. Do that, and no other shall say nay. For pure will, unassuaged of purpose, delivered from the lust of result, is every way perfect. [399]

Keywords: Rough energy, endurance, engagement, down and dirty, sensual enjoyment, lust for life, energetic release.

In a Reading

The Devil is a card of the utmost physicality and creativeness. It signifies brute force and a primal energy. It suggests that your physical needs are brought to attention. In an abstract manner, applied to a work situation, for example, it means we must take harsh action and punch through any obstacles to get our own satisfaction.

XVI: The Tower (War)

The above should make it clear that magical symbols must always be understood in a double sense, each contradictory of the other. [400]

Correspondences: Peh (mouth), Mars.

Image : A red eye glares down upon an abstract scene of a collapsing tower. A strange circular mouth emits sharp tongues of fire across the bottom of the scene. Three geometric figures fall from the tower and we see a dove and serpent-figure in the background.

The chapter on the Tower in the Book of Thoth is one which reminds us that Crowley’s descriptions of the Major Arcana were surprisingly short and dense. As with many of the Majors, it is just two pages of text – particularly the latter cards in the sequence. Other cards are bulked up by separate sections in a mid-book Appendix, dealing with the Fool, Magician, Wheel, Lust, Temperance and the Universe. Crowley saw his original text as an “essay” and the appendix was a reference to his visionary work, from which he had drawn much of the symbolism for the deck.

He knew that the text was to be published as part of a gallery opening and seemed to be writing in an “essay” style for the likely academic audience. Although Frieda Harris’s report of the show mentioned how children were responding to the paintings - rather than academics. She notes that she is having a “funny time” with it, mainly “very stuffy old ladies & very ancient men”. [401]

One interesting note is that she asked the children about their favourite card and was surprised that many chose a card suitable for their month of birth. She also remarked on a 2-year old who chose the 2 of Cups, and remembered it when asked a little later, and having to explain ‘lust’ to children by talking about feelings about chocolate or a favourite sweet. We can imagine her stood in front of the Lust card saying, “this is a picture of how you feel about those chocolates”. [402]

Unfortunately, in the published version of the Book of Thoth , the “appendix” appears mid-book, before the section on the Court cards, so requires the reader to constantly read backwards and forwards for certain cards. It has been suggested that the book is an early example of hyper-textual writing, which would benefit from online publication and comprehensive cross-linking. [403]

When we look at the Tower, we see this complex interlocking of ideas from the first paragraph. Crowley notes the correspondences to the Hebrew letter Peh , and to Mars. He provides a simple interpretation - that the Tower indicates “the manifestation of cosmic energy in its grossest form”. [404] He states that the illustration shows the “destruction of existing material by fire”. [405] So far, so good. Then he writes that the card may be taken as “the preface to Atu XX, the Last Judgement”, and as such, “it seems to indicate the quintessential quality of the Lord of the Aeon”. [406]

There is a footnote to that sentence, which refers us to Liber Al. III. 3-9; 11-13; 17-18; 23-29; 46; 49-60; 70-72. This is where we might certainly introduce and be assisted by hypertext linking. Those references are to the Book of the Law , particularly the third chapter, corresponding to Horus, the hawk-headed god of vengeance we encounter throughout the whole of the deck. As the “Lord of the Aeon”, Horus corresponds to Mars, and to the Tower.

However, the links are more complex and far deeper than the surface correspondence. The verses to which Crowley is referring deal with the building of machines of war;

3. Now let it be first understood that I am a God of War and of Vengeance. I shall deal hardly with them.

4. Choose ye an Island!

5. Fortify it!

6. Dung it about with enginery of war!

7. I will give you a war-engine.

8. With it ye shall smite the peoples; and none shall stand before you.

9. Lurk! Withdraw! Upon them! this is the Law of the Battle of Conquest: thus shall my worship be about my secret house. [407]

I quote these verses in full for this card as example of the depth of symbolism in the deck. We might also refer in full to sections of the Book of the Law referenced by Crowley throughout the Book of Thoth . My personal view is that it is essential to appreciate the Book of the Law to even get one level down into the Thoth Tarot.

In referencing those verses, Crowley is first making a correspondence between the card and a prophesy in the Book of the Law , written ahead of two world wars. He is making a correspondence between the nature of the card and the energy of the god Horus, through the corresponding planet, Mars. He is making a connection of the illustration itself to the “war-engine” literally stated in the Book of the Law .

There is yet another level of symbolism to be discovered, as we follow the links. In the “Old Comment” to the Book of the Law , Crowley offers a surprising key to these verses, one which is not obvious to a straight reading of either the Book of Thoth or the Book of the Law .

He reveals that the “island” is a Chakra – an energy-centre of the body. The following verses are instructions in a new form of meditation; the “fortification” is concentration, and the defences of “enginery of war” are the prevention of any new impressions reaching the mind. The “war engine” is a “new method of meditation” and “smiting the peoples” is the easy “suppression of invading thoughts”.

Then we are taken on another link; in the commentary on the Book of the Law , published in various editions, my copy being The Law is for All (1985), the 9th verse is referenced to Liber HHH , section 3. This is a short series of instructions for meditation. Section 3 is a mediation by which the spine and brain are visualised as the masculine energy and feminine receptive space. Through a staged series of visualisation, posture and breathing, a state of ecstasy or Samadhi is found through uniting the parts of the body and their respective energy centres.

This brings us back to the Tower, in that the third section of Liber HHH , continuing this chain of links, is prefaced by a verse from one of Crowley’s mystical prose-poems, Liber Lapidis Lazuli :

Thou art a beautiful thing, whiter than a woman in the column of this vibration.

I shoot up vertically like an arrow, and become that Above.

But it is death, and the flame of the pyre.

Ascend in the flame of the pyre, O my Soul!

Thy God is like the cold emptiness of the utmost heaven, into which thou radiatest thy little light.

When Thou shalt know me, O empty God, my flame shall utterly expire in thy great N.O.X. [408]

We can read the sexual symbolism within this verse, and the meditation itself. It is the same sexual symbolism we encounter in the illustration of the card; the tower rising up to the above, ejaculating white crystalline forms into the red darkness. The line “Lurk! Withdraw! Upon them!” also carries a sexual connotation.

All of this is contained in and unpacked here from just the first paragraph and footnote of the description of the Tower, which illustrates how the Thoth Tarot carries the density and interlinking of many decades of Crowley’s work.

In an everyday reading, we can simply refer to the card as a destructive energy; one which clears away the old and makes way for the new. However, it is ruthless and potentially vengeful. It is an energy which seeks a martial solution to an existing state. It does not take prisoners.

SYMBOLS

Jaws of Dis

In the bottom of the card is the mouth called by Crowley the “jaws of Dis” from which issues angular flame against the stars and open entrance of the Tower. This is a reference to the Hebrew letter Peh , meaning mouth, and to the specific name Dis. The City of Dis is the city of hell as envisioned in Dante’s Inferno . The sinners in Dis are various but include the heretics who are imprisoned in red-hot tombs, and the violent. It is also one of the names given to Lucifer in Inferno, and we find in the “jaws of Dis” are three shades; the shade of Judas, who betrayed Christ, and the shades of Brutus and Cassius who betrayed Caesar. [409] It is a symbol of violent betrayal in this context and the card may be suggesting such in a reading.

Broken Figures

The “broken figures” falling from the Tower are illustrated as geometrical and abstract figures. To Crowley, these represented the loss of attachment to structure – to the perception of reality in formation. He refers us to the various doctrines of Hinduism, particularly Shaivism, without referring to them by name. In these doctrines, particularly as they relate to the practice of Yoga, Shiva has a third eye, by which he burns desire to ashes. Crowley repeats this teaching, writing that “to obtain perfection, all existing things must be annihilated”. [410]

They are also symbols of semen, the unformed human being in basic form. We might utilise this symbolism in an everyday reading by saying that the eruption of one state is to eject the seeds of a new one. [411]

As Crowley notes, the symbol can be taken in two opposite ways; destruction and new life. He goes on to importantly remark:

The above should make it clear that magical symbols must always be understood in a double sense, each contradictory of the other. These ideas blend naturally with the higher and deeper significance of the card. [412]

The Dove and Serpent

In the paired symbols of the dove and the serpent at the top of the card, either side of the Eye, we see further reference to the Book of the Law in the design of the Tower. In Chapter I, the goddess Nuith speaks:

Nor let the fools mistake love; for there are love and love. There is the dove, and there is the serpent. Choose ye well! He, my prophet, hath chosen, knowing the law of the fortress, and the great mystery of the House of God. [413]

The original title for this card was “The House of God Struck by Lightning”, of which Crowley was aware in 1904 when he wrote the Book of the Law .

Crowley sees love as “love under will”, neither a pagan licentiousness, represented by the serpent (also Kundalini) nor a Christian fear-based love. He comments that Love and Will have been as gladiators in a philosophical war, only to be harmonised by the Law of Thelema. [414]

These two forms of desire – a pagan and a Christian mentality - are depicted as the lion-serpent Abraxas and the dove carrying an olive-branch. Crowley also refers to them as the “Will to Live and the Will to Die”. [415] He expresses a belief that the renunciation of love was “constantly announced” as a requirement for initiation, but this was now an outdated and rigid view. As he puts it, “This Trump is not the only card in the Pack”. [416]

In summary, he refers us to Atu XIII, Death, where we should learn that “life and death are understood as phases of a single manifestation of energy”. [417]

It may be that in a reading we refer to the dove and serpent as two apparently opposite pulls, which are bringing down the tower of belief. A client may be wrestling with their own desire and fear which, without changing their long-held belief about themselves, will come to ruin.

We can see this in the position of the card on the Tree of Life. It bridges Hod and Netzach, sometimes seen as the mind and the emotions. I liken these to Mr. Spock – the pure logician - and Jim McCoy – the emotional healer -on Star Trek, with Captain Kirk as Tiphareth, the captain. There is often a conflict between these two characters, and their equivalent states within ourselves.

The Eye

We have introduced and discussed the basic tenets of sexual magick throughout our journey into the Thoth Tarot, and in the Tower, we see it as explicitly stated as anywhere else in the Book of Thoth . Crowley writes of the symbol of the eye which is atop the card:

The dominating feature of this card is the Eye of Horus. This is also the Eye of Shiva … [418]

Whilst we have already looked at the symbolism of the eye of Horus, it is the eye of Shiva that carries the sexual connotation:

Shiva, the Destroyer, is asleep, and when he opens his eye the universe is destroyed... But the "eye" of Shiva is also his Lingam. Shiva is himself the Mahalingam, which unites these symbolisms. The opening of the eye, the ejaculation of the Lingam, the destruction of the universe, the accomplishment of the Great Work - all these are different ways of saying the same thing. [419]  

We can see again that the sexual symbolism is symbolic of universal processes as well as spiritual processes of inner transformation; they are all different ways of saying the same thing. The eye is a symbol of knowing, of truth, of seeing things exactly as they are – all the same.

Key Phrase: Fear not at all; fear neither men nor Fates, nor gods, nor anything. [420]

Keywords: Ruin, destruction, desire, sexual energy.

In a Reading

This card is the destruction necessary as a prelude to the Last Judgement card. If the Blasted Tower comes up in a reading, a useful trick is to go through the rest of the deck and see how far away the Last Judgement card is down the remaining deck. This will give some indication of how extended or compressed the damage will be wrought by the Tower until a turning point is reached. One always hopes the Blasted Tower will be accompanied by the Last Judgement in a spread!

XVII: The Star

Heaven itself is no more than a veil before the face of the immortal goddess. [421]

Correspondences: Heh (window, opening), Aquarius.

Image : A naked female figure wreathed in her own hair is pouring water from two large cups. A large globe sits on the horizon behind her and a single star swirls in the heavens above. At her feet are crystalline shapes and we see small roses and butterflies in the lower right of the image.

We have looked at the exchange of correspondences between Heh and Tzaddi for this card and the Emperor in our introductory section of the present book, so we will not revisit it. Crowley continued to use his alternate system from 1904 when it was introduced in the Book of the Law until his final pieces of writing, a series of letters composed in the mid-1940’s and published posthumously as Magick Without Tears in 1954.

In Magick Without Tears , one of the letters is written upon ‘Thelemic Morality’, in response to a question asked of Crowley with regard to instinct as a drive of behaviour. He offers a Kabbalistic model for his answer, describing the relationship of the spiritual and the physiological aspects of the individual. The first, he posits, cannot be influenced by the mind, aside from the mind can explain or interpret it. He suggests that the spiritual “instincts” are “implanted from high”. [422]

The Kabbalistic model he presents is that Tiphareth , taken as “human consciousness”, must be unified, fortified and perfected in order to respond to the spiritual instincts and apply them to the physiological condition. As Tiphareth sits in the centre of the Tree of Life, he points out that it has the assets of its position through the mapping of the Tarot to the paths above it. These are the Lovers, Star and High Priestess, connecting Tiphareth to Binah, Chockmah and Kether.

Crowley, in this final piece of writing, maintains the swap of the Star and the Emperor, which in the earlier Golden Dawn system would remain on the path between Tiphareth and Chockmah. He suggests that consciousness (Tiphareth, or the ‘son’) is gifted from above by the ‘Mother’ (Binah) through the Lovers card and from the ‘Father’ (Chockmah) through the Star card, where consciousness “inherits the infinite possibilities of Nuit”. [423] The path of the High Priestess, connecting consciousness (Tiphareth) to divine consciousness (Kether) illustrates the “direct inspiration, guidance, and ward of his Holy Guardian Angel”. [424]

The Star, then, is “infinite possibilities”, the possibility of the Will in Manifestation and the goddess Nuith. To understand this card, Crowley writes, we must understand the first chapter of the Book of the Law . This is the chapter dedicated to Nuit, the goddess of infinite space. In Her, every individual is a ‘star’, a point of consciousness with its own centre, orbit and relationship to all other stars. As Crowley puts it in the Book of the Law ;

Every man and every woman is a star. [425]

The Vision of the Lake Pasquaney

In this section I would like to unpack a passing comment in the Book of Thoth which conceals the most fundamental aspect of Crowley’s philosophy. He refers to it as the “radix of my whole philosophical outlook” and relates to a vision he experienced in New Hampshire in 1916. [426] He was staying at a cottage owned by astrologer Evangeline Adams (1868 - 1932) with whom he had connection. They collaborated on several works but later fell out, disputing who had written what in works such as General Principles of Astrology .

He referred to this also as the vision of the star-sponge and comments on it in his Commentary on the Book of Law , and mentions it in passing when referring to the Star card. [427]

I lost consciousness of everything but a universal space in which were innumerable bright points, and I realized this as a physical representation of the universe, in what I may call its essential structure. I exclaimed, "Nothingness with twinkles!" I concentrated upon this vision, with the result that the void space which had been the principal element of it diminished in importance; space appeared to be ablaze, yet the radiant points were not confused, and I thereupon completed my sentence with the exclamation, "but what twinkles!" [428]

This samadhi , of “cardinal importance in my interior life”, developed gradually and is a constant reference in Crowley’s magical diaries. [429] He goes on to describe that the vision revealed “that the structure of the universe was highly organised, that certain stars were of greater magnitude and brilliancy than the rest”. [430]

The “stars” in the vision he identified as ideas and souls, each connected by a ray of light. Whilst this may suggest a vision where the whole firmament is full of light, Crowley described his perception as “the space is completely full and yet the monads which fill it are perfectly distinct”. He remarks that “the ordinary reader might well exclaim that such statements exhibit symptoms of mental confusion”. [431]

We may again follow a trail of hypertextual links to discover from the Book of Thoth to the Book of the Law , to Commentaries and then to Confessions , where we arrive at an end-note referring us to one more link; a commentary on the vision in The Equinox , vol. III, no. iv, otherwise known as Eight Lectures on Yoga , 1939. [432]

In that series, he further comments that the vision illustrates mathematical thinking such as found in Bertrand Russell's 'Introduction to Mathematical Philosophy', and “the astonishing final identification of this cosmic experience with the nervous system as described by the anatomist“. [433]

SYMBOLS

Star of Venus/Babalon

In the earlier Tarot de Marseille, the Star was traditionally depicted as a central star with seven stars arranged around it in the heavens. The Golden Dawn developed this numerology by depicting the stars as representing the seven planets and placing a heptagram as a crown upon the female figure of the card. [434] The figure was situated between a Tree of Life and a Tree of Knowledge, with an Ibis upon a branch of the Tree of Knowledge. They saw the two jugs as containers of the soul, and the water as the soul being poured forth into manifestation.

Crowley has further developed this symbolism and we see the seven-fold star repeated three times in the image; in the heavens of the upper-left corner, in the globe of manifestation in the centre of the card and within the uppermost golden chalice. It thus represents the soul in three stages; the divine, the manifest and in the transition between the two states.

Silver and Gold Cups

In Book T , the Star is described as “The Daughter of the Firmament, the dweller between the Waters”.

Roses & Butterflies

The bird sometimes depicted on the Star card is sometimes replaced by a butterfly, which we see in the Thoth Tarot. Crowley does not mention the butterflies, although he refers to the roses, which symbolise the fertile earth at the edge of the “Great Sea” of Binah. [435]

In this scene are poured “the inexhaustible possibilities of existence” created from “the eternal renewal of the categories”. [436] It is the awareness of the individual self in its natural division of the universe into discrete entities; stars, as it is itself sensed as a discrete entity. The “abyss” undoes this division; it is the dissolution or return back to the truth – there is no difference.

Crowley makes this essential point of the card clear in a substantial quote from the Book of the Law in conclusion of his writing on the Star card. It is the final verses of the first chapter of the Book of the Law , dealing with Nuith, and he describes it in the Book of Thoth as “the definite formula for the attainment of truth”. [437] He further re-states that “the conclusion is of practical importance”, which I believe is specifically about this line:

For one kiss wilt thou be willing to give all; but whoso gives one particle of dust shall lose all in that hour. [438]

In his Commentaries , Crowley muses whether this indeed refers to “the supreme attainment” (of Samhadi , union with divine reality) and the act of achievement is to give the ego, the Hadit , the central core of consciousness, to the “nothingness, with twinkles”. [439]

The butterflies represent this transition; this paradox; this dilemma. It is creation in change, in discrete points of consciousness, upon the edge of an abyss which is both everything and nothing.

Spirals

We see in the text for this card most clearly that Crowley appreciated and was utilising the projective geometry executed in the illustrations by Frieda Harris. She herself had written to Crowley to say; “Would you like me to try the Star, it has a pictorial fascination for me but could you be more explicit?” [440]

Crowley saw the spiral as a fundamental pattern in the Universe, quoting the oracles of Zoroaster:

“God is he, having the head of a hawk; having a spiral force”. [441]

The Abyss

As we introduced in this book, the Abyss was seen by Crowley as a desert; an interface between all that can be known and all that is beyond knowledge. In placing the Star card on the path of Heh , it crosses the Abyss – although to Chockmah, and not to Binah which seems implied by the text of the Book of Thoth ; “This water is the water of the great Sea of Binah”. [442] Whether this symbolism is simply to make a connection to water rather than Binah, Crowley does note the Abyss, “hidden by the clouds, which whirl as a development of her hair”. [443]

I personally think this latter sentence references an alternative design of the card, as is the case with several other points throughout the Book of Thoth , as it does not appear that clouds of any description come from her hair – nor is there a clear ‘abyss’ other than the horizon between the pyramidic mountains and the sea.

However it is, the abyss represents a gulf between the real and the unreal – and this can be a factor in an everyday reading, where the Star shows not Will but Hope, an unreal expectation of the future. It signifies that there is potential, but it must be realised, much as the water poured must become crystallised into matter.

Key Phrase: Every man and every woman is a star. [444]

Keywords: Individualism, will, clear vision, aim, ambition, direction, realisation of hope.

In a Reading

The Star brings possibilities into a reading. However, these possibilities must be realised, by the action of will. There is potential to progress with this card in a reading, yet it must never be taken for granted. We can set our sights by the star, but it is not our destination – it is a point of navigation. It is a call to set our sights on our vision as something which can be accomplished, or not at all. To take a decisive step towards our goal, or if we cannot, change the goal.

XVIII: The Moon

Phallus & sun I understand. Kteis=? Moon–what is Kteis? [445]

Correspondences: Qoph (back of head), Pisces.

Image : A pair of Anubis figures stand in front of two towers to either side of the scene. A beetle holds a solar image at the base of the scene, and a lunar sphere rests between the towers. A graph-like background is at the base of the design and deep curves create a channel in the middle of the towers.

Crowley depicts this card as the darkest of the deck in no uncertain terms. It is the Dark Night of the Soul, the remotest depth of the unconscious mind, the furthest place of the shadow. It is the Moon as the literal Moon, barren and breathless, rather than the higher symbolism found in its correspondence to the High Priestess. Here, the Moon corresponds to Pisces, the final sign of the zodiac, and the gateway to resurrection. This card is true midnight.

At least, as such, there is, as Crowley quotes Keats, “a budding morrow in midnight”. [446] The sacred beetle Khepra – the dark (Kheph) sun (Ra) – carries the light through the darkness.

Whilst Crowley does not make it explicit, this card depicts the cycle of life through menstruation. He refers to “nine drops of impure blood”, “tabu”, and “water which is tinged with the graphs of abomination”. [447] The word ‘menstruation’ derives from the Latin mensis (month), which in turn relates to the Greek mene (moon).

Crowley arguably followed a path of transgression, a liberation of consciousness through the breaking of social convention. [448]

SYMBOLS

Moon

Crowley depicts the Moon as the “waning moon”, the moon of “witchcraft and abominable deeds”. [449] His definition of witchcraft is not as we would understand it today, in the context of neo-paganism and wicca. He uses the term to refer to a debasement of magick:

All the works of witchcraft are illusory; and their apparent effects depend on the idea that it is possible to alter things by the mere rearrangement of them. [450]

He is defining witchcraft as a sterile act of magick, which does not transmute matter into a spiritual state, but rather simply re-organises the material of a situation. It is clear he was already associating the moon with witchcraft in this sense, as early as the writing of Magick some thirty years prior to the Book of Thoth :

It is for this reason that their method [witchcraft] has always been referred to the moon, in that sense of the term in which she appears, not as the feminine correlative of the sun, but as the burnt-out, dead, airless satellite of earth. [451]

These quotes are from a section in Magick dealing with the “formula of Alhim, and that of Alim”, which in turn alludes to anal sex as a magical act, under the guise of a series of kabbalistic and classical references. [452] Crowley suggests that whilst this act “makes creation impossible”, it consecrates the practitioners so long as the “creative force is employed deliberately for destruction, and is entirely absorbed in its own sphere”. [453]

Whilst not wishing to over-dwell on the subject, it is perhaps worth unpacking this piece of writing by Crowley which illustrates how tarot is being used as a language for magical practice:

Aleph may be referred to Harpocrates, with allusion to the well-known poem of Catullus. Lamed may imply the exaltation of Saturn, and suggest the Three of Swords in a particular manner. Yod will then recall Hermes, and Mem the Hanged Man. We have thus a Tetragrammaton which contains no feminine component. The initial Force is here the Holy Spirit and its vehicle or weapon the "Sword and Balances". Justice is then done upon the Mercurial "Virgin", with the result that the Man is "Hanged" or extended, and is slain in this manner. [454]

Crowley takes the letters of the god-name ALIM as Aleph, Lamed, Yod and Mem. He corresponds these letters to tarot as follows:

Aleph = Fool = Harpocrates

Lamed = Justice = Libra, in which Saturn is Exalted

Yod = Hermes = Mercury = the seed (Yod means hand but is seen as a ‘spark’ of creation)

Mem = Hanged Man

The “well-known poem” in which the Roman poet Catullus mentions Harpocrates is an invective against a rival suitor named Gellius. The poet says he has not only had sex with his rival’s wife but also turned his rival’s uncle “into a Harpocrates”, by having sex with him too, ensuring he would not be able to speak about it – Harpocrates being the god of silence. There is also a likely allusion in the original poem that whilst Harpocrates is depicted as having a finger to his mouth for silence, Gellius’s uncle would have something else in his mouth, keeping him from speaking. [455]

The planet Saturn is associated with the most basic and earthy of things, and the Three of Swords likely illustrates three points of penetration in this context. The “sword and balances” is a crude allusion to the penis and testicles, and the line “justice is then done upon the Mercurial ‘virgin’ …” is a description of sodomy.

The Moon tarot card is thus an illustration of both the (literally) gross material nature of human excretion and menstruation, and the use of such in acts of transgression for magical purposes. This is not something we may choose to share with our client who simply wants to know when Dwayne is coming back to them. [456]

Nine Yods

The nine drops of “impure blood” fall from the moon into the central stream between the two pillars. These drops were originally seen to be dew said to come from the moon, and later drawn into the Golden Dawn tarot designs as Hebrew Yods or seeds of new life. Here Crowley has revised the symbolism to the connotations he held for menstrual blood.

Towers

In an original sketch for the Moon made by Crowley long before the Thoth Tarot was conceived, noted earlier in this book, he pictured the two towers as replaced by more complex temple edifices upon two clifftops. In the Thoth Tarot, Harris has painted two dark towers, described by Crowley as representing “nameless mystery, [of] horror and of fear”. [457] They can be considered as emblems of all that we might shun away from, all that instinct warns us of – and in a general reading can signify deep-rooted fear of a situation based on early social conditioning.

Anubis

This card is the “threshold of life”, so is attended by Anubis, whom we have introduced earlier in this book, as the guide and guard of the dead. He has jackals at his feet, whom Crowley suggests will eat the carcasses of those who do not know the name of the God.

We are reminded of a description in Liber Israfel, sub figura LXIV, originally entitled “Anubis”, although it tends to deal with Thoth:

Mine is the Unseen Force, whereof the Gods are sprung! Which is as Life unto the Dwellers in the Watch-Towers of the Universe.

I am the Charioteer of the East, Lord of the Past and of the Future.

I see by mine own inward light: Lord of Resurrection; Who cometh forth from the Dusk, and my birth is from the House of Death.

However, Crowley is also specifically referencing the rituals and temple layout of the Golden Dawn. Here, the figure of Anubis acts in dual form, stationed both at the East and West of the temple and on both the inside and outside. The god-form acts as an interface of the candidate seeking initiation, symbolising their own inner world; the known and the unknown states. The line Crowley echoes in his description of the moon is specifically found in the Theoricus Ritual, which corresponds to Yesod and the Moon:

… and follow your guide, Anubis the Guardian, who leads you from the material to the spiritual.

KERUX: Anubis the Guardian said to the aspirant, “Let us enter the presence of the Lord of Truth. Arise and follow me”.

…

HIERO: The priest with the mask of Osiris spake and said: “Thou canst not pass the gate of the eastern heaven unless thou canst tell me my name”. [458]

There follows a series of challenges from the deities who require the aspirant to know their name, as Crowley references in the Book of Thoth .

We use this initiatory reference as a metaphor for self-knowledge; we must know the “name” of our own conditions and selves in order to meet their challenges and pass on in our journey to self-awareness. This is a terrifying prospect for the ego-process; “such light as there may be is deadlier than darkness, and the silence is wounded by the howling of wild beasts”. [459] An apt description of the initiatory (or therapeutic) process.

Khepra

The beetle drawn by Frieda Harris seems to be more similar to a water-beetle than the usual Scarab Beetle drawn for Khepra, but this would also be suitable for the symbolism of the card. Crowley states that the Khepra is “underneath the water”, bearing the solar disk through the darkness and winter depicted by the card. It is the ‘sun at midnight’ which is the mainstay of many initiations; the light at the end of the tunnel.

In a reading we may often find ourselves pointing to this light as a potential outcome despite the darkness implicit in the whole image. We may just need to survive the darkness for the light to grow within us.

Graphs

At the base of the card appears an overlapping series of three lines which Crowley calls the “graphs of abomination”. We are reminded of the symbolism of menstruation throughout this card, and the graph of the hormonal cycle, which was known prior to the design of the deck. [460] However, the spiral of “serum tinged with blood” at the top of the card is co-incidentally a double helix, as the structure of DNA was not published until 1953, a decade after the deck was created.

In an alternate version of the Moon, unpublished, the helix patterns are more pronounced in a vertical stream down the centre of the card and horizontally across the top of the image. In that version, the “graphs” are far more abstract and repetitive, as if a draft of the more precise version in the published version.

We can certainly read this card as a cycle, an overlapping series of balances and checks, a natural process of potential and shedding. It may be a dark path, but it is an essential one. As Crowley concludes, “whatever horrors may afflict the soul, whatever abominations may excite the loathing of the heart, whatever terrors may assail the mind, the answer is the same at every stage: ‘How splendid is the Adventure!’”. [461]

Key Phrase: The brink of an important change. [462]

Keywords: Negativity, fear, re-arrangement without outcome, deception.

In a Reading

This is an almost entirely negative card to receive in a reading with the Thoth Tarot. At least the deck has some outright bluntness to it. The Moon means the client or ourselves is refusing to face the truth, practising deception or worse, self-deception. It means that they are merely re-arranging the deckchairs on the deck of the sinking ship. It means they are stagnating. It means they are frightened of what is actually the case. It means these things and worse.

The only positive aspect of the Moon is found in the initiatory rites; we must know the name of Anubis, and pass through the darkest hour. We must know and name our fear, our illusion, our deception – and pass between the pylons to discover the Sun at midnight.

XIX: The Sun

This is one of the simplest cards; it represents Heru-ra-ha, the Lord of the New Aeon, in his manifestation to the race of men as the Sun spiritual, moral and physical. [463]

Correspondences: Resh (head), Sun.

Image : A bright solar disk casts rays out from the centre of this scene. A green hill is below the Sun, and two naked figures with wings hold their arms up in joy. The signs of the zodiac surround the whole illustration. There is a little wall towards the top of the hill.

In the Book of Thoth , Crowley provided poetic couplets (p. 219-20) for each of the Major Atu, and the one for the Sun is:

The Sun, our Father! Soul of Life and Light,

Love and play freely, sacred in Thy sight!

So, on the surface the card appears as it would on many other decks, bright, joyful, full of light. However, this is Aleister Crowley at work, so if we expect some form of devious subversion we will probably soon locate it.

In the case of the Sun, it is in the small decals underneath the two dancing figures that we find Crowley’s joyful disregard of previous convention playing out. They contain an image of the crucified Christ, counter-changed as opposites as are the dancing figures above.

SYMBOLS

The Sun

The Sun is seen by Crowley as a re-extension of the symbol of the Rose Cross, which itself derived from the symbolism of the sun. The Self (the Sun as the centre) is manifest in the light of the sun and through the twelve signs of the zodiac. The Rose Cross emblem in the Golden Dawn illustrated this symbolism by correspondence of the zodiac and planets in a rose upon a cross of the elements. In the Sun card, Crowley has twelve rays emitting from the sun, between each of which is a sign of the zodiac.

He makes a correspondence of the twelve to the sacred name HUA, which references his earlier work, KONX OM PAX. In that collection, within the ‘Stone of the Philosophers’ is a poem entitled ‘The Devil’s Conversion’. At the end of the poem, a satirical take on Lucifer being the punisher of saints, Crowley writes:

“Hua is God!” Quoth Asmodee:

“There is no other God than He.” [464]

It is in this connection that the card is the light-bringer, the “complete emancipation of the human race”. [465] If the Moon is one of the most negative cards in the Major Arcana of the Thoth Tarot, then the Sun is certainly the most positive.

Wall-Girt Mound (Rose Cross)

The convoluted and only partially-explained text for the Sun, “the simplest of the cards”, contains an injunction that “it is also most important to observe that the formula of the Rose and Cross (indicated by the wall-girt mound) has completed the fire-change into ‘something rich and strange’”. [466]

Crowley either deliberately or accidentally misquoted two lines from Shakespeare’s The Tempest sung by Ariel:

Full fathom five thy father lies.

Of his bones are coral made.

Those are pearls that were his eyes.

Nothing of him that doth fade,

But doth suffer a sea-change

Into something rich and strange.

Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell [467]

However it may be quoted, he is further suggesting the change of Aeon in these two lines. The formula of the Rose and Cross – sexuality and suffering, in basic – is transformed by acknowledging its nature (the mound) against the constraints of convention (the wall). The colouring is changed because one has been made active in the past; convention, and the other made to be passive; sexuality.

Crowley goes further, to remark; “Man has advanced so far from the social system, though it was not a system, of the cave man, from the primitive conception of property in human flesh”. [468] He advocates freedom in all respects – the closing lines of the short ritual, ‘The Mass of the Phoenix’ which relates to Horus and the Sun, enjoin us thus:

I entered with woe; with mirth

I now go forth, and with thanksgiving,

To do my pleasure on the earth

Among the legions of the living. [469]

The Mound is our natural inclination to aspire to the divine, our natural evolution. The wall suggests that even in freedom there is a natural control. [470] Crowley returns to the symbol later in his text, noting that whilst the formula of suffering still applies in most “terrestrial matters” at this time, there is a new connection; “a close and definite alliance with the celestial”. [471]

We can say that the event is growing of its own accord when the Sun appears in a reading. Also, that whilst a situation may have started out with some restriction, it will outgrow any constraints that may be presently the case. Literally, ‘make hay while the sun shines’ is the message of this card.

Twin Children

The card itself shows the “old aeon” god relegated and the twin children taking his place. They dance in the light outside the “garden”, which is now the mountain of initiation.

Crowley writes, “They are dancing in the light, and yet they dwell on the earth. They represent the next stage which is to be attained by mankind, in which complete freedom is alike the cause and the result of the new access of solar energy upon the earth. The restriction of such ideas as sin and death in their old sense has been abolished”. [472]

In the mnemonics for this card we are advised to “Love and play freely”, in the knowledge that the Sun is our sacred soul and delights in life and light. [473]

Key Phrase: Give forth to thy light to all without doubt. [474]

Keywords: Authenticity, truth, openness, demonstration, sharing.

In a Reading

Simply put, this card is a ‘get out of jail free’ card. It is a call to awakening much as the Aeon card, however it is more a call to complete freedom in self-responsibility. It is a call to awaken to an enlightened self-interest. Crowley believed “the word of sin is restriction” and this card shows no restriction – other than one’s own knowledge and will, symbolised by the serpent wall. [475]

It suggests in a reading that the person or situation is to face up to the light and do it all, without restriction. As Crowley again brazenly put it, “There is no grace, there is no guilt; This is the Law: DO WHAT THOU WILT!” [476] Dare we face the open challenge of this card and burst through to the light?

XX: The Aeon [Last Judgement]

It is a thought far from comforting to the present generation, that 500 years of Dark Ages are likely to be upon us. But, if the analogy holds, that is the case. Fortunately, to-day we have brighter torches and more torch-bearers. [477]

Correspondences: Shin (tooth), Fire.

Image : A transparent ancient Egyptian child-god stands in front of a hawk-headed god on a throne. Above them a goddess is arched, with celestial swirls in her body. A stylised Ankh makes up part of the background and the Hebrew letter Shin is placed at the base of the scene. Three foetal bodies are drawn within the Shin.

The Aeon card is one of the most fundamental place-holders of the unique aspects of the Thoth Tarot deck. Crowley clearly states that “in this card it has been necessary to depart completely from the tradition of the cards in order to carry on that tradition”. [478] He adds also that “this new Tarot may therefore be regarded as a series of illustrations to the Book of the Law ; the doctrine of that Book is everywhere implicit”. [479]

As such, the Aeon card is “of necessity an adaptation of the Stélé of Revealing” which we introduced at the start of this present book. [480] This ancient Egyptian funeral plaque, originally labelled 666 when Crowley first saw it in 1909, features three deities; Nuit, the sky goddess, whom we see arched over the card; Hadit, the Winged Globe in the centre of the card and Horus, who arises from the union of Nuit and Hadit in two forms; the enthroned warrior and the silent child, superimposed upon the card.

When using the Thoth Tarot deck, we can empower our readings by making a correspondence of the deities in the cards to the situation of the Querent. We can point to Nuit and enquire “what is the overarching and supporting ‘Nuit’ of the situation or decision - what will nurture it?” We can then turn to Hadit and ask, “What is the fiery core of it? What is the motivation or intent at work?”

We can then finally turn to the Horus aspects of the card and look at how the long-term plan (Nuit) and the short-term passion (Hadit) marry together to create a new entity - the Horus. We might ask, “What will be birthed by the situation or challenge? What new life (or way of life) will arise after the judgement, and what will be the nature of that new Aeon in the world of the client – or ourselves?”

We could also consider the dual aspect of Horus, look to other cards in the spread, and read how Horus – the creation arising from changes following the reading - might be both expressed (Ra-hoor-khuit) and protected (Hoor-pa-kraat) in equal measure.

The deities need not be abstract confusions on the card to be ignored; they are illustrations of powerful patterns and archetypes that remain present in our everyday lives.

It is likely that Crowley was influenced in the design of this card – and his whole model of Aeons – by the Golden Dawn original design for the Last Judgement card. [481] This modified the existing Marseille-type image by making a correspondence to the ancient Egyptian deities; Osiris, Isis, Horus and Typhon. The Order also depicted the Hebrew letter Shin upon the card, another element of esoteric design shown clearly by Crowley but partially-hidden by Waite in his earlier deck created with Pamela Colman Smith.

Crowley saw this card as the change of Aeons, the “destruction of the world by Fire” which he felt had occurred in his revelation of the Book of the Law . [482] In the intervening years between his writing of the Book of the Law in 1904 and his work on the Tarot during 1938 – 1943, there were two World Wars; the second between 1939 – 1945, commencing just after he started on the Tarot and not finishing until after its completion.

It was perhaps no wonder he felt vindicated in his 1904 prophecy in the Book of the Law where Ra Hoor Khut declares himself as “the warrior Lord of the Forties: the Eighties cower before me, & are abased”. [483] In the first ten lines of the third chapter, the word “war” appears three times and is ‘hidden’ in “rewar d”, “homewar d” and “bewar e” - all in the same ten lines. If we were to read this line as a prophecy and match it to significant events, not only did the Second World War take place in the Forties, but the ‘Cold War’ (where nations might be considered ‘abased’) took place between 1979 – 1985, i.e. the Eighties.

SYMBOLS

The Deities

We return, in this penultimate card of the Majors, to where we began in this present work, with the ancient Egyptian deities. We have already looked in the main section of this card and the introductory section at the specific deities of the Aeon. I would like to add a wider point of consideration when we think about this card as a reproduction of the Stele of Revealing.

We have seen how Crowley wove these deities throughout the deck as part-vindication and part-illustration of his role as a prophet of a New Aeon. It is fascinating to consider if he realised that by illustrating the principles of Thelema in a tarot deck, he would promulgate the Law of Thelema throughout the world – and it would have an ongoing legacy.

Crowley intended such for the Stele of Revealing and the Book of the Law , as instructed in the latter - but it has in fact happened with his tarot deck:

Get the stele of revealing itself; set it in thy secret temple -- and that temple is already aright disposed -- & it shall be your Kiblah for ever. It shall not fade, but miraculous colour shall come back to it day after day. Close it in locked glass for a proof to the world. [484]

We might imagine that every re-printing of the Thoth Tarot – and its glossing – provides a point at which attention is directed to Thelema, indeed repeated in every reading, “day after day”.

The Book of the Law was intended as a device of religious promulgation, for which we might argue the Thoth Tarot has become the vehicle:

… to each man and woman that thou meetest, were it but to dine or to drink at them, it is the Law to give [the Book of the Law ]. Then they shall chance to abide in this bliss or no; it is no odds. [485]

Every purchase of the Thoth Tarot, every gifting of it, meets this requirement – and it is now ourselves, or our clients when we use the Thoth Tarot, who will choose “to abide in this bliss or no”.

Let us consider how many clients are viewing the Thoth Tarot and the Aeon card; how many readers are discussing the symbolism as a means of offering guidance to decisions and actions; how many times the reproductions are seen in digital format by people who may know little or nothing of Crowley and the ancient Egyptian deities.

Could it be that Crowley is indeed vindicated in his prophecy and the instructions of the Book of the Law , but not perhaps in the way he might have expected? Even this is covered in the book itself:

thou, o prophet, shalt not behold all these mysteries hidden therein. [486]

Shin

The Hebrew letter Shin is here used in terms of its correspondence to Fire; specifically, the Fire that destroys an old way of thinking – an Aeon – and brings about a resurrection into a new life. The letter Shin is used on the Tefillin in Jewish practice, with three heads on one side top represent this world and four heads on the other side of the Tefillin to represent “the world to come”. The Shin shows all the potential to be born from the fire – in the card we see three embryonic figures in the heads of the Shin character.

In a reading I sometimes point to these three figures and suggest that ‘If you only have one option, you are a robot. If you have two options, that is better, but you still have a dilemma. It is only with three options that we begin to have freedom”. I then work with the client to ensure they have at least positive options which might arise from any significant change work indicated by the presence of this card.

Key Phrase: Final decision. [487]

Keywords: New way, decisive action, no going back, change of scene, new power dynamic.

In a Reading

The Aeon card indicates “final decision in respect of the past, new current in respect of the future; always represents the taking of a definite step”. [488]

We should take every act as an important step without precedent. Crowley writes:

Be every Act an Act of Love and Worship,

Be every Act the Fiat of a God.

Be every Act a Source of Radiant Glory. [489]

This card is about making every act count towards a unified target of our will. In each and every moment we are acting. We are making one decision, one movement after another. Crowley’s philosophy of Thelema asks us to consider where those acts are leading us, and whether they are congruent towards a singular aim. The appearance of this card in a reading is a challenge to ask of every decision, connection, action, ‘are you with me or against me?’

A further reading of the card calls for an entire overthrow of the old ways and the entry into a new life. In effect, every decision or action brings about a new state of being, no matter how trivial or momentous. We are always entering the New Aeon as much as we are constructing or receiving it.

XXI: The Universe

… the proper method of study of this card – indeed of all, but of this especially – is long-continued meditation. [490]

Correspondences: Tau (cross), Earth, Saturn.

Image : A naked female figure stands upon the head of a snake which coils about her and above her. She holds the curve of a hook in her hand which descends from an eye in the upper right corner of the scene. Stars are depicted in a swirl about her body and four elemental animals make up the corners of the design. A graph or chemical diagram is drawn at the base of the card.

At the bottom of the Tree of Life, connecting Yesod and Malkuth, we find the Universe [World]. In the symbolism of Kabbalah, when the Tree is depicted as a real tree, it is upside-down, with roots in heaven and the branches reaching to the bottom of the diagram in Malkuth. The Universe is seen as the manifestation of the divine and connected to it as an emanation – “as above, so below”. It is also the path or point of return, for “Malkuth is in Kether, and Kether is in Malkuth, but after another manner”.

This is a card of synthesis, the ultimate coming-together and ending of all things, ready to create a new beginning. When over a hundred tarot readers were surveyed in a particular manner to derive their “unconscious” meaning for each card, drawn from tens of thousands of readings, the meaning for the World/Universe card was “beginning”. Whilst we may read that the card means “ending”, it turns out that we actually talk more about the “new beginning” when the card appears in a reading.

As Crowley notes, the Hebrew letters which correspond to the Fool at the beginning “A” and th Universe at the ending, “Th” create the word ATh, ‘essence’. The entirety of the deck is the essence of everything between nothing and all, beginning and end. This is a truly cosmological Tarot deck. Crowley sees the card as the completion of the Great Work of initiation, whose beginning is illustrated by the Fool; “the Fool is the negative issuing into manifestation; the Universe is that manifestation, its purpose accomplished, ready to return”. [491]

This is an illustration of the fundamental cosmology of Kabbalah. The Universe did not start with a “big bang”, but rather something almost the opposite. In Kabbalah, it is seen that the eternal divine – having no definition, for it is everything forever, an “endless, limitless light” (Ain Soph Aur) – could only do one thing, which is to contract or withdraw from itself. We can imagine it as everything taking a deep breath in and pulling itself away from just a small sphere within itself, making a void – but it is not a “void”.

In that void, being the “not everything”, is “something”. A point, as it were, of “not nothing”, an “everything”. That point – Kether – can only do one thing, which is to replicate or split itself, making “two things”. The two-thingness can then create a third thing that is not the same as either – the very first act of actual creation, the “something new” from “two split things of one thing”.

Then, the “Threeness” can expand massively and it creates everything else – the actual “big bang” below the incomprehensible and indivisible “three things” above the Abyss.

Crowley summarises this concept of emanation in his equation “0=2”.  The ‘nothing’ is actually two things; ‘everything’ and ‘not everything that is actually something’. Perhaps these abstract concepts are why he advises long-continued meditation on the card.

SYMBOLS

The Dancing Figure

In Kabbalah, the divine name of YHVH is seen as representing the four worlds and other four-fold aspects of the divine in manifestation, such as the four elements. The figure of a maiden manipulating the “radiant spiral force” is that of the final “Heh” in the word YHVH. She is the ‘daughter’ of the family, the youngest and final manifestation of the creative act – and the potential mother of a new generation. In a reading she might symbolise the finality or conclusion of a situation – whether this is a welcome relief, or an unwanted disaster will depend on the question or concern, in addition to any other cards in the spread.

The Hook

Crowley does not write about the hook which is clearly painted on the card, and neither is it mentioned in any correspondence or detailed in any draft sketches.

It is almost certainly a hook rather than a scythe such as we see painted by Harris on Atu XIII. On a close examination of the card, we find there are two items descending from the Eye; the hook and a similar device with a solar circle and five flames attached to it. This latter item is hidden against the coils of the serpent.

I take the hook to illustrate Tzaddi, the Hebrew letter which we met in relationship to the Star card and the phrase “Tzaddi is not the Star”. As we have identified the Eye with the Sun, and Sun as our central Star, I wonder if this design is simply to illustrate that link.

It could be that as Crowley describes the dancer as manipulating “the active and the passive”, and she does indeed hold the central ray of light coming from the Eye against one hand, and the hook in the other, it represents the passive or darkness of Saturn, and could be a sickle to represent that planet.

I use this in a reading to indicate that all dualities; negative and positive, dark and light, good and bad, etc. have to be accepted in a situation and used to create some bigger picture. We have to not only handle (the literal meaning of ‘manipulate’) what is thrown at us in the world, but we have to learn to dance with it.

The Snake

The serpent is an illustration of Heru-Ra-Ha, who appears in Atu XIX. He is the Lord of the New Aeon and of Light, but also the ‘rose’ or the spirit. As such, he dances with the Universe, making a “Rose Cross” in their unification. This card is a secret illustration of the formula of the Rose Cross for a new aeon; rather than the soul being stripped of attachment through the suffering of the cross, Crowley illustrates it rather as a dance and an embrace; “The Sun, Strength and Sight, Light; these are for the servants of the Star and Snake”. [492]

It suggests we do not seek to separate ourselves from an issue, but to embrace it; to incorporate and utilise it. The solution is in the problem.

The Eye

The symbol of the Eye picks up from the symbolism of the Snake in representing “sight” in the rewards given to the “servants of the Star and Snake”, the Star here being our own central star, the Sun. The manifest world is only manifest in our awareness – our sight – through the dance of experience, the embrace of spirit and matter. The eye pours light into the union of spirit and matter, causing the spiral force of creation in which that figure dances.

The Four Kerubs

We have seen how the Universe is conceived through a “fourness” and Crowley references this in his own description of the card. He sees the four Kerubs as the establishment of the Universe and the ellipse about the central figure as having seventy-two sections (although he calls them circles, which are not evident on the card) representing the Shemhamphorasch. This is a ‘hidden name’ of the divine revealed through Kabbalistic analysis of biblical verse and found its way into several magical grimoires. The whole signifies again the relationship between matter and spirit.

The Diagram

The incorporation of a scientific diagram into the Universe card at first appears an unusual choice given the general magical and abstract tone of the deck. However, it perfectly represents the descent of the Major Arcana into Matter in this very last card. In effect, the final illustration of the narrative of the whole deck, is a symbol representing the elements of matter in its most scientific manner. The symbol is drawn from the appendix of J W. N. Sullivan’s The Bases of Modern Science , published in 1928. Crowley references the title in the text and also references Sullivan in the letter he penned in his defence under the ‘Secret Order of the Hidden Masters’. He is mentioned by Harris in her letters, who finds she likes his work better than “that American bum”, who is unnamed. [493]

Sullivan’s book is an interesting guide to science written at the time to make science more accessible. It also contains several philosophical sections on the place of science in human progress, likely to have impressed Crowley, whose motto for the Equinox publication was “the aim of religion, the method of science”.

Sullivan concludes his book with this final paragraph:

To conclude, we may say that science tells us much less about the universe than we used to suppose. It is limited, not only because, as an historical fact, mathematical laws have been formulated for only a limited class of phenomena, but because science, by its very nature, can tell us nothing about phenomena but their structure. Also, those elements of our experience that are ignored by science are not thereby shown to have no bearing upon the nature of reality. Our aesthetic and religious experiences need not lose the significance they appear to have merely because they are not taken into account in the scientific scheme. It is even possible that they will not always remain excluded from the scientific scheme. [494]

Key Phrase: The end of the matter. [495]

Keywords: Synthesis, completion, end, set structure and format, fixed, final arrangement.

In a Reading

In readings this card symbolises completion and a new beginning following that completion. It is perhaps also a time for a well-deserved rest, such as Keats described for Saturn - who corresponds to the card - in Hyperion ;

Deep in the shady sadness of a vale,

Far sunken from the healthy breath of morn,

Far from the fiery noon, and eve's one star,

Sat gray-hair'd Saturn, quiet as a stone,

Still as the silence round about his lair.

The card recommends synthesis, the bringing together of a team, combining projects, simplifying life, down-sizing, putting ideas together rather than going it alone. As such, it holds the opposite significance to the Hermit, who has withdrawn from the World.

If you practice the methods of Tarosophy , you can shuffle your Thoth deck, asking “Should I go alone or work with others?” if this a question for which you require advice. Turn the deck up and locate the Hermit and the Universe cards, reading the two cards either side of those two cards. This will indicate the likely forces which will be drawn if you go it alone or work with others. If the two cards of the Hermit and Universe are located next to each other, this likely indicates that you will not actually have choice in the matter and it will not make much difference. [496]

Patterns in the Thoth Tarot

In addition to the alchemical, astrological, numerological, and Kabbalistic patterns that inform the structure, design and illustration of the Thoth Tarot, there are several other patterns on which the deck is constructed. It is not necessary as a reader to know or refer to every layer of correspondence, however, an awareness of them can lead to more flexible and powerful interpretations.

In this present title, we will take one such pattern for consideration and return to further patterns in the next two titles of the trilogy on the Minors and Court cards.

Creation Cards

In concluding the description of Atu II (Priestess), Crowley notes that we must specially observe a pattern in the sequence of Hebrew letters and cards. This is a little confusing in his text, particularly as it includes the swap of the letter He being the Star card. It is left to the reader to fit three attributes to corresponding cards out of the fourteen which are not given detail. They also do not quite fit the scheme given in the “Vital Triads” page which concludes the entire Book of Thoth . [497]

The detail he provides can be summarised as:

Fool/Magus = Hermaphrodite [Holy Ghost and Messenger in the Vital Triads]

Priestess, Empress, Star = Feminine/Triune Goddess [in the Vital Triads these are Virgin, Wife and Mother]

Emperor, Hierophant, Hermit = Masculine/Fathers [in the Vital Triads these are Ruler, Son (Priest) and the Secret Seed].

Then of the remaining fourteen cards he writes “represent these Primordial Quintessences of Being in conjunction, function or manifestation”. [498] Using the “vital triads” as a rough guideline, let us see if we can attribute these qualities to the remaining cards:

Conjunction Cards

Lovers, Adjustment, Lust, Devil

Function Cards

Hanged Man, Death, Moon, Sun

Manifestation Cards

Chariot, Fortune, Art, Tower

The Whole System

Aeon, Universe

This personal arrangement results in four cards assigned to each of the three characteristics and the Aeon (time) and Universe (space) cards being “the system” of all three; conjunction, function and manifestation. The reader is encouraged – should they wish – to consider whether this arrangement works for themselves or an alternative can be constructed.

It is useful in a reading, particularly utilising Majors only or where most cards drawn are Majors, to have a headline as to the proportion of conjunction, function or manifestation cards:

Mainly Conjunction : It is important to hold things together and not extend yourself or add more to the mix. There is enough going on, so find equilibrium whilst things come together.

Mainly Function : Keep a steady pace and look to the function cards to know how the machinery of the universe is currently processing things. Go along with those cards to avoid getting mauled in the machine.

Mainly Manifestation : Do what thou wilt to ensure things get done. Judge yourself by the situation and actual activity, not thinking or feeling about it. Get on with it. Nail things down.

We can also determine the overall nature of the reading from the proportion of masculine or feminine (or combined with the Fool and Magus) energy Majors, alongside these three sets. A reading, for example, with lots of masculine energy and function Major cards will be very different to one with a hermaphrodite card and conjunction cards.

Whilst all correspondences systems, sets, patterns, links and arrangements of tarot cards have an intrinsic value in training the mind to perceive the world as a unity in division, they also serve as a divinatory template through which to engage the divine in real time.

We will consider further patterns in the remaining pair of books of this present series, and now bring ourselves to a conclusion by looking at the first thing Crowley mentions in the Book of Thoth – where he states clearly in which works we should look to find more about his Tarot.

THE BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

In the bibliographical note which is on the first page of the Book of Thoth following the contents, etc., we find a list of sources and further works which Crowley has “modelled on, or adorned by references to, the Tarot”. [499]

It is almost certain that Crowley wrote this section, which triumphs his own experience and work, despite it being attributed to “S. H. Soror I.W.E.” This is the magical name [Ich Will Es, ‘I Want It’] of Martha Küntzel, who became a student of Crowley with her partner, Otto Gebhardi, in Berlin during the mid to late 1920’s. She died in 1942, aged 85, and Crowley had parted ways with her over political differences by 1935, before starting work on the Thoth Tarot in 1938.

We can briefly look at these titles as the most explicit examples of Crowley using Tarot as a magical model or creative inspiration, and whilst there are many more, these are good primers for further studies in the Thoth Tarot – and esoteric Tarot in general.

AMBROSII MAGI HORTUS ROSARUM

The first title listed by Crowley was written by himself, “translated into English by Christeos Lucifitias” (himself, under his Adeptus Minor motto) in 1902 and published within the collection, The Sword of Song , in 1904. It is AMBROSII MAGI HORTUS ROSARUM, ‘the Magical Nectar of the Rose Garden’. As described by J. F. Fuller, it depicts “that mysteriously symbolic progress through the Tarot, the ten numbers and the twenty-two letters”. [500]

This essay predates his writing in the Book of the Law and the tarot notes in his Invocation of Hoor notebook in 1904. [501] It is a precursor to the ‘Wake World’ and is presented as a satire of the alchemical narrative, the Chymical Marriage of Christian Rosencruetz .

It commences the story by laying out the Tree of Life as a metaphor of a journey:

And the Spirit of the Path met him. It was a young girl of two and twenty years, and she warned him that without the Serpent his ways were but as wool cast into the dyer’s vat. Two-and-twenty scales had the Serpent, and every scale was a path, and every path was alike an enemy and a friend. [502]

I particularly like the concept of each path (card) being “alike an enemy and a friend”. The story progresses with the narrator passing through each of the challenges of the cards on the Tree of Life, with embedded Kabbalistic references. When, for example, the Devil card is met, it is described as follows:

And ill it was, for a temple was set up in his way, and there he saw the grisly Goat enthroned. But he knew better than to judge a goat from a goat’s head and hoofs. And the first week he sacrificed to that goat a crown every day. The second a phallus. The third a silver vase of blood. The fourth a royal sceptre. The fifth a sword. The sixth a heart. The seventh a garland of flowers. The eighth a grass-snake. The ninth a sickle. And the tenth week did he daily offer up his own body. [503]

These ten sacrifices refer to the Sephiroth of the Tree of Life in sequence from Kether (the crown) to Malkuth (the Kingdom) and the specific necessities of non-attachment required to progress through each grade up the Tree. [504]

The story of the protagonist, “Father Ambrose”, continues through the Sephiroth, the Planets, the Houses of the Moon, etc. concluding with a death and rebirth narrative which merges Rosicrucian, Masonic, Christian and Alchemical mysteries through the structure of the Tarot.

The Wake World

The second title mentioned by Crowley is also self-praised in his Confessions in glowing terms. He refers to this short text, ‘Wake World’, included in the slim volume Konx Om Pax , as “a sublime description of the Path of the Wise, rendered picturesque by the use of the symbols of the Tarot”. [505]

‘Wake World’, written in 1907, is one of my favourite pieces of writing by Crowley, as it lightly weaves Tarot, Kabbalah and fairy-tale lore with playful humour and profound depth. I recommend it as an essential reading for the Western Esoteric Initiatory System.

It commences with an introduction to Lola, the narrator of the story:

My name is Lola, because I am the Key of Delights, and the other children in my dream call me Lola Daydream. When I am awake, you see, I know that I am dreaming, so that they must be very silly children, don't you think? There are people in the dream, too, who are quite grown up and horrid; but the really important thing is the wake-up person.

The wake-up person, the Fairy Prince, then takes her on a trip through the paths and Sephiroth of the Tree of Life, illustrated by the Tarot. At each stage she is warned not to stop her progress, no matter the temptation. Here we read the path out of Malkuth, corresponding to the Universe card:

Then he said: “Come on! This is only the servants' hall, nearly everybody stays here all their lives.” And I said: “Kiss me!” So he said: “Every step you take is only possible when you say that.” We came to a dreadful dark passage again, so narrow and low, that it was like a dirty old tunnel, and yet so vast and wide that everything in the whole world was contained in it. We saw all the strange dreams and awful shapes of fear, and really I don't know how we ever got through, except that the Prince called for some splendid strong creatures to guard us. There was an eagle that flew, and beat his wings, and tore and bit at everything that came near; and there was a lion that roared terribly, and his breath was a flame, and burnt up the things, so that there was a great cloud; and rain fell gently and purely, so that he really did the things good by fighting them. And there was a bull that tossed them on his horns, so that they changed into butterflies; and there was a man that kept telling everybody to be quiet and not make a noise.

At last, Lola arrives at Kether, and learns to live in the highest realms. However, even at the top of the Tree of Life there is a trap, for the Ain Soph Aur beyond is the truest reality:

I began to see now how very unreal even the Wake-world is, because there is just a little dream in it, and the right world is the Wide-Wide-Wide-Wake-World. My lover calls me little Lola Wide-awake, not Lola Daydream any more. But it is always Lola, because I am the Key of Delights. I never told you about the first two houses, and really you wouldn't understand. But the Second House is gray, because the light and dark flash by so quick it's all blended into one; and in it lives my lover, and that's all I care about.

The First House is so brilliant that you can't think; and there, too, is my lover and I when we are one. You wouldn't understand that either. And the last thing I shall say is that one begins to see that there isn't really quite a Wide-Wide-Wide-Wake-World till the Serpent outside has finished eating up his tail, and I don't really and truly understand that myself. But it doesn't matter; what you must all do first is to find the Fairy Prince to come and ride away with you, so don't bother about the Serpent yet. That's all.

In ‘Wake World’ we see Crowley already applying the Tarot to the initiatory and Kabbalistic structure, and using the images of European tarot decks, rather than the Golden Dawn; he describes the Fool as “being bitten by crocodiles and dogs” rather than the Golden Dawn variant of a young child with a leashed wolf. It would be over thirty years later that this narrative would find its full expression in his own tarot deck.

LIBER XXX AERUM vel Saeculi sub figvra CCCCXVIII

The Vision and the Voice , published in 1911, is Crowley’s account of the working of the thirty Enochian Aethyrs and has been introduced in this present work. He lists it at the start of the Book of Thoth and it can be recognised as the ‘original’ design of his own personal tarot as has been discussed throughout the Major Arcana.

The Book of Lies

The description Crowley gives of his 1913 Book of Lies might equally apply to the Book of Thoth and many of his other works; “At first sight the book is a jumble of nonsense intended to insult the reader. It requires infinite study, sympathy, intuition and initiation”. [506] However, it is the work in which he published information alluding to his knowledge of sexual magick and contains many witticisms, puzzles and mystical commentary.

The ninety-three sections are dense with Kabbalah and scattered with sexual puns, making very strange bed-fellows, but there is not much in the way of tarot to be found in the text. It does give the reader a sense of Crowley’s playful and wildly associative thinking and makes the Book of Thoth look an easier read in comparison.

Magick in Theory and Practice (Book 4, Part III)

First published in 1929, Liber ABA (Book 4) or more simply Magick , is Crowley’s masterpiece and contains four sections dealing with mysticism, elementary magick, magick in theory and practice, and Thelema. He lists Part III specifically in the Book of Thoth as it is structured in correspondence to the Tarot – each chapter corresponds to a Major Arcana in sequence.

Book 4, Part III commences with a “Chapter 0” summarising a magical theory of the Universe, which corresponds to the Fool. [507] It concludes with “Chapter 21” dealing with “Black Magic” and the “Powers of the Sphinx”. [508] As ever with Crowley, the terminology is specific and should not be confused with a general sense or understanding – by ‘black magic’ Crowley means any act not undertaken towards or through the knowledge and conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel. [509]

Each chapter is clearly associated with a Major Arcana; chapter nine (the Hermit) is “Of Silence and Secrecy”, and chapter eighteen (the Moon) is “Of Clairvoyance”, etc. [510] In this, Crowley is drawing from the work of Eliphas Lévi, who also structured the chapters of his Transcendental Magic: Doctrine and Ritual (1896) upon the 22 letters, numerology and tarot.

LIBER CCXXXI

One further publication on the tarot is omitted by Crowley in this introductory piece, which is Liber CCXXXI . This is an enigmatic and short piece of work which nonetheless is a “Class A” publication graded by Crowley, the most ‘inspired’ type of writing which “may be changed not so much as the style of a letter”.

This work is a short illustration and list of the 44 “genii” or spirits of both the Serpent and the Qlippoth (shells) assigned to the Hebrew letters and paths of the Tree of Life. It also includes a piece of text likely added later, “a technical treatise of the Tarot”, wherein “the sequence of the 22 Trumps is explained as a formula of initiation”. The book is entitled Liber Arcanorum (‘book of secrets’) and was originally written in 1907 and 1911. It is thus dated after the writing on Tarot in Crowley’s 1904 notebook and some thirty years before he started the Thoth tarot. The textual piece draws heavily on the earlier AMBROSII MAGI HORTUS ROSARUM.

Further to his original writings on the tarot, based on the Golden Dawn, and then his 1904 notes, where he was working up his own pre-Book of the Law cosmology in the Tarot, followed by the initiatory descriptions in 1907, we now see, by 1911, a re-rendering of AMBROSII MAGI HORTUS ROSARUM with a fully-developed Thelemic system.

It commences with this description of the first four letters:

1. The lightnings increased and the Lord Tahuti stood forth. The Voice came from the Silence. Then the One ran and returned.

2. Now hath Nuit veiled herself, that she may open the gate of her sister.

3. The Virgin of God is enthroned upon an oyster-shell; she is like a pearl, and seeketh Seventy to her Four. In her heart is Hadit the invisible glory.

4. Now riseth Ra-Hoor-Khuit, and dominion is established in the Star of the Flame.

Interestingly, the switch between Strength and Justice is not made by Crowley at this time, as Strength appears in position 8, as per the Golden Dawn:

8. Also came forth mother Earth with her lion, even Sekhet, the lady of Asi.

…

11. Also the lady Maat with her feather and her sword abode to judge the righteous. For Fate was already established.

It is intended to return to this piece in the second volume of the present series, with practical tarot work to unlock its mysteries.

There are several other sections of Crowley’s writings and poetry that are structured on the tarot which can be found by the reader and are impossible to fully list; if there are twenty-two lines in a verse, ten items or concepts listed, or twelve (zodiacal) or seven (planets), etc. then it is probable that they will correspond to the tarot and Kabbalah.

We will now present three methods of card readings, using the Major Arcana only and the whole deck and conclude this present volume on the Major Arcana of the Thoth Tarot.

Thoth Tarot Spreads

In our following two books, we will explore several methods of reading the Thoth Tarot, on the assumption that the present reader will have existing spreads that they already use for divination. However, we will give three practice methods that work very well with the Thoth deck, whether using only the Major Arcana or the whole deck.

We will first present a simple three-card reading with Major Arcana only, then a popular 15-card spread with the whole deck, and finally a unique Tarosophy method also using the whole deck. The latter can also be performed with the Major Arcana only – whereas the 15-card method may be quite challenging with only the Majors.

I have repeated sections of text from this present volume within the readings to demonstrate how they can be applied to our interpretation.

Thoth 3-Card Spread (Majors Only)

In this simple method, we shuffle the twenty-two Major Arcana and read three cards as a set, concentrating on the central card. The outer two cards are considered as a pair, either supporting or disrupting the central card. This is also a good practice method for the following 15-card method which uses five sets of three cards.

As an example, we might be asked “How do I ensure the most financially rewarding approach to life in the coming six months?”

We shuffle the twenty-two Major Arcana and draw: The Moon + The Tower + Death.

This is visually a rather stark reading, brutal and apparently destructive. The red flames of the Tower are cooled either side by the ethereally pale Moon and starkly coloured Death.

We read the central card first, and as a beginner we might simply refer to the keywords and “In a Reading” section for the card. For the Tower we get the phrase “Fear nothing …” and the keyword that strikes us immediately is that of “destruction”. There needs to be a radical change brought about, a total overthrow of the existing situation in favour of something utterly new. It implies that the present situation cannot lead to financial reward - as was the original question. The Thoth Tarot does not mess about.

We then look at the two outside cards, repeating the process and pairing them together.

The Moon indicates the “brink of an important change” but also the fear of change. Along with Death, which suggests that we “die daily” to transformation, there is a big lesson. The client is caught between ‘wasting’ their past efforts against surrendering to an inevitable transformation. As we are habitually loss-averse, leading to many intractable situations, this reading suggests that the sooner the clients embraces the change, the better – at least, financially.

We might draw a fourth card to suggest the strategy which might minimise the shock of transformation for the client – usually, we need to assist the client deal with the truth of a Thoth reading. In this example, we draw the Devil. This suggests that the client stick to practical concerns and pleasurable pursuits, even if they consider it selfish. Perhaps this is their financial block, that they do not value themselves enough to direct income to their own needs.

Thoth 15-Card Tarot Spread

A common spread given for the whole deck is the 15-card method which is usually found in the Little White Book (LWB) pamphlet accompanying the boxed deck. This was designed by James Wasserman, who wrote the text for the booklet:

I got Robert Wang’s permission to adapt a 15-card layout he had given in his book, An Introduction to the Golden Dawn Tarot , which he had naturally adapted from someone else. I modified it slightly based on my experience. [511]

The present author contacted Robert Wang and was informed that the spread was suggested in turn, to him, by Israel Regardie, who had modified it from a small cartomantic pamphlet. [512] It is thus a cut-down version of the ‘Opening of the Key’ method modified by a member of the Golden Dawn based on playing-card spread methods – as was the so-called Celtic Cross.

A 15-Card Reading

This is an extract from an actual client reading, anonymised and used with permission, which may assist your own use of the method. In this reading, the cards were, on first glance, extremely negative. I have selected this reading to demonstrate how we might utilise the brutal nature of the Thoth deck in everyday divination.

For this Thoth Reading, I have used the 15-card layout as presented in the booklet that came with the 1978 version of the Thoth Tarot published by US Games Systems. We have seen that this was not created by Crowley, who did not use ‘spreads’ in his few tarot readings (nor, of course, did he use the Thoth Deck which was not published until after his death), but rather lines of a few cards, similar to the Opening of the Key method utilised within the Order of the Golden Dawn.

This present layout also uses an element of the Opening of the Key , in that the cards are compared by their correspondence to elemental, zodiacal and planetary systems, and found “dignified” or “ill-dignified”. This weakens or strengthens their influence on each other whilst also dictating if they have a positive, neutral or detrimental impact on the surrounding cards.

I have also considered the whole reading in a Thelemic manner, setting it in a context of developing Will to Action, focus and the clients individual right as a unique star amongst all other stars.

1: This represents your central issue at this time and to be considered throughout the reading.

2: The nature of the situation is indicated by the card to the left of the central card.

3: Your own personal response to the issue can be seen to the right of the central position.

5 + 9 + 13 & 4 + 8 + 12: This layout provides two blocks of three cards in the upper left (5, 9, 13) and upper right (4, 8, 12) of the layout, indicating potential futures arising from the central situation.

If they contrast, the three-card block on the upper right shows the unattended progression of the situation, and the block on the upper left shows a potential future if action is taken.

Where they complement each other, the three cards to the left are recognised as a development – an extension – to the situation as it arises in the block on the right.

14+ 10 + 6: The block of three cards in the lower left illustrates mechanisms by which you may best respond to a situation. They indicate your development of your Will. They might be considered as advice or provocation – even a warning.

7 + 11 + 15: The three cards to the lower right are those influences arising in your relationship to the universe which are seen as external to your control. They are those to which you can adapt; incorporate and utilise. They cannot be ignored and are calls for your attention, time and resource.

Here follows the sample reading.

CENTRE

In the centre of the spread is the STAR. This represents your central issue at this time and to be considered throughout the reading.

The Star is a central symbol to the philosophy of Thelema, as illustrating the nature of the individual and the Will in manifestation. Our will is “poured into” manifestation and crystallises into action and reality. It is in constant transformation, as the butterflies show in the card; there is a constant movement to Will, as it directs itself in time, which Plato defined as “the moving likeness of eternity”.

Your individuality and will, your position and relationship, are presently central to your consideration. You are at a particular point where your direction must be entirely clear and direct – “do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law”, with consideration to love – the unification of your soul to the divine.

The “nature of the situation” is indicated by the card to the left of the central card, the AEON.

This card is about decision; it is about transformation from one life to another. It picks up on the STAR card and indicates that you are facing a crucial point of choice about further enabling your life. It may require the fire which is a correspondence of this card.

Your own personal response to the issue can be seen to the right of the central position, being here the QUEEN OF DISKS.

Crowley gives a very direct and succinct description of this card, as may befit its nature. He also gives general advice should the card appear which is “to go forward quietly without any attack upon existing situations”. [513] He states that people signified by the card “possess the finest of the quieter qualities”. [514] They are ambitious, “but only in useful directions”. [515] The whole nature of the card is quiet, practical, sensible, and hard-working. Whilst on the negative side, there may be a tendency to dullness and a mechanistic view of the world; a laziness in being comfortable in one’s place.

The resources or approaches to be adopted when this card appears are to draw upon one’s affectionate side, kindness and generosity. We can afford to give of ourselves in order to raise ourselves to a better station.

We see that perhaps you have given too much to your situation and feel stuck in a particular service that you seek to go beyond at this time.

FUTURE LINES

In your reading, the upper blocks are very different to each other, and thus the one on the upper right is the unattended outcome – and given the initial reading of the central block, I feel this is negative.

You have the UNIVERSE , surrounded by the HIEROPHANT and LUST [Strength].

In readings the Universe card symbolises completion and a new beginning following that completion. It is perhaps also a time for a well-deserved rest, such as Keats described for Saturn - who corresponds to the card - in Hyperion ;

Deep in the shady sadness of a vale,

Far sunken from the healthy breath of morn,

Far from the fiery noon, and eve's one star,

Sat gray-hair'd Saturn, quiet as a stone,

Still as the silence round about his lair.

The card recommends synthesis, the bringing together of a team, combining projects, simplifying life, down-sizing, putting ideas together rather than going it alone. As such, it holds the opposite significance to the Hermit, who has withdrawn from the World.

You do not need to rest – quite the opposite – the Universe awaits you. You might like to perform the reading about working with others or alone, as I felt this was the relevant extract of book text to present to you.

Similarly, with the Hierophant. I am drawn to the symbol of the Wand and the overall reading of the card:

The Wand

The tradition Christian triple-cross crozier has been replaced here by a “peculiar” Wand, bearing three interlocked circles. [516] These represent the Aeons of Isis, Osiris and Horus. Whilst it may not be too obvious in the printed card, they are meant to be marked with three different colours; scarlet for Horus, green for Isis and pale yellow for Osiris. These are three aspects of dark indigo, corresponding to Saturn, who rules time – and hence, the passage of the Aeons.

If this symbol is prominent in a reading, we might suggest that there are family issues that are bound together – either in the present, or from the past of the client or ourselves. The ‘formula’ of each Aeon is interlocked, according to Crowley.

The Aeons each have their “formula”, or magical word, and that of the Aeon of Horus is ‘Abrahadabra’, which to Crowley encoded the uniting of the microcosm and macrocosm, and the Great Work completed. It is in this card we see the Adept as Hierophant, crossing the Abyss between Chesed and to Chockmah.

In a Reading

We can see this card in two ways; the mundane and the spiritual. In a mundane sense, it carries more of the correspondence to Taurus. It can be read as hard work, support from others, and patience in a bullish and predictable manner. However, in a spiritual way, we can read this card as a liberation of the self from belief and expectation – a rebellion against the status quo . It has two faces; revolution or religion, depending on the nature of the question, the position of the card in a spread and its relationship to other cards in a reading.

It is time to liberate yourself from some long-established beliefs - about yourself.

Finally, in this block, we find the re-labelled, re-numbered and re-designed version of Strength; LUST.

In this most provocative of images, Crowley replaced the traditional image of a woman holding a lion with a drunken Babalon astride the Great Beast of Revelations. The card is now termed “Lust” to indicate the “joy of strength exercised”. [517] This is based on the location of the card on the Tree of Life, as it corresponds to the path between Chesed, ‘loving kindness’ or ‘mercy’, and Geburah, ‘severity’. Thus, it illustrates the relationship between those two aspects of existence, whether it be at a mundane or mythic level.

Crowley states that this card is the “most powerful of the twelve Zodiacal cards” and “represents the most critical of all the operations of magick and of alchemy”. [518] It can be compared with Atu VI and Atu XIV in terms of the symbolism of sexual magick. Here, the woman is ‘astride’ the Beast; she is “more than a little drunk, and more than a little mad”, whilst the Beast is aflame with lust”. [519]

The card further backs up that should you not attend to the present situation, you will continue to feel that you are repressing powerful aspects of yourself in relation to the world.

The Upper Left Block shows the results should you take the action and advice given in the other areas of this reading.

You have THE TOWER, surrounded by THE HERMIT and WORRY (5 of Disks). Initially, this does not look positive at all, but perhaps that is the point – the results of action may look worrying and destructive, holding you back from achieving a longer-term goal at the expense of a short-term shock.

As Crowley writes about the FIVES in general:

This must not be regarded as something 'evil'. The natural feeling about it is really a little more than the reluctance of people to get up from lunch and go back to the job. In the Buddhist doctrine of Sorrow this idea is implicit, that inertia and in-sensitiveness must characterize peace. The climate of India is perhaps partly responsible for this notion. The Adepts of the White School, of which Tarot is the sacred book, cannot agree to such a simplification of existence. Every phenomena is a sacrament. For all that, a disturbance is a disturbance. [520]  

The 5 of Disks shows this disturbance may be necessary even if it can be avoided and held away indefinitely:

This card shows the long-term stability of a situation which is always on the edge of disruption. It is the edge of a catastrophe cusp; the moment before initiation. Crowley points out that the disruption of this card is illustrated well by the inherent difference between Mercury and Taurus; the decan of the card. It is an earthquake in slow-motion; a slow seismic shift of attachment.

In a straight-forward way, it requires that intelligence (Mercury) is applied to labour (Taurus). It suggests a re-think of one’s effort and time, and subsequent – even if worrying – changes.

The Tower and the Hermit illustrate that the change required in your life is equally seismic:

THE TOWER

The Dove and Serpent

In the paired symbols of the dove and the serpent at the top of the card, either side of the Eye, we see further reference to the Book of the Law in the design of the Tower. In Chapter I, the goddess Nuith speaks:

Nor let the fools mistake love; for there are love and love. There is the dove, and there is the serpent. Choose ye well! He, my prophet, hath chosen, knowing the law of the fortress, and the great mystery of the House of God. [521]

The original title for this card was “The House of God Struck by Lightning”, of which Crowley was aware in 1904 when he wrote the Book of the Law .

Crowley sees love as “love under will”, neither a pagan licentiousness, represented by the serpent (also Kundalini) nor a Christian fear-based love. He comments that Love and Will have been as gladiators in a philosophical war, only to be harmonised by the Law of Thelema. [522]

These two forms of desire – a pagan and a Christian mentality - are depicted as the lion-serpent Abraxas and the dove carrying an olive-branch. Crowley also refers to them as the “Will to Live and the Will to Die”. [523] He expresses a belief that the renunciation of love was “constantly announced” as a requirement for initiation, but this was now an outdated and rigid view. As he puts it, “This Trump is not the only card in the Pack”. [524]

In summary, he refers us to Atu XIII, Death, where we should learn that “life and death are understood as phases of a single manifestation of energy”. [525]

It may be that in a reading we refer to the dove and serpent as two apparently opposite pulls, which are bringing down the tower of belief. A client may be wrestling with their own desire and fear which, without changing their long-held belief about themselves, will come to ruin.

We can see this in the position of the card on the Tree of Life. It bridges Hod and Netzach, sometimes seen as the mind and the emotions. I like these to Mr. Spock – the pure logician - and Jim McCoy – the emotional healer -on Star Trek, with Captain Kirk as Tiphareth, the captain. There is often a conflict between these two characters, and their equivalent states within ourselves.

…

In an everyday reading, we can simply refer to the card as a destructive energy; one which clears away the old and makes way for the new. However, it is ruthless and potentially vengeful. It is an energy which seeks a martial solution to an existing state. It does not take prisoners.

THE HERMIT

Crowley starts his verse for the Hermit, “Wander alone…” which accords with most readings of the card as solitary pursuits, going it alone, being lonely, or as Crowley also says, “retirement from participation in current events”. [526]

…

The card also indicates silence, keeping one’s mouth shut, not getting involved and remaining separate from business or relationship. This might allow “illumination from within”, so is also a card that suggests the answer cannot be found outside or through others, it must be given space and time to dawn within oneself.

Crowley does note that it can indicate the potential for “practical plans” derived from such introspection, so it is important to note that the card corresponds to the very fertile Virgo, and can be encouraging to new plans that move us from one state to another, likely from the underworld to the brighter dawn – whose seed of light we already carry, if we can recognise it.

So, there is clearly a need to make a major change but perhaps ensure that you allow time to yourself to connect to yourself before enacting a radical solution.

PSYCHOLOGICAL BASIS

The block of three cards in the lower left illustrates mechanisms by which you may best respond to a situation. They indicate your development of your Will. They might be considered as advice or provocation – even a warning.

In the centre of this block we have PRUDENCE, surrounded by two Court Cards; the Queen of Wands and Knight of Disks. It is in prudence that you will find progress towards developing your Will.

Here’s what Crowley says, of Prudence, the 8 of Disks; “there is a sort of strength in doing nothing at all” (BOT, p. 184). I’m not sure that Crowley himself understood that dictum, but it is certainly the one he puts for this card. He goes further to describe the atmosphere of the card:

One thinks of Queen Victoria’s time, of a man who is ‘something in the city’ rolling up to town with Albert the Good advertised by his watch-chain and frock-coat; on the surface he is very affable, but he is nobody’s fool.

He says this card is “intelligence lovingly applied to material matters” (8 = Hod, the Sephirah of intellect, in Assiah, the Material world). So, it has the sense of investment as well as engineering.

To either side of Prudence, we have the personality traits that you can develop to enhance your own Will, embodied as two Court Cards; the Queen of Wands and Knight of Disks.

The characteristics of the Queen of Wands are “adaptability, persistent energy” and “calm authority”. [527] She can be changeable and volatile, being the watery part of Fire, but when driven by creativity she has great capacity. Her presence in a reading indicates the need to reflect upon one’s impulses and develop a steady flow of action. Do not be quick to take offence or harbour revenge without due cause.

The Knight of Disks brings patience but many warnings; avoid unrealistic ambition, idle dreams, wasting time, a meddling about with small affairs. The lowly nature of this card gives a smouldering fire to productivity but can also be spoilt easily by simmering jealousy and resentment of one’s lot in life.

We see here that you must hold back but remain creative – slowly improve your situation by stages rather than resent a sudden or simple solution.

LORDS OF KARMA

The three cards to the lower right are those influences arising in your relationship to the universe which are seen as external to your control. They are those to which you can adapt; incorporate and utilise. They cannot be ignored and are calls for your attention, time and resource.

You have SATIETY (10 of Cups), the Ace of Wands and ABUNDANCE (3 of Cups).

The Cups to either side are strengthened together but dull the energy of the Ace of Wands. This is the card signifying WILL, so shows the external factors watering down your fire – being ‘full of fullness’, satiated with abundance.

THE ACE OF WANDS

Crowley repeats his teaching on the Aces when he writes about the Ace of Wands, saying “the great point is that all the Elemental Forces, however sublime, powerful, or intelligent, are Blind Forces and no more”.

The Ace of Wands is the essence of the element of Fire, is the “primordial energy of the Divine manifesting in Matter”, “at so early a stage that it is not yet definitely formulated as Will”.

This card signifies the root of your Will, the potential for your growth, but nothing more. It is up to you to grasp it.

Your potential power is being drowned at the moment – perhaps a better word is quenched – by a sense of fullness or completion – and something is still holding you back.

SATIETY: TEN OF CUPS

In the Golden Dawn, this card was called “The Lord of Perfected Happiness”, however Crowley goes for the fullness and finality of Water on its journey down the Tree of Life.

Harris picks up on this with her depiction of the card in the style of an Assyrian Tree of Life. The cups runneth over, all is full and beyond full.  The word “satiety” comes from the Latin, ‘satis’, meaning “enough”. This card screams “Enough is Enough!”

The card has hidden depths. Harris complained when Crowley kept telling her such things as "Push the Cups deeper! Twist the whole card round" She responded, “Oh! But these things are all on one plane and, unless I start appliqué or sculpture, it can't be begun.”

In fact, on 19th December, 1939, when Crowley had seen photographs of the cards, he responded:

Ten of Cups. This is admirable, but I can't tell much about the background; it ought to look menacing. There is something very sinister about this card. It suggests the morbid hunger which springs from surfeit. The craving of a drug addict is the idea. At the same time, of course, it is this final agony of descent into illusion which renders necessary the completion of the circle by awakening the Eld of the All-Father.

It is certainly a somewhat disturbed card, it shows that happiness is always precarious, and when gained is often destroyed in the gaining. This is a good example of how the Decans assist us picture these perspectives on life – in this case, we have MARS in PISCES. Have a look at the top and bottom cups for these symbols.

The fiery and destructive Mars is quite the opposite of the peaceful and reflective Pisces. Together they form a spectrum of chase and acquire, gorge and empty. It is this cycle that the 10 of Cups is at one end; there is happiness, but it is now at the completion of its enjoyment. What next?

ABUNDANCE: THREE OF CUPS

“This card requires subtlety of interpretation”. [528]

Whilst commenting on the relative bounty of this card, Crowley also points out the dark side of abundance; “the lesson seems to be that the good things of life, although enjoyed, should be distrusted”. [529] On the surface the card illustrates the fulfilment of Will, received in Love, however there is potential to be lost in the underworld when pursuing that which has already been consumed. The card may be the “spiritual basis of fertility” yet it is also symbolised by the Pomegranate, beholding us to the lower world.

SUMMARY

The Thoth Tarot contains a philosophy of Will and Action, of self-development and responsibility. It is therefore challenging and constant encouraging us to do more – and better. Crowley was very much aware of human nature and inclusive of both its light and darkness. The illustrations and text of the deck reflect this awareness and produce often brutal and provocative readings.

In this reading, there are several points where the Thoth deck seems to suggest that you hold back yet prepare for a major change. There are several exercises I have included for your cards and contemplation which may be helpful in preparation for this change.

In conclusion, I am reminded of an enigmatic brief phrase in the Book of the Law :

Lurk! Withdraw! Upon them! this is the Law of the Battle of Conquest.

- Liber Al, III:9.

The Sleeping Beauty Method

Whilst the Sleeping Beauty method is a particular reading I offer in my personal readings for clients, it can be presented here as a useful practice method.

The reading method is not like a usual spread and is designed to challenge a lack of awareness on the part of the client – or oneself – and provoke a means of awakening to any spiritual ennui which may be experienced in everyday life.

We shuffle the entire deck and then carefully locate two cards; the Priestess and Death. We take out the two cards either side of each card, resulting in four cards plus the Priestess and Death.

The two cards either side of the Priestess show how we are presently asleep in our spiritual state, and the two cards either side of the Death card show how we may awaken.

There is more to the reading in terms of its presentation, as I use the cards to suggest the means of presentation itself, such as poetry, a straight list of instructions, an enigmatic tale, etc. but for practice you can simply read them as straight cards.

This allows you to practice reading a pair of cards an observational and challenging context, and a pair of cards in the context of a provocative call to action. You can then work on putting the two pairs together as a powerful reading in just four cards.

A Sleeping Beauty Reading

This is an extract from an actual client Sleeping Beauty reading, anonymised and used with permission, which may assist your own use of the method. I have again chosen a real reading with apparently negative cards on first glance. In fact, in this reading, they are prime examples of a gasp-inducing layout of cards.

PRIESTESS (SLEEPING) CARDS: Adjustment (VIII) and Moon (XVIII)

DEATH (AWAKENING) CARDS: Ruin (10 of Swords) and Sorrow (3 of Swords)

How You Sleep

Either side of you we have two Majors; Adjustment (renamed from Justice) and the Moon . These are hard cards in the Thoth Tarot and are further made challenging by the cards of your Awakening; Ruin and Sorrow . However, despite the apparent negativity of the cards, there is much to made of this darkness. The Thoth Tarot is as strong as it is brutal, encouraging us to develop our own Will and Agency in the World – to break expectations and suppression.

ADJUSTMENT

“Balance against each thought its exact opposite.

For the Marriage of these is the Annihilation of Illusion”.

In this verse written for the Adjustment card, Crowley is commenting on the nature of thought. Crowley paired Adjustment as the feminine counterpart (Crowley says strongly, “partner”) to the Fool. The reason for this is partly that the Hebrew letters corresponding to the Fool and Adjustment are Aleph and Lamed, spelling AL. This is both the root of the word “God” and backwards, “LA” meaning “not”. The two letters, the meaning, and the two cards by virtue of correspondence, signify “everything” and “nothing” in constant combination; the very essence of existence.

The Adjustment card, who also equates to Ma’at, the ancient Egyptian goddess of truth and measure (who was even above the very gods themselves), is the perfect nature of everything considered in harmony, and the Fool is the nothingness that must be when everything is one. This is an entirely paradoxical, essential, and mystical doctrine.

It is also interesting with this image that we see how Frieda Harris’s “channelling” during the card design and execution, affected Crowley’s later textual descriptions of the cards. She described in her letters for this card; “She has, after all, insisted on being Beardsley …” and “Harlequin comes in & out of it so I must have to submit …” This later appears in Crowley’s text for the Book of Thoth as he compares its relationship to the Fool.

On a more everyday level, Crowley offers key meanings for the card in terms of reading; “law suits or prosecutions” (of which he had several experiences prior to writing the Book of Thoth and during his life). He goes on to say it can also mean in social terms; “marriage or marriage agreements” and politically, “treaties”.

It is a card of adjustment to the natural – and divine – order of things. An acceptance of reality. In some way, you are not doing this, and so your sleep continues.

THE MOON

In terms of your sleep, I am particularly drawn to the ancient Egyptian deities of the Moon card; Anubis and Khepra.

Anubis

This card is the “threshold of life”, so is attended by Anubis, the guide and guardian of the dead. He has jackals at his feet, whom Crowley suggests will eat the carcasses of those who do not know the name of the God.

We are reminded of a description in Liber Israfel, sub figura LXIV , originally entitled “Anubis”, although it tends to deal with Thoth:

Mine is the Unseen Force, whereof the Gods are sprung! Which is as Life unto the Dwellers in the Watch-Towers of the Universe.

I am the Charioteer of the East, Lord of the Past and of the Future.

I see by mine own inward light: Lord of Resurrection; Who cometh forth from the Dusk, and my birth is from the House of Death.

However, Crowley is also specifically referencing the rituals and temple layout of the Golden Dawn. Here, the figure of Anubis acts in dual form, stationed both at the East and West of the temple and on both the inside and outside. The god-form acts as an interface of the candidate seeking initiation, symbolising their own inner world; the known and the unknown states. The line Crowley echoes in his description of the moon is specifically found in the Theoricus Ritual, which corresponds to Yesod and the Moon:

… and follow your guide, Anubis the Guardian, who leads you from the material to the spiritual.

KERUX: Anubis the Guardian said to the aspirant, “Let us enter the presence of the Lord of Truth. Arise and follow me”.

…

HIERO: The priest with the mask of Osiris spake and said: “Thou canst not pass the gate of the eastern heaven unless thou canst tell me my name”.

There follows a series of challenges from the deities who require the aspirant to know their name, as Crowley references in the Book of Thoth .

We use this initiatory reference as a metaphor for self-knowledge; we must know the “name” of our own conditions and selves in order to meet their challenges and pass on in our journey to self-awareness. This is a terrifying prospect for the ego-process; “such light as there may be is deadlier than darkness, and the silence is wounded by the howling of wild beasts”.  An apt description of the initiatory (or therapeutic) process.

Khepra

The beetle drawn by Frieda Harris seems to resemble more a water-beetle than the usual Scarab Beetle drawn for Khepra, but this would also be suitable for the symbolism of the card. Crowley states that the Khepra is “underneath the water”, bearing the solar disk through the darkness and winter depicted by the card. It is the ‘sun at midnight’ which is the mainstay of many initiations; the light at the end of the tunnel.

In a reading we may often find ourselves pointing to this light as a potential outcome despite the darkness implicit in the whole image. We may just need to survive the darkness for the light to grow within us.

How You Might Awaken

When we find Death, we find our awakening into another realm. This is the Great Initiator into the mysteries of transformation, rebirth and spiritual awakening. Let us look to the cards that accompany Death in your reading and interpret them in terms of your awakening.

These appear at first to be entirely negative, yet we may find in them some stark advice to rouse you from any current spiritual sleep.

The Ten of Swords/Ruin

The Ten of Swords is not entirely without hope, Crowley writes, and references Voltaire, “At the end of Candide’s misadventures, he could still cultivate his garden”.

This is a reference to Voltaire’s influential novel, Candide, a story which attacks the philosophy of Leibniz, “all is for the best in the best of all possible worlds”. At the conclusion of the satirical novel, having undergone many challenges to the optimistic philosophy of Leibniz, the protagonist, Candide, decides to settle on a farm and urges his comrades to “cultivate our garden”.

The motif of the garden is prevalent in Voltaire’s novel; the opening scenes in the Garden of the Baron’s Castle are possibly meant to represent the Garden of Eden, from which the protagonist is ejected at the start of their journey.

Whilst it is unclear what philosophy Voltaire was proposing in rejecting Leibniz, it is clear that Voltaire himself was a gardener; perhaps he simply meant that we should engage in everyday activities to avoid the three great ills of boredom, vice and poverty.

Crowley discusses the card as the ruin of intellect; it is the Malkuth (10) of Yetzirah (Swords), which illustrates “reason run mad, ramshackle riot of soulless mechanism” and that it represents “the logic of lunatics and (for the most part) of philosophers”.

Above all, it is the card showing a situation where the ideas and thoughts are utterly divorced and separated from the reality of what is actually happening. [We saw this in the Adjustment card of your sleeping state]

This is also seen in the astrological correspondence, Sun in Gemini. The airy and mercurial sign of Gemini disperses the strong rays of the Sun. It is not an undirected idea, but rather an idea which is being disrupted and dispersed. It is when you give a good plan to a badly disciplined and unorganised group of people to put into action. It is a good dish ruined by too many condiments.

The answer, as ever, lies within yourself and something that you must do for yourself. You must not give anything to others, either in expectation or actuality. This is not a time to outsource your brilliance, which will only be dissolved if other people are involved in the situation.

The Three of Swords/Sorrow

Crowley makes the point that this card is not one of individual sorrow, as it is above the Abyss, and belongs to Binah. He describes it as “Weltschmerz”, a universal sorrow – a sense of melancholy.  The term, coined by German author Jean Paul (1763 - 1825) means not just a ‘world-weariness’, the literal translation, but rather the sense that the physical world cannot meet the expectations of the mind and imagination. It was thus a popular concept for the romantics and decadents, who influenced Crowley.

He refers us also to an “extremely difficult doctrine” to be found in The Vision and the Voice : Aethyr 14.  In this vision of Binah and the dissolution of the mystic into a state of negation, Crowley writes;

And the Beatific Vision is no more, and the glory of the Most High is no more. There is no more knowledge. There is no more bliss. There is no more power. There is no more beauty. For this is the Palace of Understanding: for thou art one with the Primeval things.

We see in this verse, as through the whole of the vision, a summation of the grades of initiation leading to the uppermost states of mystical consciousness; the “beatific vision” is assigned to Tiphareth on the Tree of Life and the grade of the Adeptus Minor, the “glory of the Most High” is the connection of Tiphareth to Kether at the top of the Tree. There is a negation of knowledge (Da’ath), bliss (Chesed), power (Geburah) and beauty (Tiphareth). This is true understanding – Binah. Crowley is not hiding these secrets in his text and visionary material, these are the literal translations of the titles of the Sephiroth on the Tree of Life.

Most specifically, this vision of the 14th Aethyr includes the call-back to which Crowley is referring, some thirty-five years later - the Vision and the Voice was recorded in 1909, the Book of Thoth was written in 1944;

And I was about to answer him: "The light is within me. " But before I could frame the words, he answered me with the great word that is the Key of the Abyss. And he said: Thou hast entered the night; dost thou yet lust for day? Sorrow is my name, and affliction.

The conclusion of the vision also demonstrates how Crowley saw the 3 of Swords as illustrative of its doctrine some thirty-five years later;

And as a flaming sword is it dropt through the abyss, where the four beasts keep watch and ward. And it appeareth in the heaven of Jupiter as a morning star, or as an evening star. And the light thereof shineth even unto the earth, and bringeth hope and help to them that dwell in the darkness of thought, and drink of the poison of life.

The whole card is an inversion (a mystical one) of the usual state of mind; even an initiated mind seeking the “light that shineth in the darkness”. In the higher levels of mystical consideration, the light becomes darkness again, and thought reaches an abyss of comprehension, beyond which is only dissolution and understanding, followed by wisdom and unity.

In a reading, this card is “dark and heavy”, nothing may be created from it -  despite the urge to do so. Anything created will be formless and chaotic. The operative advice may be to “under stand”; to literally “stand under” whatever is arising and submit to it, no matter how dark it may appear. In doing so, at least we have a little agency – the last possible agency; the “great sword of the Magician” has “destroyed the rose” and in the background, “storm broods under implacable night”.

Conclusion

At it again tomorrow. Have you ever realized how much I have given up for this work? Everything I possess & now I am become a nothing in a wilderness. [530]

The Thoth Tarot, at the time of writing, appears to exist in an awkward hiatus. In 2013, the O.T.O., who own the copyright for Crowley’s works, stated that it was filing suit in the U.S. Federal Court against U.S. Games Systems, over the Thoth Tarot deck. However, U.S. Games Systems informed the present author that there had been no litigation.

Previously, the original paintings were restored between 2006 - 2011, by the O.T.O. and the Warburg Institute, where they have been stored since Gerald Yorke bequeathed them to the Institute. This work was difficult and cost over $50,000, according to the O.T.O. [531]

Several of the paintings have now been exhibited, nine of which appeared for five months displayed in the 55th International Art Exhibition, or Venice Biennale in 2013. Previously, four paintings had been displayed in the ‘Traces du Sacré’ show at the Centre Pompidou in 2008. Crowley’s cosmology and Harris’s art received short shrift from one reviewer as they surveyed the other esoteric works in the ‘Encyclopaedic Palace’ curation:

Crowley's drawings, made with the help of his painter companion Frieda Harris, certainly are diabolical. As art, they're stilted rubbish. What unites this vast rag-bag of sculptures, tantric blobs, errant modernists with esoteric beliefs, and outsiders who fill drawing after drawing with lurching interior worlds, is a sense that everyone here is trying to make sense of the incomprehensible. Much of the time, they just add to it. [532]

As we saw in the introduction, the totem card of the Thoth deck is the Princess of Disks. In finalising his essay version of the Book of Thoth , concluding with this card, Crowley makes a correspondence between the doctrine of Tetragrammaton and the I-Ching; he unites the lowest and most manifest of nature to its highest and ultimate source through the power of symbolism and correspondence. He then leaves us with one task to take with this doctrine of unity expressed in the tarot:

Let every student of this Essay, and of this book of Tahuti, this living Book that guides man through all Time, and Leads him to Eternity at every page, hold fast this simplest, most far-reaching Doctrine in his heart and mind, inflaming the inmost of His Being, that he also, having explored each recess of the Universe, may therein find the Light of Truth, so come to the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel, and accomplish the Great Work, attain the Summum Bonum, true Wisdom and perfect Happiness! [533]

I leave the final words of this first book to Lady Frieda Harris, who was often exhausted by the effort of producing the art and managing her relationship with Crowley. She wrote to him in 1941 with some concern about his financial state, pessimism about the forthcoming exhibition and a specific statement about her own response to the work:

I have just received your letter. It is a bit of a bomb that you are evicted. So difficult & tiring for you.

Now then – you have always asked me to tell you the truth & I am writing a truth to you which I find difficult to convey delicately but I must do so.

The opposition against you in Oxford is very strong. My business is to get money to publish these cards if possible & this is nearly impossible in the present war-condition. I have been successful thro using what influence I possess in getting at people with money to come & see the Exhibition. This is using my social position foully. If they suspected that the cards were inspired by the Arch Magician of Black Magic (what do they mean?) they would withdraw their patronage. I have had this conveyed to me politely & impolitely. Therefore if you come to the Private View or show up in any prominence this attempt to launch the cards is doomed & all the work & money lost. Can you be so large-minded & detached as to keep away until the thing is launched – If you court notoriety, it is sure to appear ultimately that you are the source because so many people know it & I am really afraid of the avalanche which will fall on me.

I am trying to keep out too because I am bored by occult people, loathe commercialism, do not want fame or notoriety, do not want money, but yearn, long, desire for solitude. Any financial success will be yours. I have had my reward in the work. [534]

However, despite her concerns for the presentation of the art, or her mistrust of Crowley’s behaviour, she never failed to see the vision of the deck or its importance as a piece of work. The Thoth Tarot became – and remains - one of the strongest, striking, enduring and best-selling tarot decks in the world since its publication in the mid-1960’s. It remains a legacy of an unparalleled magical act and testament to the genius of both Crowley and Harris.

In the second book of this trilogy, we will look at the Minor Arcana and particularly deepen our appreciation of the Kabbalah, Numerology, Colour Systems and Astrology of the deck. We will then conclude the third book on the Court Cards with specific reading methods, an analysis of Crowley’s own tarot readings and a deeper discussion of divination as seen by Crowley.

Marcus Katz

Keswick, June 21st 2018.

APPENDICES

APPENDIX A

Mr. Crowley and Me.

My own encounter with the works of Crowley came first through the torrid and critical biography by John Symonds, The Great Beast (Mayflower, 1973) which provided me much intrigue, delight and encouragement of my thinking as a 17-year old in 1982. I read it to bits on the back of the bus taking me to and from college every day for a year.

In fact, so much did Crowley’s travels entrance me that two years later I left England for Egypt and spent four weeks travelling; mainly staying in Cairo and Lower Egypt across to the Sinai.

Much of that time was spent conducting rituals and visiting the Cairo museum to see the Stele of Revealing , the artefact which we have seen forms an important part of the story of the Book of the Law .

That the museum was at that time selling reproductions of that particular Stele is one of the many synchronicities that accompanied my encounters with the Book of the Law over the years. I had soon amassed a collection of Crowley material, and through another synchronicity, had opportunity to purchase a large library of rare publications in 2001.

Following six years of further esoteric study and travel, in 1990 I gained opportunity (through my employment at a University) to study Crowley’s original notebooks and letters in the Yorke Collection held at the Warburg Institute, London.

I would return many times over the years to work with these original letters and journals, particularly the 1904 notebook ‘The Invocation of Hoor’. I returned several times during the research for an M.A. in Western Esotericism at the University of Exeter, which I completed on ‘The Teaching Syllabus of Esoteric Organisations’ and during four further years of PhD research (later postponed) after a hiatus of twenty years from my visits.

I was briefly a member of the Typhonian Order (when it was known as the Typhonian O.T.O.) and corresponded at length during that time with the late Kenneth Grant.

I also worked with the Ma’at Current and met the late Maggie Ingalls during ritual activity organised in the UK. This is an area of magick to which I plan to return in later volumes of the Magister .

In the way of these things, I also returned to Egypt – this time, Upper Egypt - a decade after my first visit. This second trip, mainly down the Nile, was accompanied by the presence of Neith, the goddess who had chosen me when I worked with Crowley’s Liber Astarte practice.

Studying Crowley meant I had to study Kabbalah. And Alchemy. And Sexual Magick. And Psychology. And Poetry. It is no understatement, that for me, personally, Crowley was an inspiration to develop an energised enthusiasm and curiosity for experience. I learnt to maintain a fair amount of humour in the Work through Crowley’s own wit and respect his incisive observations on human frailty – often, including his own.

On review, I do not believe I would have wanted to have been in his closest circle nor do I subscribe to much of his political or social outlook, but nonetheless, his life demonstrated to me that above all, our task remains.

We must escape the prison, not continue to put paper on the walls.

APPENDIX B

The Word Secret in the Book of the Law

In the original manuscript of the Book of the Law , each of the separate sheets is clearly numbered 1-22 in two sections and 1-21 in the third section. The whole book contains 220 verses (22 x 10). This is unlikely to be a coincidence, particularly as Crowley was utilising such devices and tarot correspondences in the few days ahead of the Invocation of Hoor which preceded the writing of the Book of the Law . [535]

Whilst there may be some significance in this – to which we will return in the second book of this trilogy – there is also another interesting and curious coincidence in the Book of the Law .

If we were to look for a secret within the text, knowing Crowley’s fondness for correspondence and world-play, we might just look for the word ‘secret’ itself.

When we do, it turns out that the word ‘secret’ occurs exactly 22 times in the book – the number of Major Arcana. Even if this is a neat coincidence, it is truly neat, as the 22 verses containing the word ‘secret’, taken in straight order, can be said to have a reasonable correspondence to their appropriate tarot card. In some cases, I admit, more of a leap than others, however, playing with correspondences and patterns can often unlock other thoughts and experiences beyond the original exercise – such is the purpose of permutation.

Here are the relevant extracts from the twenty-two verses, in sequential order, which contain the word ‘secret’ in the Book of the Law and their correspondences to the Major Arcana.

Chapter I

6. Be thou Hadit, my secret centre, my heart & my tongue! [Fool]

10. Let my servants be few & secret: they shall rule the many & the known. [Magician]

14. She bends in ecstasy to kiss/The secret ardours of Hadit. [Priestess]

16. To her the stooping starlight. [Empress]

20. The key of the rituals is in the secret word which I have given unto him. [Emperor]

22. … and to him [known] by a secret name which I will give him when at last he knoweth me. [Hierophant]

46. Nothing is a secret key of this law. [Lovers]

49. Hoor in his secret name and splendour is the Lord initiating. [Chariot]

57. All these old letters of my Book are aright; but [Tzaddi] is not the Star. [Adjustment, because of the swap with Lust]

60. My colour is black to the blind, but the blue & gold are seen of the seeing. Also I have a secret glory for them that love me. [Hermit]

62. … as she stands bare and rejoicing in my secret temple … [Fortune]

Chapter II

2. Come! all ye, and learn the secret that hath not yet been revealed. [Lust, because of the swap with Adjustment]

15. For I am perfect, being Not. [Hanged Man]

26. I am the secret Serpent coiled about to spring: in my coiling there is joy. [Death]

39. A feast for Tahuti and the child of the Prophet--secret, O Prophet! [Art]

Chapter III

9. Lurk! Withdraw! Upon them! [Devil]

10. Get the stele of revealing itself; set it in thy secret temple -- and that temple is already aright disposed … [Tower]

22. I am the visible object of worship; the others are secret … [Star]

38. There is a secret door that I shall make to establish thy way in all the quarters. [Moon]

38. The light is mine; its rays consume/Me: I have made a secret door/Into the House of Ra and Tum [Sun]

39. … and to each man and woman that thou meetest, were it but to dine or to drink at them, it is the Law to give [the Book of the Law ] [Aeon]

49. I am in a secret fourfold word, the blasphemy against all gods of men. [Universe]

APPENDIX C

The Major Arcana as Illustrations of the Psyche

In drawing together several of Crowley’s psychological writings and illustrations, I would like to offer a tentative set of correspondences to a Thelemic view of the psyche, expressed through tarot. This is not to be taken as authoritative or authentic to Crowley’s intent but rather as a draft concept. It may offer a framework for advanced readers who wish to draw psychological interpretations (albeit through a Thelemic lens) to their readings.

The Sephiroth

1. Kether: Self.

2. Chockmah: Will.

3. Binah: Understanding.

4. Chesed: Social Conscience.

5. Geburah: Critical Faculty.

6. Tiphareth: Consciousness.

7. Netzach: Patterns of Behaviour (illusionary).

8. Hod: Patterns of Thought (illusionary).

9. Yesod: Ego Consciousness (illusionary).

10: Malkuth: Instinct.

Whilst Crowley saw instinct as a driving force, he saw the ego and patterns arising from its activity as an illusionary response to reality. This was one reason for directing practitioners to the Understanding of their Will and Self – seen in this model as the upper triad of Sephiroth.

The Paths/Tarot

0. Fool: All forms of arising ideas before given form.

1. Magus: Inner symbolic landscape.

2. Priestess: Aspirational elements of the psyche.

3. Empress: Love.

4. Emperor: Unconscious drives.

5. Hierophant: Beliefs expressed in action.

6. Lovers: Intuition.

7. Chariot: Memory and Motivation based on past experience.

8. Adjustment: Judgement, Values.

9. Hermit: Self-Purpose.

10. Fortune: Interaction of Will with arising events and situations. Ongoing modification of psyche through resting state, energised state and repressed state [see also Hanged Man].

11. Lust: Initiative, courage to overcome present state.

12. Hanged Man: Interaction of Will with arising events and situations. Ongoing modification of psyche through exhaustion, observation and experience [see also Fortune].

13. Death: Transformation of self or environment through break down of existing state.

14. Art: Moderation of behaviour through repetition and reflection.

15. Devil: Attention, Focus and Purpose.

16. Tower: Disturbance of psyche due to dissatisfaction.

17. Star: Identifying goals and ambitions.

18. Moon: The senses.

19. Sun: Identifying possible expressions of the psyche.

20. Aeon: Habitual drives.

21. Universe: Habitual responses.

Several of these headings may be different to usual correspondences, however, they are composed of a set, so can be applied together in a reading. If we map these to the Tree of Life, we leave the Emperor and the Star in their Golden Dawn positions, not with the Crowley swap. [536]

If we were to perform a three-card reading about a long-standing behavioural issue and receive Lovers + Emperor + Aeon, this would indicate “Intuition + Unconscious Drives + Habitual Drives”. It would be a fairly clear signal that the behaviour was being driven – rather than responding – and that it was on a pre-conscious level. However, it is also being intuited, so there is some idea of what is driving the behaviour.

If we then looked at the Tree of Life, we could see that ‘highest’ card (most unconscious) is the Emperor, between the Will and Consciousness. In making the Will more conscious, we could begin to work with the behaviour, making it obsolete.

The advanced reader might place these concepts onto the Tree of Life and discover their application in readings for deeper psychological insight. The Thoth Tarot cut right down to the bare bones.

APPENDIX D

The Handbooks of Thoth

Introduction

Since Crowley produced the Book of Thoth , there have been several attempts to provide further clarifications, commentaries or more introductory-level guides to the deck. In appreciating the complexity of the deck, it is no surprise that there have been comparatively few books given its sales and popularity, compared to books on the Waite-Smith Tarot.

As a ubiquitous deck in Germany, it is no surprise that the first book was German (Ziegler, 1984) and two other major books are also German (Banzhaf & Theler, 1998; Akron, 2007). These have been joined by two streams of alternate approach from both the psychological/anthropological perspective (Arrien, 1987) and the Western Esoteric viewpoint (Wanless, 1987; Willis, 1998; DuQuette, 2003).

These books, supported by minor works and internet articles, provide many alternate approaches on the complex synthesis of the deck and Crowley’s original dis-jointed text.

The following summary is a list of the most commonly-known published handbooks on the Thoth Tarot deck. I have not included prior publications of Tarot material by Crowley, such as in The Equinox . I will then provide an overview of the titles, which includes my personal opinions – as ever, your mileage may vary with different writing styles and approaches to the deck.

The Book of Thoth (Crowley)​ ​ 1944/1969/1974

Tarot: Mirror of the Soul (Ziegler)​ ​ 1984/1986

The Tarot Handbook (Arrien)​ ​ 1987

New Age Tarot (Wanless)​ ​ 1987

Magick and the Tarot (Willis)​ ​ 1988

Keywords for the Crowley Tarot (Banzhaf & Theler)​ ​ 1998/2001

Understanding Aleister Crowley’s Thoth Tarot (DuQuette) ​ 2003/2017

Crowley Tarot Fuhrer I & II (Akron)​ ​ 2007

The Thoth Companion (Snuffin)​ ​ 2007

Crowley Tarot ABC ( Golodnoff)​ ​ 2009

The Ultimate Guide to the Thoth Tarot (Fiebig & Burger)​ 2015

Magick Tarot (Altman)​ ​ 2016

The Akron book is in German only and the Golodnoff book is in Danish. The Banzhaf & Theler book was translated into English in 2001. It is interesting to compare the timeline of these publications with the publication history of the deck itself with most of these handbooks immediately following the publication of the popular Swiss edition of the deck in 1986. Duquette’s book was re-released in a new edition in 2017.

Tarot Mirror of the Soul

Handbook for the Aleister Crowley Tarot

Gerd Ziegler

This first publication of a handbook providing a “detailed examination of the Crowley Thoth deck” is by Gerd Ziegler, who is described as a “therapist specialising in humanistic and spiritual therapy”. The book is a straight-forward, no-nonsense summary of the cards, with little added or over-elaborated. As such, it is a useful handbook for reading the cards when first practising with the deck.

There are the usual misconceptions; the very first line of the book in which the Tarot is described as “an ancient system of knowledge which has been taught over the centuries in secret Mystery schools”.

However, each card is also given an “indication” (interpretation), a “question”, a “suggestion” and an “affirmation”, which although extremely brief, provide a useful synopsis of the card. Key-words are also provided, and the use of Crowley’s images and interpretations is not ignored, although it is simplified.

A promising section at the back of the book, cataloguing and explaining “commonly occurring symbols” throughout the deck is equally brief, and could have been so much better, considering the author states that there are “1200 symbols contained in the 78 cards”. Only 37 of these are listed, on just 2 pages with mainly a one-line description.

A small section is also provided on finding one’s Personality Card, Soul Card, and Yearly Growth card by numerological analysis of your birthdate. This idea is expanded in Arrien’s book (following review) without credit – she does not even include Ziegler’s book in the bibliography, although Arrien does ascribe the “Growth Cycles” to Twainhart Hill.

The Tarot Handbook

Practical Applications of Ancient Visual Symbols

Angeles Arrien

An anthropologist who was dismayed to find no Tarot work “addressed the mythological, psychological, or cross-cultural themes prevalent in the Tarot”, Arrien sees the Tarot as “a symbolic map of consciousness and an ancient book of wisdom”. Although she was attracted to the artistic execution and cross-cultural symbolism of the Thoth deck, she “read Crowley’s book that went with this deck and decided that its esotericism in meaning hindered, rather than enhanced, the use of the visual portraitures that Lady Frieda Harris had executed”.

On the positive side, she utilises the images of the Thoth deck and the key-words extensively, but on the negative, she jettisons Crowley’s text because “it is Crowley’s interpretation of these symbols, regardless of his reputation, which with I have an issue”. To me this seems strange, as it is Crowley’s design that informs the cards – and therefore the symbols are not merely “interpreted” by Crowley, but placed there by his design. It seems we should equally honour this intent as well as Harris’s collaboration and execution.

Arrien’s book uses Douglas’s (1972) work for its history of Tarot, before moving on to a brief summary of Tarot as an “outer mirror for internal and external processes”. She concludes by suggesting our work with a deck such as the Thoth deck leads us to “be able to see how universal principles, symbols and myths are outer representations of a deep collective psycho-mythology that is working inherently throughout the human species”.

Her main text is divided as ever into the Major, Minor and Court Cards. She provides a basic symbolism key to each of the Major cards, suggests an affirmation for each card, and considers the card as an “outer mirror”, which is closer to an interpretation of the card in a reading. The affirmations seem very incongruent with Crowley’s work. We read that we should say to ourselves when considering the Fool:

“I am a radiant being … I am a living treasure … I deeply honour and value the unlimited resource of courage that is within me … I respect the nature of who I am … There is nothing to fear.”

For each of the Majors, Arrien then provides a message for those whose “Life-Time Personality Symbol” is expressed by that particular card. This life-time symbol is something Arrien has produced based on basic numerology of a persons birthdate. Again, I hesitate to recommend anything reducing a person to a single card, particularly for their entire lifetime. But others may find this insightful and useful.

It is in the text of Arrien’s analysis of the Majors we see how far away from Crowley’s intent this book actually goes. In the Empress card, over three pages, little of Crowley’s intended meaning of the symbolism is suggested, instead replaced with Arrien’s rather generic and “new-agey” self-help speak. Thus, the “bumble bee”  represents a “way of seeing”, not as the symbol nor meaning Crowley intended it, and even the birds, which are described by Crowley as clearly a Dove and a Sparrow, are seen as “a dove or Kiwi bird,” and “a small sparrow or bluebird”. Crowley is specific with the birds and their significance - Arrien entirely disregards this and cognate meanings. This is evident throughout the card, with an even worse misreading of what is clearly pictured and described by Crowley as the “pelican feeding its young with the blood from its own heart” as a “swan with her four baby swans” by Arrien.

Another example will suffice. In this present work we have read about the complex mythological and cross-cultural basis of the FORTUNE card. In Arriens, having to completely ignore everything Crowley wrote and intended (and simplify everything Harris painted to its most generic) Arriens is reduced to a single paragraph for the whole card, suggesting simply that for good fortune we should be as “objective as the Sphinx, flexible like the monkey, and reach for new opportunities and ways to express our creative power like the crocodile.” I don’t know how that works, but I can’t think of the crocodile (which is here explicitly given and painted as Typhon, the destroyer, at the descending arc of the wheel) as “creative power”.

Some readers may find the user-friendly, generic, self-help advice some comfort in contrast with Crowley’s more robust assessment of human motivation and potential.

My main annoyance with this book is that it states its intent and interest as being based on cross-cultural and multi-disciplinary work, and to avoid the interpretation of one person, i.e. Crowley, and then throws out all of Crowley’s plainly cross-cultural and multi-disciplinary work in favour of an interpretation unique to Arrien. Even the most simple and straightforward symbolism and mythology is warped – in discussing the Aeon (and having to consult Websters Dictionary for the meaning, in avoiding Crowley’s actual explanation) Osiris is represented as “God of Wisdom” and Isis as “Goddess of Intuition”. These are neither self-evident nor accurate nor useful nor relevant to the cards usage of the images of Osiris – and Isis is not on the card at all. Then we have “Osiris with his forefinger to his mouth” which is actually Harpokrates or the child Horus.

There are other sections of the book you may find provocative and useful – a section on using the “thirteen challenge cards” as portals of growth is a useful approach, marred only by the apparently authoritative statement that the “In the entire Book of Thoth , or Book of Wisdom, we find only thirteen challenges or tests pictured”. Which then coincidentally matches with the “thirteen states” of the “Bardo” of the Egyptians. All of which is nonsense, but the following text on using cards such as “Sorrow” (3 of Swords) to rework the state itself is very useful for self-development work.

The “Tarot Constellations” is a useful section although still marred by a mis-reading of the Thoth deck itself. There are further issues with a reference to the “Celtic Cross” which is seen as the “only spread to have survived since the middle ages” which is also nonsense.

New Age Tarot

Guide to the Thoth Deck

James Wanless

James Wanless, Ph.D., who designed the Voyager Tarot deck with Ken Knutson, presents this next Thoth handbook, which “enables the reader to use the tarot, and the Thoth Deck in particular, with a greater ease and fluidity than ever before”! He acknowledges Arrien as his “original teacher” so it should be no surprise that in many respects this book follows her lead, for example stating that “tarot has endured for thousands of years, since its origins in ancient Egypt” and then explaining that “tarot is an ancient Egyptian word for ‘royal road’”.

In extending this error, yet another stretch is made to state not only that this in some way equates with “Torah”, but also that “the destiny of the road of tarot is totality, suggested by another anagram of Tarot, ‘tota’”! This is simply poor – in no sense is “tota” an anagram of Tarot.

The bulk of the book is taken with a page-by-page presentation of keywords for the symbols on the cards, repeating such errors as on the Empress, “Mother Swan and Young = nurturing” and providing such generalisations as on the same card, “Birds = Thoughts”, hence entirely misrepresenting Crowley and Harris’s painstaking five-year design and execution of the deck.

The Minor and Court cards are then given comparatively short shrift, with the only interesting component being the addition of key titles for the Court Cards, such as The Knight of Swords being “The Decider” and the Knight of Cups being the “High Flyer”. These are usefully provocative titles and get one agreeing or disagreeing with the nature of the card and character represented by the card.

Spreads are also provided against each Major card, such as the “Horns of the Devil” Reading, but these are somewhat bizarre and strangely illustrated.

Magick and the Tarot

Using Tarot the Manipulate the Unseen Forces of the Universe

Tony Willis

Designed specifically for use with Anthony Clark’s deck, The Magickal Tarot, itself a variation of the Thoth deck and hence included in this review, Willis’s book promises that it “lays bare actual methods of manipulating the unseen forces of the Universe, information not normally found in print”. Willis dedicates his book to Marian Green.

Here, by 1988, at least we see a small transition to historical accuracy, although it is downplayed severely. Willis writes that “nobody knows for sure” where Tarot came from, then goes on for several pages discussing the Egyptian heritage of the deck, where “few commentators actually believe that the Tarot existed in those days in book form” – why that would surely be ridiculous and require proof – so “It was more likely a set of religious pictures such as the vignettes of the Egyptian Book of the Dead …” etc. This gives the impression that such might seriously be the case when in fact there is no evidence at all.

The rest of the book provides a few methods for “manipulating the unseen forces”, such as candle magic, meditation and so forth, but all can be easily found in print elsewhere, and more. The analysis of the cards is peppered with interesting snippets and complete fabrication, with no indication of sources or evidence. An example suffices; “Long ago diviners had first to learn the 22 magickal precepts [the 22 Major Arcana] just like any other trainee magician. For in those days, divination was treated as just another facet of magick. After being schooled … the prospective diviner would be taken into one or other of the two Temples of Prophecy

Keywords for the Crowley Tarot

Hajo Banzhaf & Brigitte Theler

This self-described “cookbook” follows our previous titles by a good ten years, and improves massively in all respects. Although more of a dictionary than a textbook, it makes a good attempt at the known history of the cards, and references Crowley’s original designs accurately, for example, the Pelican on the Empress card and the Typhon on the Wheel symbolising “annihilating and destructive forces, decay” rather than the new-age interpretations of previous handbooks.

The tables against each card give meanings and interpretations for the card in terms of “profession” (i.e. in a career reading), partnership, and positive and negative readings. Rather than an affirmation, the tables give a meaning for the card if chosen as a “Card of the Day”, which in part reflects the late Banzhaf’s astrological background; “Today you may get into a conflict of interests …” reads the 2 of Pentacles, in language familiar to those who consult the newspaper horoscope sections.

About fourteen spreads are given which are all very interesting. They almost slip when saying that the “Celtic Cross” has “been passed down from earlier ages” but they don’t slip into “from ancient times”.

I personally like and recommend this book as a useful companion and given a choice, would probably buy this rather than the earlier Ziegler book, as representing a purer distillation of Crowley and Harris’s original work.

The Thoth Companion

The Key to the True Symbolic Meaning of the Thoth Tarot

Michael Osiris Snuffin

This book is written by an OTO initiate, the magical order which Crowley took over in his lifetime and which has since been promulgated in various forms worldwide. The bulk of it is a card-by-card summary of about a half-column page with an illustration of the card. These summaries are quite cursory but do provide useful aspects of each illustration clearly stated.

There is an excellent description of the 15-card spread given by Crowley in the last section of this book, which shows some of the patterns which can be usefully drawn when reading this spread.

It is a very useful reference summary, particularly for the esoteric approach to the cards.

Understanding Aleister Crowley’s Thoth Tarot

An Authoritative examination of the world’s most fascinating and magical tarot cards.

Lon Milo DuQuette

If my only trouble with a book on the Thoth deck is to quibble slightly over the alchemical attributions of two of the cards and that book contained just about every other explanation of the Kabbalistic and Alchemical, even some of the sexual, symbolism both obvious and buried in the Thoth deck – then I’d be very pleased. In fact, delighted and somewhat envious!

I highly recommend this book for all readers looking to decipher the most of Crowley’s writing on the Thoth Tarot.

It is also with some awe that one might note that DuQuette has not been able to expound and expand on every facet of the deck, and yet in touching on those most relevant and previous unexplored esoteric angles, this book still runs to 300 pages. This testifies to the dense synthesis that Crowley and Harris wove in the deck.

The Ultimate Guide to the Thoth Tarot

Johannes Fiebig and Evelin Bürger

I am afraid I cannot recommend this book other than for completists as it is limited to a popular format of ‘ten top symbols’ for each card and massively deviates from Crowley’s original symbolism, writings and thoughts. There are many symbols that appear to be interpreted from personal meanings and the poor translation of the whole book is a further confusion.

Magick Tarot

Magick Altman

A comparatively recent book, I recommend this title following Duquette’s for its different slant. It takes a contemporary, personal and social take on the Thoth Tarot, whilst remaining close to Crowley’s original text and intent. Many readers may find it gives very practical and applicable guides to interpreting the cards in everyday reading.

Crowley Tarot ABC

Ulrik Golodnoff

Although only published in Danish, this is a neat reference book, being spiral-bound and clearly illustrating each card. It is useful for providing a visual guide to the location of each card on the Tree of Life, groupings of cards, and correspondences.

Bibliography

Books by Aleister Crowley & Abbreviations

777. Hastings: Metaphysical Research Group, n.d..

Eight Lectures on Yoga. O.T.O. 1939.

Konx Om Pax. New York: Walter Scott Publishing, 1907.

Magical and Philosophical Commentaries on the Book of the Law. Montreal: 93 Publishing, 1974.

Magick [MAGICK]. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1973.

Magick Without Tears [MWT]. Phoenix: Falcon Press, 1982.

Moonchild. London: Sphere Books, 1979.

The Book of Lies [BOL]. York Beach: Samuel Weiser, 1984.

The Book of the Law [AL]. York Beach: Samuel Weiser, 1989.

The Book of Thoth [BOT]. York Beach: Samuel Weiser, 1985.

The Confessions of Aleister Crowley [Confessions]. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1979.

The Equinox of the Gods. Tempe: New Falcon Publications, 1997.

The Equinox. London: Mandrake press and Holmes, 1992.

The Holy Books of Thelema [HBT]. York Beach: Samuel Weiser, 1983.

The Law is for All. Phoenix: Falcon Press, 1985.

The Sword of Song. Boleskine: Society for the Propagation of Religious Truth, 1904.

The Vision and the Voice [Vision]. Dallas: Sangreal Foundation, 1972.

General Bibliography

Akron. Crowley Tarot Fuhrer . Neuhausen: AGMuller, 2007.

Arrien, Angeles. The Tarot Handbook. London: Diamond Books, 1995.

Ashbee, Charles R. The Building of Thelema . J. M. Dent & Sons: London, 1910.

Auger, Emily (ed.) Tarot in Culture, Volume I. Clifford, ON: Valleyhome Books, 2014.

Bain, Derek with Tali Goodwin & Marcus Katz. A New Dawn for Tarot: The Original Tarot of the Golden Dawn. Keswick: Forge Press, 2014.

Banzhaf, Hajo & Akron. The Crowley Tarot. Stamford: US Games Systems, Inc. 1995.

Banzhaf, Hajo. & Brigitte Theler. Keywords for the Crowley Tarot. York Beach: Red Wheel/Weiser, 2001.

Bogdan, Henrik & Martin P. Starr. Aleister Crowley and Western Esotericism. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012.

Brian B. Copenhaver (ed.) Hermetica. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988.

Brunton, Paul. The Hidden Teachings Beyond Yoga. London: Rider, 1941.

Buratti, Robert & Stephen J. King. The Nightmare Paintings: Aleister Crowley: Works from the Palermo Collection. Perth: Buratti Fine Art, 2012.

Catullus. The Carmina of Gaius Valerius Catullus . Ed. Leonard C. Smithers. London: Smithers, 1894.

Chappell, Vere. Sexual Outlaw, Erotic Mystic: The Essential Ida Craddock. San Francisco: Red Wheel/Weiser: 2010.

Churton, Tobias. Aleister Crowley: The Biography . London: Watkins, 2011.

Conforti, Michael. Field, Form and Fate. New Orleans: Spring Journal Books, 2012.

Corbin, Henri. En Islam Iranien: Aspects spirituels et philosophiques, Tome IV: L'Ecole d'Ispahan - L'Ecole Shaykhie - Le Douzieme Imam. Paris: Gallimard, Bib. Des Idees, 1973.

Corner, George W. The Hormones in Human Reproduction. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1942.

Dummett, Michael. The Game of Tarot. London: Gerald Duckworth & Co. Ltd, 1980.

DuQuette, Lon M. Understanding Aleister Crowley’s Thoth Tarot . San Francisco: Red Wheel/Weiser, 2003.

Eliade, Mircea. The Forge and the Crucible. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1978.

Faivre, Antoine. Access to Western Esotericism . Albany: State University of New York Press, 1994.

Frater Aurum Nostrum Non Vulgi, ‘The Place of the Ma’at Current in Modern Magick’ in Thaneteros , Issue 4.

Fuller, John. F. C. The Star in the West: A Critical Essay upon the Works of Aleister Crowley. New York: Walter Scott Publishing, Co. 1907.

Goodrick-Clarke, Nicholas. Paracelsus: Essential Readings. Wellingborough: Crucible, 1990.

Goodwin, Tali & Marcus Katz. Secrets of the Waite-Smith Tarot. St. Paul: Llewellyn, 2015.

________. Tarot Time Traveller . Woodbury: Llewellyn, 2017.

Hanegraaff, Wouter J. (ed.) Dictionary of Gnosis & Western Esotericism 2 vols. Boston: Brill, 2005.

________. New Age Religion and Western Culture. Leiden: Brill, 1996.

Harari, Yuval N. Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind . London: Vintage Books, 2011.

Harris, Frieda. Bump! Into Heaven. London: Mitre Press, 1958?

________. Winchelsea: A Legend. London: Selwyn & Blount, 1926.

Huson, Paul. Mystical Origins of the Tarot: From Ancient Roots to Modern Usage. Rochester: Destiny Books, 2004.

Jacobi, Jolande (ed.) Paracelsus: Selected Writings. New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1979.

Kaczynski, Richard. Perdurabo: The Life of Aleister Crowley. Tempe: New Falcon Publications, 2002.

Karlin, Jess. Rhapsodies of the Bizarre . n.p. 2007.

Katz, Marcus. After the Angel . Keswick: Forge Press, 2011.

________. Tarosophy . Keswick: Forge Press, 2016.

________. The Alchemical Amphitheatre. Keswick: Forge Press, 2008.

________. The Magicians Kabbalah . Keswick: Forge Press, 2015.

________. The Magister. Keswick: Forge Press, 2016.

King, Francis. Secret Rituals of the O.T.O. London: C W Daniel Co Ltd, 1973.

________. The Magical World of Aleister Crowley. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1977.

Koltuv, Barbara B. The Book of Lilith. Lake Worth: Nicholas-Hays, 1986.

Legge, James. The I-Ching. New York: Dover Publications, 1963.

________. The Sacred Books of China, Part II: The Yi-King. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1882.

Lévi, Eliphas. The Book of Splendours . Wellingborough: Aquarius, 1973.

Linden, Stanton J. The Alchemy Reader. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003.

Mackay, Charles. Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds. New York: Harmony Books, 1980.

Mathematics in Popular Culture. Jefferson: Macfarland & Company, 2013.

Newman, William R. Promethean Ambitions. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004.

Pasi, Marco. Aleister Crowley and the Temptation of Politics. Durham: Acumen, 2014.

Pastoureau, Michel. Heraldry: Its Origins and Meaning. London: Thames and Hudson, 1997.

Pike, Albert. Morals and Dogma. Richmond: Jenkins, 1944.

Read, John. From Alchemy to Chemistry. New York: Dover Publications, 1995.

Regardie, Israel. The Golden Dawn 7 th ed . [GD]. Woodbury: Llewellyn, 2015.

Sayers, Dorothy L. Introductory Papers on Dante. Eugene: Wipf & Stock Publishers, 2006.

Scholem, Gershom. Kabbalah. New York: Dorset Press, 1974.

Skinner, Stephen. (ed.) The Magical Diaries of Aleister Crowley: 1923. Jersey: Neville Spearman, 1979.

Snuffin, Michael. O. The Thoth Companion. Woodbury: Llewellyn, 2007.

Starfire . London: Starfire Publishing, 1986, 1991 & 2008.

Sullivan, John W. N. The Bases of Modern Science. London: Ernest Benn Ltd, 1928.

Symonds, John. The Great Beast: The Life and Magick of Aleister Crowley. London: Mayflower, 1973.

Thaneteros: A Journal of Trans-Traditional Metaphysics & Comparative Religion Issue 4.

Vliet, Jason, V. Children of God: The Imago Dei in John Calvin and his Context. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2009.

Waite, Arthur. E. The Pictorial Key to the Tarot . London: Rider & Company, 1974.

Wang, Robert. An Introduction to the Golden Dawn Tarot. New York: Samuel Weiser, 1978.

Wanless, James. New Age Tarot: Guide to the Thoth Deck. Carmel: Merrill-West, 1987.

Webb, James. The Flight from Reason. London: Macdonald, 1971.

Whicher, Olive. Projective Geometry: Creative Polarities in Space and Time. Forest Row: Sophia Books, 2013.

Winkler, Gershon. Magic of the Ordinary: Recovering the Shamanic in Judaism . Berkeley: North Atlantic Books, 2003.

Ancient Egypt

For an in-depth introduction and experience of ancient Egyptian magick, including rituals to work with the deities, see the Ancient Egyptian Magick course offered by the author at www.magickaschool.com .

Allen, James P. Middle Egyptian: An introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000.

Budge. E. A. W. Gods of the Egyptians . New York: Dover Publications, 1969.

Collier, Mark & Bill Manley. How to Read Egyptian Hieroglyphs. London: British Museum Press, 2000.

Farr, Florence. Egyptian Magic . Wellingborough: Aquarian, 1982.

Gardiner, Alan. Egyptian Grammar . Oxford: Griffith Institute, 2001.

Lurker, Manfred. The Gods and Symbols of Ancient Egypt . London: Thames & Hudson, 1984.

Naydler, Jeremy. The Temple of the Cosmos . Rochester: Inner Traditions, 1996.

Reeves, Nicholas. Ancient Egypt: The Great Discoveries, A Year by Year Chronicle . London: Thames & Hudson, 2000.

Wilkinson, Richard H. The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt . London: Thames & Hudson, 2003.

Wilson, Hilary. Understanding Egyptian Hieroglyphs. Lincolnwood: Passport Books, 1996.

BONUS CONTENT

Here follows an extract from the forthcoming second volume of this series, SECRETS OF THE THOTH TAROT VOL II: MINOR ARCANA.

The Aces

“The point to remember is that, both in their appearance and in their meaning, the Aces are not the elements themselves, but the seeds of those elements”. [537]

Crowley saw the Aces as the roots of the elements, and in themselves not manifesting any quality of the element itself. They illustrate the source, the tip, the nascent idea of the four elements, without any material form or observable presence. We require the concept of their existence because their manifestation exists, much like we require an abstract and almost impossible concept of ‘before time’ because we know that time ‘began’ at some point.

In Kabbalah, above Kether is a concept called the “Ain Soph Aur”, the ‘limitless and endless light’. It exists in much the same way as the modern concept of ‘before time’; to give context to the actual model of reality as it is perceived by observation. Crowley alludes to this idea when he writes that the Aces “are quite above, and distinct from, the other small cards in the same way as Kether is said to be symbolised only by the topmost point of the Yod of Tetragrammaton”. [538]

The Aces, then, are place-holders in the model of the tarot for some element which does not yet exist – but is potential. It is the Twos of the Minor Arcana which are our starting-points, not the Aces, it will be seen from this viewpoint. An Ace is a lazy card in a practical reading; it can mean that someone is not seeing or even refusing to start to manifest some project or relationship.

It is essential that we have these four cards to represent this potential quality in the Atlas of the Universe which is the tarot, otherwise we would not be able to represent it in our readings.

There is an interesting musing by Crowley in the Book of Thoth , Chapter IV, where he introduces the Minor Arcana by sets, i.e., the Aces, Twos, Threes, etc. He considers that “the idea of the element of Spirit is very difficult to grasp”. [539] He goes on to say that the Hebrew letter Shin has to double as both Spirit and Fire, in the system of correspondences. This may seem an abstract point of minutiae, but it conceals a practical point of mysticism and magick.

Whilst perhaps somewhat light-heartedly, Crowley concludes that section by saying, “perhaps it was never in the mind of the Exempt Adept or Adepts who invented the Tarot to go so far into this matter”. [540] This seems to indicate that the problem of spirit as an element is not of concern to those above the Abyss, that is, above the grade of Adeptus Exemptus which applies to Chesed on the Tree of Life. In effect, Crowley is stating that below the state of divine unity and the dissolution of consciousness, spirit itself is seen as a ‘separate’ element; in its grossest example, people talk of “living a spiritual life”, or something “not being spiritual”. To those above the grade of Adeptus Exemptus, these sentences make no sense because spirit is no longer an abstract or separate quality.

Interestingly, despite this abstract philosophy, Crowley goes on to make a very practical and manifest point in his introduction of the Aces. He reveals the Golden Dawn attributions and correspondence of the Aces on the sphere of the heavens, their correlation to the Court cards, and then further down to their physical location on the globe of the earth. This is a much under-stated element of the whole Golden Dawn system of correspondences – the logical extension of the correspondence of tarot to astrology and hence to physical locations on the planet.

The correspondences thus made by Crowley are:

Aces/Princesses

Wands – Asia

Cups – Pacific Ocean

Swords – the Americas

Disks – Europe and Africa

The use of this set of correspondences is unlikely to be made in most mundane readings, however, it is an interesting system to have in the magical toolbox should one require it at some point.

The Ace of Disks

In the Minor Arcana section of the Book of Thoth, most cards receive half a page to a page of treatment. The only exception is the Ace of Disks, which reaches almost three pages of text in comparison. Crowley sets out with this card “one of the essential theoretical theses which have inflamed the constitution of this present pack of Tarot cards”. [541]

He begins by claiming this concept is one which sets the Thoth Tarot apart from the “crude efforts” of past decks, such as those by “the grotesque barber Alliette, the obscurely perverse Wirth, the poseur-fumiste Péladan,” and then “down to the verbose ignorance of such Autolycus-quacks [such] as Raffalovitch and Ouspensky”. [542]

“Raffalovitch” is an interesting reference here, as whilst the others are known for their writings on tarot (Ouspensky, only a little), “Raffalovitch” is a less obvious reference. Crowley was friends with a George Raffalovich (1880 - 1959) although they inevitably fell out. He published a collection of short stories for Raffalovich entitled The Deuce and All in 1909, under the Equinox publishing imprint.

The story ‘Devil of a Tale’ included in that collection is dedicated to Crowley; “that most subtle reincarnated soul”, inscribed to him “this the first tale of Elphénor”. [543]

Raffalovich includes a character in that tale called Malcolm Graves, who seems a parody of Crowley – or perhaps A. E. Waite. The character may be a parody of all magicians of the time, as later in the story, Raffalovich writes:

Pshaw! Magic may make its adepts holy and deific! But they damn well remain human! [544]

But about Graves, Raffalovich writes:

There was no dream of noble deeds behind his dreamy eyes, no decisiveness behind his resolute brow, no real energy behind his energetic and edge-cut lips. His appearance was deceitful, to no one so much as it was to himself. Yet, he could have done much and some of his writings denoted an impulsive, perhaps irresponsible, certainly remarkable, genius. [545]

Graves is referred to jokingly as “the wickedest man in the world” and designs a tarot deck within the story, which was published in 1909, another seed in Crowley’s own conception of the tarot some decades later in 1938. [546]

The story also includes tarot designs:

The designs in this tale are due to Miss K. Reeves, suggested by, and, from an occult point of view, corrected from, the pack of cards of "Papus." [547]

Having denigrated these prior works on tarot, Crowley goes on to state the central thesis of his new pack, which is incorporate a new vision of the material realm as an interactive, moving entity, rather than a “passive, immobile, even dead, even ‘evil’ element”. [548]

The card is also an “affirmation of the identity of Sol and Terra”, much like the identity of fire and spirit as we have seen in the general description of the four Aces. [549] It creates a “whirling disk” showing the new Aeon conception of dynamic matter and the unification of the elements at every level of existence; Crowley has the various formula of existence inscribed on concentric patterns:

Sol & Luna ​ 666

Babalon ​ 156

In this sense, the Ace of Pentacles can be compared with the Universe card and perhaps the Princess of Disks, each illustrating the far reaches and extremes of the interplay between matter and spirit, unity and diversity.

VOLUME II COMING SOON

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[1] The “inferior pack” was the Waite-Smith Tarot, published in 1909. See Goodwin, T. & Katz, M. Secrets of the Waite-Smith Tarot (St. Paul: Llewellyn, 2015).

[2] Invocation to HRU, from Book T of the Golden Dawn. GD, p. 714, n.1.

[3] See Greer, M. K. ‘Tarot Timeline 1750 – 1980’ in Auger, E. E. (ed.) Tarot in Culture Vol.I (Valleyhome Press, 2014).

[4] Crowley was likely initiated into the Order by Florence Farr. In previously confidential notes by E.J. Langford Garstin, in another member’s papers inherited from Garstin’s widow, it is noted that “S.R. did not initiate Crowley. S.S. is positive on this and says that it was probably S.S.D.D. on L.O.’s representations”. That is to say, Mathers (S.R.) himself probably did not initiate Crowley into the G.D. - although he provided Crowley’s 5=6 Adeptus Minor initiation in Paris some years later. Brodie-Innes (S.S.) here told Garstin that it was probably Florence Farr (S.S.D.D.) on the basis of Percy Bullock’s recommendation.

[5] MWT, p. 218.

[6] Crowley, 1973b: Letter 31, 218. See Pasi, M. Aleister Crowley and the Temptation of Politics (Durham: Acumen, 2014), p. 63.

[7] Brunton, P. The Hidden Teachings Beyond Yoga (London: Rider, 1941), p. 16.

[8] Written on June 1st, 1924 e.v. in a letter to “My Friends” (in USA) from Crowley at Chelles, S. et M., France. In this letter, as a number of other letters, manifestos and circulars, Crowley was looking to attract attention and students from many different sources. His letters reveal a dual statement about the self-development inherent in magical practice coupled with the establishment of a new form of society based on revealed Thelemic principles.

[9] BOT, p.25.

[10] ‘Windows to the Sacred’, at http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/spiritofthings/windows-to-the-sacred:-art-and-the-holy/6487640 [last accessed 17th June 2018].

[11] See Buratti, R. & King, S. J. The Nightmare Paintings: Aleister Crowley: Works from the Palermo Collection (Perth: Buratti Fine Art, 2012).

[12] See a draft of ‘Adjustment’, etc., in Kaczynski, R. ‘The Crowley-Harris Thoth Tarot’ in Auger, E. E. (ed.) Tarot in Culture Vol.I. (Valleyhome Books, 2014), p. 149.

[13] BOT, p. 25.

[14] MWT, p. 157.

[15] BOT, p. 169.

[16] BOT, p. 253.

[17] BOT, p. 253. There may be several errors in this section of the Book of Thoth , as the chapter to which Crowley refers must be chapter XVIII (18) not XVII (17) and the word ‘required’ could possibly be ‘acquired’, as in “…the Art is perfectly acquired”. It would be interesting to check the original manuscript, which sold at auction several years ago.

[18] BOT, p. 253.

[19] Magick , p. 267.

[20] Magick , p. 271.

[21] Magick , p. 271.

[22] Confessions , p. 923.

[23] Confessions , pp. 500-501.

[24] Confessions , pp. 500-501.

[25] See Magick , pp. 266-282.

[26] BOT, p. 265.

[27] BOT, p. 265.

[28] BOT, p. 29.

[29] BOT, p. 29.

[30] BOT, p. 29.

[31] BOT, p. 267.

[32] BOT, p. 99.

[33] See Katz, M. The Magicians Kabbalah (Keswick: Forge Press, 2015).

[34] An interesting title aiming to recover the shamanic nature of Judaic ritual practice is Winkler, G. Magic of the Ordinary (Berkeley: North Atlantic Books, 2003).

[35] Merkabah Shelemah 1a, 4b. in Scholem, G. Kabbalah (New York: Dorset Press, 1974), p. 18.

[36] Ibid , p. 203.

[37] Lévi, E. The Book of Splendours (Wellingborough: Aquarius, 1973), p. 127.

[38] The identity of Comte de Mellet is now known to be Louis-Raphaël-Lucrèce de Fayolle, according to the work of historian Robin Briggs. See Dummett, M. The Game of Tarot (London: Gerald Duckworth & Co. Ltd, 1980), p. 105, fn. 13, repeated also in Huson, P. Mystical Origins of the Tarot: From Ancient Roots to Modern Usage (Rochester: Destiny Books, 2004), p. 54.

[39] Dummett, ibid , pp. 108-9.

[40] Scholem, G. Kabbalah , (New York: Dorset Press, 1974), p. 203.

[41] Lévi, E. The Book of Splendours (Wellingborough: Aquarius, 1973), pp. 127-42.

[42] See http://gallica.bnf.fr/ [search for Gebelin] and Karlin, J. Rhapsodies of the Bizarre (n.p.).

[43] Katz. M. The Magister (Keswick: Forge Press, 2016), pp. 89-98.

[44] A useful overview of human development can be found in Harari, Y. N., Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind . (London: Vintage Books, 2011).

[45] See Frater Aurum Nostrum Non Vulgi, ‘The Place of the Ma’at Current in Modern Magick’ in Thaneteros , Issue 4.

[46] See Katz, M. The Magister Vol. 0 (Keswick: Forge Press, 2016) and subsequent volumes.

[47] Corbin, H. En Islam Iranien: Aspects spirituels et philosophiques, Tome IV: L'Ecole d'Ispahan - L'Ecole Shaykhie - Le Douzieme Imam (Gallimard, Bib. Des Idees, 1973) p. 444 & p. 448.

[48] This is buried in the text for Diagram 5 of Appendix B, ‘The Numbers of the Planets’, BOT, p. 274 and is a good example of the chaotic writing of the Book of Thoth and why it is sometimes difficult to go back and find a quote from the text.

[49] BOT, p. 274.

[50] BOT, p. 274.

[51] Law is for All , p. 288.

[52] See Bogdan, H. ‘Envisioning the Birth of a New Aeon: Dispensationalism and Millenarianism in the Thelemic Tradition’ in Bogdan, H. & Starr, M.P. Aleister Crowley and Western Esotericism (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012).

[53] See Katz, M. The Alchemical Amphitheatre (Keswick: Forge Press, 2008) for a complete introduction, exercises and reading list for Alchemy. Some of the present text has been selected and re-written from that title.

[54] BOT, p. 102.

[55] Ferguson, ‘Some English alchemical books’, Journal of the Alchemical Society , ii (1913–14), 1–16, p. 5.

[56] Herwig Buntz, Alchemy III: 12 th /13 th -15 th Century, in Dictionary of Gnosis & Western Esotericism 2 vols (Boston: Brill, 2005), I, 36.

[57] Hanegraaff, W. J. New Age Religion and Western Culture (Leiden: Brill, 1996), pp. 395-5. This chapter also contains useful reference sources for the historical argument.

[58] Quoted in William R. Newman, Promethean Ambitions (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004), p.117 which also discusses the tensions inherent in the ‘Neoplatonizing Aristotelianism of medieval and early modern natural philosophy’.

[59] Linden, S. J. The Alchemy Reader (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003), p. 4.

[60] Read, J. From Alchemy to Chemistry (New York: Dover Publications, 1995), p. 74.

[61] Eliade, M. The Forge and the Crucible (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1978), pp. 79-96.

[62] Ashmole, E. Theatrum chemicum britannicum: containing severall poeticall pieces of our famous English philosophers, who have written the hermetique mysteries in their owne ancient language (London : Printed by J. Grismond for Nath: Brooke, at the angel in Cornhill, 1652). In Edgar Fahs Smith Memorial Collection . QD25 .A78. p. A2r [ http://dewey.library.upenn.edu/sceti/printedbooksNew/index.cfm?TextID=ashmole&PagePosition=1 , last accessed 16 May 2007].

[63] Tymme, T. The Practise of Chymicall, and Hermetic Physicke (London, 1605), quoted in Linden, ibid , p. 5.

[64] Mackay, C. Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds (New York: Harmony Books, 1980), p. 100.

[65] Webb, J. The Flight from Reason (London: Macdonald, 1971), p. 139.

[66] Faivre, A. Access to Western Esotericism (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1994), pp. 68-9.

[67] Hanegraaff, W. J. (ed.), Dictionary of Gnosis and Western Esotericism Vol. I (Leiden: Brill, 2005), pp. 12-14. See this section for a discussion of the popularisation of the ‘psychological’ or ‘spiritual’ elements of alchemy in the 19 th century through the work of Mary Anne Atwood , Suggestive Inquiry into the Hermetic Mystery (1850).

[68] Goodrick-Clarke, N. Paracelsus: Essential Readings (Wellingborough: Crucible, 1990), p. 33.

[69] Paracelsus, de Natura rerum (1537) I/11, pp. 348-9 of Karl Sudhoff & Wilhelm Matthiessen (eds.) Paracelsus, Samtliche Werke (Munich: O. W. Barth, 1922-25) quoted in Jacobi, J. (ed.) Paracelsus: Selected Writings (New Jersey: Princetown University Press, 1979) pp. 141 – 3.

[70] The esoteric is not so without purpose; there are experiences that can only be experienced.

[71] See Goodwin, T & Katz, M. Secrets of the Waite-Smith Tarot (St. Paul: Llewellyn, 2015).

[72] BOT, p. 103.

[73] BOT, p. 102.

[74] BOT, p. 102.

[75] BOT, p. 258.

[76] BOT, p. 258.

[77] A reproduction of the 18 counters and accompanying interpretations is available at https://www.thegamecrafter.com/games/i-ching-counters [last accessed 21st June, 2018].

[78] For a history and complete reading list, etc. of the Golden Dawn and other esoteric orders, see Katz, M. The Magister Vol 0: The Order of Revelation (Keswick: Forge Press, 2016).

[79] Katz, M. The Magicians Kabbalah (Keswick: Forge Press, 2015), p. 28.

[80] Thelema , a Greek word meaning “Will”.

[81] Taken from Goodwin, T. & Katz, M. Tarot Time Traveller (Woodbury: Llewellyn, 2017), pp. 229-230.

[82] Francis King, The Magical World of Aleister Crowley (London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1977), p. 38.

[83] Written on the cover of the ms. of the Book of the Law .

[84] Confessions, p. 393.

[85] The Equinox of the Gods , p. 105.

[86] Gerald J. Yorke (1901-1983) whose collection was passed to the Warburg Institute in 1984. His catalogue of 1951 lists this present item as A.C. Holograph MSS 27, Small Japanese Vellum notebook.

[87] The Equinox of the Gods, p. 77.

[88] The Equinox of the Gods , p. 78.

[89] LA, II.16.

[90] LA, II.15.

[91] Magick , p. 336.

[92] See Katz, M. After the Angel (Keswick: Forge Press, 2011) & Katz, M. The Magister Vol.0 (Keswick: Forge Press, 2016).

[93] MWT, p. 502.

[94] BOT, p. 74.

[95] Crowley, A. Book of Lies (York Beach: Weiser, 1984), p. 94.

[96] Crowley, A. The Equinox , Vol. I, No.5, Supplement.

[97] Ibid .

[98] BOT, p. 259.

[99] BOT, p. 78.

[100] Letter to Pearson [the photoengraver of the deck] from Aleister Crowley, 29th May 1942.

[101] Kaczynski, R. Perdurabo (Tempe: New Falcon Publications, 2002), p. 497.

[102] Harris, F. Winchelsea: A Legend (London: Selwyn & Blount, 1926).

[103] Harris, F. Bump! Into Heaven (London : Mitre Press, 1958?).

[104] Undated letter by the “Society of Hidden Masters” [Crowley] to himself.

[105] Kaczynski, R. http://www.chippingcampdenhistory.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/cms/Signpost_6_Final_ed.pdf [last accessed 14th May 2018].

[106] See illustrations, Churton, T. Aleister Crowley: The Biography (London: Watkins, 2011), pp. 226-7.

[107] Harris to Carl L. Weschke, 30 Nov. 1961, Holt Collection HO:73/1. [Accessed at https://hermetic.com/sabazius/frieda-lady-harris 26th April 2018].

[108] See Hoffman, C.

‘Projective Synthetic Geometry in Lady Frieda Harris' Tarot Paintings and in Aleister Crowley's Book of the Law’ http://www.parareligion.ch/dplanet/stephen/claas/olive_e.html [last accessed 23d April 2018]

[109] Letter from Frieda Harris to Aleister Crowley, undated.

[110] See also Kaczynski, R. ‘Projective geometry in early twentieth century esotericism’ in Mathematics in Popular Culture (Jefferson, NC: Macfarland & Company, 2013).

[111] Whicher, O. Projective Geometry: Creative Polarities in Space and Time (Forest Row: Sophia Books, 2013), pp. 22-4.

[112] Ibid , p. 51.

[113] On a personal note, it is of bemusement to the present author that I carried a copy of Projective Ornament by Claude Bragdon (published in 1915) at all times during my time in Egypt and Switzerland, without understanding its connection with the Thoth Tarot. I just thought it was a cool-looking and fascinating book, much like Musrum , a strange book authored and illustrated by Eric Thacker and Anthony Earnshaw, favoured by my own teacher.

[114] Undated letter to Aleister Crowley by Frieda Harris.

[115] Undated Memorandum by Aleister Crowley

[116] Undated letter by the “Society of Hidden Masters” [Crowley] to himself.

[117] Undated letter to Aleister Crowley by Frieda Harris.

[118] Letter from Frieda Harris to Aleister Crowley, 11 th May, 1941.

[119] Letter to Frieda Harris from Crowley, 19 th December, 1939.

[120] Undated letter by the “Society of Hidden Masters” [Crowley] to himself.

[121] See Bain, D. with Goodwin, T. & Katz, M. A New Dawn for Tarot (Keswick: Forge Press, 2014).

[122] See Goodwin, T. & Katz, M. Tarot Time Traveller (Woodbury: Llewellyn, 2017).

[123] Ibid , p. 41.

[124] See Goodwin, T. & Katz, M. Secrets of the Waite-Smith Tarot (Woodbury: Llewellyn, 2015).

[125] Letter to Aleister Crowley from Frieda Harris, 18 th September 1939.

[126] Liber Al , I: 57.

[127] See Katz, M. The Magister Vol. 0 . (Keswick: Forge Press, 2016).

[128] Equinox, Vol. I. no. 3, p. 61.

[129] BOT, p. 77.

[130] BOT, p. 109.

[131] See ‘The Double Loop in the Zodiac’ diagram, BOT, p. 11.

[132] BOT, p. 10.

[133] See Elmet, C. ‘Tzaddi is Not the Star: The Problem of the Thoth Tarot’ in Starfire , II.3, 2008, pp. 71-9.

[134] Ashbee, C. The Building of Thelema , p. 11.

[135] Extract from Constitutions of the Order of Thelemites (written in Cefalu by Crowley, c. 1923).

[136] Ashbee, C. The Building of Thelema p. 230.

[137] Ashbee, C. The Building of Thelema p. 352.

[138] Allen, J.P. Middle Egyptian: An introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000) p. 366.

[139] The correct usage is “hieroglyphs” and/or “hieroglyphic”, never “hieroglyphics”.

[140] Copenhaver, B. B. (ed.), Hermetica (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988), p. 58.

[141] For a full treatment of Ancient Egyptian Magick, see the online course within Magicka School www.magickaschool.com.

[142] First presented in Katz, M. Tarosophy (Keswick: Forge Press, 2016).

[143] BOT, p. 71.

[144] In particular for progrock fans, there is an excellent track on the Nick Turner Sphinx album, Xitintoday , ‘Isis and Nephthys’ which captures the relationship of these two goddesses.

[145] BOT, p. 77.

[146] Letter to Aleister Crowley from Frieda Harris, n.d.

[147] Lurker, M. The Gods and Symbols of Ancient Egypt (London: Thames & Hudson, 1984).

[148] ‘How is the Universe Built?’ in https://faculty.washington.edu/smcohen/320/GrainySpace.html [last accessed 21st June 2018].

[149] The Paris Working .

[150] See Vision , pp. 60-1. Crowley read this as being three years ( tres annos ) to assimilate the grade of Master of the Temple ( regimen oraculi ). He went on to remark that “the marvel is that with these four letters you can get a complete set of rules for doing anything”.

[151] See ‘The Holy Hymns to the Great Gods of Heaven’ in Liber CDXV, Opus Lutetianum , Frater O.S.V. [Aleister Crowley].

[152] Letter to Aleister Crowley from Frieda Harris, undated.

[153] BOT, p. 57.

[154] BOT, p. 67.

[155] Ibid .

[156] BOT, p. 57-8, discussing the concept that a saviour must be manifest but mercurial by their divine nature.

[157] BOT, p. 60, n.2.

[158] BOT, p. 63.

[159] It is worth reading Crowley’s original writing in BOT , pp.62-4 to appreciate the importance of this teaching to Crowley – and how it circumnavigates any argument about symbolism.

[160] BOT, p. 66 & p. 69 give these different descriptions, perhaps in example of the bivalence we should apply to all symbols.

[161] BOT, p. 57 & p. 59.

[162] BOT, p. 253.

[163] BOT, p. 69.

[164] BOT, p. 69.

[165] BOT, p. 70.

[166] BOT, p. 70.

[167] BOT, p. 254.

[168] BOT, p. 71.

[169] Undated letter to Aleister Crowley by Frieda Harris.

[170] Undated letter to Aleister Crowley by Frieda Harris.

[171] Undated letter to Aleister Crowley by Frieda Harris.

[172] Undated letter to Aleister Crowley by Frieda Harris.

[173] See Goodwin, T. & Katz, M. Secrets of the Waite-Smith Tarot (Woodbury: Llewellyn, 2015).

[174] Undated letter to Aleister Crowley by Frieda Harris.

[175] BOT, p. 219

[176] Crowley, A. ‘John St. John’ in The Equinox , Vol.I, No.1 (London, 1909).

[177] Servetus, Christianismi Restitutio , 138 & 142; quoted in Vliet, J. V. Children of God: The Imago Dei in John Calvin and his Context (Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2009), p. 244.

[178] BOT, p. 129.

[179] BOT, p. 69.

[180] BOT, p. 128-9.

[181] BOT, p. 129.

[182] BOT, p. 133.

[183] BOT, p. 72.

[184] Crowley, A. Liber Magi vv. 7-10 quoted in BOT, p. 71.

[185] AL, I.40.

[186] BOT, p. 254.

[187] BOT, p. 255.

[188] For an account of the Holy Guardian Angel, see Katz, M. After the Angel (Keswick: Forge Press, 2011).

[189] BOT, p. 74.

[190] Book of Lies , p. 95.

[191] BOT, p. 74.

[192] BOT, p. 74.

[193] BOT, p. 72.

[194] BOT, p. 74. See also rare illustrations from Frieda Harris in ‘The Art and Symbolism of Frieda Harris’ in Tarot Broadsheets, available as a member of the Tarosophy Tarot Association at www.tarotassociation.net.

[195] See Conforti, M. Field, Form and Fate (Spring Journal, 2012).

[196] BOT, p. 75.

[197] BOT, p. 255.

[198] BOT, p. 75.

[199] For a fuller account of the teachings of the Golden Dawn and their development into the Western Esoteric Initiatory System, see Katz, M. The Magister [Keswick: Forge Press, 2016].

[200] BOT, p. 76.

[201] Iliad , Book 14, 215 (3).

[202] BOT, p. 76.

[203] King, F. Secret Rituals of the O.T.O. (London: C W Daniel Co Ltd, 1973).

[204] Pike, A. Morals and Dogma (Richmond: Jenkins, 1944).

[205] Ibid .

[206] BOT, p. 77.

[207] BOT, p. 255.

[208] BOT, p. 77.

[209] BOT, p. 77.

[210] BOT, p. 77.

[211] Pasi, M. Aleister Crowley and the Temptation of Politics (Durham: Acumen, 2014), p. 58.

[212] Confessions , p. 818-9.

[213] BOT, p. 78.

[214] Pastoureau, M. Heraldry: Its Origins and Meaning (Thames and Hudson, 1997), p. 98.

[215] BOT, p. 78.

[216] I have used the exact descriptions of the Sephiroth by Crowley taken from his section on the Minor Cards, BOT. pp.182-87.

[217] BOT, p. 255.

[218] BOT, p. 79.

[219] See Bain, D., Katz, M. & Goodwin, T., A New Dawn for Tarot (Keswick: Forge Press, 2014).

[220] http://www.plymouthbrethrenchristianchurch.org/beliefs/what-we-believe/ [last accessed 14 th March 2018]

[221] BOT, p. 80.

[222] BOT, p. 78.

[223] Fun fact – it has been suggested that the gesture of the papal blessing originates from the first pope having an ulnar nerve injury, and subsequent popes imitating the gesture in respect. Really.

[224] Letter fragment from Frieda Harris to Aleister Crowley, n.d.

[225] Letter to Frieda Harris from Aleister Crowley, 19th December, 1939.

[226] Ibid .

[227] BOT, p. 79.

[228] BOT, p. 79.

[229] BOT, p. 79.

[230] BOT, p. 79.

[231] BOT, p. 79.

[232] BOL, I.57.

[233] BOT, p. 78.

[234] BOT, p. 79.

[235] BOT, p. 80.

[236] See Katz, M. The Alchemical Amphitheatre (Keswick: Forge Press, 2008).

[237] BOT, p. 80. Crowley is suggesting that as the meanings of the symbols never converge in one single concept, they must be seen in context of each other, forming a whole picture of multiple parts, married together - even in opposites.

[238] BOT, p. 287.

[239] The Law is for All , p. 78.

[240] Ibid , p. 80.

[241] Ibid , p. 78.

[242] BOT, p. 80.

[243] BOT, p. 82.

[244] BOT, p. 82.

[245] BOT, p. 81.

[246] BOT, p. 81.

[247] See Vision , p. 226, n. 4, “There is another even more important attribution of this card”, which is the formula of YHVH, for which see Magick , pp. 160-1.

[248] BOT, pp. 80-1.

[249] Vision , pp. 225-6.

[250] BOT, p. 81.

[251] BOT, p. 81.

[252] BOT, p. 82.

[253] BOT, p. 82.

[254] See Koltuv, B. B., The Book of Lilith (Lake Worth: Nicholas-Hays, 1986).

[255] Letter to Aleister Crowley from Frieda Harris, n.d.

[256] GD, p. 745. In an unofficial paper entitled THE TAROT TRUMPS, G.H. Soror, Q.L. (Harriet Felkin) described the symbolism as showing “the impact of inspiration on intuition, resulting in illumination and liberation”, and that the illustration of the myth showed “the sword striking off the fetters of habit and materialism, Perseus rescuing Andromeda from the dragon of fear and the waters of stagnation”.

[257] BOT, p. 84.

[258] BOT, p. 84.

[259] BOT, p. 82. Crowley was writing some time after the emergence of quantum physics in the 1920’s-1930’s. The Copenhagen Interpretation was developed in the late 1920’s.

[260] BOT, p. 84.

[261] BOT, p. 83.

[262] BOT, p. 83.

[263] Moonchild , pp. 108-9.

[264] Moonchild , p. 107.

[265] BOT, p. 80 quoting The Vision and the Voice , 2 nd Aethyr.

[266] BOT, p. 81.

[267] BOT, p. 81.

[268] BOT, p. 82.

[269] AL I: 29-30.

[270] BOT, p. 80.

[271] BOT, p. 80.

[272] BOT, p. 256.

[273] Magick , p. 177.

[274] Magick , p. 176-7.

[275] BOT, pp. 85-6, note 1.

[276] Magick, p. 199.

[277] Ibid .

[278] Ibid .

[279] Equinox of the Gods , p. 138.

[280] AL II.76.

[281] See Crowley, A. Liber 418 , Cry of the 1 st Aether.

[282] Magick , p. 179.

[283] Magick , p. 179, footnote.

[284] The name is spelt in Hebrew forms variously, sometimes as Yod+Heh (Jh) + Beth+Ayin+Lamed (Ba’aL) + Aleph+Vau+Nun (On). We can spend many a happy hour considering the correspondences to these letters, such as the Hermit and the Emperor representing the power of the male seed, the Magician, Devil and Justice illustrating the magical act of adjustment in the material realm, and the Fool, Hierophant and Death concluding with the freedom of life against all laws. Your own mileage may vary.

[285] There is a further connection of this particular word to the instruction to love god with “all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might” [Deuteronomy 6:3-9] and “thy neighbour as thyself”. This suggests we are on the right line of contemplation with regard to the Grail and the associated mystical method and experience.

[286] BOT, p. 85.

[287] BOT, p. 85.

[288] BOT, p. 85.

[289] BOT, p. 86.

[290] BOT, p. 88.

[291] DuQuette, L. M. Understanding Aleister Crowley’s Thoth Tarot (San Francisco: Weiser, 2003), p. 119.

[292] BOT, p. 87.

[293] Letter to Aleister Crowley from Frieda Harris, July 12 th , n.y.

[294] BOT, p. 256.

[295] BOT, p. 287.

[296] BOT, p. 86.

[297] Magick , p. 160.

[298] Magick , p. 160 & BOT, p. 86.

[299] Magick , p. 160.

[300] BOT, p. 88.

[301] Magick , p. 87.

[302] Magick , p. 87.

[303] BOT, p. 87.

[304] BOT, p. 87.

[305] BOT, p. 87.

[306] BOT, p. 88.

[307] BOT, p. 257.

[308] BOT, p.89.

[309] So to speak.

[310] Legge, J. The Sacred Books of China, Part II: The Yi-King (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1882) Appendix VI, p. 435.

[311] Liber ABA, p. 647.

[312] BOT, p. 89.

[313] BOT, p. 89.

[314] BOT, p. 89.

[315] BOT, p. 89.

[316] BOT, p. 89.

[317] BOT, p. 89.

[318] BOT, p. 257.

[319] BOT, p. 257.

[320] BOT, p. 89 n.1 Kteis and Phallus are the vagina and penis.

[321] BOT, p. 257.

[322] BOT, p. 257.

[323] BOT, p. 90.

[324] BOT, p. 133-4.

[325] BOT, p. 91.

[326] BOT, p. 91.

[327] BOT, p. 257.

[328] BOT, p. 95.

[329] BOT, p. 92.

[330] BOT, p. 92.

[331] BOT, p. 95.

[332] BOT, p. 95.

[333] BOT, pp. 93-4.

[334] Confessions , p. 44.

[335] Confessions , p. 44.

[336] Confessions , p. 44.

[337] BOT, p. 94 quoting BOL, p. 108.

[338] See Katz, M. Tarosophy (Keswick: Forge Press, 2016).

[339] BOT, p. 95.

[340] BOT, p. 92.

[341] AL, I.51.

[342] BOT, p. 97.

[343] BOT, p. 97.

[344] BOT, p. 97.

[345] BOT, p. 96.

[346] Magick , p. 221.

[347] BOT, p. 98.

[348] BOT, p. 98.

[349] BOT, p. 98.

[350] BOT, p. 99.

[351] BOT, p. 97.

[352] BOT, pp. 99-100.

[353] BOT, p. 101.

[354] BOT, p. 99.

[355] BOT, p. 101.

[356] BOT, p. 99.

[357] BOT, p. 100.

[358] MWT, p. 382.

[359] BOT, p. 100.

[360] BOT, pp. 100-101.

[361] BOT, p. 101.

[362] BOT, p. 258.

[363] BOT, p. 102.

[364] BOT, p. 102.

[365] BOT, p. 258.

[366] BOT, p. 102.

[367] BOT, p. 103.

[368] BOT, p. 102.

[369] BOT, p. 103.

[370] Crowley, A. The Equinox , III.1 (1919). See Chappell, V. Sexual Outlaw, Erotic Mystic: The Essential Ida Craddock (San Francisco: Red Wheel/Weiser: 2010).

[371] Letter to Frieda Harris from Aleister Crowley, 19th December, 1939.

[372] BOT, p. 104.

[373] BOT, p. 104.

[374] BOT, p. 104.

[375] BOT, p. 104.

[376] On page 104 of the Book of Thoth , he refers to this as “the Fourth Aethyr, LIT” and in the Appendix, page 139, it is footnoted as the 5 th Aethyr. It is from the 5 th Aethyr, LIT.

[377] The following four quotes are taken from the Book of Thoth , pp. 139-143.

[378] BOT, p. 141. See also Staley, M. ‘The Vision and the Voice’, section ‘The Arrow of Thelema’ in Starfire , I.4, 1991, pp. 40-46.

[379] Protoevangelion , XIII.

[380] BOT, p. 258.

[381] BOT, p. 107.

[382] BOT, p. 105.

[383] BOT, p. 106.

[384] BOT, p. 105.

[385] BOT, p. 105.

[386] BOT, p. 106.

[387] Crowley, A. Liber Liberi vel Lapdis Lazuli .

[388] BOT, p. 106.

[389] BOT, p. 105.

[390] BOT, p. 106.

[391] BOT, p. 106.

[392] BOT, p. 106.

[393] For indeed, in the wisdom of the Madonna (1985), we are “living in a material world (material)”.

[394] BOT, p. 105.

[395] Budge. E. A. W. Gods of the Egyptians (New York: Dover Publications, 1969).

[396] BOT, p. 106.

[397] BOT, p. 105.

[398] BOT, p. 107.

[399] AL. I.42-4.

[400] BOT, p. 108.

[401] Letter from Frieda Harris to Aleister Crowley, March 25 th , 1942.

[402] Ibid .

[403] Mountfort, P. ‘Tarot Guide Books as a Literary Genre: Narratives of Destiny’ in Auger, E. E. (ed.) Tarot in Culture, Volume I (Clifford, ON: Valleyhome Books, 2014).

[404] BOT, p. 107.

[405] Ibid .

[406] Ibid .

[407] AL III. 3-9.

[408] Crowley, A. Liber Lapidis Lazuli . I. 36-40.

[409] Sayers, D. L. Introductory Papers on Dante (Eugene: Wipf & Stock Publishers, 2006), p. 149.

[410] BOT, p. 108.

[411] Or perhaps we might not.

[412] BOT, p. 108.

[413] AL I. 57.

[414] The Law is for All , p. 141.

[415] BOT, p. 108.

[416] BOT, p. 108.

[417] BOT, p. 108.

[418] BOT, p. 108.

[419] BOL, p. 132.

[420] AL III.17.

[421] BOT, p. 110.

[422] MWT, p. 310.

[423] Ibid .

[424] Ibid .

[425] Liber Al. I.3.

[426] Confessions , p. 810.

[427] BOT, p. 109.

[428] Confessions , p. 811.

[429] Ibid , p. 810.

[430] Ibid , p. 811.

[431] Ibid , p. 810.

[432] Ibid , footnote 82.3, p. 935.

[433] Eight Lectures on Yoga , ‘Yoga for Yellowbellies’, pp. 19-20.

[434] See Bain, D. A New Dawn for Tarot: Original Golden Dawn Tarot Materials (Keswick: Forge Press, 2014), pp. 120-1.

[435] BOT, p. 110.

[436] BOT, p. 109.

[437] BOT, p. 111.

[438] BOT, p. 111, quoting BOL, I. 61.

[439] The Law is for All , p. 149.

[440] Postcript fragment from letter to Aleister Crowley by Frieda Harris, n.d.

[441] BOT, p. 110.

[442] BOT, p. 110.

[443] BOT, p. 110.

[444] AL, I.3.

[445] Letter from Frieda Harris to Aleister Crowley, n.d.

[446] BOT, p. 112.

[447] Ibid .

[448] See Urban, H. ‘Unleashing the Beast: Aleister Crowley, Tantra and Sex Magic in Late Victorian England‘ http://www.esoteric.msu.edu/VolumeV/Unleashing_the_Beast.htm [Last accessed 26th April 2018].

[449] BOT, p. 112.

[450] Magick , p. 164.

[451] Ibid .

[452] See Magick , pp. 164-5 and footnote 1 by John Symonds and Kenneth Grant.

[453] Magick , p. 164.

[454] Ibid .

[455] Catullus. The Carmina of Gaius Valerius Catullus . Leonard C. Smithers. London. Smithers. 1894. Catul , 74.

[456] It should be noted that in addition to concealing a transgressive act of magic meant to be understood through taboo in a spiritual sense, homosexuality was illegal in the UK until 1967. Crowley published Magick in 1912 – 1913, some fifty years prior to the change in law.

[457] BOT, p. 112.

[458] GD, p. 191.

[459] BOT, p. 112.

[460] See diagram in Corner, G. The Hormones in Human Reproduction (Princeton University Press, 1942).

[461] BOT, p. 113.

[462] BOT, p. 259.

[463] BOT, p. 113.

[464] Crowley, A. Konx Om Pax (New York: Walter Scott Publishing, 1907), p. 77.

[465] BOT, p. 113.

[466] BOT, p. 114.

[467] Shakespeare, The Tempest , Act I, Scene 2.

[468] BOT, p. 114.

[469] BOL, p. 99.

[470] BOT, p. 113.

[471] BOT, p. 114.

[472] BOT, p. 113-4.

[473] BOT, p. 220.

[474] BOT, p. 259.

[475] AL I. 41.

[476] BOL, p. 99 in ‘The Mass of the Phoenix’.

[477] BOT, p. 116.

[478] BOT, p. 115.

[479] BOT, p. 116.

[480] BOT, p. 115.

[481] See Bain, D., Goodwin, T. & Katz, M. A New Dawn for Tarot: The Original Tarot of the Golden Dawn (Keswick: Forge Press, 2014).

[482] BOT, p. 115.

[483] BOL, III.46.

[484] AL, III.10.

[485] AL, III.39.

[486] AL, I.54.

[487] BOT, p. 260.

[488] BOT, p. 260.

[489] BOT, p. 260.

[490] BOT, p. 118.

[491] BOT, p. 118.

[492] BOT, p. 118 quoting from Liber Al [II.22].

[493] Letter to Aleister Crowley from Frieda Harris, n.d.

[494] Sullivan, J. W. N. The Bases of Modern Science (London: Ernest Benn Ltd, 1928), pp. 243-4.

[495] BOT, p. 260.

[496] Katz, M. Tarosophy (Keswick: Forge Press, 2011).

[497] BOT, p. 287.

[498] BOT, p. 75.

[499] BOT, xi.

[500] Fuller, J. F. The Star in the West: A Critical Essay upon the Works of Aleister Crowley (New York: Walter Scott Publishing, Co. 1907), p. 322. Fuller goes on to effuse, “I do not hesitate to add here that had this extraordinary Essay been written in the days of Albertus Magnus, it would now be considered one of the most important and curious of magical works; many religions have been founded on less”.

[501] However, it does mention “The Book of the Law” in passing, as he concludes the story. Whether this was because Crowley was writing ahead of 1904 and used the title in a generic sense, or it was on his mind, or whether he added it for publication in 1904, I am unsure.

[502] Crowley, A. The Sword of Song (Boleskine: Society for the Propagation of Religious Truth, 1904), p. 78.

[503] Ibid , p. 80.

[504] Those interested in exploring the path of initiation in the Western Esoteric Initiatory System are invited to take part in the Crucible Club at www.westernesotericism.com.

[505] Confessions , p. 537.

[506] BOL, p. 6.

[507] Magick , p. 143.

[508] Magick , pp. 294-305.

[509] Magick , p. 294; “Any deviation from this line tends to become black magic. Any other operation is black magic”.

[510] Magick , p. 257 & p. 198.

[511] ‘Producing the Thoth Tarot’ (September 23 rd , 2017), http://www.jameswassermanbooks.com/producing-the-thoth-tarot/ [Last accessed 15 th June 2018].

[512] Wang, R. An Introduction to the Golden Dawn Tarot (New York: Samuel Weiser, 1978), pp. 156-8.

[513] BOT, p. 166.

[514] Ibid .

[515] Ibid .

[516] BOT, p. 79.

[517] BOT, p. 92.

[518] BOT, p. 92.

[519] BOT, p. 95.

[520] BOT, p. 180.

[521] AL I. 57.

[522] The Law is for All , p. 141.

[523] BOT, p. 108.

[524] BOT, p. 108.

[525] BOT, p. 108.

[526] BOT, p. 257.

[527] BOT, p. 152.

[528] BOT, p. 196.

[529] BOT, p. 197.

[530] Letter from Frieda Harris to Aleister Crowley, u.d.

[531] O.T.O. News, http://www.oto.org/news0413.html [Last accessed 26th April 2018]

[532] Searle, A. ‘How Much is that Fox in the Mini-Mart?’, Guardian Online, https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2013/jun/02/venice-biennale-review [Last accessed 26th April, 2018].

[533] BOT, p. 171.

[534] Letter from Frieda Harris to Aleister Crowley, May 26 th , 1941.

[535] See Turner, P. ‘The Tarot and Liber Al’ in Starfire , I.I, 1986, pp.11-15.

[536] This model is from thoughts about Crowley’s correspondences prior to his swap of the Star and the Emperor.

[537] BOT, p. 177.

[538] BOT, p. 177.

[539] BOT, p. 177.

[540] BOT, p. 177.

[541] BOT, p. 209.

[542] BOT, p. 209.

[543] ‘Devil of a Tale’ in Raffalovich, G. The Deuce and All (London: The Equinox, 1909), p. 106.

[544] ‘Devil of a Tale’, p. 128.

[545] ‘Devil of a Tale’, p. 115-6.

[546] It is odd that the tale has Graves joking “What 's the use my being the most wicked man on earth?” (p. 116) and saying, “Didn't I tell you I was the most wicked man on earth?" (p. 117) and was published in 1910, whereas the title “wickedest man in the world” was from a John Bull article on Crowley apparently published in 1923, some 14 years later. It would appear that he was being depicted specifically as such in his social circle from very early on in his career.

[547] ‘Devil of a Tale’, p. 188.

[548] BOT, p. 201.

[549] BOT, p. 211.