Review by Steven Ehrlick
I will commence my review of Lon Milo DuQuette's excellent book on the Thoth Tarot, Understanding Aleister Crowley's Thoth Tarot: An authoritative examination of the world's most fascinating and magical tarot cards - by suggesting that everyone who uses the Thoth deck do themselves a favour and buy this book. Why? Glad you asked. This isn't the best book for gleaning new card interpretations for divination purposes nor does it shed light on new spreads or delve extensively into the history of Tarot. But it does do what the title promises. Read this book and your understanding of the Thoth deck will expand no matter how familiar you are with the Thoth deck. Why is the book so good.....?
1. It's funny. Huh, funny you say. What could be funny about the Thoth deck. Well, as it turns out, very little. But Mr. DuQuette is self-deprecating and personable and he takes on contentious issues with tongue usually firmly in cheek. Example: Part One is entitled: Little Bits Of Things You Should Know Before Beginning to Study Aleister Crowley's Thoth Tarot. His point of view is avuncular and non-threatening and he makes slogging through the tough stuff a lot easier than most authors would be capable of doing.
2 . He (gasp) humanizes Crowley. Somewhat reluctantly assuming the role of apologist, DuQuette tells the other side of the story. He makes a compelling case on Crowley's behalf, highlighting A.C.’s contributions as an occult scholar and purveyor of a new era in human spirituality. DuQuette manages to get the reader past all of the rhetoric and knee-jerk reaction to Crowley and just tells it like it is.
3. DuQuette has a remarkable talent for taking extremely esoteric Hermetic knowledge and distilling it for the layperson. I now finally understand, albeit on a basic level, what the heck all those astrological symbols and planets mean and why they make appearances on specific cards. Also, it was news to me that the Court cards (other than the Princesses) rule 3 minor cards and that one of those three cards is not from the suit of that particular Court card. The book not only got me more excited about the Thoth deck, it also surreptitiously ignited in me an interest in Astrology, an area of study that I have had heretofore only a passing interest in. I finally know the difference between a Cardinal sign and a Mutable sign and this book isn't really about astrology!
4. The chapter on the Rose Cross is worth the price of admission. Here I've been staring at the back of the Thoth deck for a year and a half and had no idea what I was looking at. I was so fascinated with this cross (there's an excellent reproduction of the actual rose cross on the inside back cover) that I found a picture of it on the 'net and downloaded it.
5. This book greatly enhanced my understanding of the Tree of Life and its relationship to the Tarot which nicely augmented the information I had recently absorbed from Kliegman's book, Tarot and the Tree of Life.
6. Each chapter begins with excerpts of Lady Harris's letters to Crowley and vice versa that are charming, informative and benignly voyeuristic. There is a wit and combativeness to Lady Harris's correspondence that has the affect of humanizing Crowley.
Now the book did disappoint on occasion. In the card descriptions, there is an inconsistency that I sometimes found disconcerting. With some cards, DuQuette goes on at length describing the symbolism contained therein, but in others, he becomes anecdotal and kind of forgets to describe the card symbolism for us (see Seven of Cups). There were cards that he just didn't seem to want to tell his readers too much about. But when he likes a card, you know it! As for divination, he lets Crowley speak for himself, excerpting the writings of Crowley. And as interesting as it was to learn that three of the Court cards rule three of the pips (the exception being the Princesses who acts as the throne for the Ace) he does not adequately explain what it means for a Court card to rule a minor. I was left on my own to assume what that means. For instance, the Queen of Pentacles rules the 10 of Wands. What does that mean, exactly, and should it be taken into consideration when the 10 of Wands comes up in a reading? I wish he had spent some time on the subject but alas, he did not.
This book is a must for Thoth users. Don’t let my own ignorance scare away advanced Tarot practitioners. This is a serious book and valuable to beginner and expert alike. As importantly, if you have been turned off by what you think you know about this deck and its creator, read this book and see if you feel the same way afterwards.
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