Tarot Card Meaning: How to Interpret Aleister Crowley tarot Cards
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
One of the core principals of any Gnostic tradition is that spiritual knowledge comes from within and not from external sources. It is important that you develop your own relationship with the cards and not allow yourself to be forced into a specific interpretation just because some book, or website tells you that a card means some specific thing.
When you first begin to use the cards for divination, it does not hurt to have some loose interpretations of the cards handy, so that you can get the general feel for what the meaning of the card is, such as the book Keywords for the Crowley Tarot
, by Hajo Banzhalf and Brigitte Theler. This book is a very general quick reference guide that provides keywords and points out key symbols in the cards of the THOTH tarot deck. While I am doing readings, I generally have this book close by just in case a particular spread is giving me some trouble. I will be posting general interpretations of each card of the Crowley THOTH tarot deck to be used as a starting point for individuals looking to jump right into divination. However, they are only a general guide. Your best readings will be done with your intuition, using tarot card meanings, as a tool to aid you.
To get a more thorough understanding of the THOTH tarot deck it is important that you spend some time getting to know each card and read what Aleister Crowley wrote about them in The Book of Thoth
. Spend some time considering the symbolism, how Crowley intended it to be used within Thelemic mysticism, and what it means to you. Another book worth reading on the subject is Understanding Aleister Crowley’s Thoth Tarot
, by Lon Milo DuQuette. DuQuette is the governing officer of the O.T.O, since 1975 and is an authority on the volumes of work left behind by Aleister Crowley. His own writing is arguably easier to understand than that of Aleister Crowley. In many cases he sheds light on points that might otherwise be lost if you were left to decode the mysteries of The Book of THOTH on your own. Understanding Aleister Crowley’s Thoth Tarot, Takes the same approach to discovering tarot card meaning as Crowley’s own book, leaving the ultimate interpretations up to the reader, but serves as a great guide to understanding the symbolism and various mythologies that have been incorporated into the cards.
Love is the law, love under will.
Thanks so much for sharing all this info with us. I bought the Sun and Moon tarot today and was looking for some guidance. I didn’t even know it was a Thoth-based deck… I was just drawn to the cards themselves. I’m definitely going to study more about Crowley and his theories, so that I can really start to understand these cards.
Download the free book of THOTH in the upper left hand corner that will get you started learning Crowley’s perspective on tarot. It will also enroll you into a little newsletter I send out. I don’t send one very often these days since I am working on several other projects, but I do have plans to expand this site and beef up the news letter. Thanks for commenting and Have fun!
you should never pay for or charge for spiritual teaching. the law is for all. stop paying for adulterated publications. I have a vast collection of works including the entire works of aleister crowley. non of which was distributed by a company to sell and edited to keep the buyer from obtaining its knowledge. material illusions. beware of corporations and so called hermetic orders.
please email me and I will gladly share any book or scripture you require. All i ask is that you pass them on to whomever needs them next. 13 athbash
great page jason thank you
I am VERY new a this, and any help will be very nice.
Thank you for your site. Jean
I couldn’t find the free download. I s there another way to get it ?
I’m just getting started with the Tarot and bought the Thoth cards.
Hope I can learn to read them.
Thanks for your help. Jean
Unfortunately, the O.T.O filed a DMCAA request forcing me to remove the text as well as any images of the tarot cards throughout the site. Shows how much they really care about promulgating the Law of Thelema.