Why use the Aleister Crowley tarot deck?
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
I am an advocate of the Aleister Crowley tarot deck for several reasons; however, when choosing a tarot deck what really matters is if you are in some way moved by the cards. It does not matter if it is the artwork, symbolism, the creators back story or a fond memory you have from a reading on a particular deck. It is most important that the tool you choose to use is something that you can identify with.
Most tarot decks are copies of the Rider-Wait Tarot deck, co-created by Arthur Edward Waite. A.E Waite based his tarot system on information he gathered while he was a member of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and was influenced by the works of Eliphas Levi. Wait was in several secret societies and took his oaths very seriously. Unfortunately, this means that he could not reveal everything he learned. This secrecy corrupted his system of tarot, thus the breadth of this corruption is open to debate.
Aleister Crowley was also a member of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, as well as many other secret societies, but was not the type to withhold important information. Crowley’s writings are somewhat obscure because his mind works in geometry, numbers, and symbolism; however, he never attempted to hold anything back. Crowley’s approach to initiation—from my perspective—focused on disseminating information in a manageable way, building on what was learned in the previous grade. This is no different from going to school. It should be noted that all of Aleister Crowley’s original writings are available in the public domain and the edited versions of his volumes of work have been in publication since his death. Anyone can study any of his work at any time they wish.
Aleister Crowley tarot is the culmination of a lifetime of study of world religions and esoteric occult traditions. Moreover, it is created around a philosophical system I support and symbolism I can identify with. In short, the THOTH tarot deck is for me.
Love is the law, love under will.
Just wanted to….
Thank you !!!!
And say .. I agree….:}}}
(Do as thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law
Love is the law, love under will.)
Blessed Be…
Nicole
“Seeking Advice ..”
I chose a single card for myself (The Knight of Cups)
in the presence of someone I just met- and really like.
“He” chose The Knight of Discs (Twice)for himself.
He is Pisces (Aquarius cusp) and I am Capricorn(Aquarius cusp)
I am trying to be unbiased…
I would appreciate any help…
Love Light and Peace
I agree with you half-way.
Yes, Waite/Golden Dawn is corrupted. (“Tzaddi is not the Star”)
But, no, not *all* of Crowley’s writing is freely available and in the public domain. Some documents (such as King’s versions of many higher documents) are just as corrupted as the Golden Dawn material. And O.T.O. is still sitting on several never-published documents, some of which they will eventually publish — as they did in the Crowley astrology book they released a decade ago — and some of which they never intend to publish.
So, I half agree with you: Thoth is more correct and the keys to interpreting it as Corwley intended are more readily available. And, in my opinion, everything you need *is* accessible and openly available, if often cryptic. But everything that exists is not openly available.