The Thoth tarot, by Aleister Crowley and Frieda Harris, is a beautiful but inscrutable occult tarot deck. Lon Milo DuQuette sweeps away much of this inscrutability in Understanding Aleister Crowley's Thoth Tarot. Thelemites, dilettantes, students and scholars will all find much of interest within its pages.
DuQuette quotes liberally from Crowley's Book of Thoth, as well as letters between Crowley and Harris. These fascinating documents add humanity to the book and the deck. The author also compares Crowley's original designs with Harris's final drawings. Sure, he slips up here and there, putting in "too much DuQuette," but his engaging writing makes these lapses very forgivable.
The book's first part gives background information about the Thoth deck, its history and the "little bits of things you should know" before studying it, from the symbols of the Rosy Cross to the basics of the Kabbalah. The book's second part interprets all seventy eight cards in the Thoth tarot deck, explains their symbolism, and offers Kabbalistic, esoteric, astrological and mythological correspondences for every card.
The Thoth tarot, like the Rider-Waite-Smith deck before it, is based on the teachings of the Golden Dawn. As influential as it was short-lived, the Golden Dawn was a magical order whose members swore to "divulge nothing...concerning this Order to the outside world." A.E. Waite, Pamela Smith and Aleister Crowley were all members, and all received the same teachings on the tarot.
If occult tarot theory confuses you, this book is right for you, even if the Thoth deck isn't. DuQuette makes everything as simple as possible--though no simpler--and clarifies the underlying ideas with avuncular good cheer. If you can apply the lessons learned in this book to your tarot deck of choice, you will be pleasantly surprised by your new and improved insights.
This book lacks an index, even though it's over 300 pages long. Without one, it's hard to find some passages, especially DuQuette's entertaining tangents. This said, there is a nice glossary, a bibliography and oodles of endnotes at the book's back.
Understanding... is a companion text for the Crowley/Harris tarot. It will deepen one's knowledge of the deck's meaning and symbolism. Those without the deck will still enjoy reading it, provided they have an interest in tarot, occultism, Aleister Crowley, the Golden Dawn or all of the above. If you are thinking of getting the Thoth tarot, but are still on the fence about it, read this book first. Be warned, though: after reading, you'll probably want to buy it!
This review originally appeared on Know Your Tarot (knowyourtarot.com).
Elizabeth Benefiel is the webmistress of Know Your Tarot, a website about the history and meaning of tarot cards.
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