Observations about the Thoth Tarot
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I think you're right. I just finished reading some letters that Crowley wrote to Germer at the end of his life, and it sounds like the only reason he wrote the book was out of financial necessity. No other book should be written about this particular deck
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93,
Exterior or conscious promptings like "I need cash" are one way of bringing about greater consequences than the financially needy can contemplate. I find the Book of Thoth uneven, but it has many gems in it. I agree with others that it's not yet been surpassed.
93 93/93,
EM
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I have recently noticed that the word 'ABRACADABRA' is written in the stitching atop the Chariot in Atu VII...I wonder why that specific spelling of the word was employed rather than the more fitting 'ABRAHADABRA'.
616
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@miss ruby said
"a typo?"
I shudder to think that the Atus might have careless mistakes painted into them
...I would hope that this was a conscious decision based on well-formulated concepts. 
616
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It's a typo.
Also, fwiw, I agree that there are no better books than Crowley's The Book of Thoth. That, of course, is another way of saying there are no good books at all on the Thoth tarot.
Your best bet is to spend the time to meditate on the cards, perhaps over a period of 5-10 years. A properly constructed pack of Tarot is a book written for your subconsciousness, and needs no commentary. There aren't many properly constructed Tarot decks, but the Thoth is one of them.
Since it is properly constructed, it's filled with symbols your subconsciousness already knows how to read. For the same reason, however, if your intellect insists on reading about the cards, there's no reason not to read a quality book about any other quality deck. Perhaps to the dismay of many who falsely believe that Crowley eradicated every last bit of Old Aeon signs &c, the Thoth deck is chock full of the same imagery you'll find in other decks. The Tarot is based on Qabalah, and Qabalah is Qabalah, whether you're studying Old Aeon magick, or New.
All that being said, Case's works on Tarot probably cannot be beat, either The Tarot, or even better, the privately printed subscription courses of BOTA, particularly the first three. Basic works on Qabalah are helpful, like Regardie's The Tree of Life and The Garden of Pomegranates, and Fortune's The Mystical Qabalah. 777 is invaluable. Liber Theta: Tarot Symbolism and Divination is an excellent source for understanding the minor arcana especially, in their Qabalistic and astrological fundamentals â perhaps this will return to print at some point soon. For the Thoth specifics, you do need Crowley's commentary on the pack, at least a few dozen grains of salt, and Liber AL.
Mostly, though, you just mediate.
93 93/93
Love and L.V.X.
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IMO there are no typos in the cards. There are no mistakes or errors. None. Not so much as an errant spec of paint or skewed line. Every bit of it is rendered from a divine force of magical will. I did notice the writing in the Chariot but I have not manifested the card on the astral. I will do it next week since I am travelling this week and cannot do that detailed work on the road. However like other matters I may not be able to comment if I find something. But I am positive that is not a 'typo'.
From my experience, trying to 'read' or even comprehend the card like you would anything in normal consciousness will yield no useful results or insight. It must be manifested on the astral before the operator, in the appropriate frequency, and the cards will open. In my case a teacher has appeared to explain certain cards - not a fleshy teacher. He explains the cards in a very detailed, urgent, and hurried fashion, but again, not as you and I would have an everyday conversation. Even though the book AC wrote was called the Book of Thoth, the actual Book of Thoth is the cards themselves, not the book he wrote.
Meditating and just absorbing the card have been effective. I have caught constructs of the card being drawn into me, bypassing the psychic censor but still without conscious knowledge. If you want a mega blast of the card, gaze upon it during and just after orgasm.
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@KRVB MMShCh said
"I have recently noticed that the word 'ABRACADABRA' is written in the stitching atop the Chariot in Atu VII...I wonder why that specific spelling of the word was employed rather than the more fitting 'ABRAHADABRA'.
616"
Just giving a quick study without booting up, the 'writing' has the characteristic that it is not 'written on the card', but is manifesting from the chaos. This is a property of how sigils are manifested throughout the cards, which means that this is not writing to be 'read'. More likely is that there are multiple sigils which manifest from the 'words' which have a magical meaning related to the card.
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I'm with KRVB. Don't you think A.C. would've made sure that everything was done according to his standards? - especially a card as signifigant as The Chariot?
R.E.D.
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@Edward Mason said
"93,
Exterior or conscious promptings like "I need cash" are one way of bringing about greater consequences than the financially needy can contemplate. I find the Book of Thoth uneven, but it has many gems in it. I agree with others that it's not yet been surpassed.
93 93/93,
EM"
Hi Ed! Hope you are doing well.
IMO, these cards will never be surpassed unless there is another Beast on the way. It is impossible (and I don't use that word often
). All other decks are likely flawed and pale reflections. -
@KRVB MMShCh said
"...if it's a typo, then wouldn't that imply that the deck wasn't "properly constructed"?"
No. "Proper construction" of a Tarot deck refers to the symbols on it, not the words. Anything your conscious mind can read is pretty insignificant. (And yes, that includes the titles of the cards.)
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@Jim Eshelman said
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@KRVB MMShCh said
"...if it's a typo, then wouldn't that imply that the deck wasn't "properly constructed"?"No. "Proper construction" of a Tarot deck refers to the symbols on it, not the words. Anything your conscious mind can read is pretty insignificant. (And yes, that includes the titles of the cards.)"
...so, are you of the opinion that ABRACADABRA is a typo?
616
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@Red Eagle of Death said
"I'm with KRVB. Don't you think A.C. would've made sure that everything was done according to his standards? - especially a card as signifigant as The Chariot?"
I sure think he'd have tried. But there are many documented instances of his missing things. (As a proofreader, he was only human! <g>)
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@KRVB MMShCh said
"...so, are you of the opinion that ABRACADABRA is a typo?"
I haven't given an opinion on that here. I'm only commenting on the principles being discussed.
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@Jim Eshelman said
"I haven't given an opinion on that here."
It is evident that you haven't...are you avoiding the inquiry for a reason?
R.E.D.
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@Red Eagle of Death said
"I'm with KRVB. Don't you think A.C. would've made sure that everything was done according to his standards? - especially a card as signifigant as The Chariot?"
What do you make of the white light coming down from the top-right of Atu IV? Hint: It's another error, if AC's commentary in The Book of Thoth is accurate as to what it's supposed to be.
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@Jim Eshelman said
""Proper construction" of a Tarot deck refers to the symbols on it, not the words. Anything your conscious mind can read is pretty insignificant. (And yes, that includes the titles of the cards.)"
This is a logical inconsistency. Everything is a symbol that communicates something or another to the subconscious mind - & for a Qabalist, this is especially true of letters.
L.Lazuli
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@zeph said
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@Red Eagle of Death said
"I'm with KRVB. Don't you think A.C. would've made sure that everything was done according to his standards? - especially a card as signifigant as The Chariot?"What do you make of the white light coming down from the top-right of Atu IV? Hint: It's another error, if AC's commentary in The Book of Thoth is accurate as to what it's supposed to be."
If it's a pictoral error, then(unless that light is made of letters), according to Jim's definition of 'properly constructed', it is an improperly constructed deck...so which is it?
R.E.D.