In recent years, seeking to better understand and utilize the zodiac, astrological thinking in general and see the stars as Uncle Al saw them, I have placed more attention to the tropical and sidereal. A while back, a good many folks unfamiliar with the history of astrology and the zodiac were "freaking out" over Ophiuchus. It made me think more about the astrological weaving of the Thoth Tarot. As noted in past discussions, Crowley used tropical astrology [1], but Ophiuchus did get my imagination going and I wondered: What if the Thoth Tarot had utilized sidereal instead?

Yes, the essential disclaimer. This is only a thought experiment meant to push me into studying more, thinking more about how everything fits together and why. Once you ask the question, then by design you are required to have knowledge that can back up any answer you arrive at. I will admit to a deficiency in knowledge on the topic of astrology, tropical or sidereal, and thus realize some of what I have arrived at may be inaccurate.

The full write-up is here at Codeberg so I'll stick to the highlights, but when I asked that question of "what if" I was pleasantly surprised. Yes there is change, but not as drastic or the type of change I expected. In short (or, TLDR for the kids):

• The thought experiment: Keep Crowley’s Thoth Tarot structure, but reinterpret its zodiacal layer through Fagan-Bradley / Western sidereal astrology instead of tropical astrology.

• The key shift: The tarot becomes less of a seasonal solar map and more of a stellar or precessional initiation map.

• Nothing “breaks” in the deck. The Tree of Life paths, Hebrew letters, sephiroth, planets, suits, and card imagery remain intact.

• What changes most: The zodiacal signs and decans gain a sidereal undertone, usually pulling them toward the previous tropical sign.

• Best interpretive formula:
  The card stays what it is, but the sky-current beneath it changes.

• Example: The Emperor remains Aries/authority/will, but sidereally much of that Aries field leans Pisces, so he becomes more like a visionary ruler, priest-king, or dream-commanding initiator.

• Another example: The Star remains Aquarius/Nuit/cosmic pouring, but with Capricorn undertones it becomes vision that must be structured, disciplined, and embodied.

• The Tree of Life acts as the anchor. It tells you where the card operates metaphysically.

• The sidereal zodiac acts as the moving backdrop. It tells you what deeper stellar current is passing through that operation.

• The card imagery becomes double-exposed. You still read the Harris/Crowley image, but you also ask what older sidereal sign is haunting or modifying it.

• For small cards: Sephirah, suit, planet, and title stay the same; the decan’s sign-field shifts. So “Mars in Leo” might read with a Cancerian undertone: courage becomes protective, ancestral, emotional, or defensive.

• For court cards: Significators could change if you choose them by sidereal Sun or Ascendant rather than tropical. This especially affects “people cards.”

• Crowley’s divination mechanics mostly stay the same. Counting rules, Tree operations, and card handling do not need to change.

• What changes is the reader’s emphasis: less “What season/sign archetype is this?” and more “What fixed-star initiatory current is expressing through this card?”

• The practical reading method:

  1. Read the card normally in Crowley’s Thoth system.
  2. Add the sidereal undertone.
  3. Resolve the tension through the Tree of Life.

• Main insight: A sidereal Thoth Tarot would be more liminal, stellar, ancestral, and aeonic — not cleaner, but deeper and stranger.

• Tiny summary: Crowley’s tarot keeps its skeleton, but sidereal astrology changes the lighting.

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