Aleister Crowley: The Tarot of Tota. "The Book of Thoth" by A. Crowley

Aleister Crowley is a famous Kabbalist, occultist and English reader. Strictly speaking, Crowley himself is not the creator of the "Tarot Thoth" deck, he only resurrected the lost wisdom. There are many different versions of the origin of this deck. The most popular is associated with Ancient Egypt. According to her, the characters in Tarot Tota are encoded in which the sacral knowledge of the priests of the god Tot is enclosed. Crowley was also a supporter of this theory. He was engaged in decoding and restoration of ancient images, which were eventually described in the book "Tarot of Tota."

History

He had his reasons for pursuing Crowley's mystical research. Tarot, in the understanding of the mystic, was the bearer of sacral knowledge. Therefore, when Crowley was convinced that in the early 20th century the time of the god Osiris would end and the epoch of God Horus would begin, he realized that the change of cycles would reflect on the magical and spiritual sphere of human life. And such changes will lead to the need to make corrections and changes in the tarot card system, symbolically reflecting all areas of the surrounding reality.

Initially, the occultist did not want to change the entire deck. He was only going to fix the most significant values. However, Frida Harris, his assistant and artist, insisted that the deck be completely redesigned. As a result, changes have been made to both the visual series, and the semantic sequence.

Work on the new deck was started in 1938 and lasted for 5 long years, although initially Crowley intended to make all the necessary changes in 3 months.

The book "Tarot Tota" (Crowley)

"The Book of Thoth" is Crowley's most famous work, in which the occultist presented a complete description and interpretation of Thoth's deck. This book can be considered as a textbook on Tarot cards in general, and as a guide to the worldview of its author and occult philosophy.

The cabbalistic interpretation of the Tarot deck, various divination systems, quotes from the Book of the Law and many other occult texts included Crowley's work. Tarot is in the "Book of Thoth" in the way of world understanding and comprehension of ancient wisdom.

The author himself called the deck he created not only an "encyclopedia of occult philosophy," but also a "reference book that covers the directions of magical and mystical thought for the next two millennia."

Distinctive features

By nature he was a passionate syncretic of Crowley. Tarot was a reflection of his quest. The occultist traveled the world in search of secret knowledge, studied the mystical, occult and magical traditions of various nations and societies, including traditional religious communities and secret brotherhoods, to which only the initiates were allowed. The result of this was the synthesis of all that was learned into a complex teaching, which was called the "telem."

This mixture of religions and magical mysteries was reflected in his Tarot deck, which was the result of the exploration of the entire life of the occultist - after finishing work on the cards he lived only 3 years. Therefore, the correct interpretation of Taro Crowley is very difficult without studying the philosophical views of the mystic.

Among the first distinctive feature of the deck of Thoth is the design - no one used this style before to decorate the Tarot. For this you can thank the artist-Egyptologist F. Harris.

The next difference is more significant and connected with the conceptual side. The fact is that the interpretation of the symbols of Tarot Thoth is very different from the interpretation of traditional decks. This is due to the fact that Crowley connected the symbols of many occult schools and cultures, and also added pictures of his own worldview.

Symbolism and the meaning of Taro Crowley

To effectively use the Tarot Crowley deck for fortune telling, you need to master its symbolism. If the traditional maps allow free and associative interpretations, then in the case of Tarot Thoth, it is necessary to follow the semantic definition that Crowley gave himself. Another remarkable point - all the cards from the deck of Thoth are interpreted exclusively in a straight position. In Crowley's system, there are simply no separate meanings for interpreting inverted maps.

In addition, the mystic refused in his Tarot from using the arcana "Last Judgment", which was replaced by "Eon", invented by the author. Changed Crowley and some names. Thus, the arcane "Moderation" and "Strength" turned into "Regulation" and "Lust".

Thus, Crowley created his own fortune-telling system, the key to which is found in The Book of Thoth.

Elder Arcana

Cards "Tarot Thoth" Aleister Crowley, like the traditional, are divided into two lasso - the older and the younger. The older ones include 22 cards that are semantic, unlike the younger ones. It was they who were affected by the most powerful changes. Therefore, in the first place, it is necessary to consider and describe them in detail.

Arcana from 0 to 5

A zero card, or "Fool" (Fool, Madman, Jester). Traditionally, the card is placed between 20 and 21 arcanes, but Crowley placed it at the beginning of the series, offering to start the senior arcane from scratch. "Fool" refers to the air element, Uranus acts as a patron planet. It means ideas, novelty, spirituality, the boundary between the old and the new.

"Magician", 1 arcana - refers to Mercury. Denotes strength, wisdom, skills and abilities, opportunities, spiritual potential, vigor, creativity, communication skills, thought processes.

"High Priestess", 2 arkans - is connected with the Moon. Denotes feelings, intuition, instincts, inner concentration, introversion.

"Empress", 3 arkans - corresponds with Venus. He is responsible for sex, love, beauty, pleasure and fertility.

"Emperor", 4 arkans - is associated with the zodiac sign Aries. It symbolizes domination, leadership, devotion and idealism; Struggle, power, ambition, anger, exaltation, fanaticism, stubbornness.

"Hierophant", 5 arkan - corresponds with the sign of Taurus. It is the material embodiment of spiritual principles. It symbolizes perseverance, work, will power, structuredness, organization.

Arcana from 6 to 10

We continue to describe the tarot cards of Crowley.

"Lovers", 6 lasso - is associated with the sign of Gemini. This card is one of the most difficult to interpret in the Tarot Thoth. Nevertheless, its general values are as follows: interaction, communication, choice, inconsistency.

"Chariot", 7 lasso - is under the influence of Cancer. Symbolizes force, internal search, victory, overcoming obstacles, introspection.

"Regulation", 8 lasso - he is protected by the constellation Libra. Denotes justice, balance, poise and harmony.

"The Hermit", 9 lasso - connected with the Virgin. Symbolizes wisdom, the search for knowledge, meaningfulness, depth of knowledge, self-sufficiency, systematization.

"Wheel of Fate", 10 lasso - protects Jupiter. It embodies fateful turns in life and socially significant phenomena: religion, politics, ideology. It is interpreted as luck and happiness.

Arcana from 11 to 15

Aleister Crowley paid great attention to the planet-patron or zodiacal sign associated with the lasso. In their ratio lies the deep meaning and the key to understanding the symbolism of the map.

"Lust", 11 lasso - patronizes the Lion. It symbolizes conviction, fervor, creative energy, strong, almost fanatical enthusiasm for anything.

"Hanged", 12 lasso - corresponds with Neptune and is under the protection of the water element. Denotes loss, sacrifice, punishment, suffering.

"Death", 13 lasso - patronizes Scorpio. It symbolizes transformation, change, significant rethinking, destruction, crisis, the collapse of ideas or business. In extremely rare cases, it can mean physical dying.

"Art", 14 lasso - is associated with the constellation of Sagittarius. Another difficult for interpretation map, because it is not directly related to art as an aspect of life. The map indicates, rather, a symbiosis of different forces, their interaction, the sequence of actions.

"Devil", 15 lasso - patronizes Capricorn. Directly connected with the concept of subordination. In addition, it denotes obstacles, stiffness, slavery, obsession, and the absorption of the material side of life.

Arcana from 16 to 21

The description of the older lasso, proposed by Crowley (Taro), is coming to an end.

"Tower", 16 lasso - corresponds with Mars. Symbolizes danger, blow of destiny, changes.

"Star", 17 lasso - is under the auspices of Aquarius. Indicates possibility, hope, faith, unexpected help.

"Luna", 18 lasso - the zodiacal sign of Pisces. Indicates confusion, deception, mistakes, witchcraft, the beginning of change.

"Sun", 19 lasso - protects the Sun. It symbolizes triumph, victory, power, glory, satisfaction, realization of the conceived, truth, selfishness.

"Eon", 20 arcanes - is associated with Pluto and the fiery element. The map was created by Crowley. Indicates the transition, initiation, summing up, the threshold between the old and the new.

"The universe", 21 lasso - patronizes Saturn. It is treated as a tog, synthesis, integrity, completeness, perfection.

The Minor Arcana

Junior Arcane Tarot Crowley consists of 56 cards. They were practically not changed. The only thing that distinguishes them from the traditional deck is the design, which, although devoid of the plot, gives the characters a great imagery. Crowley's main change is the replacement of the suit of pentacles for the suit of disks. At the same time, the symbolic value of the maps did not change.