The Book of Thoth (Egyptian Tarot)
A Short Essay on the Tarot of the Egyptians, Being the Equinox, Volume III, No. V
by Aleister Crowley
The Tarot is a pictorial representation of the Forces of Nature as conceived by the Ancients according to a conventional symbolism. At first sight one would suppose this arrangement to be arbitrary, but it is not. It is necessitated by the structure of the universe, and in particular of the Solar System, as symbolized by the Holy Qabalah.
- Aleister Crowley
The Thoth Tarot Deck (or “Crowley Deck” as it is more widely known) is one of the most popular decks in current use. It is also one of the most original interpretations of the tarot, incorporating astrological, numerological, and Qabalistic symbolism. While there are many other useful guides to this famous tarot deck, there are no others which explain the deck in its creator’s own words. The Book of Thoth has been used for many years by students of the occult for study of the tarot and as a key to all Western mystery traditions, and it is now a classic in the field.
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Table of Contents (abridged)
PART ONE: THE THEORY OF THE TAROT
PART TWO: THE ATU (KEYS OR TRUMPS)
PART THREE: THE COURT CARDS
PART IV: THE SMALL CARDS
INVOCATION AND MNEMONICS
APPENDIX A
APPENDIX B
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Paperback Edition
308 pages. Printed card cover.
ISBN: 9780877282686
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About the Author
The late Aleister Crowley (1875-1947) was an occultist, ceremonial magician, prolific writer, philosopher and mountaineer. In his youth, Crowley joined the occult organisation The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn (1887-1903), where he received much of his training in theurgy and ceremonial magic. In 1904, Crowley established his own religion, Thelema (Greek for "the will”), for which he had reportedly received a divine revelation from an angel. Crowley believed that humans should strive to overcome both their desires and their socially-instilled inhibitions in order to find out the true purpose of their respective lives. Crowley had been dubbed “the wickedest man in the world” and “a man we’d like to hang” by the British press during the first half of the 20th century. A controversial figure, nevertheless, his influence on Western occultism cannot be easily overstated.
