Understanding Aleister Crowley's Thoth Tarot

Weiser Books, 2017

DuQuette continues to not disappoint. While there's plenty in here specific to Crowley's Thoth Tarot with references to his Book of Thoth and the cards painted by Frieda Harris, what this book really does well is present a path to understanding the Tarot. It's specific to the Thoth deck, but includes details about the Golden Dawn designs that predate Thoth. Really, the bulk of the information here is about Tarot in general, with insights into Crowley's ideas about it.

The first Part of the book, "Little Bits of Things You Should Know Before Beginning to Study Aleister Crowley's Thoth Tarot" (the first 80 pages), is an excellent primer on all things Crowley. DuQuette mentions in his introduction that since writing the first edition of the book, it has become his prime teaching tool in his lectures due to this section. It covers a lot about Crowley, including his background with the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, the origins of the Book of the Law, information on the Tree of Life, and an introduction to the concept of the Holy Guardian Angel. Anyone wanting to know more about Crowley and his teachings could do much worse than start here.

Of particular mind-blowing concepts is the chapter that dissects the image on the back of each card of the Thoth deck: the Rose Cross. This chapter goes in detail into the ways in which many esoteric arts overlap (including Alchemy, the Zodiac, the Astrological Planets, the Tree of Life, the Elements, Sacred Geometry, and, of course, the Major and Minor Arcana of the Tarot), and they're all graphically represented in this one image. The interplay here is just jaw-dropping.

The rest of the book goes into more detail about the cards, but primarily the imagery and symbolism contained therein. General divinatory meanings aren't covered until the last 20 or so pages. DuQuette starts with the Major Arcana, or the Trumps or Keys. When he gets to the Minor Arcana, he breaks from traditional books about Tarot by addressing the four Aces first, then the sixteen Court cards, then the remaining small cards (2 through 10). Most resources cover the Court cards first, since they "rule" each suit. Why does DuQuette deviate? Because the Aces contain all the other cards of their suit, including the four Court cards. In fact, as he puts it, if you examine each Ace with a mystical microscope, the first thing you'd find are the four Court cards of the suit, which themselves contain the remaining small cards.

Those interested in Tarot of any sort should pick this book up. It's easy enough to discard the bits specific to Thoth, as most of the information applies to the very concept of Tarot regardless of design. And where Crowley deviates, DuQuette does his best to explain why. This book is a great journey into Tarot and the ways in which all the different disciplines intermingle.