Thoth Tarot |
My favourite major is The Hermit. He's gorgeous. I like how his body curves around, and all those angular rays of light stabbing in all directions like broken glass. Then of course, who can resist a card with a 3-headed dog and a giant sperm cell? ha ha ('In this trump is shown life in its most secret workings,' said Crowley. Hmm)
My favourite suit in this deck is the Sword suit, they are all beautiful. But I think 2 of Swords is my favourite. I really like the pinwheel thingies in the background. They remind of those 'atomic' symbols, sort of. I like the elegance of the composition, it's very symmetrical. I like the colouring going yellow to green.
And finally, my favourite ace is Ace of Disks. It looks sort of like a flower opening, sort of like naughty ladies' bits, sort of like a kaleidoscope. DuQuette points out that 'one can see, with very little imagination, a bird's eye view of the three main characters of male genitalia'. Oh, yeah. Actually, I'd missed that. Never mind, ignore it! ;) The more you stare at it, the more you start to hear 'Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds' playing softly in the background. Or maybe that's just me. (Turns out, this card is Aleister Crowley's 'signature' card. The middle bit says 'To Mega Therion', 'The Great Beast', and has '666' and his personal Thelema symbol. See, I don't know why Crowley felt compelled to nick all these phrases from the Bible that have all these very emotive associations with them. This is one of things that has always freaked me out about him. It's so hard to overcome my aversion to these phrases and images. Why did he have to be such a shock jockey, going around saying inflammatory crap like, 'Satan is the saviour of the world.' But we'll come to that when (if) I end up drawing the Devil card. Weird guy, but what else can you expect from someone in the habit of making the 'A' of his first name into a stylized drawing of an erect penis when he signed his name. Adolescent if you ask me. *roll eyes*)
The more you stare at it, the more you start to hear 'Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds' playing softly in the background.
ReplyDeleteActually, the whole deck gives me this feeling. O.o
I thought your observations on the cards were very amusing! It's a refreshing view, considering that most of people who study the Thoth like to talk about it as if it were enlightenment in a box.
The Hermit is such a neat card!
I particularly like the Queen of wands and the hermit ones, they remind me of 70's album covers. I can be quite the hermit at times!!!
ReplyDeleteThey do look like album covers, don't they? I am really beginning to enjoy this art work for what it is. We'll see how I feel about it by the end of March! ;)
ReplyDeleteHad to snigger at the Statue of Liberty going on a drunk with the Silicon Dawn comment ;) Funny, if I had to pick my favourite cards from the Thoth, something I've never thought to do, the only one we might have in common is the Ace of Disks...
ReplyDeleteDefinitely with you on the "Crowley as adolescent" thing!!