There seems to be a conspiracy between members of the various organisations created by Aleister Crowley and the Pagan Community to deny that Crowley had any interest in the Paganism. The truth, of course, lies somewhere in between. When I first studied the Book of...
Book of Thoth
Book of Thoth
The Book of Thoth by Aleister Crowley is a seminal book on the Tarot that still holds mysteries to be discovered.
Dion Fortune, Crowley & World War II
Dion Fortune took a keen interest in the progress of Crowley’s Thoth Tarot. She visited him in Hastings with Frieda Harris to examine the artwork. Crowley dedicated a copy of the Book of Thoth to her. Dion Fortune was a true fighter, working magically to defeat...
Number games in the Major Arcana
In a previous post I suggested that the order of the Major Arcana is largely irrelevant, but there are still reasons to pay attention, particularly when magicians are involved. While Tarot students are searching for the One True Order and Number of the Major Arcana,...
Spider symbolism and Tarot
Spider and tarot hold a deep secret. Tucked away around the edges, cobwebs appear on the Thoth Art Atu. There is nothing in Aleister Crowley's commentary on spiders or cobwebs, but there is a comment in Liber 777 on Column XXXVIII: The Spider is particularly sacred to...
Golden Dawn origins of Aleister Crowley’s Fool
The Fool is unnumbered, therefore it can appear anywhere in the sequence. Some decks put the Fool last, after the Universe, but most place it before the Magus, 1. The Golden Dawn Cipher Manuscript is unambiguous on the subject: First cometh the Atu numbered 0, the O...
The Fool and the Pole Star
The Pole Star demonstrates evidence of the influence of Papus in Crowley's commentaries on the Fool, the Ace of Disks and the Princess of Disks in particular. Ace of Disks The Ace of Disks is the chapter where Crowley mentions Papus. Dr. Gerard Encausse, "Papus", who...
How Aleister Crowley and Frieda Harris created the Book of Thoth
The Book of Thoth is a unique partnership in wartime conditions with all the restrictions on travel, materials and other disruptions by Frieda Harris. She was an artist who was the wife of the Leader of the Liberal Party, and a member of Churchill's War Cabinet. She...
Frieda Harris, artist for the Thoth Tarot
Aleister Crowley commissioned Frieda Harris to paint the Thoth Tarot. Although involved in the women’s branch of Freemasonry – Co-Masonry, her interest in the occult was not deep. Crowley had to initiate her into his Orders to expand her knowledge and commence the...
Shamanic Techniques and Thoth Tarot
Enhance Tarot visions through shamanic techniques Shamans use techniques to access other worlds via a door, a crack, or a cave etc. Similar methods are employed to enter the world of the 22 Major Tarot. One method is to view the back of the card and project oneself...
Book of Thoth: Tarot as Living Beings
Seeing the tarot as living beings is the thread that runs through the Book of Thoth. For all the obsession with "divinatory meanings" in the tarot community, it is remarkable to note that this phrase is entirely missing from Aleister Crowley's Book of Thoth....