So i get told heaps that it is “unlucky” to buy your own Tarot deck. Or else i get asked if this is true. I don’t believe this for a moment, though anyone who wants to gift me a Thoth Tarot is more than welcome.
The reason it’s considered an ill-omen to buy your own comes from the Burning Times – in an age of oppression and council (!) driven atrocities & theocide against those considered not with the Christian program, it was essential to be able to say someone else gave you the ‘devil’s playing cards.’ Same reason so many powerful witchy herbs achieved such popular culinary usage…And the mega-powerful & magic Artemesia (Flower of Artemis) was re-named as the dull-sounding Mugwort…
Currently I have the Waite Deck & i love it but the Thoth deck is something else; it always feels modern and the images translate more directly into one’s subliminal mind than do the medieval ones of the Waite. Obviously, the accuracy of any form of divination depends upon a variety of factors & keeping a journal is vital to understanding. So that you know what a card or a dream image means to YOU. It’s always personal.
I still totally recall throwing my first and only Thoth deck into a fire as Pluto was about to conjoin my Midheaven. I was too new to astrology to get the Pluto thing but i was sitting squat-legged on shagpile rug in front of a blazing late winter fire doing my tarot and it kept coming up with the same stuff – no matter how i shuffled…The Tower, Death, Nine of Swords…blah blah blah, the shit-fest from hell…I didn’t feel freaked out getting the cards -the vibe in the room was benevolent – i felt relaxed and connected with a good force.
But the cards – i blamed them & chucked the whole lot in the fire, went to get a glass of wine, called a guy to come around and assuage the tension…SO the cards i destroyed were right! The very next week the newspaper i was a journalist on closed down so I was unemployed and in the same day the man i was in love with told me he’d just gotten his ex pregnant as he “owed” her a baby + my flatmates took off, leaving me with what then felt like an insurmountable bill to pay. My point: the cards were right.
This is a point for astro-fiends & wiccan types only but it’s like how in astrology the Koch house system seems to work right down to the minute when it comes to timing transits but be a bit dodgy for natal charts – with Tarot, it’s like the Waite deck is sensational at glomping onto the mood/vibe but Thoth seems to be – like the Koch house system- super accurate if you’re working with receptive peeps.
Thoth is the Egyptian Mercury-Hermes…BTW
Note: I don’t think ‘theocide’ is a word – what do you call a ‘genocide’ purely against pagans, witches or people you suspect have a belief system different to yours?
Tags: Burning Times, Devil astrology, Goddess, herbs astrology, Koch House System. Tarot astrology, mugwort, Pluto, Pluto-Midheaven, The Tower, Thoth Tarot, unlucky to buy your own Tarot, Waite Tarot, Wicca
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Wow, I love this story from your life! What a bad week.
I’m going for ‘pogrom’ off the top of my head, for want of a better answer to your question as to what to call the shitty behaviour of patriachal rulers against those connected to nature although I’m sure there’d be something more specific…
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sorry, not signed in above…
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mmm I’m loving the Thoth deck right now, I find it compellingly beautiful, whereas when I was younger, I found the imagery too overwhelming, preferring a Qabbalist deck that was very astro & diagrammatic. I also love the Sabian symbols- they are very friendly & a little kooky.
*Hereticide would cover it do you think?
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i was going to give away my tarot cards (that my dad gave me when I was 15) as i felt that i didn’t ‘connect’ with them. i’m not sure if my cards and me speak the same language? I do like runes, feel they tell me more. but in the end i couldn’t bring myself to part with the cards.
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yes and theocide would really mean the killing of gods…which i suppose is what the christians did when they went about dominating / overwriting various cultures…genocide ..persecution? where’s my OED..
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I have limited knowledge in tarot & am learning- this is fascinating info!
My Capricorn friend is a tarot reader who reads my cards & had recently decided it is time for me to have my own.
He has spent months searching for the ‘right’ ones as his belief is that the tarot deck is bought for you as well. I only learnt of this last week as he was flying off to Europe & he said he ‘felt’ he would find the right tarot deck for me in Spain.
Now I’ve read this maybe I should call him & say honey I don’t think it is the tarot deck that is guiding you to Spain…..-
Was something pointing south for him Barista? haha…
I’ve been using the Dragonfae Oracle which I bought myself so I too am sans proper tarot. From what the Divine M has wrote, it looks like Thoth would be for me – I LOVE receptivity and always feel suspicious when I am being read something so outside myself.
Darling Mystic, that was a shit week..but as you probably guess, I empathize!
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I’ve always believed that you work witih the deck you’re drawn to and stuff all the myths, fancies and rigmarole associated with who gets to pick the deck. You’re in the driver’s seat so listen to your heart and what deck calls you. In my case it’s the Thoth deck, it just sings to my heart and soul. I fiddle with other decks but always return to the glorious images of the Thoth deck.
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Thoth is such an honest deck and the only one I use to read for myself. I gave it the nickname the deck of doom! Piffle on buying your own deck, just piffle! I am down to three decks these days as I had to get over my addiction. From 2003-05, I bought near each new deck that came out and had a HUGE ebay sale a few years later! I really loved the Golden Tarot by Kat Black, another hot aussie kicking butt!
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and I am also having a Koch/Placidus crisis at the moment, funny you mention it.
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That’s funny, I did a tarot reading last night for someone, and up came the death card, the hangman card and the tower card. I tried to put it in a gentle way, that something could change or happen, but she got terribly upset, probably because I failed miserably at the tact part.
The cards were very compelling and screaming out, but I didn’t really know how to talk it through in a totally benign way so that she would stop freaking out. Bugger. Not such a successful reading.
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LOL…the “tact ” part !
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When I’d just started doing Tarot readings, I got for one querent three of swords, nine of swords and ten of swords. Like you, I just goggled at the cards and froze. Like you, not a succesful reading.
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Molly & Lark, in those tricky situations, search for High Priestess or Star
& cover the ‘offending -off-ending?’ones & ask for intervention of a benevolent
nature to intervene.
Originally, the 12 major’s were initiations into the Egyptian Mysteries.
Egyptian – Gypsy.
Anything to do with A.Crowley disgusts me as abuse & deception of power.
The MotherPeace Tarot, i lived in the Pacific for 2 years & since then it’s the
Animal Medicine Cards i consult for strategy & behaviour, the I Ching if it’s more
‘politic’……covers personal & public guidance for me & never let me down or have me
query.
But then i go goo goo at MJ’s song of ‘Ben’, a love song to a Rat that reached #1.Dreamt i was in a smallish space last night with a large Lion & oversized (stocky) Panther.
They were not tame so it was kinda unsettling but convinced even thro’ the snarls they
wouldn’t hurt me.
Signed Ms. Doolittle.-
I actually got into the Thoth Tarot via Angeles Arrien’s book which approaches the deck through psychology and symbols and spirituality. So I’ve never bothered with Crowley. I’ve always found the cards enlightening and never frightening, I guess because I’ve been introduced to them via a wonderfully positive outlook from Ms Arrien. I go by the images, so have never found anything to disgust me about the Thoth deck.
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Had many Tarots over the years 10+ Never bought one for myself. I did once ask someone to by me a deck, Golden Dawn the Cicero one though.
Have a huge Thoth deck, was given to me by a lady because I have big hands and can deal with them. They are a true work of art, a delight to behold as well as being a fully functional Tarot.
The Rider Waite pack is the one I have stuck with the most, and is the only one I ever consulted with. I went through various packs before I got to it, theres just something about them that works in a way the others dont. I think its because they are so plain, the psyche fills in gaps..
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The Thoth deck was my first experience of tarot in the 80’s, I learnt from a Rajneesh teacher who put a more ‘positive’ spin on the cards than Crowley, I had no idea what any of it was about. But over the years came to really love and respect them, their depth and being the only cards I have come across who look at physics and the kabbalah and numerology and astrology, and yes, uncannily accurate. I read a lot about Crowley after having them for some years and I do believe he was a somewhat misguided genius (perhaps it was the drugs?) but the thoth was definitely coming from a purer place. My partner doesnt like them, thinks they are a bit sinister, but I will always defend them. I also researched the changes he made to the classical deck and I do believe he really tapped into something.
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My mother has a tarot deck somewhere, but it’s bad luck to touch someone else’s deck so I am unsure of their whereabouts. I’ve been DYING for a William Blake deck. They look absolutely lovely, but I think they’re all sold out now.
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I am not sure about it being bad luck to touch someone else deck…
My mother has a thoth deck and I used to love going through it and looking at all the beautiful artwork. She rarely reads for other off the Thoth deck. If fact my mother avoids reading for others (unless really required), even though she is really very talented at it.
I asked her why once and she explained that she spent a while in the company of a woman who used her tarot as a way of manipulating people around her… and that she didn’t want to have that sort of quality to her relationships.
Which I think is fair enough…-
your mum sounds lovely. What sign is she?
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She is the cusp of Toro and Gem…
… she picks and chooses which way she wants to be really;)
(oddly, she is picking Gem more and more often these days…)
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I bought my own, not knowing about the ‘witches tale’ about bad luck. I love my deck, really love the pictures. Many resonate so strongly with me! But the info book is sometimes a bit minimalist and simplistic.
Is it true that you should keep them wrapped in silk?
I don’t adhere to the “its bad luck to let someone touch them” school of thought. For a very quick reading, get someone to cut the deck. They choose the card.
Also, I read somewhere to keep them under your pillow so they absorb your dreams. Truth be told, they are kept under the pillow on the lover’s side, not my side of the bed.
I adore Tarot. It was Tarot that was the final nail in the coffin of the traditional religion I was raised with (catholicism). Had to go to church yesterday. Long story…..
I am convinced my female ancestors were wise-women and midwives (read “witches”) back in the day….. Somewhere along the line they got co-opted to the Vatican-way-of-thinking.
I just can’t bring myself to tell my family I’m a Pagan. Mum would f-r-e-a-k!~~ She’d worry that I’ll burn in hellfire. But she does know that I want to be cremated and where I want my ashes scattered….
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i always found crowley to be quite irksome. What is his astro? I never liked his attitude toward magic and feel he was just a scheister ripping off benefactors. Very black. I have not seen the thoth deck in full, but i suspect my attitude toward crowley would affect my attitude to the deck. I remember reading it is very egyptian in styling…which was fashionable at the time.
Crowley was the ‘magician’ who changed ‘do what thou wilt, though it shall harm none’ to simply ‘do what thou wilt’. sends shivers up my spine.
I have a Waite deck that my mum bought me 8 years ago.
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The Crowley Thoth deck was painted by psychic artist & Egyptologist Frieda Harris, who worked off Crowley’s rough sketches & visual descriptions. Crowley admits that Harris’ dedication & genius lead to the deck becoming a wholly new deck,so much more than an update of the classic Medieval Tarot that he originally intended.
*Read Gerd Ziegler “Tarot Mirror of the Soul” for “haute” Thoth insight. -
Crowley was a manipulative creep
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well, i don’t know enough, but according to astrodienst crowley is a Libran with Leo rising and cap moon! mars and venus in virgo, and a bunch of other stuff.
I read a teeny bit on astrodeinst, and he was definitely going to be charismatic and a leader and totally into esoteric stuff.
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Very naughty man! Evol….touch naught of his.
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Would never do Tarot for anyone else. Would show them how to look themselves.
And can abide no one doing mine but me.
But do keep your magical things in a beautiful box & wrapped in silk.
Touching someone’s Tarot w/o permission is unwanted & unwise, with Mother & Daughter
that’s different.
Wouldn’t ya know he was a Libran, my least fave men as they have been the darkest i have
known, so wow, may have had the same Astro profile, or similar.Maybe he reincarnated as Doreen Virtue for karmic purposes:)
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lol pegasus that is the funniest thing I have read in ages
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I bought this “tarot deck” of sorts when I was a teenager, it’s an “Egyptian Oracle” or other. Very child like looking cards with naff basic heiroglyphics looking images on them. Despite my complete amateurism in using them, they were surprisingly accurate. That’s also coming from me thinking it was a load of horse shit when I was doing the pre-reading meditation to “find my inner self” or something. I still get the mental image of my “inner self” and let’s just say, I play too many computer games. So anyways, I haven’t touched them since because it all seemed overwhelming actually – kind of a bit too powerful reading people’s cards… I have no idea why it was like that so they’re basically sitting in my draw.
So anyways, I completely got the term “theocide” but as it was pointed out that it means the killing of gods, would the right term be theocrocide, coming from theocracy? I’m open to suggestion.
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I have had the beautiful Thoth deck for years and dabble occasionally just for curiosity. Several years ago somehow a card had strayed from the pack and was floating around randomly in my gemini messy life … I would catch a glimpse of it every now and again in a pile of papers or peeking from under a bowl of fruit… until someone advised me that a card stray from the deck can insight that energy daily!! I promptly returned the Tower Card to the deck. Even mere acknowledgment of where my life was at (a crumling mess) and the gesture of reuninting the card assited me in gaining my focus and moving past the wreckage.
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Pity it wasn’t a nicer card really… cos other wise I kinda like the idea of a card infused life/space…
… The Tower really has gotta suck…
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The death card is nowhere near as frightening as it is in schlock movies. It is merely about something drawing to a close. I got it in a spread the other day. And, lo! I’ve sold my house and looking for a new home….
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Congrats Ms Motown. I did see something about this past weekend being a big one for you. I hope you find a lovely new abode.
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Yay to you missy! good luck in the hunt. x
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I have read a lot of Crowley, and a lot about him. Indeed he was an utter shit to many. Libra male, nuff said.
Regardless he was a man with a mission. I understand it can be hard to detach from the horrid persona, also the fact he was a raging heroin addict, and in our time we know personally how low they can go.
He wrote a lot and most of what he wrote has a a lot of worth. He is difficult to read, and has a unique style. I hear he is taught in English Lit class in the US because of this. I also have it on very good authority that most of what he wrote is stacked with tons of Qabbalistic conundrums and random etymology. Thats not my thing, so I cant say. But I have certainly grown and learnt through reading him.
A good start if you have never read him is Magick without tears. Its set in the form of letters between him, and a lady pupil. She writes a letter with a question or two, he answers them. Very straightfoward and a mine of solid information.
By the way I am not affiliated with any of his legacys or orders, just appreciate his work.
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It’s been interesting reading comments about male Librans being absolute shits. I’m a Libran myself but recoiled when I met my good friend’s new love, he gave me and my hubster the creeps. Sure as eggs, he turned out to be a real creep and a Libran into the bargain. I’ve been wondering about this and wonder why, as Librans are supposed to be good at relationships. Hopefully I’m not too much of a creep myself, lol.
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good points indeed. I read a bit of his stuff years ago too, and yeah, he did a lot of research etc…I guess it is that Oppenheimer situation, how we use the knowledge.
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