Originally published in 2003, Understanding Aleister Crowley's Thoth Tarot has proved to be the essential guide to accessing the unique symbolism and meaning of Aleister Crowley's remarkable tarot deck along with the deeply textured artwork of Lady Frieda Harris. Crowley authority Lon Milo DuQuette starts by providing an insightful historical background before delving into descriptions of each card in depth, from a tarot perspective and from an expanded, magickal point of view. He first describes the tarot meaning of each card in detail and then explains all the other attributions Crowley intended. This unique guide has been updated with a new introduction that provides information on the unicursal hexagram cards included with the deck but never explained. Replaces ISBN 9781578632763 Lon Milo DuQuette is a best-selling author who lectures worldwide on such topics as magick, tarot, and the Western mystery traditions. He is currently the US Deputy Grand Master of Ordo Templi Orientis and is on the faculty of the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, New York, and the Maybe Logic Academy. His books include The Magick of Aleister Crowley, Understanding Aleister Crowley’s Thoth Tarot, and The Tarot Architect . Visit him at londuquette.com . Understanding Aleister Crowley's Thoth Tarot By Lon Milo DuQuette Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC Copyright © 2017 Lon Milo DuQuette All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-1-57863-623-5 Contents Acknowlegments, Preface to the Second Edition of Understanding Aleister Crowley's Thoth Tarot, Part One Little Bits of Things You Should Know Before Beginning to Study Aleister Crowley's Thoth Tarot, Chapter 0 Introduction: The Book of Thoth — a Magick Book?, Chapter 1 Little Bits of Things You Should Know, Chapter 2 Aleister Crowley and the Golden Dawn, Chapter 3 The Lady and the Beast, Chapter 4 The Art, Chapter 5 The Prophet and the Book of the Law, Chapter 6 The Aeon of Horus, Chapter 7 The Vision and the Voice, Chapter 8 Secrets of the Rose Cross Back, Chapter 9 Secrets of the Tree of Life, Chapter 10 Worlds of Color, Chapter 11 The Holy Guardian Angel, Part Two The Cards, Chapter 12 Introduction to the Cards, Chapter 13 Introduction to the Major Arcana, Chapter 14 Atu of Tahuti — the Major Arcana Trumps, Chapter 15 The Minor Arcana, Chapter 16 The Spirit of the Aces, Chapter 17 The Four Aces, Chapter 18 The Crazy Mixed-up World of Court Cards, Chapter 19 The Small Cards, Chapter 20 Method of Divination and the Meanings of the Cards, Chapter 21 Glossary of Thelemic and Tarot Terms, Notes, Bibliography, Permissions, CHAPTER 1 LITTLE BITS OF THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW It seems important that you should understand my motive. To me this Work on the Tarot is an Encyclopaedia of all serious "occult" philosophy. It is a standard Book of Reference, which will determine the entire course of mystical and magical thought for the next 2000 years. My one anxiety is that it should be saved from danger of destruction, by being reproduced in permanent form, and distributed in as many distant places as may be. I am not anxious to profit financially; if I had the capital available in this country, I should send (say) 200 copies to State Libraries in all parts of the world, and as many more to my principal representatives. — Aleister Crowley to Mr. Pearson, Photoengraver, May 29, 1942. Every year since 1969, when the first color edition appeared in bookstores and specialty shops worldwide, Aleister Crowley's Thoth Tarot has remained one of the best-selling tarot decks in the world. This is not surprising. In my opinion, it is quite simply the most stunningly beautiful deck of tarot cards ever created. It took the artist, the immensely talented Frieda Harris, over five years (1938–1943) to complete the seventy-eight surrealistic masterpieces. Today, the images remain as hauntingly evocative as when they were first exhibited. The popularity of the cards, however, shines in bright contrast to the black reputation of the man who designed them and who relentlessly dictated every aspect of their execution — a man maligned during his lifetime as a black magician, and branded by the press "the wickedest man in the world." Paradoxes seem to define the life and career of Edward Alexander (Aleister) Crowley. Yes, in many ways he was a scoundrel. There is no doubt that he wallowed shamelessly in his carefully cultivated persona as England's literary and spiritual bad-boy. At the same time, he took life and himself very seriously. Among other distinctions, he was a world-class mountaineer, chess master, painter, poet, sportsman, novelist, critic, and theatrical producer. He introduced America to astrology, Isadora Duncan to the I Ching, and the poet Victor Neuberg to hiking and high magick. As an agent provocateur writing for an English-language German propaganda newspaper in New York, he penned the outrageous and inflammatory editorials that provoked a reluctant Unite