After a four-month intensive study of the Thoth Tarot in 2012, using Lon Milo Duquette’s Understanding Aleister Crowley’s Thoth Tarot, herewith my keywords based on the Thoth deck/system.
Major Arcana
Like other tarot decks, Crowley and Harris’s also comes with its own narrative for the spiritual journey of the Major Arcana progression, with all sorts of layers of Qabalah and Astrological symbolism, along with Egyptian mythological additions popular during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries when the Golden Dawn society was active. I’ve found it a very idiosyncratic deck, speaking very much in Crowley’s social-rebel voice, softened to some extent by Lady Harris’s modernist, semi-abstract illustrations. So, the keywords here may have a different flavor than for a standard RWS deck. Interesting, though.
The Fool
power in potential, creation in bud, egg state, non-being, sudden impulse
1 The Magus
cunning, theft, skill, intelligence, craft, communication
2 The High Priestess
gracious influence, “moon-struck,” initiation, inner journey
3 The Empress
gentleness, pleasure, idleness, completion, beauty, dissipation, Nature
4 The Emperor
authority, ambition, vigour, war, victory, ill-temper, fiery action
5 The Hierophant
guardian angel, teaching, patience, goodness of heart, placidity, toil
6 The Lovers
duality vs. union, openness to inspiration, second sight, frivolity, indecision
7 The Chariot
triumph, ruthless control, obedience, hope, “die-hard’ attitude
8 Adjustment
balance, suspension of action prior to decision, lawsuits, marriage contract, treaty
9 The Hermit
creative energy, inner illumination, retirement from public life, secret impulses
10 Fortune
change in direction, good fortune
11 Lust
courage, strength, grand passion, use of magickal power, desire for divine union
12 The Hanged Man
sacrifice, punishment, loss, suffering, death
13 Death
transformation, voluntary or involuntary change, apparent destruction but illusory
14 Art
combining opposites to create new, realization, calculated action, escape route
15 The Devil
temptation, rigidity, obsession, blind impulse, unbalanced masculine
16 The Tower
danger, ruin, sudden death or escape, thwarted plans, combat, Shiva time
17 The Star
hope, unexpected help, clear vision, insight, dreaminess, error in judgment
18 The Moon
deception, madness, brink of change, bewilderment, lies, darkness before dawn
19 The Sun
glory, truth, gain, recovery from illness, arrogance, vanity, innocence
20 The Aeon
birth of the new age, final decision to move on, taking a definite step
21 The Universe
final synthesis, inertia, patience, crystallization of the matter, end of the matter, completion of cycle
Minor Arcana
Crowley treats the Aces in a special way, so I will list them in a section by themselves, and I’ll group the Court cards like I did with the RWS system even though they all have suits as well. So, first, the twos through the tens by suits.
Wands
2 of Wands
dominion, prospects
3 of Wands
virtue, trading
4 of Wands
completion, stability
5 of Wands
strife, competition
6 of Wands
victory, success
7 of Wands
valour, advantage
8 of Wands
swiftness, promotion
9 of Wands
strength, endurance
10 of Wands
oppression, burden
Cups
2 of Cups
love, relationship flowing
3 of Cups
abundance, celebration
4 of Cups
luxury, comfort (taken for granted?)
5 of Cups
disappointment, love lost
6 of Cups
pleasure, lovely memories
7 of Cups
debauchery, lost in fantasy
8 of Cups
indolence, mourning
9 of Cups
happiness, satisfaction
10 of Cups
satiety, total fulfillment
Swords
2 of Swords
peace, dilemma, contemplating a decision, diplomacy
3 of Swords
sorrow, emotional pain, regret
4 of Swords
truce, rest from conflict, healing wounds
5 of Swords
defeat, defeating others, empty victory
6 of Swords
science, travelling away from strife, respite from conflict
7 of Swords
futility, cleverness, strategic planning, manipulating with mind
8 of Swords
interference, feeling trapped, unaware of opportunity
9 of Swords
cruelty, nightmare, anguish of the mind (possibly illusionary)
10 of Swords
ruin, bottom of the pit, end of suffering, game over
Disks
2 of Disks
change, ups and downs of prosperity or mood, wandering, juggling
3 of Disks
works, skill development, building up, business growth
4 of Disks
power, defending abundance, fortress mentality
5 of Disks
worry, fear of loss/poverty, change for the worse
6 of Disks
success, influence, gain radiating out, generosity
7 of Disks
failure to thrive, harvest not ready, danger of loss
8 of Disks
prudence, cunning, obsessed with detail
9 of Disks
gain, good harvest, building wealth, social status
10 of Disks
accumulated wealth, legacy, old age
The Aces
Aces are the seeds, the pre-manifestation, pre-Big Bang. All the other minors are inside them in potential. They are the probabilities of matter before it is measured and manifested. Now that’s a large-/small -scale beginning. The entire universe is inside the Thoth aces. The alpha and the omega. So, keep the seed metaphor in mind with the Thoth. The Fool has the same characteristics.
Ace of Wands
unfocused light, inspiration, natural force, manifestation
Ace of Cups
potential fullness, fertility, beauty, infinite happiness
Ace of Swords
unstoppable light, vanquishing darkness, will, clearing out, pruning
Ace of Disks
multi-level inner treasure, rest, comfort, wealth, power
The Courts
The Thoth courts are a whole tapestry of personalities and their trauma and drama of duality and ultimate union. First, each level in the Court brings an elemental energy to pair with the element of the suit, with Knights (Kings) representing fire, Queens representing water, Princes (Knights) representing air, and Princesses (Pages) representing earth.
Crowley thought that knights were more virile than old kings, so his vision is of the Knight making love to the Queen while the king sleeps. And the Prince and Princess are not siblings but lovers as well, looking for each other so they can graduate to Queen and King by their union, but I think they might also be siblings and children of the original king (or Knight?) and Queen. It’s complicated. 🙂
But for reading purposes, we just have the challenge of remembering that Kings are Knights in Thoth-world, Knights are Princes (not so hard), and Pages are Princesses. Here we go with keywords (positive and negative)!
Knight of Wands
active, generous, impetuous; cruel, bigoted
Queen of Wands
adaptive, steady, attractive, powerful and popular; domineering, revengeful, over-sensitive to slights
Prince of Wands
swift, strong, impulsive, just and violent, noble; cruel, intolerant
Princess of Wands
brilliant, brave, forceful, ambitious, sudden to both anger and love; superficial, theatrical, cruel, unstable
Knight of Cups
graceful, poetic, quiet, calm; sensual, idle, untruthful
Queen of Cups
imaginative, kind, poetic, good-natured but a bit self-absorbed; easily influenced
Prince of Cups
crafty/artistic but also violent, fierce inside while calm outside; intensely evil and merciless
Princess of Cups
sweet, gentle, kind, poetic, dreamy, imaginative; selfish, into luxury
Knight of Swords
active, clever, fierce, delicate, brave; domineering, picky, tyrannical
Queen of Swords
perceptive, keen observer, quick and confident, graceful, fond of dancing; cruel, deceitful, unreliable
Prince of Swords
full of ideas, distrustful, careful, observant, destroys as fast as he creates; malicious, plotting, unreliable
Princess of Swords
wise, strong, graceful, dextrous; frivolous, cunning
Knight of Disks
a bit dull, patient, materially-oriented, clever but slow; grasping, jealous, cowardly
Queen of Disks
impetuous, timid, kind, melancholy, moody, honest; capricious, foolish
Prince of Disks
solid, intensifies good or evil, steady, reliable, slow to anger; selfish, stupid
Princess of Disks
generous, kind, diligent, careful; wasteful, prodigal