The Thoth Tarot ˌ is a divinatory tarot deck painted by Lady Frieda Harris

Frieda Harris

[Marguerite] Frieda Harris was an artist, an occult magician, and, after she met him at age 60, an associate and friend of the author and occultist Aleister Crowley...

 according to instructions from Aleister Crowley

Aleister Crowley

Aleister Crowley , born Edward Alexander Crowley, and also known as both Frater Perdurabo and The Great Beast, was an influential English occultist, astrologer, mystic and ceremonial magician, responsible for founding the religious philosophy of Thelema. He was also successful in various other...

. Crowley referred to this deck as The Book of Thoth

The Book of Thoth (Crowley)

The Book of Thoth : A Short Essay on the Tarot of the Egyptians is the title of The Equinox, volume III, number 5, by English author and occultist Aleister Crowley. The book is recorded in the vernal equinox of 1944 The Book of Thoth : A Short Essay on the Tarot of the Egyptians is the title of The...

, and also wrote a book of that title intended for use with the deck.

Background

Crowley originally intended the Thoth deck to be a six-month project aimed at updating the traditional pictorial symbolism of the tarot. However, the project was to span five years, between 1938 and 1943, as its scope grew ever wider. Crowley and Harris were meticulous in their work, and Harris painted some of the cards as many as eight times. Early editions of the deck included two of Harris' early drafts of The Magus card, each making use of markedly different style and symbols.

Neither Harris nor Crowley lived to see the deck published. The first full publication was by Ordo Templi Orientis

Ordo Templi Orientis

Ordo Templi Orientis is an international fraternal and religious organization founded at the beginning of the 20th century...

 in 1969, although this initial printing was seen by many to be of inferior quality, and in 1977 Harris' paintings were rephotographed for a second edition. The current edition is based on a further update that took place in 1986.

Symbolism

The illustrations of the Thoth deck are rich in symbolism, based upon Crowley's stated desire to incorporate symbols from many disparate disciplines, including science and philosophy, as well as to draw on his extensive knowledge of various occult system (as described in detail in his Book of Thoth). For example, The Hanged Man and The Moon draw from Egyptian mythology

Egyptian mythology

Ancient Egyptian religion was a complex system of polytheistic beliefs and rituals which were an integral part of ancient Egyptian society. It centered on the Egyptians' interaction with a multitude of deities who were believed to be present in, and in control of, the forces and elements of nature...

, and the Princess of Disks holds a disk bearing the Taijitu

Yin and yang

In Asian philosophy, the concept of yin yang , which is often referred to in the West as "yin and yang", is used to describe how polar opposites or seemingly contrary forces are interconnected and interdependent in the natural world, and how they give rise to each other in turn. Opposites thus only...

. The pip cards in the four suits (Wands, Cups, Swords, and Disks) depict their objects in carefully crafted positions; for example, the Four of Swords (which Crowley named "truce") shows four swords with their points toward the center of an imaginary square, suggesting a possibly tense peace. The card illustrations are uniformly stark and vividly illustrated throughout.

Order and names of trumps

Crowley renamed several of the trumps, and also re-arranged the astrological

Astrology

Astrology consists of a number of belief systems which hold that there is a relationship between astronomical phenomena and events in the human world...

 and Hebrew alphabet

Hebrew alphabet

The Hebrew alphabet , known variously by scholars as the Jewish script, square script, block script, or more historically, the Assyrian script, is used in the writing of the Hebrew language, as well as other Jewish languages, most notably Yiddish, Ladino, and Judeo-Arabic. There have been two...

 correspondences of some cards, in accordance with his earlier book, Liber AL vel Legis (The Book of the Law

The Book of the Law

Liber AL vel Legis is the central sacred text of Thelema, written by Aleister Crowley in Cairo, Egypt in the year 1904. Its full title is Liber AL vel Legis, sub figura CCXX, as delivered by XCIII=418 to DCLXVI, and it is commonly referred to as The Book of the Law.Liber AL vel Legis contains three...

):

All these old letters of my Book are aright; but צ is not the Star. (AL I:57)

Rider-Waite card	Thoth equivalent
I: The Magician The Magician (Tarot card) The Magician, The Magus, or The Juggler is the first trump or Major Arcana card in most traditional Tarot decks. It is used in game playing as well as in divination...	I: The Magus
II: The High Priestess The High Priestess The High Priestess is the second trump or Major Arcana card in most traditional Tarot decks. This card is used in game playing as well as in divination. In the first Tarot pack with inscriptions, the 18th-century woodcut Marseilles Tarot, this figure is crowned with the Papal tiara and labelled La...	II: The Priestess
XI: Justice Justice (Tarot card) Justice is a Major Arcana Tarot card, numbered either VIII or XI, depending on the deck. This card is used in game playing as well as in divination.- Description :...	VIII: Adjustment
VIII: Strength Strength (Tarot card) Strength is a Major Arcana Tarot card, and is numbered either XI or VIII, depending on the deck. Historically it was called Fortitude, and in the Thoth Tarot deck it is called Lust. This card is used in game playing as well as in divination.- Description and usage as in divination :A. E...	XI: Lust
X: Wheel of Fortune Wheel of Fortune (Tarot card) Wheel of Fortune is the tenth trump or Major Arcana card in most Tarot decks. It is used in game playing as well as in divination.-Description:To the right is the Wheel Of Fortune card from the A. E. Waite tarot deck. A. E...	X: Fortune
XIV: Temperance Temperance (Tarot card) Temperance is the fourteenth trump or Major Arcana card in most traditional Tarot decks. It is used in game playing as well as in divination.- Description :...	XIV: Art
XX: Judgement Judgement (Tarot card) Judgement , or in some decks spelled Judgment, is a Tarot card, part of the Major Arcana suit usually comprising 22 cards.-Rider-Waite symbolism:Very clearly, it is modeled after the Christian Resurrection before the Last Judgment...	XX: The Æon Aeon (Thelema) In the religion of Thelema, it is believed that the history of humanity can be divided into a series of Aeons, each of which was accompanied by its own forms of "magical and religious expression"...
XXI: The World The World (Tarot card) The World is a trump or Major Arcana card in the tarot deck. It is usually the final card of the Major Arcana or tarot trump sequence. In the tarot family of card games, this card is usually worth five points.- Description :...	XXI: The Universe

The minor arcana

Each of the minor arcana pips (1-10 of each suit), other than the four Aces, has been given a title. Crowley named them based on his intended symbolism. This symbolism does not always follow the more popular Rider-Waite tarot deck

Rider-Waite tarot deck

The Rider-Waite tarot deck is the most popular Tarot deck in use today in the English-speaking world . Other suggested names for this include the Rider-Waite-Smith, Waite-Smith, Waite-Colman Smith or simply the Rider deck...

.

In the Minor Arcana, cards 1-10 are attributions of the sephira on the Tree of Life. Kether rules the Ones's, Chokmah rules the Two's, Binah the Three's, and so on, and so forth down to Malkuth ruling the Ten's. Kether being Unity, moving down the Tree to Malkuth, being Manifestation furthest away from that Unity.

Names of court cards

Crowley altered the names of the all the court cards apart from the Queen in the Thoth deck, which can cause some confusion for people used to the more common decks. The typical corresponding names are as follows:

Traditional Court Card Name	Thoth Deck Court Card Name
Page	Princess
Knight	Prince
Queen	Queen
King	Knight

In Bill Butler's "Dictionary of the Tarot" published by Schocken books in 1975 he forms a relationship between the court cards that is different and should be noted that when relating back to the traditional tarot seems to suggest different meanings and should be documented here. In his book the chart would be shown as follows:

Traditional Court Card Name	Thoth Deck Court Card Name
Page	Princess
Knight	Knight
Queen	Queen
King	Prince

Titles and attributions of the Wands Suit

Number	Sign	Decan	Ruler of Decan	Name
1				The Root of the Powers of Fire
2	Aries	1st	Mars	Dominion
3	Aries	2nd	Sun	Virtue
4	Aries	3rd	Venus	Completion
5	Leo	1st	Saturn	Strife
6	Leo	2nd	Jupiter	Victory
7	Leo	3rd	Mars	Valour
8	Sagittarius	1st	Mercury	Swiftness
9	Sagittarius	2nd	Moon	Strength
10	Sagittarius	3rd	Saturn	Oppression

Titles and attributions of the Cups Suit

Number	Sign	Decan	Ruler of Decan	Name
1				The Root of the Powers of Water
2	Cancer	1st	Venus	Love
3	Cancer	2nd	Mercury	Abundance
4	Cancer	3rd	Moon	Luxury
5	Scorpio	1st	Mars	Disappointment
6	Scorpio	2nd	Sun	Pleasure
7	Scorpio	3rd	Venus	Debauch
8	Pisces	1st	Saturn	Indolence
9	Pisces	2nd	Jupiter	Happiness
10	Pisces	3rd	Mars	Satiety

Titles and attributions of the Swords Suit

Number	Sign	Decan	Ruler of Decan	Name
1				The Root of the Powers of Air
2	Libra	1st	Moon	Peace
3	Libra	2nd	Saturn	Sorrow
4	Libra	3rd	Jupiter	Truce
5	Aquarius	1st	Venus	Defeat
6	Aquarius	2nd	Mercury	Science
7	Aquarius	3rd	Moon	Futility
8	Gemini	1st	Jupiter	Interference
9	Gemini	2nd	Mars	Cruelty
10	Gemini	3rd	Sun	Ruin

Titles and attributions of the Disks Suit

Number	Sign	Decan	Ruler of Decan	Name
1				The Root of the Powers of Earth
2	Capricorn	1st	Jupiter	Change
3	Capricorn	2nd	Mars	Work
4	Capricorn	3rd	Sun	Power
5	Taurus	1st	Mercury	Worry
6	Taurus	2nd	Moon	Success
7	Taurus	3rd	Saturn	Failure
8	Virgo	1st	Sun	Prudence
9	Virgo	2nd	Venus	Gain
10	Virgo	3rd	Mercury	Wealth