Thoth Tarot is an esoteric tarot deck painted by Lady Frieda Harris according to instructions from Aleister Crowley. Crowley referred to this deck as The Book of Thoth, and also wrote a 1944 book of that title intended for use with the deck.
Crowley originally intended the Thoth deck to be a six-month project aimed at updating the traditional pictorial symbolism of the tarot. However, due to increased scope, the project eventually spanned five years, between 1938 and 1943.
The illustrations of the deck feature symbolism based upon Crowley's incorporation of imagery from many disparate disciplines, including science and philosophy and various occult systems (as described in detail in his The Book of Thoth).
As reported in the table below there are six known major versions of the Toth Tarot with significant differences.
| Version | Year | Publisher | Key Differences | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sangreal | Simpson Printing Company | First printed version with blue ink on the front and red ink on the back | ||
| A1 | 1967 | Llewellyn | First colored version with printing errors on the Ace of Pentacles and the 8 of Cups[1] | |
| A2 | 1969 | Llewellyn | Correct printing mistakes[2] | |
| B | 1969 | Weiser | Introduce the Ordo Templi Orientis white playing card[3] | |
| C (Green) | 1978 | Add the black Thelema Unicursal hexagram card, border around cards art and symbols on Major Arcana cards[4] | ||
| D (Blue) | 1978 | U.S. Games Systems | Have three variations of the Magus Playing cards[5] |
Crowley renamed several of the trumps compared to earlier arrangements, and also re-arranged the numerical, astrological and Hebrew alphabet correspondences of 4 trumps compared to the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn's inner order deck in accordance with the Tarot of Marseilles, his 1904 book The Book of the Law (Liber AL vel Legis) and its "New Commentary." In the "New Commentary" and The Book of Thoth, Crowley demonstrates that his trump arrangement forms a double loop in the zodiac-number and letter-number correspondences compared to the Golden Dawn deck, where there is no loop.
| Number | Sign | Letter | Name | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| IV | Aquarius | Tzaddi | The Emperor | |
| VIII | Libra | Lamed | Adjustment | |
| XI | Leo | Tet | Lust | |
| XVII | Aries | Heh | The Star |
| Rider–Waite card | Thoth equivalent | |
|---|---|---|
| I: The Magician | I: The Magus | |
| II: The High Priestess | II: The Priestess | |
| VIII: Strength | XI: Lust | |
| X: Wheel of Fortune | X: Fortune | |
| XI: Justice | VIII: Adjustment | |
| XIV: Temperance | XIV: Art | |
| XX: Judgement | XX: The Æon | |
| XXI: The World | XXI: The Universe |
Crowley accepted the Golden Dawn's changed names of all the court cards which can cause some confusion for people used to the more common decks. Specially since he changed the structure of the court cards, while each of the places retains much of the original meanings, there are subtle differences. The typical corresponding names are as follows:
| Traditional Court Card Name | Thoth Deck Court Card Name | |
|---|---|---|
| King | Knight | |
| Queen | Queen | |
| Knight | Prince | |
| Page | Princess |
| Number | Sign | 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| Number | Sign | Decan | Ruler of Decan | Name | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Root of the Powers of Earth | ||||
| 2 | Capricorn | 1st | Jupiter | Change | |
| 3 | Capricorn | 2nd | Mars | Works | |
| 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 |
Harris' renditions of the tarot are on watercolor paper affixed to a thick backing; the acidity of the backing, according to a report from 2006, resulted in discoloration of borders, and to some extent, the paintings themselves. The paintings also required cleaning and the repair of small tears. A conservation plan called for cleaning the surfaces, the removal of backing (while retaining original inscriptions), reuse of the hand-painted window mats, and replacement of overlays with acid-free, museum-quality paper. The project was completed in 2011. The paintings are stored by the Warburg Institute; work was completed by the Institute's in-house specialist, Susan Campion.