Thoth Deck

The Thoth Tarot is a divinatory 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 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, perhaps best demonstrated by the Rider-Waite-Smith deck; however, it was to span five years, between 1938 and 1943, as the scope of the project grew ever wider. Crowley and Harris were meticulous in their work; Harris painted some cards as many as eight times. The current printing of the deck actually includes two alternate illustrations of The Magus, each making use of markedly different style and symbols. Unfortunately, neither Harris nor Crowley lived to see the deck published; a follower of Crowley undertook the work of publication in 1969. This initial printing was of markedly 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.

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

Differences from Rider Waite Tarot
Order and names of trumps. Crowley renamed several of the trumps, and also re-arranged the astrological and Hebrew alphabet correspondences of some cards, in accordance with his earlier book, Liber AL vel Legis: All these old letters of my Book are alright; but צ is not the Star. (AL I:57)

Rider-Waite card Thoth equivalent
I: The Magician, I: The Magus
II: The High Priestess, II: The Priestess
VIII: Strength, XI: Lust
XI: Justice, VIII: Adjustment
X: Wheel of Fortune, X: Fortune
XIV: Temperance, XIV: Art
XX: Judgement, XX: The Æon
XXI: The World, XXI: The Universe

source, wikipedia

Rider Waite Deck

The Rider-Waite tarot deck is the most popular Tarot deck in use today in the English-speaking world (the Tarot de Marseille being the most popular deck in the Latin countries).[citation needed] Over the years it has also been known as the Rider-Waite-Smith, Waite-Smith, Waite-Colman Smith or simply the Rider deck.

The images were drawn by artist Pamela Colman Smith, to the instructions of academic and mystic A. E. Waite, and published by the Rider Company. While the images are deceptively simple, almost child-like, the details and backgrounds hold a wealth of symbolism. The subjects remain close to the earliest decks, but usually have added details. Significantly, Waite had the Christian imagery of older tarot decks' cards toned down—the "Pope" card became the "Hierophant," the "Popess" became the "High Priestess." The minor arcana are also, like the earlier Sola Busca Tarot, fully illustrated with designs created by Pamela Colman Smith. The chief aesthetic objection to this deck is the crude printing of colours in the original: several decks, such as the Universal Waite deck, simply copy the Smith line drawings, but with more sophisticated coloring.

The cards were originally published in December 1909, and the symbols used were influenced by the 19th century magician and occultist Eliphas Levi. In 1910, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot by A.E. Waite was published, providing an overview of the traditions and history behind the cards, criticism of various interpretations, and extensive descriptions of their symbols, along with 78 black and white plates of each card in the deck.

U.S. Games currently claims copyright on the cards, although the actual copyright may only be valid on certain colorized versions of the card. While others argue that it is in the public domain in the US because they were created prior to 1923, the US Games claim may be valid because the derived version of the cards was not in the public domain when US Games created their copyright. [1]

The Rider-Waite tarot deck has been extremely influential in the development of later divinatory tarot decks to the extent that many are called 'Rider-Waite clones' to indicate that they are easily read by those familiar with Rider-Waite.[citation needed] Examples of Rider-Waite clones include, to varying degrees, the popular decks: Universal Waite tarot deck, Golden Tarot, Aquarian tarot deck, Nigel Jackson Tarot, Gilded Tarot, Golden Rider, and many more. This deck has also influenced the terminology used by English speaking tarot users such that English translations of traditional French or Italian decks often use the nomenclature of the Rider Waite deck although the traditional decks often pre-date the Rider Waite by great number of years.

source, wikipedia